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The Vatican Verdict · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
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  Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
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  Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
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  Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
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  Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
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  Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Beneath the Church in Rome are small chapels
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  Speaker 1: adorned with the skeletal remains of thirty seven hundred Capuchin friars, skulls, femurs,
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  Speaker 1: you name it. Really, it's all on display. From doorways
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  Speaker 1: and walls to ceiling art. Visitors come face to face
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  Speaker 1: with the dead. You can even buy postcards to send
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  Speaker 1: friends back home if you're so inclined. That's not the
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  Speaker 1: darkest church attraction, though, there's one other. Visit the Basilica
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  Speaker 1: San Giovanni, and you'll learn about a particularly dark and
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  Speaker 1: corrupt moment at the church's past. You see. Bishops, cardinals
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  Speaker 1: and a host of other ecclesiastical attendees filled the Basilica
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  Speaker 1: in January of eight nineties seven for a synod basically
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  Speaker 1: a court of the church, to try one of their
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  Speaker 1: own formosis. Dressed in papal robes. Was unable to speak
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  Speaker 1: at his trial, so a deacon spoke for him. Seated
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  Speaker 1: in his chair, Formosis didn't move, not even during the
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  Speaker 1: earthquake that shook and damaged the Basilica. He showed no emotion.
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  Speaker 1: As Pope Stephen the Six screamed at him, demanding answers,
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  Speaker 1: a deacon, reading from his script, replied for him. Found
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  Speaker 1: guilty of all counts against him, Formosis was not only
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  Speaker 1: stripped of his robes and his time as pope declared void,
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  Speaker 1: but the three fingers on his right hand that he
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  Speaker 1: had used during blessings were chopped off. His crimes ruling
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  Speaker 1: more than one place at a time, and for publicly
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  Speaker 1: seeking the papacy, achieving the papacy illegally and immorally, and
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  Speaker 1: despite not being able to speak the act of perjury.
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  Speaker 1: The trial wasn't formosis first run in with the papal
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  Speaker 1: courts either. Back in the late eight hundreds, with the
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  Speaker 1: empire crumbling all around them, small factions had cropped up
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  Speaker 1: in the land, forcing political conflicts within the Church. All
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  Speaker 1: of a sudden, men who had their sights set on
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  Speaker 1: becoming pope now needed the backing of secular leaders, often
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  Speaker 1: a new pope emerged every year. At that point in history, Formosis,
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  Speaker 1: who was then a bishop, had been successful in converting
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  Speaker 1: Bulgarians to Roman Catholicism. The Bulgarians even requested him as
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  Speaker 1: their own bishop. His success didn't go unnoticed, though, and
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  Speaker 1: with the competition to gain power, it also made him
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  Speaker 1: some enemies in the papal courts, namely Pope John the eighth.
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  Speaker 1: Pope John levied a string of accusations against Formosis, claiming
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  Speaker 1: that he had brainwashed the Bulgarians into refusing any other
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  Speaker 1: bishop and attempting to take over the papacy for himself.
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  Speaker 1: Formosis asked for forgiveness. Perhaps Pope John thought the bishop's
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  Speaker 1: rise was too close to comfort, or maybe he was
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  Speaker 1: a bit paranoid in turbulent times, so he excommunicated for Moosis.
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  Speaker 1: Pope John was later murdered by his own people, so
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  Speaker 1: perhaps his paranoia was founded. When the poison failed to
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  Speaker 1: work quickly enough, the killer used something more immediately, a hammer.
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  Speaker 1: Pope John's successor reinstated Formosis as a bishop, and a
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  Speaker 1: year later, Pope Adrian wore the papal robes before his assassination.
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  Speaker 1: In his first year as the pope. Pope Stephen the
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  Speaker 1: fifth wore the papal rope next, but was soon unseated
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  Speaker 1: by Formosis, who remained pope for five years until he
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  Speaker 1: suffered a stroke. Formosis successor ruled for fifteen days before
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  Speaker 1: dying of gout or maybe it was poison, It's hard
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  Speaker 1: to say. At this point, Pope Stephen the sixth was next.
