# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/pope-formosus
# Generated: 2026-09-01T13:46:03.279Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/pope-formosus"
name: "Pope Formosus"
slug: "pope-formosus"
description: "A ninth-century pope whose corpse was dug up, dressed in vestments, and put on trial nine months after his death — the verdict so damning that no pope since has dared take his name."
tagline: "Pope"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Pope_Formosus.jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "Italy"
  isoCode: "IT"
category:
  name: "Religious Figures"
  slug: "religious-figures"
profileType:
  name: "Religious Figure"
  slug: "religious-figure"
birthDate: "816"
deathDate: "0896-04-04"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           64.2
  momentum:             19.81852348993289
  historical:           22.782496
  currentAttention:     26.56615532118888
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "RISING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: 81
tags:
  - name: "Religious Figures"
    slug: "religious-figures"
  - name: "Writer / Author"
    slug: "writer-author"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
  - name: "Religion"
    slug: "religion"
  - name: "Medieval Era"
    slug: "medieval-era"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Formosus"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q170499"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Pope%20Formosus"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%81%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B3"
    title: "فورموسوس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%81%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B3"
    title: "فورموسوس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be_x_old.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B7"
    title: "Фармоз"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B7"
    title: "Фармоз"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B0_(%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B0)"
    title: "Формоза (папа)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formosus"
    title: "Formosus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form%C3%B3s"
    title: "Formós"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cdo.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A1u-hu%C3%B2ng_Formosus"
    title: "Gáu-huòng Formosus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ceb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formoso"
    title: "Formoso"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formosus"
    title: "Formosus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pab_Fformosws"
    title: "Pab Fformosws"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pave_Formosus"
    title: "Pave Formosus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formosus"
    title: "Formosus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://diq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formosus"
    title: "Formosus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A0%CE%AC%CF%80%CE%B1%CF%82_%CE%A6%CE%BF%CF%81%CE%BC%CF%8C%CE%B6%CE%BF%CF%82"
    title: "Πάπας Φορμόζος"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formoso_la_1-a"
    title: "Formoso la 1-a"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formoso"
    title: "Formoso"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formosus"
    title: "Formosus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formoso"
    title: "Formoso"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%BE_%D9%81%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B2%D9%88%D8%B3"
    title: "پاپ فورموزوس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formosus"
    title: "Formosus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formose_(pape)"
    title: "Formose (pape)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pous_Formosus"
    title: "Pous Formosus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://als.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formosus"
    title: "Formosus"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Formosus was born around 816 and rose through the Church despite accusations of abandoning his diocese in Portus to chase higher office in Rome. He became pope on 6 October 891, but his five-year reign tangled him in dynastic wars across Europe: he meddled in Constantinople's church politics, in West Francia's throne, and fatally backed Arnulf of Carinthia over Lambert of Spoleto for the Holy Roman crown. He died on 4 April 896. Nine months later his successor Stephen VI had the body exhumed, propped in papal robes, and subjected to the Cadaver Synod — a trial that convicted Formosus of ecclesiastical ambition and illegitimate rule. The scandal poisoned his memory so thoroughly that the name Formosus vanished from the papacy forever.