Once the mausoleum of the emperor Hadrian, and now the fortress, prison and torture chamber of the papacy. The popes became power-hungry players in the savage scheming of Italian politics. And their abuse of papal authority dragged the Holy City into its darkest period yet. In 897, Pope Stephen VI gave an order of the most twisted and malicious kind. He ordered the digging up of the corpse of a former pope whom he hated. Pope Formosus's mummified body was dressed up in papal robes, propped up on a mock throne and put on trial before the Holy Synod. His crime, violation of canon law. The charges were read out, and a deacon was assigned to defend the accused pope. Found guilty as charged, Formosus was stripped and mutilated. The three fingers he used for papal blessings were chopped off. He was dragged and tossed into the Tiber. But this grisly masquerade was only the start. From now on, nothing was sacred.


这里一度是哈德良皇帝的陵墓，现在成了堡垒、监牢乃至教皇的酷刑室。当时的意大利政坛尽是赤裸裸的勾心斗角，教皇们开始争权夺利，深陷其中。他们滥用教皇权威，把这座神圣之城跩入最黑暗的时期。公元897年，教皇斯蒂芬六世下达了一道指令，其扭曲、其恶毒之程度简直无以复加。他下令挖出他所憎恨的前任教皇的尸体。 教皇弗摩斯（Formosus）尸体已经干化，身着教皇长袍并由一个模拟的王座支撑着；他被放到圣议会前受审。他的罪行——违反教廷法规。圣议会命人宣读指控罪名，并安排副主祭为被告的教皇做辩护。弗摩斯的罪名经审成立，他被除去身上的衣物，尸体也遭到毁坏。他用来行教皇赐福仪式的三个手指被剁掉，随后被拖扔进台伯河。然而，这一出可怕的戏码仅仅是个开始。从今往后，（罗马）再无神圣可言。