The Pope Who Put a Corpse on Trial (And Lost Everything)

In January 897 AD, Pope Stephen VI did something no pope had ever done before: he put his predecessor on trial. The problem? Pope Formosus had been dead for nine months.

This is the story of the Cadaver Synod—when a corpse was exhumed, dressed in papal robes, propped on a throne, and prosecuted for crimes against the Church. The verdict was guilty. The punishment was barbaric. And the aftermath destroyed everyone involved.

This isn't medieval propaganda. This actually happened. And the reasons why reveal the darkest period in papal history.

In this video:
Why Pope Stephen VI dug up his predecessor's corpse
The trial of a dead pope in front of hundreds of witnesses
The grotesque verdict and punishment
How this backfired and destroyed Stephen
What the Cadaver Synod reveals about power and institutions

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - The Trial Begins
0:45 - Rome in Chaos: The Dark Age of the Papacy
1:50 - Who Was Pope Formosus?
2:35 - Pope Stephen Takes Power
3:10 - The Exhumation and Trial
4:20 - The Guilty Verdict and Punishment
5:15 - Stephen's Fall and the Aftermath
5:50 - What It Really Meant

📚 SOURCES:
Liudprand of Cremona - "Antapodosis" (10th century chronicle)
Baronius - "Annales Ecclesiastici"
Gregorovius - "History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages"
Chamberlin - "The Bad Popes"

This is the Saeculum Obscurum—the Dark Age of the Papacy—when popes were murdered, imprisoned, and turned into puppets of Roman noble families. The Cadaver Synod is just one chapter in Rome's bloodiest century.

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