The Cadaver Synod: When a Dead Pope Was Put on Trial in 897

Jean-Paul Laurens' 1870 painting 'Pope Formosus and Stephen VI (The Cadaver Synod)' depicts a bizarre historical event: in 897, Pope Stephen VI exhumed and tried the corpse of his predecessor, Pope Formosus, for spiritual misdeeds. The trial was politically motivated by noble patrons seeking revenge. Formosus was condemned, mutilated, and thrown into the Tiber River. Stephen VI was overthrown and killed later that year. This episode occurred during the Saeculum obscurum (882–985 CE), a period of intense factionalism and violence in the papacy, driven by dynastic struggles after Charlemagne's death. The Frankish Empire's collapse led Italian noble houses to vie for control, often imposing their candidates as pope. The Cadaver Synod remains a notorious low point in church history.