The Crazy Case of the Cadaver Synod: The Trial of Pope Formosus

What happens when a pope dies? Typically, a funeral. But in 897 AD, Pope Formosus got something a little different: his body was exhumed, dressed in his papal robes, and put on trial for heresy, sometimes called The Cadaver Synod.

This is the first in what I hope will be an interesting series about weird histories within the Catholic church.

Who Was Pope Formosus and What Got Him In Trouble?

Pope Formosus served as pope from 891-896. Controversies surrounding him include accusations of abandoning his see, ambitions to become Bishop of Bulgaria, and excommunication under Pope John VII.

Formusus rose to prominence in the Church in 864 when he was appointed Bishop of Porto-Santa Rufina under the pontificate of Pope Nicholas I. Formosus was admired for his piety and leadership, leading to him being appointed papal legate to Bulgaria in 866. His service in Bulgaria was noticed so much that Boris I, the ruler of Bulgaria at the time, asked Pope Nicholas I to appoint Formosus as the Archbishop of Bulgaria, a request that Nicholas I denied.

Nicholas I thought that promoting Formosus would prevent bishops from accumulating too much power, as mentioned at the Second Council of Nicaea.

HistoryMedieval.com notes:

Beyond his work in Bulgaria, Formosus was also known for his travels to other significant centers of power. He visited Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which was a major religious and political hub during this period. Additionally, Formosus made his way to the Carolingian court, where he encountered Arnulf of Carinthia. Arnulf, a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was a Frankish king with aspirations to the Italian throne. Formosus’ interactions with such influential figures underscore his important role in the political and religious affairs of the time, further highlighting his stature as a significant ecclesiastical figure in medieval Europe.

It appears that Formosus was, at best, a competent, well-respected, and influential member of the Church’s hierarchy, and at worst, he was overly ambitious and wanted more power. So how did we get from that to the Pope digging up Formosus’ corpse, dressing it in full papal garb, and putting it on trial?

Motivation for the Trial

Formosus fled Rome in 875 and was excommunicated in 876. It was alleged that he tried to usurp the papacy by trying to influence Bulgarians against other bishops. Pope John VIII upheld the excommunication, but after John VIII died, Formosus returned to his position as the Bishop of Porto-Santa Rufina after being absolved by Pope Marinus I.

Despite the accusations and controversies surrounding him, Formosus was still highly respected in the church, and was elected pope in 891, but these controversies would rear their head again. It was these controversies that likely served as the motivation for Pope Stephen VI to bring up the charges again seven months after Formosus died in 897.

What Happened at the Cadaver Synod?

While Formosus was generally respected in the church, he had political enemies, one of which was Pope Stephen VI. Pope Stephen VI ordered Formosus’ corpse exhumed, dressed in full papal dress, and sat on a throne to be judged. A deacon spoke for the corpse during the mock trial.

During the trial, Formosus was accused of perjury, having ascended the papacy illegally, violating canon law, and simultaneously holding multiple positions as bishop.

Formosus was found guilty, and his election to the papacy was found to be invalid. It was ordered that Formosus’ fingers of consecration be cut off and that his corpse be thrown into the Tiber River.

It’s weird but gets weirder if you can believe it.

The Aftermath

This unprecedented stunt didn’t go over as planned. Rome was politically divided, and an insurrection ensued, resulting in Pope Stephen VI’s imprisonment and death by strangulation. Stephen VI was succeeded by Pope Theodore II, who reinstated the ordinations of Formosus and had his body dug up again to bury it in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope John IX also weighed in, condemning the Cadaver Synod, and burned its acts, like it never happened.

It’s rumored that Pope Sergius III reversed Formosus’ annulment and reaffirmed the synod’s findings, but this has been disputed.

Theological and Canonical Implications

The Cadaver Synod wasn’t just weird and grotesque — it was a theological and legal nightmare. Putting a dead pope, heck even a dead person, on trial was unprecedented. It raised questions about canon law, papal authority, and the permanence of the sacraments.

It’s true the Church has the power to loose and bind, and theoretically, if the Pope declares his predecessor guilty of a crime in his official capacity as the Vicar of Christ, the declaration stands.

However, according to canonical tradition, a dead person isn’t subject to ecclesiastical trial. The church’s law implied that a a deceased person could no longer incur penalties associates with any alleged or real crimes, unless the deceased had been excommunicated.

Some people argue that what Pope Stephen VI did by dragging his predecessor’s corpse out of the grave and putting it on trial violated this principle. Plus, the idea of assigning a deacon to speak for the corpse just shows you how absurd this event was.

Moreover, many saw Stephen VI’s actions as desecrating the papal office. The pope is the successor of St. Peter, and treating one’s remains with such contempt raised disturbing implications. It also raises a question that if a pope can retroactively condemn another, then how stable is papal authority in general?

Canon law was still developing in the 9th century. It was unevenly applied, but the Cadaver Synod clearly was more political theater than a genuine effort to right wrongs or find truth.

It’s doubtful anything like this could happen today, even with all of the problems in the Catholic Church.

Benedictine monk Gratian compiled a collection of nearly 3,800 texts dealing with church discipline and regulation, which became the foundation of canon law in the medieval church. It codified the understanding that:

• Ecclesiastical trials cannot be held for the dead because judgment belongs to God alone.
• The dead are not subject to human penalties, only divine.

While Gratian didn’t mention Formosus specifically, the principles in his Decretum reflect and affirm why later popes annulled the Synod’s decisions.

During the Council of Ravenna in 898, Pope John IX nullified the Cadaver Synod and prohibited any future trials of deceased people.

Grotesque, unbelievable, and possibly illegal, the Cadaver Synod is still a fascinating and weird part of church history and one of my favorite stories.

So the next time one of your friends tells you about something crazy that happened at church, you can say, “Oh yeah? Well, check this out!”