What preconditions in western Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries contributed to the ...

There were several critiques of the church in the late Middle Ages that held the public's attention. There were also calls for reform of the church from within its own clergy. While the church argued that the Reformation was stirred out of the move toward secularism and the effects of humanism in the Middle Ages, criticism of the clergy itself was one of the main complaints. Popes were seen as corrupt individuals who looked out for their own interests and those of their families, such as the Borgias and the Medicis. There were concerns about simony, nepotism, illegitimate children of clergy, nonresidence, and especially about the wealth of the church. There were still ongoing objections to the church's participation in the political realm. Finally, there was the issue raised by a number of reformers before and including Martin Luther: that of the sale of indulgences by the church.