Cadaver Synod
A pope puts his predecessor's corpse on trial
Pope Stephen VI had the body of Pope Formosus, dead for nine months, exhumed, propped on a throne and tried, with a deacon answering for him. The corpse was found guilty, its blessing fingers were cut off and it was thrown into the Tiber; within months outraged Romans deposed Stephen himself.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 9th century
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In 897 a pope put his predecessor's corpse on trial. Formosus was dug up nine months after his death, robed and propped on a throne, with a deacon answering for him. The verdict: guilty. Share →
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Eastern Europe & Russia
- 882 Oleg takes Kiev — 15 years earlier
- c. 895 Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin — 2 years earlier
Africa
- c. 900 The bronzes of Igbo-Ukwu — 3 years later
- 909 Proclamation of the Fatimid Caliphate — 12 years later
Americas
- c. 900 Rise of Chichen Itza — 3 years later
Alive at the time
- Oleg the Wise (aged 52)
- Alfred the Great (aged 48)
- Igor of Kiev (aged 19)
- Æthelstan (aged 3)
- Edward the Elder (aged 23)