They Dug Up a Dead Pope… and Put Him on Trial

Unreal History explores strange, forgotten and unbelievable true stories from world history. Subscribe for new history stories every week. Historical details are researched for accuracy. Where sources disagree or an event is disputed, we aim to present that uncertainty clearly. In 897, Rome witnessed one of the strangest trials in recorded history. Pope Formosus had already been dead for months when his successor ordered his grave opened. His body was exhumed, dressed again in papal vestments, seated before a church council — and put on trial. A living deacon was appointed to answer questions for the corpse. But the infamous Cadaver Synod was not simply an act of medieval madness. Behind it was a dangerous struggle involving rival emperors, papal authority, political revenge, disputed ordinations, and the question of whether the decisions of a dead pope could still control the living. The verdict would lead to the humiliation of Formosus's remains, the annulment of his acts, his body being thrown into the Tiber — and eventually the downfall of the pope who had judged him. And even after both men were dead, the controversy refused to disappear. This is the story of Pope Formosus, Pope Stephen VI, and the Cadaver Synod of 897. Subscribe to Unreal History for more true stories from history that sound impossible — but actually happened. #History #MedievalHistory #UnrealHistory