One Hundred Twenty-sixth Pope: Leo VII - 0 comments
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
One Hundred Twenty-second Pope: John X - 0 comments
John X had a decently long run as Pope (at least for the era) - from 914-928. His career was mostly marked by political wranglings.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Friday, February 09, 2007
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Monday, February 05, 2007
Out of Order Popes! 111 & 113 - 1 comments
Popes 111 and 113 strangely overlap! It's all got to do with a strange, true bit of history referred to as the Cadaver Synod.
In a weird bit of political wrangling, the 111th pope, Formosus, was exhumed from his grave by a successor, Stephen VI, and put on trial for various crimes. Stephen dressed the body in its old papal vestments, and sat it on a throne to face the accusations. Formosus didn't put up a very good defense (being, you know, dead and all), and was found guilty.
The punishment was pretty gruesome as well; Wikipedia says, "Stephen had the body stripped of its papal vestments, cut off the three fingers of his right hand used for benedictions, and declared all of his ordinations invalid. The body was finally interred in a graveyard for foreigners, only to be dug up once again, tied to weights, and cast into the Tiber."
After a few years, later popes overturned the decisions, and had Formosus' body buried in St. Peter's. History: stranger than fiction.
