Cadaver Synod of 897: Pope Stephen VI had his dead predecessor Formosus exhumed, put on trial and thrown into the Tiber

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

1. The living whom Formosus had ordained were affected too: Stephen VI forced several of them to resign their offices. Stephen VI himself was put to death by strangulation in 897.
   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 14 (1912), Artikel Pope Stephen (VI) VII

   „Before he was put to death by strangulation, he forced several of those who had been ordained by Formosus to resign their offices“

How were they charged and sentenced?

1. Formosus was pope from 891 to 896 and died on 4 April 896. Under his second successor Stephen VI, Emperor Lambert and his mother Agiltrude regained power in Rome at the beginning of 897. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Agiltrude wanted to take revenge on her opponent even after his death, and Stephen VI lent himself to sitting in judgment on his predecessor.
   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Formosus

   „Shortly afterwards (4 April, 896) Formosus died.“

   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Formosus

   „Agiltrude being determined to wreak vengeance on her opponent even after his death, Stephen VI lent himself to the revolting scene of sitting in judgment on his predecessor, Formosus.“

2. Stephen VI had the corpse exhumed and brought before a synod of the Roman clergy in January 897. The dead man was taken from the sarcophagus in papal vestments and seated on a throne, and a deacon had to answer in his place. All the old charges from the time of John VIII were raised again.
   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 14 (1912), Artikel Pope Stephen (VI) VII

   „he caused the body of Formosus to be exhumed, and in January, 897, to be placed before an unwilling synod of the Roman clergy“

   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Formosus

   „the corpse, clad in papal vestments, was withdrawn from the sarcophagus and seated on a throne; close by stood a deacon to answer in its name, all the old charges formulated against Formosus under John VIII being revived“

3. The verdict: Formosus had been unworthy of the papacy, which he could not have validly received because he had previously been bishop of another see (Porto). All his measures and acts were annulled and all ordinations he had conferred were declared invalid. The Britannica names as the pretext that a former bishop of Porto could not be a legitimate pope, and as the real cause the power struggle between the princes of Spoleto and the Carolingian house.
   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Formosus

   „The decision was that the deceased had been unworthy of the pontificate“

   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Formosus

   „All his measures and acts were annulled, and all the orders conferred by him were declared invalid.“

   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Artikel Formosus

   „The validity of his acts was contested on the pretext that, having been originally bishop of Porto, he could not be a legitimate pope.“

   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Artikel Formosus

   „The fundamental factor in these dissensions was the rivalry between the princes of Spoleto and the Carolingian house“

What happened to those affected?

1. The papal vestments were torn from the corpse and the fingers of the right hand with which Formosus had consecrated were cut off. The two Catholic Encyclopedia articles give different numbers: three fingers in the article on Formosus, two fingers in the article on Stephen VI. The dead man was dressed in lay clothing, buried in a strangers' grave and thrown into the Tiber after a few days.
   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Formosus

   „The papal vestments were torn from his body; the three fingers which the dead pope had used in consecrations were severed from his right hand; the corpse was cast into a grave in the cemetery for strangers, to be removed after a few days and consigned to the Tiber.“

   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 14 (1912), Artikel Pope Stephen (VI) VII

   „The corpse was then stripped of its sacred vestments , deprived of two fingers of its right hand, clad in the garb of a layman , and ultimately thrown into the Tiber.“

2. Pope Sergius III (904 to 911), by contrast, confirmed the decisions of the Cadaver Synod at a Roman synod. All those ordained by Formosus were to be regarded as laymen unless they sought reordination. Sergius and his party dealt harshly with the bishops consecrated by Formosus; since these in turn had ordained many clerics, the result, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, was the greatest confusion.
   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Formosus

   „On the other hand Sergius III (904-911) approved in a Roman synod the decisions of Stephen's synod against Formosus; all who had received orders from the latter were to be treated as lay persons , unless they sought reordination.“

   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 6 (1909), Artikel Pope Formosus

   „Sergius and his party meted out severe treatment to the bishops consecrated by Formosus, who in turn had meanwhile conferred orders on many other clerics , a policy which gave rise to the greatest confusion.“