Pope Stephen VI

[3] The circumstances of his election as pope are unclear, but he was sponsored by one of the powerful Roman families, the dukes of Spoleto, that contested the papacy at the time.

Stephen is chiefly remembered in connection with his conduct towards the remains of Pope Formosus.

Pressure from the Spoleto contingent and Stephen's fury with Formosus probably precipitated this extraordinary event.

[4] With the corpse propped up on a throne, a deacon was appointed to answer for the deceased pontiff.

Though the instigators of the deed may actually have been Formosus' Spoletan enemies, notably Guy IV of Spoleto, who had recovered their authority in Rome at the beginning of 897 by renouncing their broader claims in central Italy, the scandal ended in Stephen's imprisonment and his death by strangulation that summer.