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Went through a series of all the popes once, and man was there some bad ones: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Stephen_VI https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/P
by bloomingkales 2y ago
Went through a series of all the popes once, and man was there some bad ones:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Stephen_VI https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Stephen_VI
”Stephen is chiefly remembered in connection with his conduct towards the remains of Pope Formosus. The rotting corpse of Formosus was exhumed and put on trial, before an unwilling synod of the Roman clergy, in the so-called Cadaver Synod in January 897. Pressure from the Spoleto contingent and Stephen's fury with Formosus probably precipitated this extraordinary event.[4] With the corpse propped up on a throne, a deacon was appointed to answer for the deceased pontiff. During the trial, Formosus's corpse was condemned for performing the functions of a bishop when he had been deposed and for accepting the papacy while he was the bishop of Porto, among other revived charges that had been levelled against him in the strife during the pontificate of John VIII. The corpse was found guilty, stripped of its sacred vestments, deprived of three fingers of its right hand (the blessing fingers), clad in the garb of a layman, and quickly buried; it was then re-exhumed and thrown in the Tiber. All ordinations performed by Formosus were annulled.”
The Papacy is lit.
Edit:
"... the scandal ended in Stephen's imprisonment and his death by strangulation that summer."
The Papacy is fucking lit.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- wil421 2y agoSounds like a great Jeopardy topic. “I’ll take Bad Popes for 1000 Trebek.” Is there a bad Pope list?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- bloomingkales 2y agoYou can start here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeculum_obscurum https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeculum_obscurum The era is seen as one of the lowest points of the history of the papal office.
- Luc 2y agoThere's a classic book! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bad_Popes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bad_Popes
- elSidCampeador 2y agoFor anyone, who, like me, wanted to know about how this story truly ended: > Pope Theodore II (Latin: Theodorus II; 840 – December 897) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States for twenty days in December 897. His short reign occurred during a period of partisan strife... His main act as pope was to annul the recent Cadaver Synod, therefore reinstating the acts and ordinations of Pope Formosus, which had themselves been annulled by Pope Stephen VI. He also had the body of Formosus recovered from the river Tiber and reburied with honour. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Theodore_II https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Theodore_II
- bloomingkales 2y agoHow the hell did you 1up my very particular historical tidbit?