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Pope Formosus

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Pope
Formosus
Bishop of Rome
1493 drawing of Pope Formosus by Bartolomeo Sacchi
1493 drawing of Pope Formosus by Bartolomeo Sacchi
Church Catholic Church
Papacy began 6 October 891
Papacy ended 4 April 896
Predecessor Stephen V
Successor Boniface VI
Personal details
Born c. 816
Rome, Papal States
Died 4 April 896 (aged c. 80)
Rome, Papal States

Pope Formosus (c. 816 – 4 April 896) was the pope and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 891 until his death on 4 April 896. His reign as Pope was troubled, marked by interventions in power struggles over the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Kingdom of West Francia, and the Holy Roman Empire. Because he sided with Arnulf of Carinthia against Lambert of Spoleto, Formosus's remains were exhumed and put on trial in the Cadaver Synod. Several of his immediate successors were primarily preoccupied by the controversial legacy of his pontificate, noting his desertion from the diocese in Portus to pursue personal ambition in Rome. Formosus was seen as failing to uphold the ideals of the Church, which is why Stephen VI judged him for moving into an elevated role while holding another.[1] Due to these controversies, no other pope has ever taken on the papal name Formosus.

Early career

Formosus was born around 816 within the Papal States of Italy in the area surrounding Rome.[2] Formosus's career became notable within the Church when he was appointed as cardinal bishop of the suburbicarian diocese of Portus in 864.[3] Shortly thereafter, Pope Nicholas I sent Formosus as a legate to Bulgaria in 866, where he served as a papal envoy and participated in the ordinations of Slavic followers of Cyril and Methodius of Rome. In 867, Boris I requested that Formosus be named archbishop of Bulgaria due to his connection with the bishop. The Church did not allow Formosus to change sees as Formosus already held the position of Archbishop of Portus. The transfer of sees went against canon law, as the Church viewed archbishops similarly to the way they viewed marriage. Bishops could not change sees unless it served the best interests of the Church, and Formosus's transfer was seen as transmigration, or the transfer of episcopal sees in the pursuit of personal ambition.[4] Formosus was looking to expand his own influence within the Church, and there were few bishoprics within Europe as it was a vast wilderness with villages few and far between. If he were to take the position as bishop to Bulgaria, not only would Formosus be enforcing the Catholic Church's interests in an area near to the Orthodox Byzantine Empire, but he would also have control over a larger amount of land than his original see of Portus. He also undertook diplomatic missions to France in 869 and 872.[5]

Upon the death of Holy Roman Emperor Louis II of Italy in 875, the nobles elected his uncle Charles the Bald as the new emperor. Formosus conveyed Pope John VIII's invitation for Charles to come to Rome to be crowned. Charles took the crown at Pavia and received the imperial insignia in Rome on 29 December. The supporters of Louis' other uncle, Louis the German, and of Louis's widow, Engelberga, opposed the coronation. Fearing political retribution, many of them left Rome surreptitiously. Formosus fled to Tours.[6] On 19 April, John VIII called a synod which ordered Formosus and other papal officials to return to Rome. When Formosus did not comply, he was removed from the ranks of the clergy and excommunicated on the grounds that he had deserted his diocese without papal permission, and had aspired to the position of archbishop of Bulgaria. Additional charges included the accusations that he had opposed the emperor; "conspired with certain iniquitous men and women for the destruction of the Papal See"; and had "despoiled the cloisters" in Rome.[6] The condemnation of Formosus and others was announced in July 876.[7] In 878 the sentence of excommunication was withdrawn after he promised never to return to Rome or exercise his priestly functions.[8]

As early as 872 he was a candidate for the papacy; Johann Peter Kirsch suggests that the Pope may have viewed him as a potential rival.[7] In 883, John VIII's successor, Pope Marinus I, restored Formosus to his suburbicarian diocese of Portus. In the Cadaver synod, one of the key accusations made by Pope Stephen VI against Formosus was that he abandoned his seat as Bishop of Porto to become the Bishop of Rome.[9] This act was monumental because it had rarely been done, and the oath was seen as a serious matter. Following the reigns of Marinus, Pope Adrian III (884–885), and Pope Stephen V (885–891), Formosus was unanimously elected Pope on 6 October 891.[6]

