Pope Stephen VI began his reign on 22 May 896 and held the papacy for only a year

Pope  Stephen VI began his reign on 22 May 896 and held the papacy for only a  year. During his short rule he conducted one of the most bizarre trials  in history: the Cadaver Synod.
In  January 897 Stephen exhumed and placed on trial the corpse of his  predecessor, Pope Formosus. He propped the body up on a throne and  launched accusations at the cadaver, even appointing a deacon to speak  for Formosus.
Stephen  was motivated by a desire to please Formosus’ former enemies, the House  of Spoleto. Unsurprisingly, the rotting corpse was found guilty of both  coveting the papacy and violating church canons.
Stephen  ordered that three fingers on Formosus’ decaying hand (his blessing  fingers) be chopped off as punishment. He had Formosus’ papal vestments  stripped off, annulled his actions as pope, then flung his body in the  Tiber.
The incident caused public outcry; Stephen was imprisoned and later strangled for organising the trial.