23. It wasn't only kings and pharaohs who had to worry about being mistreated after death. Which pope was disinterred, put on trial, found guilty, and finally had his corpse mutilated and thrown into the Tiber River?
From Quiz They Didn't Rest in Peace
Answer:
Formosus
It wasn't easy being pope back in early medieval times. Formosus was born around 816 and spent much of his early career in Bulgaria. He displeased Pope John VIII and was excommunicated in in 872, but was reinstated in his office as a bishop in 883, following John VIII's death. He was elected pope on October 6, 891, and died on April 4, 896. He was succeeded by Boniface VI, who lasted only 15 days. The next pope, Stephen VI, was an enemy of Formosus. Not one to let bygones be bygones, in January, 897 he ordered Formosus dragged from his tomb and put on trial for perjury, coveting the Papacy, and violating church canons. In what has come to be known as the Cadaver Synod, Formosus was found guilty. Three fingers of his right hand, the ones he used to give benedictions, were cut off. He was stripped of his vestments, and buried in a common grave used for foreigners. A short time later, he was dug up again, and his corpse was thrown into the Tiber. A monk fished it out and hid it. Meanwhile, Stephen VI had been desposed and strangled, and his successor, Theodore II, annulled the Cadaver Synod, and ordered Formosus reburied in full papal regalia in St. Peter's Basilica. Pope Sergius III, however, reaffirmed Formosus' conviction and sentence. Still later, Pope John XI, who was rumored to be Sergius III's illegitimate son, exonerated Formosus. By the way, the name Formosus means "handsome" in Latin.