row than of penal severity."

The emperor Charles V, before leaving the Netherlands on his journey to
Aix-la-Chapelle to be crowned (1520),[27] had already been induced to
take his first step against Luther. He had consented to the execution of
the sentence in the bull condemning Luther's works to be burned, and had
issued orders to that effect throughout the Netherlands. They were
burned in public at Louvain, Cologne, and Mainz. At Cologne this was
done while he was staying there. It was in this town that the two
legates approached the elector Frederick with the demand to have the
same done in his territory, and to execute due punishment on the heretic
himself, or at least to keep him close prisoner or to deliver him over
to the Pope. Frederick, however, refused, saying that Luther must first
be heard by impartial judges. Erasmus also, who was then staying at
Cologne, expressed himself to the same effect, in an opinion obtained
from him by Frederick through Spalatin. At an interview with the
Elector he said to him: "Luther has committed two great faults: he has
touched the Pope on his crown and the monks on their bellies." The
burning of Luther's books at Mainz was effected without hinderance, and
the legates in triumph proceeded to carry out their mission elsewhere.

Luther, however, lost no time in following up their execution of the
bull with his reply. On December 10th he posted a public announcement
that the next morning, at nine o'clock, the anti-Christian decretals,
that is, the papal law-books, would be burned, and he invited all the
Wittenberg students to attend. He chose for this purpose a spot in front
of the Elster gate, to the east of the town, near the Augustinian
convent. A multitude poured forth to the scene. With Luther appeared a
number of other doctors and masters, and among them Melanchthon and
Carlstadt. After one of the masters of art had built up a pile, Luther
laid the decretals upon it, and the former applied the fire. Luther then
threw the papal bull into the flames, with the words, "Because thou hast
vexed the Holy One of the Lord,[28] let the everlasting fire consume
thee." While Luther with the other teachers returned to the town, some
hundreds of students remained upon the scene and sang a _Te Deum_, and a
Dirge for the decretals. After the ten o'clock meal, some of the young
students, grotesquely attired, drove through the town in a large
carriage, with a banner, emblazoned with a bull, f