A Pope Dug Up a Dead Pope, Put Him on Trial, Won, and Then Was Killed

About this episode

Brett explores the bizarre story of Pope Stephen VI's trial of a dead pope.

Brett was supposed to be doing something productive. He was not. Instead he found the story of Pope Stephen VI, who in 897 AD decided the correct response to a papal grudge was to exhume his predecessor's corpse, dress it in robes, prop it up on a throne, and hold a full criminal trial. The dead pope got a lawyer. Was found guilty. Had his fingers cut off. Got thrown in a river. The living pope then got strangled in prison. Justice was served to absolutely no one. Are You Shitting Me? — something learned while avoiding real responsibilities. Cheers!

People in this episode

Host: Brett

Topics covered

• papal history
• criminal trials
• absurdity of justice
• historical anecdotes
• comedy

Keywords

• Pope Stephen VI
• dead pope trial
• 897 AD
• papal grudge
• historical comedy

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