A chronological listing of events can be misleading—for instance those
concerning the papal bull. It was signed by Leo on June 15, 1520. It
reached Luther officially on October 10. He immediately wrote a fiery
epistle denouncing it and Eck, whose style and invective he recognized.
Aware that the bull was being circulated and that his literature was
being burned, he nevertheless sat down in November and wrote a friendly
letter to the pope accompanying it with his treatise on Christian
liberty.
On the surface this would indicate insincerity, but events shaped up to
prove he was being consistent. Although he knew he had personal enemies,
he never lost sight of the fact that he was fighting a system rather
than individuals. The pope, for him, was merely a figurehead, in this
instance the symbol of an intolerable autocracy in an area where
individual freedom before God was essential.
The papal bull credited Luther with forty-one errors, called for the
burning of his books, charged heresy, gave him sixty days to submit, and
warned everyone against sheltering him in his excommunication.
Distribution of the bull was in the hands of Eck and papal legate Jerome
Aleander. They succeeded in posting copies of the bull and burning books
in several cities, but largely their efforts were unsuccessful due to
strenuous opposition by the German people.
On December 10, probably in reprisal for a book-burning at Cologne,
Melanchthon posted a notice on the Wittenberg University bulletin board
inviting students and faculty to a bonfire outside the Elster gate of
the city. Books on scholastic theology, and especially those works of
canon law on which the pope and the Roman hierarchy based their claims
to power, were tossed into the flames. Then Luther stepped forward
quietly and with a prayer on his lips added the booklet containing the
papal bull to the fire. He and the professors withdrew but the students
made a holiday of the affair, parading and singing throughout the town
and burning books of Luther’s opponents.
Significantly, the bonfire marked the end of the sixty-day period of
grace. From now on no one was to communicate with Luther or provide him
with the necessities of life. In the eyes of Rome he was an outlaw.
[Illustration: (uncaptioned)]