Much of the detail surrounding Adam's early life is a matter of conjecture. We cannot be certain of his date of birth or even the identity of his parents. We do know that Adam was born in the village of Easton just outside Norwich and early in his life he entered the service of the Church probably around 1335. The Church provided just about the only opportunity for social mobility for the poorer exhelons of society in the Mediaeval era. Armed with the ability to read and write the churchman could make himself indispensable to the religious and secular authority alike. At first Adam joined the Benedictine monastery at St Leonard's in Norwich, just across the river from the great gothic cathedral and its own mother priory. His youth was spent training as a novice monk at St Leonard's until his ability with his studies was noticed back in Norwich Priory.