Who he was
Formosus was probably a Roman, made Cardinal-Bishop of Porto by St Nicholas I in 864 and sent as legate to the newly converted Bulgarians, who asked to have him as their archbishop. Under John VIII he fell into disfavour, fled Rome and was condemned by synods in 876, charges his Catholic biographers put down to party feeling, since he was known as devout, austere and learned. Marinus I restored him, and in 891 he was elected pope unanimously.
What he is remembered for
His reign was caught up in the struggle for power in Italy: he had to crown Guido of Spoleto's son Lambert emperor, then called in the German king Arnulf, whom he crowned emperor in Rome in 896. He is best remembered for what happened after his death, when Stephen VI had his body brought before a synod, tried and condemned, and his acts annulled. Theodore II and John IX restored his honour and declared his ordinations valid, and he was reburied in St Peter's.
Sources
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