the opposition of the audience, and served to open the eyes of Duke
George to the real nature of Luther's movement. Annoyed by his own
defeat and by the attentions and applause lavished upon his rival by
the people of Leipzig, Luther left the city in disgust. The
disputation undoubtedly did good in so far as it made clear to all the
position of the two parties, and succeeded in holding Duke George of
Saxony and the city of Leipzig loyal to the Church; but it also did
much harm by giving Luther the notoriety that he was so anxious to
obtain, and by winning to his side Philip Melanchthon, who was
destined to be in after life his ablest lieutenant. Both sides, as is
usual in such contests, claimed the victory. The Universities of
Cologne and Louvain condemned Luther immediately, as did also Paris in
1521, but as far as can be known Erfurt pronounced no decision on the
questions submitted.

Meanwhile what was the attitude of the authorities in Rome towards
Luther's movement. Leo X., having learned something of the turmoil
created in Germany by Luther's theses and sermons, requested the
vicar-general of the Augustinians to induce his rebellious subject to
recall his teaching, or, at least, to keep silent. The vicar wrote to
the principal, Staupitz, but, as the latter was one of those who had
encouraged Luther to take the steps he had taken, very little was done
to secure peace. Luther was, however, induced to write a most
submissive letter to the Pope in which he begged for an investigation,
pledging himself at the same time to accept the decision of Leo X. as
the decision of Christ (30th May, 1518).[14] Not satisfied with the
course of events, and alarmed by the reports forwarded to him from
Germany, the Pope appointed a commission to examine the whole
question, the result of which commission was that Luther was summoned
to submit at once or to appear at Rome to defend himself within sixty