Therein lies the dichotomy....the "you can't handle the truth" breaking point.
Conclave
- Thread starter wil
- Start date
Oh, absolutely ... people tend to favour a comfortable fantasy.
Conclave is a work of fiction. Its characters are fictional and not, AFAIK, based on real persons. Nor is the conclave based on any conclave that actually occurred.
But people will assume that is what goes on behind closed doors, because they saw the movie ...
Conclave is a work of fiction. Its characters are fictional and not, AFAIK, based on real persons. Nor is the conclave based on any conclave that actually occurred.
But people will assume that is what goes on behind closed doors, because they saw the movie ...
How about this for a sequel:
Synod
Opening scene: The time: 897AD, The place: St Peter's Basilica, Rome.
Men holding torches appear at a turn of a dark corridor. They move in silence, and seem to be searching the walls.
"Here!"
Close-up of a plaque bearing an inscription and the name Formosus. The next second a hammer smashes the plaque into pieces. The men set to work with hammers, crowbars, shovels. A hole in made. a waft of foetid air sets them coughing and choking.
"Oh my God!"
"Saints preserve us!"
"Shut up! What did you expect, he's been dead these seven months past."
A body, wrapped in a burial shroud, is pulled from within. The shroud is stripped away to reveal a decaying corpse, clothed in once-splendid papal robes. The men put the body on a litter and carry it along lamp-lit corridors to to the Papal Court. Servants of the basilica recoil in horror as they pass. They cross themselves, mutter prayers and invocations. In the court, the corpse is man-handled into a throne and propped in place. Torches are ranged around the room. Incense is burning in censors to overcome the tench of corruption.
The scene is set for the trial of the deceased Pope Formosus – Step forward the prosecutor, Pope Stephen VI. He addresses the corpse, accusing Formosus of perjury, of having acceded to the papacy illegally, and illegally presiding over more than one diocese at the same time.
That seems like a pretty 'grab-em-by-the-throat' opening?
+++
What the heck is going on?
Formosus was born around 816. He became cardinal bishop of Porto in 864. Porto was a suburb of Rome, and the bishopric was more an honorary title than an actual administrative position. Two years later, Pope Nicholas I appointed him a legate to Bulgaria.
867 Nicholas I dies, succeeded by Pope Adrian II
872 Adrian II dies, succeeded by Pope John VIII
875 Louis II of Italy dies. The nobles elected his uncle Charles the Bald to be the new Holy Roman Emperor.
Supporters of Louis' other uncle, Louis the German, and those of Louis's widow, Engelberga, oppose the coronation.
Fearing political instability and retribution, many flee Rome, Formosus among them.
876 John VIII called a synod which ordered Formosus and other papal officials to return to Rome.
Formosus was a candidate for the papacy at the election of John VIII, and there is every chance John saw him as a political rival and a threat.
Formosus, fearing retribution, did not comply. The council went ahead and he was stripped of his of his ranks and offices and excommunicated.
878 the sentence of excommunication was withdrawn after he promised never to return to Rome or exercise his priestly functions.
882 John VIII dies – in fact he is assassinated by his own clerics, first poisoned, and then clubbed to death.
882 John VIII's successor, Pope Marinus restores Formosus to his suburbicarian diocese of Portus.
884 Marinus dies and is succeeded by Adrian III
885 Adrian III dies and is succeeded by Stephen V
891 Stephen V dies and is succeeded by Formosus.
Formosus is deeply distrustful of the Holy Roman Emperor, Guy III of Spoleto, and looks for support against him.
892 Guy III forces Formosus to crown his son Lambert as co-emperor.
893 Formosus persuades Arnulf of Carinthia to advance to Rome and liberate Italy from Guy III's control.
894 Arnulf's army occupies all the country north of the River Po.
Guy III dies, leaving his son Lambert in the care of his mother, Agiltrude.
895 Arnulf undertakes his second Italian campaign, progressing to Rome by February and seizing the city from Agiltrude by force.
896 Formosus led Arnulf into the church of St. Peter, anointed and crowned him emperor.
Arnulf exiles two leading senators, Constantine and Stephen, who had helped Ageltrude to seize Rome.