Papacy

Photian Schism

Shortly after his election, Formosus was asked to intervene in the Patriarchate of Constantinople, where Photios I had been ejected and Stephen I, the son of Emperor Basil I, had taken the office. Popes had taken on more secular authority in Rome during the Ninth Century due to a decline of Roman urban administration.[10] Formosus refused to reinstate those who had been ordained by Photios, as his predecessor, Stephen V, had nullified all of Photios's ordinations. However, the Eastern bishops determined to recognize Photios's ordinations nonetheless.

Formosus simultaneously involved himself in the dispute between Odo of Paris and Charles the Simple for the French throne. Siding with Charles, Formosus zealously exhorted Odo to cede the throne to Charles, to no avail.

Guy III of Spoleto

Formosus later involved himself in another conflict, in which Arnulf of Carinthia, the King of Germany, was marching through Tuscany on his way to Rome, and was met with the forces of Guy III of Spoleto, now the Roman Emperor, at the gates of Ivrea.[11] Arnulf took the city after a siege, which began a feud between the two powerful figures. Formosus had trouble building a relationship with Guy, which caused him to become deeply distrustful of Guy and begin to look for support against him. This act went against those of the previous popes, when the papacy's rule was dependent on their relationship with, and the image of, the emperor.[11] To bolster his position, Guy forced Formosus to crown his son Lambert as co-emperor in April 892. Stephen V and Formosus became the first two popes to crown a non-Carolingian man Emperor of Rome in almost a century, presenting the title to Guy III, the marquis of Spoleto, and later to his son, Lambert. The following year, however, Formosus persuaded Arnulf of Carinthia to advance to Rome and liberate Italy from Guy's control, as the faction of “Spoletans” aligned themselves with Agiltrude, Guy’s wife. In 894, Arnulf's army occupied all the country north of the Po River. Guy died in December, leaving his son Lambert in the care of his mother, Agiltrude, who was an opponent of the Carolingians. In autumn 895, Arnulf undertook his second Italian campaign, progressing to Rome by February and seizing the city from Agiltrude by force on 21 February. The following day, Formosus crowned Arnulf as emperor in St. Peter's Basilica. Formosus successfully protected his position in the papacy by orchestrating Arnulf's invasion. The new emperor moved against Spoleto but was struck with paralysis on the way and was unable to continue the campaign.

Muslim Incursions

During his papacy, Formosus also had to contend with the Saracens, who were attacking Lazio.[12] While Muslims encroached upon Christian territory, Formosus took a staunch anti-diplomatic approach as pope, supporting violent military campaigns to eliminate the foreign threat and reinstate the Papacy’s influence over the area. Emperor Guy led these campaigns until his death in 894, and other rulers took up the cause after him.[13] On 4 April 896, Formosus died.[14] The cause of his death remains unclear. He was succeeded by Boniface VI, whose papacy lasted 15 days.[14]

Legacy

Stephen VI, the successor of Boniface VI, influenced by Lambert and Agiltrude, sat in judgment of Formosus. In 897, nine months after Formosus's death, in what is known as the Cadaver Synod, where the pope’s body was exhumed and forced to stand trial. The Synod was an attempt for the church to distance itself from the memory of Formosus, and was an example of violence being used to destroy the symbolism behind the former pope. The corpse was disinterred, clad in papal vestments, and seated on a throne to face all the charges from John VIII.[15] The verdict stated that the deceased pope had been unworthy of the pontificate, and the damnatio memoriae was applied to Formosus. All of Formosus's measures and acts were annulled, and the orders conferred by him were declared invalid. The papal vestments were torn from his body, the three fingers from his right hand he had used in blessings were cut off, and the corpse was thrown into the Tiber, later to be retrieved by fishermen. In certain historiographical essays, such as Dyan Elliott's "Violence Against the Dead: The Negative Translation and ‘Damnatio Memoriae’ in the Middle Ages," scholars depict the body of Pope Formosus as a victim of ecclesial politics and personal grudges,[16] while others prefer to present Pope Stephen VI as a more benevolent figure attempting to correct the mistakes made by his predecessor.

