Cadaver Synod
01/897 AD convicted
Stephen had Formosus' corpse exhumed, dressed in papal vestments, and propped up in a throne for judgment in the papal court. Accused of perjury and of having acceded to the papacy illegally, Formosus was pronounced guilty.
The dominant interpretation of these events until the early twentieth century was straightforward: Formosus had always been a pro-Carolingian, and his crowning of Lambert in 892 was coerced. After the death of Arnulf and the collapse of Carolingian authority in Rome, Lambert entered the city and forced Stephen to convene the Cadaver Synod, both to re-assert his claim to the imperial crown and perhaps also to exact posthumous revenge upon Formosus.
This view is now considered obsolete, following the arguments put forth by Joseph Duhr in 1932. Duhr pointed out that Lambert was in attendance at the Ravenna Council of 898, convened under Pope John IX.
Stephen also declared his papacy and all appointments retroactively declared null.
According to the written acta of the council, Lambert actively approved of the nullification. If Lambert and Angiltrude had been the architects of Formosus’s degradation, Duhr asked, “how [...] was John IX able to submit to the canons which condemned the odious synod for approbation of the emperor [i.e., Lambert] and his bishops? How could John IX have dared to broach the matter [...] before the guilty parties, without even making the least allusion to the emperor’s participation?”
Arnaldi argues that it was Guy IV, who had entered Rome along with Lambert and his mother Angiltrude in January 897, who provided the impetus for the synod.
Subjects Who or What convicted?
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Pope Stephen VI Pope of Catholic Church ...
Objects To Whom or What was convicted?
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Pope Formosus Pope of Catholic Church ...
Timelines (that include this event)
Attachments
Le Pape Formose et Étienne VII "Pope Formosus and Stephen VII", by Jean-Paul Laurens 1870 depicts the Cadaver Synod
Events in 897 MORE