Arnulf marches on Spoleto, where Ageltrude had fled to join Lambert under the protection of his uncle, Guy IV.
Arnulf has a stroke, forcing him to call off the campaign and return to Bavaria. Rumours say Arnulf was poisoned by Ageltrude.
896 Formosus dies and is succeeded by Boniface VI, who dies 15 days later.
896 Pope Stephen VI is elected.
The death of Formosus and Arnulf's incapacity opened the way for Lambert, he and his allies murder those officials who had been appointed by Arnulf, forcing the survivors to flee. Arnulf's agents in Rome were not in a position to prevent Lambert's agents from seeing their favoured choice elected pope.
It was under their instigation that Stephen exhumed the corpse of Formosus.
Clad in papal vestments, and seated on a throne, the corpse listens to the trumped-up charges against him by John VIII. He is found guilty and the damnatio memoriae is applied: all his measures and acts are annulled, and the orders conferred by him are declared invalid. The papal vestments are torn from his body, the three fingers from his right hand he had used in blessings (index, middle and ring fingers) are cut off, and the body is re-buried in a graveyard for foreigners, only to be dug up again, tied to weights, and cast into the Tiber, where it is washed up on the bank, or perhaps recovered by monks loyal to his name. Popular legend has it his rotting and now waterlogged corpse is 'still' performing miracles.
The spectacle of the trial became a matter of public outrage that turned opinion in Rome against Stephen VI.
His political enemies roused the mob who stormed the palace, seized the pope, stripped him of his papal insignia, dragged him off to jail, where:
Stephen VI is strangled to death.
Roll credits.
Synod
Opening scene: The time: 897AD, The place: St Peter's Basilica, Rome.
Men holding torches appear at a turn of a dark corridor. They move in silence, and seem to be searching the walls.
"Here!"
Close-up of a plaque bearing an inscription and the name Formosus. The next second a hammer smashes the plaque into pieces. The men set to work with hammers, crowbars, shovels. A hole in made. a waft of foetid air sets them coughing and choking.
"Oh my God!"
"Saints preserve us!"
"Shut up! What did you expect, he's been dead these seven months past."
A body, wrapped in a burial shroud, is pulled from within. The shroud is stripped away to reveal a decaying corpse, clothed in once-splendid papal robes. The men put the body on a litter and carry it along lamp-lit corridors to to the Papal Court. Servants of the basilica recoil in horror as they pass. They cross themselves, mutter prayers and invocations. In the court, the corpse is man-handled into a throne and propped in place. Torches are ranged around the room. Incense is burning in censors to overcome the tench of corruption.
The scene is set for the trial of the deceased Pope Formosus – Step forward the prosecutor, Pope Stephen VI. He addresses the corpse, accusing Formosus of perjury, of having acceded to the papacy illegally, and illegally presiding over more than one diocese at the same time.
That seems like a pretty 'grab-em-by-the-throat' opening?
+++
What the heck is going on?
Formosus was born around 816. He became cardinal bishop of Porto in 864. Porto was a suburb of Rome, and the bishopric was more an honorary title than an actual administrative position. Two years later, Pope Nicholas I appointed him a legate to Bulgaria.
867 Nicholas I dies, succeeded by Pope Adrian II
872 Adrian II dies, succeeded by Pope John VIII
875 Louis II of Italy dies. The nobles elected his uncle Charles the Bald to be the new Holy Roman Emperor.
Supporters of Louis' other uncle, Louis the German, and those of Louis's widow, Engelberga, oppose the coronation.
Fearing political instability and retribution, many flee Rome, Formosus among them.
876 John VIII called a synod which ordered Formosus and other papal officials to return to Rome.
Formosus was a candidate for the papacy at the election of John VIII, and there is every chance John saw him as a political rival and a threat.
Formosus, fearing retribution, did not comply. The council went ahead and he was stripped of his of his ranks and offices and excommunicated.
878 the sentence of excommunication was withdrawn after he promised never to return to Rome or exercise his priestly functions.
