We judge, we judge the dead, the lamp-dritsa-gop-tsa-tsa …
It should be noted that the history of the church did not know such incredible mockery either before or after. This shocking event went down in history forever as unparalleled, unparalleled: at the end of the 9th century (897), Stephen VI became the new Pope. And he decided to arrange a trial against his predecessor, the late Bishop Formosa. For this, the dead man was dug out of the grave, put on the papal vestments and … again put on the throne in the Vatican.
The new pope disliked the previous one and his policies for purely personal reasons, but … his revenge surpassed all boundaries - both reasonable and not. Stephen ordered the half-decayed corpse of his predecessor to be placed on the throne and subjected him to posthumous interrogation, during which the deacon hiding behind the throne answered for the deceased, imitating his voice. The dead Formosa was charged with the following charges: treachery, the performance of illegal ordinances, the wedding of the bastard, and much more.
As a result of the "cadaveric synod", Formosus' election to the papacy was declared invalid, his decrees were canceled, and he himself was found guilty of the aforementioned heap of terrible sins. The "crime" was followed by "punishment": a demonstrative execution was staged over the corpse - they cut off the fingers on the hand, which the Pope used to bless the flock during his lifetime. After that, the dead Formosa was tied to a horse by the legs, dragged across Rome and thrown into the Tiber River …
Stefan was very pleased and happy, but … very shortly. Already in the process of mocking the corpse of Formosa, the flock showed dissatisfaction with such a "judgment seat", and when the Lateran temple was suddenly shaken by an earthquake … Rome rebelled. Pope Stephen VI was first imprisoned and then … strangled. Without waiting for the trial. In general, from the series "the award found a hero" …
His successor Theodore II rehabilitated Formosa and reburied the body of the pontiff, dressed in papal vestments, with honors. A year later, Pope John IX forbade the further trial of the dead, subjected the Corpse Synod to formal condemnation and ordered the burning of all documents related to it. But history still retained the memory of this.
So that people know - there were such things … even at the level of the popes.