<P> William the Conqueror acquired the support of the Church for the invasion of England by promising ecclesiastical reform . William promoted celibacy amongst the clergy and gave ecclesiastical courts more power, but also reduced the Church's direct links to Rome and made it more accountable to the king . Tensions arose between these practices and the reforming movement of Pope Gregory VII, which advocated greater autonomy from royal authority for the clergy, condemned the practice of simony and promoted greater influence for the papacy in church matters . Despite the bishops continuing to play a major part in royal government, tensions emerged between the kings of England and key leaders within the English Church . Kings and archbishops clashed over rights of appointment and religious policy, and successive archbishops including Anselm, Theobald of Bec, Thomas Becket and Stephen Langton were variously forced into exile, arrested by royal knights or even killed . By the early 13th century, however, the church had largely won its argument for independence, answering almost entirely to Rome . </P> <P> In the 1380s, several challenges emerged to the traditional teachings of the Church, resulting from the teachings of John Wycliffe, a member of Oxford University . Wycliffe argued that scripture was the best guide to understanding God's intentions, and that the superficial nature of the liturgy, combined with the abuses of wealth within the Church and the role of senior churchmen in government, distracted from that study . A loose movement that included many members of the gentry pursued these ideas after Wycliffe's death in 1384 and attempted to pass a Parliamentary bill in 1395: the movement was rapidly condemned by the authorities and was termed "Lollardy". The English bishops were charged to control and counter this trend, disrupting Lollard preachers and to enforcing the teaching of suitable sermons in local churches . By the early 15th century, combating Lollard teachings had become a key political issue, championed by Henry IV and his Lancastrian followers, who used the powers of both the church and state to combat the heresy . </P> <P> Pilgrimages were a popular religious practice throughout the Middle Ages in England, with the tradition dating back to the Roman period . Typically pilgrims would travel short distances to a shrine or a particular church, either to do penance for a perceived sin, or to seek relief from an illness or other condition . Some pilgrims travelled further, either to more distant sites within Britain or, in a few cases, onto the continent . </P> <P> During the Anglo - Saxon period, many shrines were built on former pagan sites which became popular pilgrimage destinations, while other pilgrims visited prominent monasteries and sites of learning . Senior nobles or kings would travel to Rome, which was a popular destination from the 7th century onwards; sometimes these trips were a form of convenient political exile . Under the Normans, religious institutions with important shrines, such as Glastonbury, Canterbury and Winchester, promoted themselves as pilgrimage destinations, maximising the value of the historic miracles associated with the sites . Accumulating relics became an important task for ambitious institutions, as these were believed to hold curative powers and lent status to the site . Indeed, by the 12th century reports of posthumous miracles by local saints were becoming increasing common in England, adding to the attractiveness of pilgrimages to prominent relics . </P>

Who ruled england during the early middle ages