The Cadaver Synod: When the Pope Put a Corpse on Trial for Heresy
In January 897 AD, in the heart of the Vatican, one of the most grotesque spectacles in religious history unfolded. Pope Stephen VI ordered his predecessor’s rotting corpse exhumed, dressed in papal vestments, propped up on a throne, and put on trial for crimes against the Church. This macabre event, known as the Cadaver Synod, … Read more