Pope Stephen VI
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Pope Stephen VI ( la, Stephanus VI; died August 897) was the
bishop of Rome A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
and ruler of the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
from 22 May 896 to his death. He is best known for instigating the Cadaver Synod, which ultimately led to his downfall and death.


Family and career

Stephen was born in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. His father was a priest named John. Stephen was made bishop of Anagni by Pope Formosus, possibly against his will.


Pontificate

The circumstances of his election as
pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
are unclear, but he was sponsored by one of the powerful Roman families, the dukes of Spoleto, that contested the papacy at the time. Stephen is chiefly remembered in connection with his conduct towards the remains of Pope Formosus. The rotting corpse of Formosus was exhumed and put on trial, before an unwilling synod of the Roman clergy, in the so-called Cadaver Synod in January 897. Pressure from the Spoleto contingent and Stephen's fury with Formosus probably precipitated this extraordinary event.Cummings, Joseph: "History's Great Untold Stories", page 14. National Geographic, 2006. With the corpse propped up on a throne, a
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
was appointed to answer for the deceased pontiff. During the trial, Formosus's corpse was condemned for performing the functions of a bishop when he had been deposed and for accepting the papacy while he was the
bishop of Porto The Portuguese Roman Catholic Diocese of Porto ( la, Dioecesis Portugallensis) (Oporto) is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Braga. Its see at Porto is in the Norte region, and the second largest city in Portugal. History The diocese was pro ...
, among other revived charges that had been levelled against him in the strife during the pontificate of John VIII. The corpse was found guilty, stripped of its sacred vestments, deprived of three fingers of its right hand (the blessing fingers), clad in the garb of a layman, and quickly buried; it was then re-exhumed and thrown in the
Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by th ...
. All ordinations performed by Formosus were annulled. The trial excited a tumult. Though the instigators of the deed may actually have been Formosus' Spoletan enemies, notably
Guy IV of Spoleto Guy IV (''Guido'' or ''Wido''; assassinated 897) was the Duke of Spoleto and Camerino from 889 and Prince of Benevento from 895. He was the son of Guy II of Spoleto.His parentage is highly disputed. He is referred to as a son of Guy III of Spol ...
, who had recovered their authority in Rome at the beginning of 897 by renouncing their broader claims in
central Italy Central Italy ( it, Italia centrale or just ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region, and a European Parliament constituency. Regions Central I ...
, the scandal ended in Stephen's imprisonment and his death by strangulation that summer.O'Malley, John W.
''A History of the Popes''
New York, Sheed & Ward, 2010.


See also

* List of popes who died violently


References


Sources

* *Jégou, Laurent (2015)
"Compétition autour d'un cadavre. Le procès du Pape Formose et ses enjeux (896-904)."
''Revue Historique'' vol. 317, no. 3 (675), 2015, pp. 499–523. Accessed 11 April 2020. *Leyser, Conrad (2010)
"Episcopal Office in the Italy of Liudprand of Cremona, C.890-c.970."
''The English Historical Review'' 125, no. 515 (2010), pp. 795–817, at pp. 800–802; 811–813. Accessed 11 April 2020. * * *Di Vito Loré, Marina C. Sarramia (2019)
"Stefano VI, papa."
''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' Volume 94 (Treccani: 2019). {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen 06 Popes Italian popes Bishops of Anagni Year of birth missing 897 deaths 9th-century archbishops 9th-century popes Deaths by strangulation Heads of government who were later imprisoned Burials at St. Peter's Basilica