In 1414 a Council of the Church was called at Constance, in Switzerland, to heal the papal schism, and this Council made a serious attempt at church reform. After reuniting the Church under one Pope, it drew up a list of abuses which it ordered remedied (R. 149). It also attempted to establish a democratic form of organization for the government of the Church, with Church Councils meeting from time to time to advise with the Pope and formulate church policy, much like the government of a modern parliament and king. Had this succeeded, much future history might have been different [4] and the civilization of the world to-day much advanced. But the attempt failed, and the absolutism of the reunited Papacy became stronger than ever before. Protests of princes, actions of legislative assemblies, [5] protests sometimes of bishops, [6] the failing allegiance of men of affairs, the increasing condemnation and ridicule from laymen and scholars--all signs of a strong undercurrent of public opinion--seemed to have no effect on those responsible for the policy of the Church. That the different rebellions and refusals of reform helped directly to the ultimate break of Luther is not probable, as Luther seems to have worked out his position by himself. Each of these earlier defiances of authority and the later defiance of Luther were alike, though, in two respects. Each demanded a return to the usages and beliefs and practices of the earlier Christian Church, as derived from a study of the Bible and of the writings of the early Christian Fathers; and each insisted that Christians should be permitted to study the Bible for themselves, and reach their own conclusions as to Christian duty. In this demand to be allowed to go back to the original sources for authority, and the assertion of the right to personal investigation and conclusions, we see the new intellectual standards established by the Revival of Learning in full force. After 1500 the rising demands for moral reform and the recognition of individual judgment could not be put aside much longer. Unless there could be evolution there would be revolution. Evolution was refused, [7] and revolution was the result.