Following the death of Stephen VI, Formosus's body was reinterred in St Peter's Basilica. Further trials of this nature against deceased persons were banned, but Sergius III (904–911) reapproved the decisions against Formosus. Sergius demanded the re-ordination of the bishops consecrated by Formosus, who in turn had conferred orders on many other clerics, causing great confusion. Later, the validity of Formosus's pontificate was re-reinstated. The decision of Sergius with respect to Formosus has subsequently been universally disregarded by the Catholic Church, since Formosus's condemnation had little to do with piety and more to do with politics.

Primary Source Account - Liudprand of Cremona

Few primary sources document the Cadaver Synod.[17] The most well-known account comes from Liudprand of Cremona (c. 920-972), a historian, diplomat, and later Bishop of Cremona. His book, Antapodosis (Retribution) offers a secondhand account of the events, written roughly 60 years after the synod took place. Composed for the records of Bishop Recemundus of Elvira, Liudprand included Formosus and his posthumous trial as part of a wider analysis on late-Carolingian era Italy.[18]

Liudprand wrote Antapodosis during a period of exile from the court of King Berengar II of Italy. As Berengar held very loose familial connection to the Carolingian dynasty, his legitimacy relied on a perception of longstanding social stability. Liudprand sought to ruin this perception and discredit his rival. His work connected the desecration of Formosus’ body to a corrupt and chaotic church protected by Berengar’s predecessors. As a result, historians recognize that the coverage of the Cadaver Synod in Antapodosis likely contains added details that exaggerate the savagery of the event; however, the account remains a leading piece of scholarship for interpreting the trial due to the rarity of viable alternatives.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Pope Formosus (891-896)

The pontificate of this pope belongs to that era of strife for political supremacy in Italy, which succeeded the disruption of the Carlovingian empire. Formosus was probably a native of Rome, and must have been born about 816, since, at his death, he is characterized by Vulgarius as an old man of eighty. The earliest historical information we possess concerning him is his nomination by Nicholas I as Cardinal-Bishop of Porto in 864. Nicholas must have reposed great confidence in the zeal and ability of the cardinal, since, when the Bulgarian prince Bogoris dispatched an embassy to Rome in 866 to submit a series of questions for papal decision, the pope appointed Formosus and Bishop Paulus of Populonia as his legates to Bulgaria. Formosus found such favour at the Bulgarian court that Bogoris petitioned Nicholas in 867 to appoint none other than him Archbishop of Bulgaria. To this proposal, however, Nicholas did not accede, since the canons forbade a bishop to leave his own see to undertake the government of another diocese, and Formosus returned to Rome. Bogoris afterwards renewed his petition to Hadrian II (867-872), the successor of Nicholas, but with no more favourable result. In 869, Hadrian sent Formosus with another bishop to France to assist the local bishops in allaying the domestic strife between King Lothair and his wife Theutberga. Although the death of Lothair on his return from Italy (8 Aug., 869) left the mission without an object, it gave rise to fresh complications among the Carlovingian rulers, and Formosus was sent with Bishop Gauderich of Velletri to Trent in 872, where Empress Engelberga and Louis the German were discussing the question of succession, Louis II having no male heir. At first Pope John VIII (872-882) reposed trust in Formosus, and, on the death of Louis II (875), employed him with two other bishops to convey his invitation to Charles the Bald, King of France, to come to Rome and receive the imperial crown from the hands of the pope. Charles obeyed the call, was crowned emperor on Christmas Day, 875, and before returning home, appointed Dukes Lambert and Guido of Spoleto to assist the pope against the Saracens. In 871, these nobles had been deprived of their dignities for conspiring against Louis II; but they were restored by Charles.

