Stephen VI (VII)

Who he was

Stephen was a Roman, the son of a priest named John. Formosus had made him Bishop of Anagni, perhaps against his will, and he became pope in the spring of 896, after the fifteen-day reign of Boniface VI. He is counted as both Stephen VI and Stephen VII.

What he is remembered for

He is remembered for the synod of January 897 at which the body of his predecessor Formosus was exhumed, put on trial and condemned, and later thrown into the Tiber; the Catholic Encyclopedia thinks it likely he acted under pressure from the Emperor Lambert and his mother Ageltrude. He also made several clergy ordained by Formosus give up their offices. Within months, in the summer of 897, he was himself put to death by strangling.

Sources

• Catholic Encyclopedia (1912): Pope Stephen (VI) VII
• New Catholic Encyclopedia: Popes, List of (dates from the Annuario Pontificio 2001)