Pope. He had been consecrated Bishop of Anagni, possibly against his will, by Pope Formosus, and became pope about May, 896. Whether induced by evil passion or perhaps, more probably, compelled by the Emperor Lambert, he caused the body of Pope Formosus to be exhumed, and in January, 897, to be placed before an unwilling synod of the Roman clergy. The corpse was then stripped of its sacred vestments, deprived of two fingers of its right hand, clad in the garb of a layman, and ultimately thrown into the Tiber. In a few months an insurrection removed Stephen from office. Deprived of papal insignia, he was imprisoned and strangled, but his party found another leader in the murderous pope Sergius III. Twelve years of blood, intrigue, and terror followed.
Pope. He had been consecrated Bishop of Anagni, possibly against his will, by Pope Formosus, and became pope about May, 896. Whether induced by evil passion or perhaps, more probably, compelled by the Emperor Lambert, he caused the body of Pope Formosus to be exhumed, and in January, 897, to be placed before an unwilling synod of the Roman clergy. The corpse was then stripped of its sacred vestments, deprived of two fingers of its right hand, clad in the garb of a layman, and ultimately thrown into the Tiber. In a few months an insurrection removed Stephen from office. Deprived of papal insignia, he was imprisoned and strangled, but his party found another leader in the murderous pope Sergius III. Twelve years of blood, intrigue, and terror followed.
Bio by: MC
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