June 15, 1520

Exsurge Domine

Pope Leo X promulgates Exsurge Domine against Martin Luther

One condemned proposition declared that burning heretics was contrary to the will of the Spirit — while the bull itself ordered Luther's books burned publicly.

15 June 1520: forty-one propositions, six censures

Pope Leo X promulgated the bull Exsurge Domine, dated 15 June 1520, as part of the canonical heresy proceeding that had been running against Martin Luther since 1518.

The bull reproduced 41 propositions from Luther's writings and condemned them collectively as heretical, scandalous, false, offensive to pious ears, seductive of simple minds, or contrary to Catholic truth.

The censures were imposed in globo. The bull did not say which proposition was heretical and which was merely scandalous or offensive.

What it ordered

It condemned the writings containing the propositions and prohibited reading, printing, preaching, praising or defending them. Ecclesiastical authorities were ordered to find copies and burn them publicly.

The document opens by asking God to rise because a "wild boar" is loose in the Lord's vineyard.

It addressed far more than indulgences: only six of its 41 propositions concerned indulgences directly.

The sixty days did not start in Rome

Luther and his adherents were allowed 60 days after the bull's local publication to desist and document their recantation. Failing that, the threatened excommunication would take effect.

So nothing changed in Wittenberg on 15 June. Copies still had to be printed and lawfully published in German dioceses, and the clock depended on that local publication.

Johann Eck, who had helped prepare the bull, was later charged with publishing it in the Holy Roman Empire, as was the papal nuncio Hieronymus Aleander.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited

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