1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,280 Speaker 1: Okay, I have a spooky image for you. Imagine a 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: dead pope dug up from his grave, dressed up and 3 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: put on trial for stuff he did in life. It 4 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: actually happened. It's the ultimate case of political rivalry. I'm 5 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: Patty Steele, dead pope on trial. Next on the backstory. 6 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: We're back with the backstory. I know you're saying, give 7 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: me a break, Patty, please, no politics. But did you 8 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: see Hamilton? I mean, think about it. Close to forty 9 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,159 Speaker 1: million people have loved it on stage or have streamed it. Now. 10 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:39,199 Speaker 1: The point is, when you don't feel personally invested in it, 11 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: political rivalry can be really entertaining, also deadly serious. For 12 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: Hamilton and his nemesis Aaron Burr. It ended with Pistols 13 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: at Dawn, the most infamous duel in American history, and 14 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: gave Broadway a massive hit. But political rivalries are nothing new. 15 00:00:57,480 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: Now you and I are going to take a trip 16 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: back into to the dark Ages, to one of the 17 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: most bizarre rivalries in human history, ending in a dead 18 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:14,759 Speaker 1: pope being put on trial. It's the ninth century and 19 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,759 Speaker 1: Rome is like a medieval soap opera on steroids. Pope 20 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,959 Speaker 1: Formoses had died in the year eight ninety six. But 21 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:25,200 Speaker 1: he was really powerful, and in fairness, he made some 22 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: questionable decisions, but he was still revered by followers, and 23 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: that really disturbed the new folks in power, including the 24 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: new Pope. I'll understand, in those days, this sort of 25 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: thing was not just a religious thing. It was about 26 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: the pope's pure political power. Up until the fifteen hundreds, 27 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: the pope actually had the power to choose the Holy 28 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: Roman Emperor, and that's where the whole mess grew hair. 29 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: For Moses had named an emperor who wasn't the first 30 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: choice of his detractors. So after his death, the new 31 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: people in power wanted to undo all of the edicts 32 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 1: he had proclaimed during his reign, including the choice of 33 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,959 Speaker 1: the emperor. But that meant they had to totally delegitimize 34 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: for Moses. They claimed that while in power, he had 35 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: committed some serious crimes. So what to do. I know, 36 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 1: Let's dig him up, put him in pope robes, and 37 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: literally put him on trial. Yeah, I'm serious. They exhumed 38 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: his body a year after his death, dragged his decomposed 39 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 1: remains to court, dressed him in his vestments, and propped 40 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,079 Speaker 1: him up on a throne, complete with all the other 41 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: pope type regalia. The trial itself was something out of 42 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: a horror movie or maybe the perfect Halloween party set up. 43 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:51,239 Speaker 1: Just imagine a bunch of furious clergy members crowded around 44 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: a rotting corpse, shouting accusations at it. They were intent 45 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: on erasing his time as pope from the record books. 46 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 1: So what were they accusing him of? Everything from perjury 47 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: to violating church canons, becoming the pope illegally, and basically 48 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 1: being unworthy of being a pope in the first place, 49 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: so again they could undo everything he'd done on the job. 50 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: Here's my favorite part. This was actually referred to as 51 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 1: the cadaver synod or trial. They shouted questions at him 52 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: about the accusations. A deacon had been appointed to answer 53 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: those questions, most likely not really doing a great job 54 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: of representing the dead. Guy onlooker said he had to 55 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: be very careful for fear of representing Foremoses too well 56 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: and enraging those who ordered the trial. They said, as 57 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: the trial took place, handlers of Formoses's body had to 58 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: prop it up and kind of move it around in 59 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: response to questions, how weird is that? And the craziness continued. 60 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: Midway through the trial, an earthquake shook the room. Both 61 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 1: sides declared it as a sign from God in support 62 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: of them. Now, at the end of the trial, Formosis 63 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: was found guilty of all charges. Big surprise there, right, 64 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: But that's not all. They actually overturned his papacy and 65 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: they declared his papal acts null and void. Okay, imagine 66 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: that happening today. A courtroom where a judge not only 67 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: convicts a corpse sitting there in the flesh, well not 68 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:25,720 Speaker 1: in the flesh exactly, but of wrongdoing and then invalidates 69 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,359 Speaker 1: all the decisions the individual made when alive. So next 70 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: came the punishment phase. Can't execute him because he's already dead. 71 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: So after the trial, Formoss's body was tied to weights 72 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: and tossed into the Tiber River. That was the traditional 73 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: Roman burial for the worst criminals, as well as rulers 74 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: who had fallen out of favor. But first they removed 75 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: the three fingers on his right hand that he had 76 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: used for blessings. All of this to prevent his body 77 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,680 Speaker 1: from becoming a holy relic. Now, ancient churches all over 78 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:04,040 Speaker 1: Italy still have relics full body or body parts of saints, 79 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 1: popes and other religious figures. He'll even find fingers in 80 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: some of them. But this wasn't the end of his 81 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,280 Speaker 1: very busy after life. His body didn't rest peacefully at 82 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 1: the bottom of the river. Despite being weighted down. His 83 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,720 Speaker 1: corpse eventually washed up on the riverbank and was retrieved 84 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: by a fisherman. Some said it began to perform miracles. 85 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:29,279 Speaker 1: The public went nuts, and the guy who had ordered 86 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 1: the cadaver synod was thrown in jail, where he was 87 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 1: eventually strangled to death. This gets more and more like 88 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:38,800 Speaker 1: a Game of Throne storyline. Right by the end of 89 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 1: the year, the next pope re established for Moses's reputation 90 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:46,480 Speaker 1: and his edicts and ordered him reburied in Saint Peter's 91 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: Basilica alongside every other pope. He also banned for all 92 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: time any more trials of corpses. Thank god. His fellow 93 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: clergyman said, Okay, maybe he's the real deal after all, 94 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,599 Speaker 1: and they declared him a martyr. So if you're still 95 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: asking if you could put the corpse of a dead 96 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,359 Speaker 1: pope on trial, the answer is you could, but not 97 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: anymore since the church outlawed cadaver trials eleven hundred years ago. 98 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: I'm Patty Steele. The Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia 99 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 1: and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our 100 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,840 Speaker 1: executive producer is Steve Goldstein of Amplified Media. We're out 101 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: with new episodes twice a week. Thanks for listening to 102 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: the Backstory, the pieces of history you didn't know you 103 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: needed to know.