What happens when people begin to break away from the entity that has bound an entire civilization together for over a thousand years? How do we move from unprecedented devotion to God to exploring what man can do? From absolute acceptance to scrutiny? From sheep to independent thinkers? Like all the revolutions that preceded it, the Protestant Reformation did not happen overnight. Catholics had begun to lose faith in the once-infallible Church since the Great Schism, when there were two popes, each declaring the other to be the Antichrist. Two things in particular can be identified as the final catalyst: a new philosophy and simple disgust. The growing influence of humanism and the corruption of the Catholic Church led to the Protestant Reformation, which in turn launched the Catholic Reformation and religious war. Humanists were calling for reform of the Catholic Church long before Martin Luther wrote his Ninety-Five Theses. Humanism was an intellectual and cultural movement of the Renaissance that emphasized the expansion of man's capabilities. “[Humanism] was an attempt to discover the earthly flourishing of humanity. . . [he] developed a growing distaste for dogma and adopted a figurative interpretation of Scripture and an attitude of tolerance toward all points of view” (Sporre 310). This perspective could not differ more from the strict dependence of the Church on tradition. The worldview changed, but the Church continued with what had worked before. It soon became clear that reform of the Church was not going to happen tomorrow, and so people decided to take matters into their own hands. As humanism spread throughout Italy and Northern Europe, more and more people rallied to the Catholic Church, propelling the Catholic Reformation and the Religious War. A separation of this magnitude led to conflict but nevertheless gradual improvements for both parties. Religious tolerance was finally emerging and never again would a single organization wield so much power. Works Cited Duiker, William J. and Jackson J. Spielvogel. History of the world. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomsom Learning, 2001. 374-438. Flory, Harriette and Samuel Jenike. A global history: the modern world. Volume 2. White Plains, New York: Longman, 1992. 42. Howe, Helen and Robert T. Howe. A global history: the ancient and medieval worlds. Volume 1. White Plains, New York: Longman, 1992. 533. Simon, Edith. The Reformation. Morristown, NJ: Silver Burdett Company, 1966. 35. Sporre, Dennis J. The Creative Impulse: An Introduction to the Arts. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996. 310-378.