... church, specifically lay investiture. Removing lay contol of the Church was also important in making other reforms possible. Only a strong and independent Papacy would be capable of imposing changes across the Church in the middle ages. Without it reforms such as the eradication of Nichantilism by enforcing celibacy amoung the clergy would have been impossible. Freeing the Church from lay control was also seen as a laudable goal for its own sake removing the taint of the secular from the Church. The second phase of Church reform in theis period occurred later and was more to do with the monastic elements of the Church. The twelth century saw a spiritual revival in Europe. This was reflected in the rise of new monastic orders. It was nessecceary for the Church to reform to meet the needs of the time. The basis of this spiritual reawakening was the search for the ...

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