 Born Michael Clive Knowles on 29 September 1896 in Studley, Warwickshire, England, Knowles was educated at Downside School, operated by the monks of Downside Abbey, and Christ's College, Cambridge, where he took a first in both philosophy and classics.In 1923 Knowles became a member of the monastic community at Downside, being given the religious name of David, by which he was always known thereafter.After completing the novitiate he was sent by the abbot to the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm in Rome for his theological studies.