1. The Ouster of Pope Stephen VI
Stephen VI was clearly unhinged, and his bizarre behavior led to widespread rioting. The rioters got a hold of Stephen VI, and he was stripped of his papal vestments, imprisoned, and strangled to death in his cell. Stephen VI and the Cadaver Synod might have been the era’s weirdest pope and papal episode, but neither would prove to be the worst in a period that is often described as the nadir of the papacy. In the following few decades, before serious reform efforts were finally made, the woeful list of Stephen VI’s successors would include Pope Sergius III, who murdered two predecessors, and fathered an illegitimate child (who would go on to become pope). Another pope, John XII, became a serial predator and murderer, and transformed the papal palace into a de facto brothel. Yet another, Benedict IX, sold the papacy in order to fund his retirement.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
Atlas Obscura – The Cadaver Synod: When a Pope’s Corpse Was Put on Trial
History Collection – The War Fought Over a Bucket, and Other Medieval Warfare Facts
Llewellyn, Peter – Rome in the Dark Ages (1970)
Medievalists – The Cadaver Synod: Low Point in the History of the Papacy
Vintage News – The Pope Who Exhumed the Body of His Predecessor, Dressed It, and Put it On Trial
