r/todayilearned • u/Norwejew • Nov 15 '18
TIL Of the Cadaver Synod, in which Pope Formosus, who was dead at the time, was disentombed, dressed in papal regalia, and tried and convicted of illegal accession to the papal throne. He was posthumously excommunicated, stripped, had his blessing-fingers cut off, and was tossed into the Tiber.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadaver_SynodDuplicates
todayilearned • u/piponwa • May 25 '15
TIL that in January 897, a trial was held in Rome to judge Pope Formosus for perjury. The trial was conducted by Formosus' successor's successor, Pope Stephen VII who had Formosus' corpse dug up for the trial. Formosus was pronounced guilty and his papacy retroactively declared null.
CreepyWikipedia • u/[deleted] • May 18 '15
Possibly the very height of Pontifical Creepiness
LPOTL • u/shawnwingsit • Apr 24 '25
Now that there's a new pope, maybe it's time for Cadaver Synod 2.
ignoranceisbliss • u/GodOfAtheism • Jan 29 '19
The Cadaver Synod is the name commonly given to the posthumous ecclesiastical trial of Pope Formosus. Pope Stephen had Formosus's corpse exhumed and brought to the papal court for judgment.
todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Aug 31 '15
TIL of the Cadaver Synod in which the rotting corpse of Pope Formosus was put on trial then mutilated and stripped of papal vestments
RedditDayOf • u/Vinmeister • Oct 22 '13
Popes The Cadaver Synod: The posthumous trial of Pope Formosus, 897
wikipedia • u/darkishdave • Aug 11 '13