 On the Immortality of the Soul provoked numerous polemics, in which Pomponazzi defended his views. In 1518, he published Apologia (Apology). The first book of Apology responds to the objections made by his former student Gaspare Contarini, and the second book answers critiques made by other philosophers and theologians. These books address questions about free-will and wondrous phenomena, which were later discussed in greater depth in On Incantations. The third and final book recounts Pomponazzi’s reactions to Ambrogio Flandino’s hostile preaching and to public uproar in Venice. Pomponazzi asserted his innocence from these charges, while proclaiming his belief in the immortality of the soul, emphasizing that his book only concluded that Aristotle held the soul to be mortal (3.1.3). He argued that theologians from Augustine to Duns Scotus maintained that the soul is mortal according to Aristotle and therefore sustaining such a position should not be considered heretical (3.3.4).  In fact, Tommaso de Vio (Gaetano), a former general of the Domincan order, who at the time was a cardinal and close to Leo X, had recently cast doubt over whether the immortality of the soul is demonstrable according to Aristotle (Gilson 1963: 173–83). Furthermore, Pomponazzi maintained that he could not be considered a heretic because the definition of heresy entails adhering firmly to one’s own opinion, but he had never received warnings from ecclesiastical authorities and therefore could not have adhered firmly to anything contrary to the Catholic Church’s teachings (3.3.1–2). In 1519, Pomponazzi published Defensorium (Defense) in reply to Agostino Nifo’s lengthy attack that argued that intellection is possible without phantasms (de Boer 2018: 19–25). The Defense was printed together with Giovanni Crisostomo Javelli’s response that offered theological and Platonic counterpoints to Pomponazzi’s views. The theologians Ambrogio Flandino and Bartolomeo Spina also published attacks on Pomponazzi’s treatment of the soul (see Blum 2007: 223–27).