#8. The Cadaver Courtroom
The year was 897. Europe was in turmoil.
Rival kings clashed for power. The Church was embroiled in bitter disputes. And in the heart of Rome, an event was about to unfold that would shock even the most hardened of souls.
A trial. But not just any trial.
The accused? A leader of men. One might say the holiest of men. Pope Formosus.
The problem? He had already been dead for a year.
Dragged from his grave, dressed in his decayed papal robes, his lifeless body would stand trial in one of the oddest displays of revenge the world had ever seen.
This was no ordinary court. This was the Cadaver Synod (Dreadful Council).
The road to this grisly trial began with power struggles that had plagued the Church for years. Pope Formosus, who had served as bishop in various regions, was a man of ambition, navigating alliances and grudges in a way that left few untouched. He played a dangerous game, endorsing rival rulers, making friends and enemies with whiplash speed, and ultimately crossing the wrong people. His death in 896, however, wasn’t enough for his foes. Enter Pope Stephen VI, a man who held grudges like a miser clutching coins. Determined to erase Formosus’ legacy in the most vivid way possible, Stephen ordered his predecessor’s body exhumed and dragged before a courtroom. It was a move so theatrical, it seemed more like the plot of a grim mystery novel than the actions of the holy pontiff.
The Cadaver Synod that followed was nothing short of grotesque. There in the courtroom, Pope Stephen VI took his seat across from the lifeless, decomposing Formosus, who had been propped up on a throne with bony hands dangling at his sides. A deacon was assigned to “represent” the corpse, while Stephen unleashed accusations with violent fervor. Formosus was accused of perjury, violating canon law, and a list of other offenses no corpse could defend itself against. And just to make sure Formosus got the message, Stephen ordered three fingers hacked off from the dead pope’s right hand—a sort of gruesome post-mortem slap on the wrist. When the “trial” concluded, Formosus was declared guilty and unceremoniously tossed into the Tiber River.
The fallout was as bizarre as the trial itself. Word of the trial spread, and soon outrage bubbled up in the streets of Rome. The spectacle had unsettled even the most hardened of onlookers, and public opinion quickly turned against Stephen. It wasn’t long before a mob demanded justice—not for Formosus, but for common decency—and Stephen found himself imprisoned. The angry mob eventually stormed Stephen's cell and thereupon strangled him until his heart beat no more. Formosus’ body was later retrieved from the river and reburied with some dignity, but the Cadaver Synod was never quite forgotten. It stood as a darkly comedic reminder that even the holiest institutions weren’t immune to the more theatrical excesses of revenge.