Criticism of the popes was hardly unique to the fourteenth century; rather, it accompanied the consolidation of the papal monarchy. It also reflected, in a devious way, the gap between the popes' perception of the Church – as a perfectly established system, organised on monarchical lines, and unique in its supra-national character – and their contemporaries' expectations of a more spiritual Church, in harmony with the goals of early Christianity. The nepotistic bias that chroniclers ascribed to Clement V offers another aspect of the growing gap between the papacy and different sectors of Christian society, including the clergy itself. Whatever the goals and achievements of Clement's pontificate – and there were, indeed, important attainments on the legal, administrative, and financial levels – they were neglected by most contemporaries, whose accounts attest instead to the corrupt image associated with the pope and his curia. In this regard, Clement's Church policy offers one of the most problematic meeting points between the pope and his flock because of its economic and political implications, which sometimes directly affected the authors of the sources at our disposal.

In his report to the Council of Vienne, Guillaume le Maire, bishop of Angers, criticised papal interference in ecclesiastical appointments, which very often did not take into consideration the skills of the nominees. He condemned the nomination of incompetent candidates who ignored the local language; conversely, if reliable and skilful persons were appointed to the highest Church positions, they would spend most of their time in the papal or the royal courts and would never be seen in their see.