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  Speaker 1: Formosa had made Stephen the sixth the bishop years earlier,
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  Speaker 1: and Pope Stephen still held the post while he served
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  Speaker 1: as pope. Yes, there was a rule against that, now, Yes,
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  Speaker 1: Pope Stephen the sixth knew it. His solution put Formosis
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  Speaker 1: on trial for the same crime. If Formosis was found guilty,
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  Speaker 1: then no one would see that Pope Stephen was just
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  Speaker 1: as guilty. By Pope Stephen's reasoning, a guilty verdict would
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  Speaker 1: also make Foremos's post as bishop, while also pope null
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  Speaker 1: and void, therefore doing the same. Look it made sense
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  Speaker 1: to him, But there was a problem with his plan.
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  Speaker 1: You see, Pope formosis stroke had been fatal. Maybe it
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  Speaker 1: was due to old age he was eighty after all,
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  Speaker 1: or maybe poison had caused the stroke. Regardless, he had
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  Speaker 1: been dead for several months before Pope Stephen the sixth
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  Speaker 1: had his corpse exhumed to stand trial. Not only did
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  Speaker 1: this trial serve to cover Pope Stephen's own guilt of
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  Speaker 1: papal lawbreaking, it stopped Formosis from being named a saint.
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  Speaker 1: After the cadaver synod, as it became known, Pope Stephen
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  Speaker 1: ordered Foremosa's remains to be buried at an obscure location,
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  Speaker 1: but then quickly changed his mind, this time ordering it
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  Speaker 1: tossed into the Tiber River. The next day, monks recovered
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  Speaker 1: the body and buried Formosis in a monastery. Having had
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  Speaker 1: enough of Pope Stephen's cadaver trial and exhumations, the people
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  Speaker 1: imprisoned him and he was later found strangled in his cell. Eventually,
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  Speaker 1: and a couple of popes later, Formosa's body was recovered
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  Speaker 1: once more and buried in his final resting place in St.
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  Speaker 1: Peter's Cathedral. Curious, you better believe it. His love for
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  Speaker 1: her had no end. For her coronation, only the finest
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  Speaker 1: jewels and robes would do. Once seated on the throne
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  Speaker 1: next to him King Pedro, the first subjects knelt before her,
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  Speaker 1: kissed her hand, and pledged their loyalty and obedience. With
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  Speaker 1: the ceremony behind them, the King and queen traveled to
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  Speaker 1: a beautiful monastery. There, the queen was placed into an
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  Speaker 1: intricately carved and inscribed marble tomb, the finest in all
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  Speaker 1: of Portugal, you see, and As de Castro had been
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  Speaker 1: dead for two years. In fact, she had been murdered
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  Speaker 1: by order of King Pedro's own father, his predecessor, King Alfonso.
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  Speaker 1: But that didn't mean the good people of Portugal had
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  Speaker 1: kissed a corpse's hand out of love or loyalty. No,
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  Speaker 1: they'd done so, most likely because of King Pedro's nickname,
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  Speaker 1: Pedro the Cruel, and you'll soon understand why. It all started.