In the pope's entourage there were many who viewed with disapproval the coronation of Charles, and favoured the widowed Empress Engelberga and Louis the German. Fearing severe chastisement, these political opponents of the pope left Rome secretly to seek safety elsewhere. Cardinal Formosus was among the fugitives, as he dreaded the anger of the pope without knowing exactly whereby he had incurred the papal resentment. From the fact that Formosus had been sent by the pope as ambassador to Charles and now directed his flight to Abbot Hugo at Tours in Western France, it must be inferred that he was not fundamentally opposed to the coronation of Charles. He cannot, however, have been in sympathy with the pope's political views, and consequently feared lest he might share the fate of John's opponents at the papal court. As early as 872 he had been a candidate for the papal see, so that John possibly viewed him in the light of an opponent. On the flight of Formosus and the other papal officials, John convened a synod, 19 April, which ordered the fugitives to return to Rome. As they refused to obey this injunction, they were condemned by a second synod on 30 June. Against Formosus, should he fail to return, sentence of excommunication and deposition were pronounced by the first synod, the charges being that, impelled by ambition, he had aspired to the Archbishopric of Bulgaria and the Chair of Peter, had opposed the emperor and had deserted his diocese without papal permission. It follows from this that John saw in Formosus a rival whom he gravely suspected. The second synod of 30 June, after several new accusations had been brought against Formosus (e. g. that he had despoiled the cloisters in Rome, had performed the divine service in spite of the interdict, had conspired with certain iniquitous men and women for the destruction of the papal see), excluded him from the ranks of the clergy. Such charges, made against a man who was religious, moral, ascetic, and intellectual can only be referred to party spirit.

The condemnation of Formosus and the others was announced to the emperor and the Synod of Ponthion in July. In 878 John himself came to France, and the deposition of Formosus, who appeared in person, was confirmed at the synod of Troyes. According to the acts of the synod, which are however of doubtful authenticity, the sentence of excommunication against Formosus was withdrawn, after he had promised on oath never to return to Rome or exercise his priestly functions. The succeeding years were spent by Formosus at Sens. John's successor Marinus (882-884) released Formosus from his oath, recalled him to Rome, and in 883 restored him to his Diocese of Porto. During the short pontificates of Marinus and his successor Hadrian III (884-885), and under Stephen V (885-891), we learn nothing important concerning Formosus. In September, 891, he was elected to succeed Stephen. Under Stephen V the political horizon had become very threatening. Charles the Fat had reunited the Frankish kingdom in 885, but after his deposition and death in 887, Arnulf of Carinthia, the natural son of Karlmann and the nominee of the Germans, was unable to preserve its unity. In the western kingdom, Count Eudes of Paris Came forward as king; in Provence (Arelate), Louis, son of Boso; in North Burgundy (Jura), Rudolf, son of the Count of Auxerre and grandson of Louis the Pious; in Italy, Berengar of Friaul. The last-mentioned was opposed and defeated by Duke Guido (Wido) of Spoleto, who thereupon took possession of Lombardy, and assumed the title of king. Ruling now over the greater portion of Italy, Guido was a very dangerous neighbour for the papal states, especially as the Archdukes of Spoleto had been on many occasions engaged in conflict with the popes. Stephen V (q. v.) had unwillingly crowned Guido emperor, as King Arnulf had been unable to accept the pope's invitation to come to Rome. Consequently Formosus, after he had been unanimously elected pope by clergy and people, found himself compelled to recognize Guido's dignity and to crown him and his son Lambert Roman Emperor on April, 892. Important ecclesiastical questions claimed the pope's attention immediately after his elevation. In Constantinople, the patriarch Photius had been ejected and Stephen, the son of Emperor Basilius, elevated to the patriarchate. Archbishop Stylian of Neo-Cæsarea and the clerical opponents of Photius had written to Stephen V, requesting dispensation and confirmation for those clerics who had recognized Photius only under compulsion and had received orders at his hands. In his reply to this petition (892) Formosus insisted on a distinction of persons; indulgence might be readily shown in the case of the laity, but in the case of clerics such a course was attended with difficulties; the rule must be the sentence of the Eighth General Council (Can. iv), viz, that Photius neither had been nor was a bishop, and all clerics ordained or appointed by him must resign their office; the papal legates, Landulf and Romanus, were to consult with Stylian and Theophylactus of Ancyra on the matter. In this instance, Formosus only corroborated the decisions of his predecessors, Nicholas I and Hadrian II.

