FORMOSUS, pope from 891 to 896, first appears in history when, as bishop of Porto, he was sent on an embassy to the Bul garians. Having afterwards sided with a faction against John VIII., he was excommunicated, but Marinus, the successor of John VIII., restored him to his dignities; and in 891 he was chosen pope. At that time the Holy See was engaged in a struggle against the oppression of the princes of Spoleto, and Formosus was forced to consecrate as emperor Lambert, the young son of Guy of Spoleto. In 895 Arnulf, king of Germany succeeded in seizing Rome, and Formosus crowned him emperor. But, as he was advancing on Spoleto against Lambert, Arnulf was seized with paralysis, and forced to return to Germany. Overwhelmed with chagrin, Formosus died on April 4, 896. The validity of his acts was contested on the pretext that, having been originally bishop of Porto, he could not be a legitimate pope. His body was disinterred in 897 by Stephen VI., and treated as that of a usurper of the papal throne; but Theodore II. restored it to Christian burial, and at a council presided over by John IX. the pontificate of Formosus was declared valid.