The Corpse on Trial

"The Corpse on Trial – The day the pope put a skeleton on the witness stand" investigates the absolute nadir of the medieval papacy: the "Cadaver Synod" of 897 AD. Pope Stephen VI, consumed by political hatred, ordered the body of his predecessor, Pope Formosus, to be exhumed, dressed in full pontifical vestments, and propped up on a throne to stand trial for perjury. Historian Arthur P. Hale details the gruesome spectacle in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, where a deacon was assigned to answer for the silent, rotting corpse. The book explores the violent factionalism of Rome's "Iron Age" and the horrific aftermath: the body was mutilated and thrown into the Tiber River, only to be fished out by monks. "The Corpse on Trial" is a true story that reads like dark fiction. It serves as a stark reminder of how the lust for power can drive leaders to insanity, turning sacred institutions into theaters of the macabre.