A matter of a pressing character, affecting the Church in Germany, next called for the papal decision. A quarrel had broken out between Archbishop Hermann of Cologne and Archbishop Adalgar of Hamburg concerning the Bishopric of Bremen, which Hermann claimed as suffragan. Formosus decided, in accordance with the decrees of the Synod of Frankfort (892), that Bremen should remain under the Archbishop of Hamburg until new dioceses were erected; Adalgar was to repair to the provincial synod of the Archbishop of Cologne. Formosus viewed with sorrow the political troubles that disturbed the old Frankish kingdom of the Carlovingian dynasty. In the contest between Udes (Odo) of Paris and Charles the Simple for the French crown, the pope, influenced by the Archbishop of Reims, sided with Charles and called on Arnold, the German king, to support him. The political position in Italy directly affected the pope as head of the ecclesiastical estates, and consequently his independence as head of the Church. Emperor Guido of Spoleto, the oppressor of the Holy See and the papal territories, was too near Rome; and the position of the papacy seemed very similar to its condition in the time of the Lombard kingdom, when Stephen II summoned Pepin to his assistance. Formosus secretly persuaded Arnulf to advance to Rome and liberate Italy; and, in 894, Arnulf made his first expedition, subjugating all the country north of the Po. Guido died in December of the same year, leaving his son Lambert, whom Formosus had crowned emperor, in the Care of his mother Agiltrude, the implacable opponent of the Carlovingians. In the autumn of 895 Arnulf undertook his second Italian campaign, and in February, 896, stood before the walls of Rome. Agiltrude had fortified herself in the city, but Arnulf succeeded in entering and was solemnly crowned by the pope. The new emperor thence marched against Spoleto to besiege Lambert and his mother, but was struck with paralysis on the way and was unable to continue the campaign. Shortly afterwards (4 April, 896) Formosus died. He was succeeded by Boniface VI, who reigned only fifteen days.

Under Stephen VI, the successor of Boniface, Emperor Lambert and Agiltrude recovered their authority in Rome at the beginning of 897, having renounced their claims to the greater part of Upper and Central Italy. Agiltrude being determined to wreak vengeance on her opponent even after his death, Stephen VI lent himself to the revolting scene of sitting in judgment on his predecessor, Formosus. At the synod convened for that purpose, he occupied the chair; the corpse, clad in papal vestments, was withdrawn from the sarcophagus and seated on a throne; close by stood a deacon to answer in its name, all the old charges formulated against Formosus under John VIII being revived. The decision was that the deceased had been unworthy of the pontificate, which he could not have validly received since he was bishop of another see. All his measures and acts were annulled, and all the orders conferred by him were declared invalid. The papal vestments were torn from his body; the three fingers which the dead pope had used in consecrations were severed from his right hand; the corpse was cast into a grave in the cemetery for strangers, to be removed after a few days and consigned to the Tiber. In 897 the second successor of Stephen had the body, which a monk had drawn from the Tiber, reinterred with full honours in St. Peter's. He furthermore annulled at a synod the decisions of the court of Stephen VI, and declared all orders conferred by Formosus valid. John IX confirmed these acts at two synods, of which the first was held at Rome and the other at Ravenna (898). On the other hand Sergius III (904-911) approved in a Roman synod the decisions of Stephen's synod against Formosus; all who had received orders from the latter were to be treated as lay persons, unless they sought reordination. Sergius and his party meted out severe treatment to the bishops consecrated by Formosus, who in turn had meanwhile conferred orders on many other clerics, a policy which gave rise to the greatest confusion. Against these decisions many books were written, which demonstrated the validity of the consecration of Formosus and of the orders conferred by him (see AUXILIUS).

JAFFÉ, Regesta Pontificum Romanorum, 2nd ed., I (Leipzig, 1885), 435-39; DÜMMLER, Gesta Berengarii (Halle, 1871); IDEM, Auxilius und Vulgarius (Leipzig, 1866); IDEM, Geschichte des ostfränkischen Reiches (3 vols., 2nd ad., Leipzig, 1887-88); LAPÔTRE, L'Europe et le Saint Siège a l'époque carolingienne, I: Le pape Jean VIII (Paris, 1895); DUCHESNE, Les premiers temps de l'Etat pontifical (Paris, 1898), 153 sqq.; SALTET, Les réordinations, étude sur le sacrement de l'Ordre (Paris, 1907), 152 sqq.; HEFELE, Conciliengesch. (2nd ed., Freiburg, 1879), IV, 561 sqq.; LANGEN, Geschichte der römischen Kirche, III (Bonn, 1892), 295 sqq.; REUMONT, Geschichte der Stadt Rom, II (Berlin, 1867), 222 sqq.

