31. When the Papacy Was a Plaything for Italian Rustics
Stephen VI’s time as Holy Father lasted for little more than a year between his election in May, 896, and his death in August, 897. However, that was enough time to secure his place in the books, with one of the most lunatic and controversial episodes in a papal history that has no shortage of controversy. It took place during a period, from roughly the middle of the ninth century to the middle of the tenth, that was marked by severe political instability in the Italian Peninsula.
Theoretically, the pope was supreme over not only the Catholic Church, but over all of Christendom. In reality, popes back then were appointed and dethroned in rapid succession, based on the obscure machinations and intrigues of provincial Italian and Roman aristocratic families. Those rustics did not view the papacy with the kind of reverence it gained in a later ear. Instead, to them, the Holy See was simply another tool to be used in furthering their parochial ambitions, and in thwarting their rivals. Historical sources are relatively scarce as to the details of just what those rivalries revolved around, but the gist of them covered the basics: wealth, power, and prestige.