Arrests and executions against those who were sometimes called "heretics of Meaux," and sometimes Lutherans, followed.
The theologians did not leave the whole burden of the battle to the government.

A swarm of anti-Lutheran tracts issued from the press.
Not only the heresiarch, but Erasmus and Lefevre were attacked.

Their translations of the Bible were condemned as blasphemies against Jerome and against the Holy Ghost and as subverting the foundations of the Christian religion.

Luther's sacramental dogmas and his repudiation of monastic vows were refuted.
Nevertheless the reform movement continued.

At this stage it was urban, the chief centers being Paris, Meaux, and Lyons.