00:00 Pope Formosus, who had died nine months earlier, was put on trial in an unprecedented event known as the cadaver synod.

01:57 The events described in this episode are the lowest point in papal history, involving the political role of the papacy and the formation of the Papal States in the 9th century.

03:28 Formosus, after being appointed as Cardinal and Bishop of the Diocese of Porto, was involved in various papal appointments and diplomatic missions, and later became Pope, where he had to navigate political controversies and conflicts with the Eastern Church and the Roman Emperor.

05:11 Pope Stephen VI exhumed the body of Pope Formosus, dressed it up in papal regalia, and put it on trial in the Basilica of St. John's Lateran in Rome, with a deacon appointed to give answers on behalf of the deceased.

07:04 Pope Stephen VI put Pope Formosus on trial, found him guilty, nullified his papacy, and threw his body into the Tiber River.

08:51 After Pope Formosus' body was recovered from the river and rumors of miracles spread, an uprising occurred in Rome, resulting in the capture and imprisonment of Pope Stephen VI, who was later strangled to death, leading to a period of instability in the papacy with frequent changes in leadership, until Pope Theodore II nullified Stephen's actions and reburied Formosus with honor, but the papacy continued to face corruption and influence from the Theophyllacty family.

10:43 The cadaver trial caused many priests and bishops to have to get reordained, ushered in a period of instability, and paved the way for the Pornocracy of the early 10th century.