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Why You Wouldn't "Survive" the Cadaver Synod | History For Sleep

Author
Drowsy Historian
Published
Wed 28 May 2025
Episode Link
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/drowsyhistorian/episodes/Why-You-Wouldnt-Survive-the-Cadaver-Synod--History-For-Sleep-e33akd3

Get early episodes & bonus perks on Patreon: https://patreon.com/DrowsyHistorian


What happens when a pope puts a corpse on trial? You get one of the most absurd chapters in Church history: the Cadaver Synod.This is the true (and truly bizarre) story of Pope Formosus — posthumously exhumed, dressed in papal robes, and put on trial by his successor in a scene that can only be described as ecclesiastical theater of the grotesque.From political rivalries wrapped in scripture to medieval bureaucracy so intense it didn’t stop for death, this slow, immersive bedtime story walks you through every surreal twist in one of history’s strangest events.


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