Pope Formosus, Political Theology and the Carolingian World Order
This is a study of the strange Cadaver Trial of Pope Formosus in 897. Formosus was caught up in the turmoil surrounding the end of the Carolingian Empire. In the midst of violence and agitation, the popes were forced to choose among rival candidates for the title of Emperor, hoping for protection, but under pressure from powerful families inside Rome and military forces from abroad. Following the death of Formosus, his enemies took revenge by exhuming the body, putting the dead pope on trial, and deposing him. The event reveals contradictions in the 'Carolingian world order' in Europe. This study focuses on questions of legal history, political theology, and politico-ecclesiastical concepts of the papacy. What caused Pope Formosus to be treated as a scapegoat, and what made his posthumous trial possible?
Michael Edward Moores Forschung wurde durch Stipendien des DAAD, des Trinity College (Dublin, Irland), der Library of Congress (Washington, DC), des Max-Planck-Instituts für europäische Rechtsgeschichte (Frankfurt/Main) und der Herzog-August-Bibliothek (Wolfenbüttel) gefördert. Er erwarb seinen Ph. D. an der University of Michigan.
(u. a.): Nicholas of Cusa and the Kairos of Modernity: Cassirer, Gadamer, Blumenberg, Brooklyn 2013; A Sacred Kingdom: Bishops and the Rise of Frankish Kingship, 300–850, Washington, DC 2011; The Body of Pope Formosus, in: Millennium. Jahrbuch zu Kultur und Geschichte des ersten Jahrtausends n. Chr. / Yearbook on the Culture and History of the First Millennium C.E., 9, Berlin 2012, p. 277–297; Meditations on the Face in the Middle Ages (with Levinas and Picard), in: Literature and Theology 24, Oxford 2010, p. 19–37.