882 John VIII dies – in fact he is assassinated by his own clerics, first poisoned, and then clubbed to death.
882 John VIII's successor, Pope Marinus restores Formosus to his suburbicarian diocese of Portus.
884 Marinus dies and is succeeded by Adrian III
885 Adrian III dies and is succeeded by Stephen V
891 Stephen V dies and is succeeded by Formosus.
Formosus is deeply distrustful of the Holy Roman Emperor, Guy III of Spoleto, and looks for support against him.
892 Guy III forces Formosus to crown his son Lambert as co-emperor.
893 Formosus persuades Arnulf of Carinthia to advance to Rome and liberate Italy from Guy III's control.
894 Arnulf's army occupies all the country north of the River Po.
Guy III dies, leaving his son Lambert in the care of his mother, Agiltrude.
895 Arnulf undertakes his second Italian campaign, progressing to Rome by February and seizing the city from Agiltrude by force.
896 Formosus led Arnulf into the church of St. Peter, anointed and crowned him emperor.
Arnulf exiles two leading senators, Constantine and Stephen, who had helped Ageltrude to seize Rome.
Arnulf marches on Spoleto, where Ageltrude had fled to join Lambert under the protection of his uncle, Guy IV.
Arnulf has a stroke, forcing him to call off the campaign and return to Bavaria. Rumours say Arnulf was poisoned by Ageltrude.
896 Formosus dies and is succeeded by Boniface VI, who dies 15 days later.
896 Pope Stephen VI is elected.
The death of Formosus and Arnulf's incapacity opened the way for Lambert, he and his allies murder those officials who had been appointed by Arnulf, forcing the survivors to flee. Arnulf's agents in Rome were not in a position to prevent Lambert's agents from seeing their favoured choice elected pope.
It was under their instigation that Stephen exhumed the corpse of Formosus.
Clad in papal vestments, and seated on a throne, the corpse listens to the trumped-up charges against him by John VIII. He is found guilty and the damnatio memoriae is applied: all his measures and acts are annulled, and the orders conferred by him are declared invalid. The papal vestments are torn from his body, the three fingers from his right hand he had used in blessings (index, middle and ring fingers) are cut off, and the body is re-buried in a graveyard for foreigners, only to be dug up again, tied to weights, and cast into the Tiber, where it is washed up on the bank, or perhaps recovered by monks loyal to his name. Popular legend has it his rotting and now waterlogged corpse is 'still' performing miracles.
The spectacle of the trial became a matter of public outrage that turned opinion in Rome against Stephen VI.
His political enemies roused the mob who stormed the palace, seized the pope, stripped him of his papal insignia, dragged him off to jail, where:
Stephen VI is strangled to death.
Roll credits.
Another movie in the Conclave universe ....
Theophylact I (c 864–924/5) was Count of Tusculum (a town near Rome) and the local leader of the militia under Emperor Louis the Blind, effectively the ruler of Rome from around 905 to his death in 924. His descendants controlled the papacy for the next 100 years.
He was a prominent player in the overthrow of 'Antipope' Christopher (made pope in 903) in January 904 (antipope because later scholars disputed the legitimacy of his succession). He likely gave the order for Christopher to be killed whilst in prison later that year.
Theophylact formed an alliance with Duke Alberic I of Spoleto, and their combined backing saw Pope Sergius III elected in Christopher's place. Sergius was Theophylact's puppet and cousin. Theophylact was listed first among the Roman nobility, and was able to determine who was elected pope until his death in 925.
Theophylact's rule was shared with his wife Theodora. Successors to Sergius III, Pope Anastasius III and Pope Lando, were chosen at her suggestion. A contemporary chronicler, bishop Liutprand of Cremona, described her as a "shameless whore... (who) exercised power on the Roman citizenry like a man." In 914, she succeeds in having her alleged lover installed as Pope John X.
Marozia (890-937) was a daughter of Theophylact and Theodora,
905, At the age of 15, she is said to have become the mistress of Sergius III (aged 45, and enthroned the year before).
909, she marries Alberic I.
910 she has a son, later Pope John XI, who two contemporary sources would have us believe was fathered by Sergius. A third says John was her son by her husband, Alberic. Another son, Alberic II, was born 911 or 912.
Alberic I was killed at Orte in 924.
