Stephen VI
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Pope Stephen VI (; died August 897) was the
bishop of Rome The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...
and ruler of the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
from 22 May 896 until his death in August 897. He is best known for instigating the
Cadaver Synod The Cadaver Synod (also called the Cadaver Trial; ) is the name commonly given to the ecclesiastical trial of Pope Formosus, who had been dead for about seven months, in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome during January 897. The trial wa ...
, which ultimately led to his downfall and death.


Family and career

Stephen was born in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. His father was a priest named John. Stephen was made bishop of Anagni by
Pope Formosus Pope Formosus (896) was the pope and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 891 until his death on 4 April 896. His reign as Pope was troubled, marked by interventions in power struggles over the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Kingdom of ...
, possibly against his will.


Pontificate

The circumstances of his election as
pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
are unclear, but he was sponsored by one of the powerful Roman families, the
dukes of Spoleto The Duke of Spoleto was the ruler of Spoleto and most of central Italy outside the Papal States during the Early and High Middle Ages (c. 500 – 1300). The first dukes were appointed by the Lombard king, but they were independent in practice. Th ...
, 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 The Cadaver Synod (also called the Cadaver Trial; ) is the name commonly given to the ecclesiastical trial of Pope Formosus, who had been dead for about seven months, in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome during January 897. The trial wa ...
in January 897. Pressure from the Spoleto contingent and Stephen's fury with Formosus probably precipitated this extraordinary event. 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 denominations, such as the Cathol ...
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 Portus, 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 ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, 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 the R ...
. 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. In either 888, when his father was crowned King of France, or 889, when his f ...
, who had recovered their authority in Rome at the beginning of 897 by renouncing their broader claims in
central Italy Central Italy ( or ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region with code ITI, and a European Parliament constituency. It has 11,704,312 inhabita ...
, 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, page 79.


See also

* List of popes who died violently *'' The Bad Popes''


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