References

  1. Back to citation Anlezark, Daniel. "Living on the Past". Religion and Literature. 51 (1): 155–166 – via JSTOR.
  2. Back to citation Kirsch 1909, p. 139.
  3. Back to citation Kirsch 1909, p. 139; Mann 1910, p. 46.
  4. Back to citation Heath, Christopher; Houghton, Robert (2022). Conflict and Violence in Medieval Italy 568-1154. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. pp. 185–197. ISBN 978 94 6298 517 9.
  5. Back to citation Kirsch 1909, pp. 139–140.
  6. Back to citation occurrence 6.0 Back to citation occurrence 6.1 Back to citation occurrence 6.2 Kirsch 1909.
  7. Back to citation occurrence 7.0 Back to citation occurrence 7.1 Kirsch 1909, p. 140.
  8. Back to citation Mann 1906, p. 357: "And it is not unlikely that it was because John VIII. saw that Formosus might easily become the tool of designing men – or that at least the faction which had secured his interest might cloak their nefarious plans under the good name of the Bishop of Porto – that he forbade him to come to Rome again."
  9. Back to citation Jégou, Lauren (2015). "Competition over a corpse. The trial of Pope Formosus and its implications (896-904)". Historical Review (675): 499–500.
  10. Back to citation Schoolman, Edward (2023). How Medieval Europe was Ruled (1st ed.). London, England and New York, NY: Routledge. pp. 213–214. ISBN 978-1-003-21323-9.
  11. Back to citation occurrence 11.0 Back to citation occurrence 11.1 Moore, Michael E. (2014). Ecclesia et Violentia: Violence against the Church and Violence within the Church in the Middle Ages. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars. pp. 184–208. ISBN 978-1-4438-6659-0.
  12. Back to citation Wickham 2014, p. 22.
  13. Back to citation Wolf, Kordula (2022). "'Nec patiaris populum Domini ab illis divinitus fulminandis Agarenis discerpi': Handling 'Saracen' Violence in Ninth-Century Southern Italy". In Heath, Christopher; Houghton, Robert (eds.). Conflict and Violence in Medieval Italy 568-1154. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. pp. 164–165. ISBN 9789462985179.
  14. Back to citation occurrence 14.0 Back to citation occurrence 14.1 Kirsch 1909, p. 141.
  15. Back to citation Moore, Michael Edward (2014). "The Attack on Pope Formosus: Papal History in an Age of Resentment (875-897)". In Kotecki, Radoslaw (ed.). Ecclesia et Violentia: Violence against the Church and Violence within the Church in the Middle Ages. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 208. ISBN 9781443866590.
  16. Back to citation Elliott, Dyan. "Violence against the Dead: The Negative Translation of "Damnatio Memoriae" in the Middle Ages". Speculum. 92 (4): 1020–1055. Archived from the original on 3 December 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  17. Back to citation Barritt, David (2022). "Formosus and the 'Synod of the Corpse'". In Heath, Christopher; Houghton, Robert (eds.). Conflict and Violence in Medieval Italy 568-1154. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. p. 186. ISBN 9789462985179.
  18. Back to citation of Cremona, Liudprand (2007). "Antapodosis". In Squatriti, Paolo (ed.). The Complete Works of Liudprand of Cremona [Retribution]. Washington D.C.: Catholic University of America. pp. 64–66. ISBN 9780813215068.

Bibliography

Further reading

  • Bautz, Friedrich Wilhelm (1990). "Formosus, Papst". In Bautz, Friedrich Wilhelm (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (in German). Vol. 2. Hamm, Germany: Bautz. cols. 70–71. ISBN 978-3-88309-032-0.
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