What were the main characteristics of Renaissance humanism in northern Europe?

What were the main characteristics of Renaissance humanism in northern Europe? What were the connections between northern European humanism and the Protestant Reformation? This paper should rely on Zophy, ch. 9, pp. 152-61. These pages discuss the Brothers and Sisters of the Common Life as well as careers of several northern European humanists, including two of the most important of them: Thomas More and Desiderius Erasmus. The paper has to discuss characteristics these humanists had in common, such as study of Latin and Greek classics and the Bible; interest in a spiritualized religion and reform of the church; and criticism of contemporary society and the religious life.