Rama I was also noted for instituting major reforms in Buddhism as well as restoring moral discipline among the monks of the country, which had gradually eroded with the fall of Ayutthaya. Monks had already dabbled in superstitions when he first came to power, and Rama I implemented a law which required a monk who wished to travel to another principality for further education to present a certificate bearing his personal particulars, which would establish a monk "" and that he had been properly ordained. The king also repeatedly emphasized devotion to the Buddha, not to guardian spirits and past rulers, vestiges of ancient animist worship which persisted among Thais prior to his rule.