MicroFactzzz#0099 · 🏛️ History Gone Off the Rails
The Church Put a Dead Pope on Trial
In 897, Pope Stephen VI had his predecessor’s corpse dug up, dressed in papal robes, and put on trial at the so-called "Cadaver Synod."
In January 897, Pope Stephen VI ordered the exhumation of the body of his predecessor, Pope Formosus, who had died nine months earlier, and had it brought before a church tribunal in Rome.
The decomposing corpse was dressed in full papal vestments and propped up on a throne, while a specially appointed deacon stood behind it to answer the charges on its behalf.
Formosus was found guilty of allegedly holding office unlawfully, his decisions as pope were annulled, the fingers he used for blessings were cut off, and the corpse was thrown into the Tiber.
The event, known as the "Cadaver Synod," outraged the people of Rome so much that it contributed to Stephen VI’s own overthrow and imprisonment later that same year.
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Krulicza Nora
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