After the Norman invasions of the ninth century, which left Belgium covered with ruins and with many churches and monasteries burned, or abandoned by their terrified occupants, the ecclesiastical discipline suffered severely. The old prescriptions of the Benedictine rule were no longer observed and most of the monasteries became dependents of powerful laymen. In the tenth century a revival of the discipline followed, thanks to the efforts of St. Gerard of Brogne, founder of the little monastery of Brogne, near Namur (923). Gerard excited so much enthusiasm by the sanctity of his life and the rigor of his discipline that princes and bishops united in asking him to restore the practice of ascetic life both in Lotharingia and in Flanders. The number of the monasteries to the north of the linguistic barrier, especially in Flanders, soon increased, whereas before they were mainly to be found in Southern Belgium. Belgium became a country of monasteries in the eleventh century, and ever since that time the people have shown that deep religious spirit that is one of the distinctive traits of the national character. The monks exerted a very strong influence on the minds of the rough feudalists, who thought mainly of war and robbery: one of the most powerful dukes of Lotharingia, Godefrid the Bearded, desired to be buried in the dress of a monk. The robber-knights, pursuing an enemy or a convoy of merchants, thought only of plunder; once in sight of the walls of a monastery, however, they would cease their pursuit and turn back. Carrying through the country the relics of their saints, the monks would often succeed in stopping private wars and murder. An example of the religious spirit is the great “procession” of Tournai, that attracted every year thousands of pilgrims and visitors, Flemish and Walloon together, and that acted as a unifying factor for both races of Belgium. The Reform of Cluny found the French and German influence in serious conflict. The reform in question, by which it was hoped to reintroduce a very severe discipline in the monastic world, originated in French Burgundy (1004) and soon spread through the northern countries, especially in Flanders and Lotharingia. The monks of Cluny resolutely resented any interference of the temporal power in religious affairs. As a result they found themselves practically opposed to the system of the imperial and feudal church of Germany, dominated by the Emperor. The destruction of that system thus meant indirectly the destruction of German influence in Lotharingia. When the Struggle for the Investitures broke out, the Lotharingian bishops hesitated at first, but after a while nearly all of them took sides with the papal cause against the Emperor. Both in matters of politics and religion Lotharingia tended more and more to break away from Germany.