FORMOSnS
140
FORMOSUS
question of succession, Louis II having no male heir.
At first Pope John VIII (872-882) reposed trust in
Formosus, anil, on the death of Louis II (875), em-
ployed him with two other bishops to convey his invi-
tation to Charles the Bakl, King of France, to come to
Rome and receive the imperial crown from the hands
of the pope. Charles obeyed the call, was crowned
emperor on Christmas Day, 875, and, before returning
home, appointed Dukes Lambert and Guido of Spoleto
to assist the pope against the Saracens. In 871, these
nobles had been deprived of their dignities for conspir-
ing against Louis II; but they were restored by
Charles.
In the pope's entourage there were many who viewed with disapproval the coronation of Charles, and favoured the widowed Empress Engelberga and Louis the German. Fearing severe chastisement, these political opponents of the pope left Rome se- cretly to seek safety elsewhere. Cardinal Formosus was among the fugitives, as he dreaded the anger of the pope without knowing exactly whereby he had incurred the papal resentment. From the fact that Formosus had been sent by the pope as ambassador to Charles and now directed his flight to Abbot Hugo at Tours in Western France, it must be inferred that he was not fundamentally opposed to the coronation of Charles. He cannot, however, have been in sym- pathy with the pope's political views, and conse- quently feared lest he might share the fate of John's opponents at the papal court. As early as 872 he had been a candidate for the papal see, so that John possi- bly viewed him in the light of an opponent.^ On the flight of Formosus and the other papal officials, John convened a synod, 19 April, which ordered the fugi- tives to return to Rome. As they refused to obey this injunction, they were condemned by a second synod on 30 June. Against Formosus, should he fail to return, sentence of excommunication and deposi- tion were pronounced by the first synod, the charges being that, impelled by ambition, he had aspired to the Archbishopric of Bulgaria and the Chair of Peter, had opposed the emperor and had deserted his diocese without papal permission. It follows from this that John saw in Formosus a rival whom he gravely sus- pected. The second synod of 30 June, after several new accusations had been brought against Formo- sus (e. g. that he had despoiled the cloisters in Rome, had performed the divine service in spite of the inter- dict, had conspired with certain iniquitous men and women for the destruction of the papal see), excluded him from the ranks of the clergy. Such charges, made against a man who was religious, moral, ascetic, and intellectual can only be referred to party spirit.
The condemnation of Formosus and the others was announced to the emperor and the Synod of Ponthion in July. In 878 John himself came to France, and the deposition of Formosus, who appeared in person, was confirmed at the synod of Troyes. According to the acts of the synod, which are however of doubtful au- thenticity, the sentence of excommunication against Formosus was withdrawn, after he had promised on oath never to return to Rome or exercise his priestly functions. The succeeding years were spent by For- mosus at Sens. John's successor Marinus (882-884) released Formosus from his oath, recalled him to Rome, and in 883 restored him to his Diocese of Porto. During the short pontificates of Marinus and his suc- cessor Hadrian III (884-885), and under Stephen V (885-891), we learn nothing important concerning Formosus. In September, 891, he was elected to suc- ceed Stephen. Under Stephen V the political horizon had become very threatening. Charles the Fat had reunited the PVankish kingdom in 885, but after his deposition and death in 887, Arnulf of Carinthia, the natural son of Karlmann and the nominee of the Ger- mans, was unal)le to preserve its unity. In the west- ern kingdom, (Jount Eudes of Paris came forward as
king; in Provence (Arelate), Louis, son of Boso; in
North Burgundy (Jura), Rudolf, son of the Count of
Auxerre and grandson of Louis the Pious; in Italy,
Berengar of Friaul. The last-mentioned was opposed
and defeated by Duke Guido (Witlo) of Spoleto, who
thereupon took possession of Lombardy, and assiimed
the title of king. Ruling now over the greater portion
of Italy, Guido was a very dangerous neighbour for the
pap.al states, especially as the Archdukes of Spoleto
had been on many occasions engaged in conflict with
the popes. Stephen V (q. v.) had unwillingly crowned
Guido emperor, as King Arnulf had been unable to ac-
cept the pope's invitation to come to Rome. Conse-
quently Formosus, after he had been unanimously
elected pope by clergy and people, found himself com-
pelled to recognize Guido's dignity and to crown him
and his son Lambert Roman Emperor on April, 892.
Important ecclesiastical questions claimed the pope's
attention immediately after his elevation. In Con-
stantinople, the patriarch Photius had been ejected
and Stephen, the son of Emperor Basilius, elevated to
the patriarchate. Archbishop Stylian of Neo-Caesa-
rea and the clerical opponents of Photius had written
to Stephen V, requesting dispensation and confirma-
tion for those clerics who had recognized Photius only
under compulsion and had received orders at his
hands. In his reply to this petition (892) Formosus
insisted on a distinction of persons ; indulgence might
be readily shown in the case of the laity, but in the
case of clerics such a course was attended with diffi-
culties; the rule must be the sentence of the Eighth
General Council (Can. iv), viz. that Photius neither
had been nor was a bishop, and all clerics ordained or
appointed by him must resign their office ; the papal
legates, Landulf and Romanus, were to consult with
Stylian and Theophylaetus of Ancyra on the matter.
In this instance, Formosus only corroborated the de-
cisions of his predecessors, Nicholas I and Hadrian II.
A matter of a pressing character, affecting the Church
in Germany, next called for the papal decision. A
quarrel had broken out between Archbishop Hermann
of Cologne and Archbishop Adalgar of Hamburg con-
cerning the Bishopric of Bremen, which Hermann
claimed as suffragan. Formosus decided, in accord-
ance with the decrees of the Synod of Frankfort (892),
that Bremen should remain under the Archbishop of
Hamburg until new dioceses were erected ; Adalgar
was to repair to the provincial synod of the Archbishop
of Cologne. Formosus viewed with sorrow the polit-
ical troubles that disturbed the old Prankish king-
dom of the Carlovingian dynasty. In the contest be-
tween Udes (Odo) of Paris and Charles the Simple for
the French crown, the pope, influenced by the Arch-
bishop of Reims, sided with Charles and called on
Arnold, the German king, to support him. The polit-
ical position in Italy directly affected the pope as
head of the ecclesiastical estates, and consequently his
independence as head of the Church. Emperor Guido
of Spoleto, the oppressor of the Holy See and the papal
territories, was too near Rome ; and the position of the
papacy seemeil very similar to its condition in the
time of the Lombard kingdom, when Stephen II sum-
moned Pepin to his assistance. Formosus secretly
persuaded Arnulf to advance to Rome and liberate
Italy; and, in 894, Arnulf made his first expedition,
subjugating all the country north of the Po. Guido
died in December of the same year, leaving his son
Lambert, whom Formosus had crowned emperor, in
the care of his mother Agiltrude, the implacable op-
ponent of the Carlovingians. In the autumn of 895
Arnulf undertook his second Italian campaign, and in
February, 896, stood before the walls of Rome. Agil-
trude had fortified herself in the city, but Arnulf suc-
ceeded in entering and was solemnly crowned by the
pope. The new emperor thence marched against
Spoleto to besiege Lambert and his mother, but was
Struck with paralysis on the way and was unable to
