Cadaver Synod

The cadaver synod was a meeting of church officials that took place in Rome in 897 AD. At this meeting, the body of the recently deceased Pope Formosus was placed on a throne, so that the officials could put him on trial! They asked him questions and judged him based on his replies. In the end, they decided that Formosus had not done a good job as pope, and they decided to “overrule” all the decisions he had made while he was alive. People were very shocked by this strange trial and it did not end well – some of the officials were even put in jail!