The year was 897 AD. Rome was a mess, politically and spiritually. And Pope Stephen VI? He was mad. Not in the angry sense, but in the "put a corpse on trial" sense.
His target: Pope Formosus, who had been dead for nine months. Buried. Rotting. And about to become the most infamous defendant in Catholic history.
Welcome to the Cadaver Synod.
Formosus was a well-traveled, politically savvy cleric who had served as Bishop of Porto before eventually becoming pope. But his rise wasn't smooth. He was excommunicated in 876 under Pope John VIII, accused of conspiring with the Bulgarians and harboring ambitions for the throne of Constantinople. That excommunication was later lifted, but the stain remained.
During his papacy (891–896), Formosus managed to offend just about everyone in power. He crowned multiple claimants to the Holy Roman Empire—first Charles the Bald, then Arnulf of Carinthia. This flip-flopping pissed off supporters of the powerful House of Spoleto, especially Lambert of Spoleto, who had his own imperial ambitions.
When Formosus died in 896, Lambert and his mother Agiltrude were still fuming. Enter Stephen VI, handpicked by their faction, who owed them loyalty—or maybe just feared them. Instead of letting Formosus's legacy fade with time, Stephen resurrected him, literally and figuratively, to be humiliated and condemned.
Whether it was political pressure, paranoia, or pure pettiness, Stephen decided that Formosus needed to face justice.
Even if he was already decomposing.
They dug up Formosus's corpse. Dressed him in papal robes. Sat him on a throne.
A deacon was assigned to speak for the dead man, answering questions and defending him while his skull bobbed loosely on his shoulders.
Charges included:
Serving as a bishop illegally (Formosus had been bishop of Porto before becoming pope)
Coveting the papacy
General disobedience
The outcome? Guilty, obviously. They cut off the three fingers he used for blessings, stripped him of his robes, and threw his body in the Tiber River.
Romans were horrified. Even in a brutal era, this was grotesque.
Riots broke out. Pope Stephen VI was arrested, imprisoned, and strangled in his cell. Later popes reversed the Cadaver Synod’s rulings, reburied Formosus with honor, and tried to pretend the whole thing never happened.
Spoiler: it happened.
The Cadaver Synod is one of history’s greatest examples of political revenge gone nuclear. It shows how personal vendettas can twist institutions into caricatures of justice.
Also, it’s metal as hell.
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