The Church faced many challenges during the fourteenth century. However, the most significant challenges to the Church came from within, in the Great Schism, lay piety, and challenges to the Church's official doctrines.

The first major challenge for the Church was the Great Schism. With the death of Pope Gregory XI in 1378, the College of Cardinals met to elect a new pope. Both French and Italian cardinals wanted to elect a pope from their own country. Neither side would compromise, and the result was that both factions elected a pope from their own country, resulting in two popes; one in Rome (at the Vatican) and one in Avignon (in France). The Great Schism lessened the prestige of the papacy by creating two distinct popes, neither of whom had the complete support of Europe. Moreover, nations in Europe split over their allegiance to the opposing popes. For example, France and Spain supported the Avignon popes, while England and Germany supported the Roman popes. Furthermore, the Great Schism highlighted the indecisiveness and competing interests within the Church. The Schism ended in 1417, with the return of one pope ruling from Rome.

During the fourteenth century, many Europeans wanted a more "personal" touch from their religion and so turned to new forms of religious practice. For example,many Christians turned to charity work in order to strengthen their faith thorough philanthropy. Many Europeans also turned to mysticism. Mystics taught that people could become closer to God not through official teachings but through charity work, love, and self-reflection. The Church viewed mysticism as a challenge to its authority, because mysticism encouraged people to reflect inwardly about their religion instead of using the Church as their spiritual guide.

The last major challenge to the Catholic Church during the fourteenth century was on a theological level, and the Church viewed this challenge as heresy. Throughout the fourteenth century, some prominent scholars began to challenge some of the official Church doctrine. For example, John Wycliffe and his followers (called Lollards) rejected the miracle of transubstantiation (the turning of water and bread into the body and blood of Christ during the Catholic mass). Jan Hus, a follower of Wycliffe’s teachings, brought Lollard ideas to Prague, where they became popular. Hus was burned at the stake because of his Lollard beliefs. During the fourteenth century, the Church fought back against challenges to its authority and its official doctrine.

The fourteenth century proved to be a strenuous time for the Church, and many of the challenges the Church faced would ultimately lead to its biggest challenge of all: Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation of the 1520s.

The greatest challenge that the Catholic Church faced in the fourteenth century was the Black Death. Originating in Venice and spreading all over Europe, the plague killed millions. Since the clergy worked closely with the dying, the disease seemed to target them. Some clergymen even abandoned their responsibilities and fled into the countryside, leaving lay people to hear confessions. The fatality rates also adversely affected church tithing. Many people questioned God and the church's authority during this difficult time. Some people even turned to immorality; they saw no sense in purity if they were only going to die anyway.

Another challenge to the Catholic Church was the frequent state of war in Europe. The instability the wars caused spread to Italy. There was a feud between Phillip the Fair of France and the Papacy which ultimately would end in the Babylonian Captivity, which was a period of seventy years in which the pope lived in Avignon as the king's vassal.

The Church faced many challenges during this century.  Three of the most important were heresies, the Black Death, and the Great Schism.

During this century, the Church was starting to face heresies and demands for reform that in some ways foreshadowed those of Martin Luther.  The most important of these heresies was Lollardy.  This idea was first propounded by John Wycliffe.  He called for a reduction in the power of Church officials like the Pope and he challenged such basic Church doctrines as the transubstantiation of the bread and wine at Communion.

The Church was also challenged by the Black Death.  It was unable to stop or even to explain this horrible tragedy.  This reduced its legitimacy and people's faith in it.

Compounding all of this was the Great Schism.  The Church essentially split in two with two different popes (and sometimes three) all claiming to be legitimate.  This brought the credibility of the Church into great doubt among many people.

All of these challenged the Church and helped to weaken it during the 1300s.