The moral standard of many was very low, and practice of celibacy was no longer observed everywhere.The former prestige of the clergy had suffered greatly and many clergymen were regarded with scorn.
The Avignon Papacy suffered a loss of prestige, as they were seen as being corrupt and the pope was a puppet to the King of France.It sufferd because of its inability to reform itself itself, as it was seen as greedy and insensitive, forcing people to turn elsewhere and away from the Roman Catholic Church.In this way, Papal corruption provided the background for the Reformation.
The doctrinal practices of the church were also being questioned.The first significant figure in the reformation was the first reformer Martin Luther, in 1517, Luther drew up a list of key doctrinal aspects of the church which with he demanded resolution and change.The list included tings such as justification by faith,scripture as the .
supreme authority for religious truth, the priesthood of the leity, sacraments and the traditional practices.Luther wanted to break away from traditional church beliefs.
Luther called for the elimination of the sale of indulgences by the papacy and clled for the people to protest against it with him.After the church saw his list of objections, now aptly named the 'ninety-five theses', they demanded that he retract a nuber of the protests that he hadmade, but he refused.retribution for his crime should have fallen rapidly,but due to the election of a new emperor, the justice system slowed down.Duringthis time he was able to come up with a plan of reformfor the church including; national rather than Roman control of the church finances,permission for clergy to marry, and a series of sacramental reforms which reduced sacraments to baptism,a reformed mass, and holy Eucharist.
Luther believed that people could asisst their own salvation by carrying out their own good works, and without the need for indulgences such as paying the members of the papal court for indulgences in penance.