By now, Roman landowners have won complete control over the traditional bureaucracy of the papal curia. Rome is under secular control.
In order to counter the influence of Pope John X (possibly a lover of her mother, or her sister, also called Theodora, or perhaps of neither), Marozia marries his opponent Guy of Tuscany. Together they attacked Rome, arrest Pope John X in the Lateran, imprison him and have him murdered (smothered with a pillow).
Marozia seizes power in Rome in a coup d'état. The following popes, Leo VI and Stephen VII, were both her puppets.
931 she enthrones her 21-year-old son as pontiff, John XI.
Her husband Guy dies in 929. Marozia negotiates a marriage with his half-brother Hugh of Arles, the King of Italy. While in Rome Hugh quarrels with Marozia's son Alberic II, who organised an uprising during the wedding ceremonies in 932. Hugh escapes, but Marozia and John XI, her son and Alberic II's brother or half brother, are captured.
Alberic II eventually releases John XI from prison but keeps him under house arrest until his death.
Marozia died after spending some five years in prison.
From this point forward Alberic dominates the city and secures the successive election of all his candidates as pope—Leo VII, Stephen VIII, Marinus II and Agapitus II. On his deathbed, 954, he still exerted enough authority and fear to elect his bastard son Octavian as the depraved Pope John XII.
Theophylact I (c 864–924/5) was Count of Tusculum (a town near Rome) and the local leader of the militia under Emperor Louis the Blind, effectively the ruler of Rome from around 905 to his death in 924. His descendants controlled the papacy for the next 100 years.
He was a prominent player in the overthrow of 'Antipope' Christopher (made pope in 903) in January 904 (antipope because later scholars disputed the legitimacy of his succession). He likely gave the order for Christopher to be killed whilst in prison later that year.
Theophylact formed an alliance with Duke Alberic I of Spoleto, and their combined backing saw Pope Sergius III elected in Christopher's place. Sergius was Theophylact's puppet and cousin. Theophylact was listed first among the Roman nobility, and was able to determine who was elected pope until his death in 925.
Theophylact's rule was shared with his wife Theodora. Successors to Sergius III, Pope Anastasius III and Pope Lando, were chosen at her suggestion. A contemporary chronicler, bishop Liutprand of Cremona, described her as a "shameless whore... (who) exercised power on the Roman citizenry like a man." In 914, she succeeds in having her alleged lover installed as Pope John X.
Marozia (890-937) was a daughter of Theophylact and Theodora,
905, At the age of 15, she is said to have become the mistress of Sergius III (aged 45, and enthroned the year before).
909, she marries Alberic I.
910 she has a son, later Pope John XI, who two contemporary sources would have us believe was fathered by Sergius. A third says John was her son by her husband, Alberic. Another son, Alberic II, was born 911 or 912.
Alberic I was killed at Orte in 924.
By now, Roman landowners have won complete control over the traditional bureaucracy of the papal curia. Rome is under secular control.
In order to counter the influence of Pope John X (possibly a lover of her mother, or her sister, also called Theodora, or perhaps of neither), Marozia marries his opponent Guy of Tuscany. Together they attacked Rome, arrest Pope John X in the Lateran, imprison him and have him murdered (smothered with a pillow).
Marozia seizes power in Rome in a coup d'état. The following popes, Leo VI and Stephen VII, were both her puppets.
931 she enthrones her 21-year-old son as pontiff, John XI.
Her husband Guy dies in 929. Marozia negotiates a marriage with his half-brother Hugh of Arles, the King of Italy. While in Rome Hugh quarrels with Marozia's son Alberic II, who organised an uprising during the wedding ceremonies in 932. Hugh escapes, but Marozia and John XI, her son and Alberic II's brother or half brother, are captured.
Alberic II eventually releases John XI from prison but keeps him under house arrest until his death.
Marozia died after spending some five years in prison.
From this point forward Alberic dominates the city and secures the successive election of all his candidates as pope—Leo VII, Stephen VIII, Marinus II and Agapitus II. On his deathbed, 954, he still exerted enough authority and fear to elect his bastard son Octavian as the depraved Pope John XII.