John IX

John IX (born, Rome [Italy]—died January 900) was the pope from 898 to 900. Consecrated in January 898, John was opposed by the rival candidate Sergius (later Pope Sergius III), whom he excommunicated. John immediately held councils at Rome and Ravenna to rehabilitate Pope Formosus, whose corpse had been exhumed (897) by Pope Stephen VI (VII) for a posthumous trial that declared his election as pope invalid. John’s councils condemned Stephen’s synod and destroyed its...