His short reign occurred during a period of partisan strife in the Catholic Church, amid the violence and disorder in central Italy.

He had the body of Pope Formosus, the rival of his ally, Lambert of Spoleto, exhumed and tried for "perjury, violating the canons prohibiting the translation of bishops, and coveting the papacy.

Supporters of Formosus rebelled, and seven months after the synod, Stephen VI was deposed, and died soon after in prison.

This was criticised by the 15th-century historian Bartolomeo Platina, who wrote that "these popelings studied nothing else but to extinguish the memory and honour of their predecessors".

[1] The power struggle between supporters of Formosus and those of Stephen continued for over ten years; Romanus was succeeded by Theodore II, who was only pope for twenty days, during which time he had Formosus' body reburied, and held a synod annulling the Cadaver Synod.