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  Speaker 1: In the year thirty eight, as part of an arranged
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  Speaker 1: marriage between kingdoms, Prince Pedro met and wed Constanza of Castile,
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  Speaker 1: declaring her the suitable suitable. That was until he met
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  Speaker 1: Constanza's teenaged handmating and As was the beautiful, illegitimate daughter
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  Speaker 1: of Lord de Castro, and she responded to Pedro's attention,
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  Speaker 1: which began their not so secret love affair. Prince Pedro
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  Speaker 1: became so infatuated with her that he neglected his wife
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  Speaker 1: so much and so etent lee that it threatened the
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  Speaker 1: already strained relations with the queen's home Kingdom Castile. In
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  Speaker 1: an attempt to end her husband's affair, the queen made
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  Speaker 1: and as the godmother of the couple's firstborn child. You see,
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  Speaker 1: in the eyes of the Catholic Church, god parents were
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  Speaker 1: family and that would have made their affair incestuous. Undaunted,
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  Speaker 1: Pedro and Inez still refused to break it off. Then
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  Speaker 1: a few years later, his wife died while giving birth
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  Speaker 1: to their third child, Ferdinand. With his wife and queen
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  Speaker 1: newly deceased, Pedro felt comfortable bringing the relationship with the
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  Speaker 1: Nez public, but his father, King Alfonso the Fourth, forbid
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  Speaker 1: his son to marry her and then banished her from
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  Speaker 1: the kingdom in as, being of illegitimate birth, was not
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  Speaker 1: eligible to become queen. Banishment didn't stop the two love birds, though. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: Pedro moved in with his beloved mistress. They even had
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  Speaker 1: children together, one of which was a healthy son. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: Pedro's son from his dead wife, Ferdinand, had become frail.
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  Speaker 1: Soon after, Pedro announced that he had secretly wed Inez,
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  Speaker 1: possibly making their son heir to the throne should Ferdinand die. This,
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  Speaker 1: along with the Nez's brothers growing influence over Prince Pedro
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  Speaker 1: prompted King Alfonso to dispatch three men to kill her.
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  Speaker 1: The men did as the king asked and beheaded her.
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  Speaker 1: Needless to say, relations between the father and son were
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  Speaker 1: a bit strained after that. Pedro's mother begged her son
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  Speaker 1: for peace, and Pedro eventually promised he would not take revenge.
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  Speaker 1: It was a promise Pedro wouldn't keep, though. King Alfonso
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  Speaker 1: died a year later and Pedro became king, soon earning
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  Speaker 1: the nickname Pedro the Cruel due to his direct involvement
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  Speaker 1: in shall we say, serving justice both personally and publicly. Eventually,
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  Speaker 1: he tracked down two of and Nez's assassins, capturing them
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  Speaker 1: and bringing them back to the kingdom. Then he had
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  Speaker 1: them put on trial and found guilty of murder. In
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  Speaker 1: one of his public displays of justice, King Pedro ripped
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  Speaker 1: their hearts from their chests, claiming that the killers were
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  Speaker 1: heartless for crushing his. After the trial and his special
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  Speaker 1: blend of justice, King Pedro ordered and Nez's body exhumed
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  Speaker 1: and then held the coronation, where he demanded attendees pay
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  Speaker 1: her the respect and death that he felt she deserved
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  Speaker 1: in life, but Here's the thing. Despite the posthumous coronation,
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  Speaker 1: and Nez was never a legal queen, Pedro had lied
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  Speaker 1: to his father about secretly marrying her, and evidence suggests
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  Speaker 1: that Pope Inescent the fourth had refused to marry Pedro
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  Speaker 1: and Inez or legitimize their children. In the end, it
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  Speaker 1: had been this lie that got Pedro's mistress killed. King
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  Speaker 1: Pedro the Cruel died in thirteen sixty seven. He was
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  Speaker 1: interred in a second, elaborate tomb near Anez. On the sides,
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  Speaker 1: detailed carvings depicted the couple's lives, and when their tombs
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  Speaker 1: were placed together, the marble likenesses of Pedro and the
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  Speaker 1: Nez faced one another, so that they looked upon each other,
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  Speaker 1: as the inscription reads, until the end of the world,
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  Speaker 1: and as far as I can tell, no one has
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  Speaker 1: trying to separate them ever. Again. I hope you've enjoyed
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  Speaker 1: today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for
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  Speaker 1: free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show
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  Speaker 1: by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created
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  Speaker 1: by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works.
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  Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore which is
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  Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show and you can
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  Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the world of Lore
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  Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.