Editing Crusading movement (section)

===Church reforms===

{{Further|Cluniac Reform|Gregorian Reform|History of the papacy (1048–1257)}}

The general fear of [[damnation]] induced church reform movements, initially under the leadership of prosperous [[Christian monasticism|monasteries]]. [[Cluny Abbey]] set an important precedent because its 910 foundation charter guaranteed the monks' right to [[Canonical election|freely elect]] their [[abbot]]. The [[Cluniac Reform]] quickly spread, mainly with the support of aristocrats who highly esteemed the monks' [[Intercession|prayers for their souls]].{{sfn|Thomson|1998|pp=33–35}}{{sfn|Jaspert|2006|pp=27–28}} The Cluniac houses were only subject to papal authority.{{sfn|Jaspert|2006|p=27}}{{sfn|Latham|2011|p=231}}

The popes, who were regarded as the successors of [[Saint Peter]] (one of Jesus's [[Twelve Apostles]]), claimed [[papal primacy|primacy]] over the entire Church, referring to Jesus's [[Confession of Peter#Selection of Peter|words of praise]] about Peter.{{sfn|Thomson|1998|p=39}} In reality, Roman noble families [[Tusculan Papacy|controlled]] the papacy until the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry III]] conquered the city in 1053. He supported reformist clerics to implement their ideas about the "[[Libertas ecclesiae|liberty of the church]]". This so-called [[Gregorian Reform]] led to a ban on [[simony]] (the sale of church offices), and established the exclusive right of high-ranking clerics known as [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinals]] to [[papal elections|elect the popes]].{{sfn|Thomson|1998|pp=82–85}}{{sfn|Jotischky|2017|p=25}} Andrew Latham, an expert in [[international relations]], argues that "the (re)constitution of the fundamental identity" of the Western Church under the reformist popes "entailed the emergence of new core interests that placed the Church in a structurally antagonistic relationship with a range of social forces within and beyond Christendom".{{sfn|Latham|2011|p=240}} By this time, differences in theology and customs between the western and eastern branches of [[Chalcedonian Christianity|mainstream Christianity]] had become evident.{{refn|group=note|The [[filioque|unilateral modification]] of the [[Nicaean Creed]] by western clerics, and the use of [[Baker's yeast|leavened]] or [[Unleavened bread|unleavened]] bread during the [[Eucharist]] (a central element of Christian liturgy) were the most evident differences between the two Christian communities.{{sfn|Jaspert|2006|p=4}}}} The conflicts led to mutual excommunications in 1054, and eventually the separation of the western [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] and the eastern [[Greek Orthodox Church|Orthodox Churches]]. This [[East–West Schism]], however, did not abolish [[Full communion|communion]] between them.{{sfn|Jaspert|2006|p=4}}{{sfn|Jotischky|2017|pp=28–29}}

The establishment of new monastic orders (such as the [[Carthusians]] and [[Cistercians]]) and the spread of the ''[[Rule of Saint Augustine]]'' among secular clergy indicate a spiritual revival towards the end of the {{nowrap|11th century}}. [[Christocentrism]], a new form of [[spirituality]] focusing on Christ's life, became an important characteristic of religious life, inspiring a movement of wandering preachers who often ignored the bishops' authority.{{sfn|Jaspert|2006|p=29}}