Luther Burns Leo X's Papal Bull "Exsurge Domine"

On December 10, 1520 Martin Luther, who had sent the Pope a copy of On the Freedom of a Christian in October, publicly set fire to the Papal bull Exsurge Domine and decretals at Wittenberg.

Luther defended this act in his pamphlets entitled Why the Pope and his Recent Book are Burned and Assertions Concerning All Articles.