In 897, Pope Stephen VI dug up the corpse of his predecessor, Pope Formosus, and put the dead pontiff on trial. Stephen harbored fierce personal and political hatred for Formosus. He charged him with perjury, violating the canons and aspiring to the papacy.
Dressed in full papal garb, the rotting corpse was propped up in a throne and a deacon was appointed to answer for him. Not surprisingly, Formosus was found guilty. All of his acts and ordinations were voided, and the three fingers on his right hand that he used for blessings were chopped off before his body was thrown into the Tiber. A hermit pulled Formosus' corpse from the river and gave it a proper burial. Within a few months, Formosus supporters, inspired by tales of miracles worked by the disgraced corpse, rebelled and deposed Stephen VI. He was strangled in jail.
