For centuries the Roman Catholic Church had dominated Western Europe both politically and religiously. The Church gave its blessing to king and emperors, this was evident with the crowning of Charlemange by Pope Leo III on Christmas day. The Church was also able to force its will and influence on the day to day lives of the common man and woman. With its position so firmly entrenched in the lives of so many how did the Protestant movement have a chance of even taking a small foothold in European society. The answer is that the Catholic Church was its own worst enemy. Its diminishing influence was not carried out soley by the Augustian monk from Germany, but the seeds had been planted long ago by the Church itself.
The turmoil that gripped the early Church can be seen as one of the reasons which would give the Protestant Reformation a chance. The Babylonian Captivity is an early example of the turmoil that plagued the Church. Philip of France was able to manipulate the appointment of Clement V for the papacy and with that the Church was moved to Avignon, France. Not only did this move rattle Catholicism to its core in terms of whether or not the real Church existed in Rome or France, but here the was full display of papal luxury, greed, and immorality. This would lead to the call for reform within the Church in order to right the ship, but those calls went unanswered. Not soon after the Babylonian Captivity had ended with the return of the papacy to Rome by Gregory XI, the Church found itself in distress again. The Papal Schism would rear its ugly head and with that the cry for reform again presented itself. Bartolomeo Prignano, Urban VI, and Clement VII would all claim the right to the papal office, with Clement VII winning out and the papacy moving once again to Avignon. This divided European society in that they had to choose between the church of Avignon and the one in Rome. .
When John XXIII, Gregory XII, and Benedict XIII all claimed the right to the papacy it forced the Church into action to find a solution.