Presumably if it was really unpopular abolishing it wouldn't have caused problems.

Unpopular with whom? The peasants for whom the Church came before mother's milk, or the upper classes who had to compete with it to be exempt of tax and other duties of citizenship?

Perhaps an unwarranted presumption.

Look here:
http://libro.uca.edu/lea1/1lea.htm
It's really very short, and not to hard to access - I hope.

Regards,