FORMOSUS, Pope. - Perhaps a native of Rome. Nicholas I (858-67) in 864 or 865 made him cardinal bishop of Porto and in the autumn of 866 sent him with Paul of Populonia among the Bulgarians to promote their conversion. He had such success that their king, Boris, asked for him as archbishop.
Toward the end of 867 F. was recalled to Rome, held in great esteem also by Pope Adrian II (867-72). But the successor John VIII (872-82), who considered him a personal enemy, after having entrusted him in the early years with positions of trust (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 2018), then placed him under accusation, thinking he had proof of machinations carried out by F. against the Curia. F. fled from Rome and then a Synodexcommunicated and deposed him (19 Apr. 876), a condemnation renewed at the Councils of Ponthion (June 876) and Troyes (Aug. 878). On 14 Sept. the Pope admitted him to lay communion, on condition that he no longer set foot in Rome. Instead Marinus I (882-84) absolved him and the successor Adrian III (884-85) gave him back his old see of Porto. In 885 F. consecrated the new pope Stephen V (885-91), whom he succeeded on 19 Sept. 891. In the Photian question he took an attitude of extreme rigor (Jaffé-Wattenbach, 2478); he pronounced in favor of the union of the see of Bremen with Hamburg (ibid., 3483, 3487, 3488); he supported the Carolingian Charles against Eudes (ibid., 3490-94). On 30 Apr. 892 he crowned as emperor Lambert of Spoleto as associate of his father, Guy. But soon afterward, against the Spoleto family, he called Arnulf of Carinthia into Italy and crowned him emperor (22 Apr. 896). He died on 4 Apr. 896; in time not to see the Spoleto family become masters of Rome again. Their vengeance was ferocious. In Jan. 897 the corpse of F., extracted from the tomb where it had slept for nine months, was brought to a Synod presided over by Stephen VI (896-97) and subjected to a regular trial. His election having been declared null, his acts illegitimate and his ordinations invalid, he was buried in a common grave, from which the mob dragged him out to throw him into the Tiber.
Bibliography8 worksThe letters of F. in PL 129, 837-48 and better in the MGH, Epistonia, VII, p. 366 1882; the sources on the Formosan controversy have been st
BIBL.: The letters of F. in PL 129, 837-48 and better in the MGH, Epistonia, VII, p. 366 1882; the sources on the Formosan controversy have been studied and in part edited by E. Dümmer, Auxilius and Vulgaricus. Leipzig 1866, passim; Hefele-Leclercq, IV, II, pp. 708-10 (bibl.); F. Dominici, Il papa F., in Cfr. Catt., 1924, I, pp. 106-20; 518-30; II, pp. 121-35; F. Vernet, s. v. in DTMc, VI, coll. 594-99 (bibl.); Fliche-Martin-Fruse, VI, pp. 431-523; A. Fliche-V. Martin, Hist. de l'Eglise, VII, Paris 1940, pp. 20-26, 114-15.
Daniele, Ireneo. “Formoso, papa.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V, coll. 1526–1527. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950. https://azioneromana.com/article/formoso-papa.
MLA
Daniele, Ireneo. “Formoso, papa.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950, coll. 1526–1527. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/formoso-papa.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec5_formoso_papa,
author = {Daniele, Ireneo},
title = {Formoso, papa},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {V},
pages = {1526--1527},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1950},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/formoso-papa}
}
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