26. Lunatic Vindictiveness
Formosus’s corpse put up a poor defense, handicapped in no small part by the fact that it was a corpse. It lost the case and was found guilty. An ancient Roman penalty, damnatio memoriae, meaning “condemnation of the memory” and typically decreed by the Senate against those who brought dishonor upon the state, was applied. Stephen VI then had the papal vestments stripped from Formosus’ corpse, to be replaced with rags. Next, he ordered the amputation of three fingers from Formosus’ right hand, which he had used in consecrations. Then he had the body dumped in a pauper’s grave.
However, even that failed to satisfy Stephen and sate his lunatic vindictiveness for long. Soon thereafter, still raging at the insult to the Spoleto family, he again had Formosus’ corpse dug up, then ordered it loaded down with stones, and tossed into the Tiber River. The man was clearly insane, and his bizarre behavior led to widespread rioting that finally ended with his ouster. The rioters laid their hands on Stephen VI, stripped him of his papal vestments, and imprisoned him in a cell, where he was strangled to death.