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The "trial" was a grotesque and obscene farce. The pope paced backwards and forwards and shrieked at the corpse, declaring it guilty. A deacon, standing beside the decomposing body of the ex-pope, answered on its behalf. In this macabre incident, today piously called the "Cadaver Synod", the deceased pope was duly condemned, stripped of his vestments, three fingers cut from his right hand and his remains dumped into the River Tiber. "In this disgusting business, he [Pope Stephen VII (VI)] cannot be excused for what followed. In declaring the dead pope deposed he also annulled all his acts, including his ordinations. His grim and grisly role provoked a violent reaction in Rome, and in late July or early August Pope Stephen was imprisoned and later strangled." (The Popes: A Concise Biographical History, ibid., p. 160) Theodora then married Guido, Marquis of Tuscany, and together they carried out a coup d'état against John X. Theodora died suddenly by suspected poisoning, and John X entered into a bitter quarrel with Marozia and the leading nobles of Rome. John had brought his brother Peter to Rome, raised him to the rank of nobility, and heaped upon him the profitable offices which the elder nobles had come to regard as their preserve. It was an internal struggle for power. The nobles, led by Marozia, drove Peter, Pope John and their troops from the city. The pope and his brother increased their army and returned to Rome, but a body of Marozia's men cut their way into the Lateran Palace and murdered Peter before the pope's eyes. John was captured, declared deposed in May 928 and smothered to death with a pillow in the Castel Sant’ Angelo. Marozia and her faction then appointed Leo VI (928) the new pope, but replaced him seven months later with Stephen VII (VII). He ruled for two years and then Marozia gave the papacy to her son, John XI (c. 910-936; pope 931-35). He was illegitimately fathered by Pope Sergius III, as "confirmed by Flodoard, a reliable contemporary writer" (The Popes: A Concise Biographical History, ibid., p. 162). Sergius had previously taken the papacy by force with the help of Marozia's mother, Theodora. Both Theodora and Sergius took a leading part in the earlier outrage on the corpse of Formosus, and Sergius was later accused of murdering his two predecessors. The Church defended itself, but in doing so revealed that he wasn't the only pope sexually involved with Marozia: "It is commonly believed that Pope Sergius, although a middle- aged man, formed a union with the young Marozia and by her had a son, the future Pope John XI. Most of the information we have on the career of Marozia and the Roman scandals in which she and a series of popes were involved is derived from hostile sources and may be exaggerated." (The Popes: A Concise Biographical History, ibid.) Morbid in its realism, the mental limitations of ancient popes is thus shown. From these and similar displays, we understand why the monks at the Eulogomenopolis monastery, today called Monte Cassino, described the Asinarian Station (later renamed the Lateran Palace) as "an abode of wrath, a charnel-house...a place of exotic vice and crime". The Unholy Reign of the Whores Both Theodora and Sergius took a leading part in the earlier Bishop Liutprand of Cremona, whose Antapodosis treats papal outrage on the corpse of Formosus, and Sergius was later accused history from 886 to 950, left a remarkable picture of the vice of of murdering his two predecessors. The Church defended itself, the popes and their episcopal colleagues, maybe with a little but in doing so revealed that he wasn't the only pope sexually jealousy: "They hunted on horses with gold trappings, had rich involved with Marozia: banquets with dancing girls when the hunt was over, and retired "It is commonly believed that Pope Sergius, although a middle- with these shameless whores to beds with silk sheets and gold- aged man, formed a union with the young Marozia and by her had embroidered covers. All the Roman bishops were married, and a son, the future Pope John XI. Most of the information we have their wives made silk dresses out of the sacred vestments." Their on the career of Marozia and the Roman scandals in which she lovers were the leading noble ladies of the city, and "two and a series of popes were involved is derived from hostile voluptuous Imperial women", Theodora and her daughter sources and may be exaggerated." Marozia, "ruled the papacy of the tenth century" (Antapodosis, (The Popes: A Concise Biographical History, ibid.) ibid.). Renowned Vatican historian - : . — — ~ Cardinal Caesar Baronius (1538-1607) called it the "Rule of the Whores", which "really gave place to the even more scandalous rule of the whoremongers" (Annales Ecclesiastici, folio iii, Antwerp, 1597). All that Bishop Liutprand reveals in detail about Theodora is that she compelled a handsome young priest to reciprocate her passion for him and had him appointed Archbishop of Ravenna. Later, Theodora summoned her archiepiscopal lover from Ravenna and made him Pope John X (pope 914-928, d. 928). John X is chiefly remembered as a military commander. He took to the field in person against the Saracens and defeated them. He indulged in nepotism, or the enrichment of his family, and his conduct prepared the way for a deeper degradation of the papacy. He invited the Hungarians, who at this time were still half-civilised Asiatics, to come and fight his enemies and thus he brought a new and terrible plague . es . : . upon his country. He had no principles in This rare painting is reproduced from a 17th-century edition of Antapodosis, a his diplomatic, political or private conduct. 1,000-year-old text written by Bishop Liutprand of Cremona who died c. 972. It He spurned Theodora and enticed the purports to show Pope Stephen VII (VI) overseeing the exhumation of Pope charming young daughter of Hugh of Formosus's corpse in readiness for its trial. An interesting aspect of this painting is Provence into his papal bedroom. Spurned, the pope's headgear, reminiscent of the "crown of horns" worn by the Caesar clan. NEXUS = 35 DECEMBER 2006 — JANUARY 2007 www.nexusmagazine.com