_1518, August 9._ _Hieronymus, Bishop of Ascoli_ and Auditor of the Apostolic Chamber, who had been charged by the pope with the investigation of the case of Luther, ordered Luther to report to Rome. Later, the papal Legate, Cardinal Thomas de Vio (Cajetanus), was ordered to give a hearing to Luther, with the further instruction that if Luther were recalcitrant he was to be arrested. In case he evaded arrest, he and his supporters were to be excommunicated, and the places in which he secured protection were to be placed under interdict.[81] These instructions were in the main based upon alleged heresies contained in the treatises and propositions that Luther had, up to that date, brought before the public, although these treatises were not referred to by name. _1518, Nov._ _Pope Leo_ issues a Bull addressed to Cardinal Cajetan on the subject of absolution. In the Bull, Luther’s name is not mentioned. _1519._ _The Theological Faculties of Cologne and Louvain_ condemn a collection of Luther’s writings (which includes the ninety-five theses and the sermons on absolution, etc.) and order all copies to be burned. _1520, June 15._ _Leo_ issues the Bull _Exurge_, in which the Pope states that, after careful consideration with cardinals and other theologians, he pronounces to be heretical, false, and pernicious, forty-three propositions contained in the writings of Martin Luther;--and therefore are condemned all books, tracts, and sermons of said Luther, and all citations from the same. It is forbidden to print, sell, distribute, read, or possess copies or to quote them, and all existing copies are to be burned. The penalty for disobedience is excommunication _latae sententiae_. _1520, July._ _Pope Leo_ in a brief to Cardinal Albert, Archbishop of Mayence, calls attention to the pernicious and shameless writings of Ulrich von Hutten, which were being put into print in Mayence in the immediate neighbourhood of the bishop’s palace, and orders the Cardinal to take strong measures for their suppression. The Archbishop replies that he has put the printers in prison, but that he can do nothing against the author, who is securely entrenched in his castle with a strong body of retainers. The work chiefly complained of was the treatise _De Unitate Ecclesiae_. This appears in the Index of Paul IV, and in the succeeding Indexes. _1521, Jany. 3._ _Pope Leo_ issues the Bull _Decet Romanum Pontificem_, confirming the penalty of excommunication for Luther and his followers. _1521._ _The Faculty of the Sorbonne_ publishes a similar condemnation.