Public burning of Luther's works

Timeline

1. 1520Cologne · GermanyAuthorized by Exsurge Domine, conservative theologians and university authorities publicly burned Luther's works in Cologne, Leipzig, and elsewhere, declaring support for the papal judgment and attempting to curb the spread of reform literature in Germany.
2. 1520Wittenberg · GermanyAs the sixty-day deadline of Exsurge Domine expired, Luther publicly burned the papal bull, the decretals, and scholastic theological works outside the gates of Wittenberg, proclaiming that Christ alone is head of the church. Later generations regarded this act as a symbolic ritual of open rupture with the Roman Curia.