Pope Theodore II (Catholic)
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Pope Theodore II |
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| Papacy began | December 897 |
| Papacy ended | December 897 |
| Predecessor | Romanus |
| Successor | John IX |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Theodorus |
| Born | 840 Rome, Papal States |
| Died | December 897 (aged 56–57) Rome, Papal States |
Pope Theodore II (Latin: Theodorus II; 840 – December 897) was Pope for twenty days in December 897. His short reign occurred during a period of partisan strife in the Catholic Church, which was entangled with a period of feudal violence and disorder in central Italy. His main act as pope was to annul the "Cadaver Synod" of the previous January, therefore reinstating the acts and ordinations of Pope Formosus, which had themselves been annulled by Pope Stephen VI. He also had the body of Formosus recovered from the river Tiber and reburied with honour. He died in office in late December 897.
Towards the end of the ninth century, due to the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire the Catholic Church had to rely upon powerful European nobles for support. Pope Stephen V approached Arnulf of Carinthia to protect Rome from "pagan and evil Christians". After he refused, Stephen V had to rely upon Guy III of Spoleto instead. Guy agreed to protect Rome as long as he was named as the Holy Roman Emperor, to which Stephen V acceded. After Stephen V's death, Pope Formosus was elected. Formosus and Guy were reluctant allies, and Guy forced Formosus to crown him emperor again and to name his son, Lambert, as co-emperor and successor. Formosus did so, but after Guy's death, he lobbied Arnulf to rescue Rome from the Spoletans. Arnulf agreed, and Formosus subsequently appointed him as the Holy Roman Emperor in 894. Both Arnulf and Formosus died within a few years of the coronation, and the new pope, Stephen VI, crowned Lambert as the new emperor shortly thereafter.
In January 897, Stephen VI held what is known as the "Cadaver Synod". He had the body of Formosus exhumed from St. Peter's Basilica and dressed in pontifical vestments. The dead pope was charged with "perjury, violating the canons prohibiting the translation of bishops, and coveting the papacy." Formosus' defence was provided by a deacon, but he was found guilty of all the charges. The synod annulled all of Formosus' acts and ordinations. Formosus' body was reburied in a common grave, and then thrown in the river Tiber. Supporters of Formosus rebelled, and seven months after the synod, Stephen VI was deposed, and died soon after in prison. His replacement, Pope Romanus is generally assumed to have been pro-Formosus, but he was only pope for four months before he was deposed and made a monk.
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