Pope Joan
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Pope Joan (''Ioannes Anglicus'', 855–857) is a woman who purportedly reigned as popess (female
pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
) for two years during the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. Her story first appeared in chronicles in the 13th century and subsequently spread throughout Europe. The story was widely believed for centuries, but most modern scholars regard it as fictional. Most versions of her story describe her as a talented and learned woman who disguised herself as a man, often at the behest of a lover. In the most common accounts, owing to her abilities she rose through the church hierarchy and was eventually elected pope. Her sex was revealed when she gave birth during a procession and she died shortly after, either through murder or natural causes. The accounts state that later church processions avoided this spot and that the Vatican removed the female pope from its official lists and crafted a ritual to ensure that future popes were male. Pope Joan's existence was generally accepted as true until the 16th century, when different religious groups called the story into question. Until then, Joan was used as an ''
exemplum An exemplum (Latin for "example", exempla, ''exempli gratia'' = "for example", abbr.: ''e.g.'') is a moral anecdote, brief or extended, real or fictitious, used to illustrate a point. The word is also used to express an action performed by anot ...
'' in Dominican preaching and figured in books published in the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
. The
Siena Cathedral Siena Cathedral () is a medieval church in Siena, Italy, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. Since the early 13th-century the Siena Cathedral has been an important pa ...
, finished in 1263, featured a bust of Joan among other popes until 1600, when her depiction was repurposed into that of a male pope. Jean de Mailly's chronicle, written around 1250, contains the first known mention of an unnamed female pope and inspired several more accounts over the next several years. The most popular and influential version is that interpolated into
Martin of Opava Martin of Opava, Order of Preachers, O.P. (died 1278) also known as Martin of Poland, was a 13th-century Dominican Order, Dominican friar, bishop (Catholic Church), bishop and chronicler. Life Known in Latin language, Latin as ''Frater Martinu ...
's '' Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum'' later in the 13th century. Martin introduced details that the female pope's birth name was John Anglicus of
Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
, that she reigned in the 9th century and that she entered the church to follow her lover. The existence of Pope Joan was used in the defence of Walter Brut in his trial of 1391. Her existence was generally accepted as true until the 16th century, when a widespread debate among
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
writers called the story into question: various writers noted the implausibly long gap between Joan's supposed lifetime and her first appearance in texts. Protestant scholar
David Blondel file:David Blondel.jpg, David Blondel (1591 – 6 April 1655) was a French Protestant clergyman, historian and classical scholar. Life He was born at Châlons-en-Champagne. Ordained in 1614, he had positions as parish priest at Houdan and Rouc ...
ultimately demonstrated the impossibility of the story. Pope Joan is now widely considered fictional, though the legend remains influential in cultural depictions.


Early mentions

The earliest mention of a female pope appears in the Dominican Jean de Mailly's chronicle of
Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...
, ''Chronica Universalis Mettensis'', written in the early 13th century. In his telling the female pope is not named and the events are set in 1099. According to Jean: Jean de Mailly's story was picked up by his fellow Dominican Stephen of Bourbon, who adapted it for his work on the ''Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost''. However the legend gained its greatest prominence when it appeared in the third ''recension'' (edited revision) of
Martin of Opava Martin of Opava, Order of Preachers, O.P. (died 1278) also known as Martin of Poland, was a 13th-century Dominican Order, Dominican friar, bishop (Catholic Church), bishop and chronicler. Life Known in Latin language, Latin as ''Frater Martinu ...
's ''Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum'' later in the 13th century. This version, which may have been by Martin himself, is the first to attach a name to the figure, indicating that she was known as John Anglicus or John of Mainz. It also changes the date from the 11th to the 9th century, indicating that Joan reigned between Leo IV and Benedict III in the 850s. According to the ''Chronicon'': One version of the ''Chronicon'' gives an alternative fate for the female pope: she did not die immediately after her exposure but was confined and deposed, after which she did many years of penance. Her son from the affair eventually became Bishop of Ostia and ordered her entombment in his cathedral when she died. Other references to the female pope are attributed to earlier writers, though none appears in manuscripts that predate the ''Chronica''. The one most commonly cited is
Anastasius Bibliothecarius Anastasius Bibliothecarius (c. 810 – c. 878) was the chief archivist and librarian () of the Holy See and also briefly a claimant to the papacy. Early life He was a nephew of Bishop Arsenius of Orte, who executed important commissions a ...
(d. 886), a compiler of ''
Liber Pontificalis The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biography, biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adr ...
'', who was a contemporary of the female Pope by the ''Chronicons dating. However the story is found in only one unreliable manuscript of Anastasius. This manuscript, in the
Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...
, bears the relevant passage inserted as a footnote at the bottom of a page. It is out of sequence and in a different hand, one that dates from after the time of Martin of Opava. This 'witness' to the female pope is likely to be based on Martin's account and not a possible source for it. The same is true of Marianus Scotus's ''Chronicle of the Popes'', a text written in the 11th century. Some of its manuscripts contain a brief mention of a female pope named Johanna (the earliest source to attach to her the female form of the name), but all these manuscripts are later than Martin's work. Earlier manuscripts do not contain the legend. Some versions of the legend suggest that subsequent popes were subjected to an examination whereby, having sat on a so-called ''sedia stercoraria'' or 'dung chair' containing a hole, a cardinal had to reach up and establish that the new pope had
testicle A testicle or testis ( testes) is the gonad in all male bilaterians, including humans, and is Homology (biology), homologous to the ovary in females. Its primary functions are the production of sperm and the secretion of Androgen, androgens, p ...
s before announcing "''Duos habet et bene pendentes''" ("He has two and they dangle nicely"), or "''habet''" ("he has them") for short. There were associated legends as well. In the 1290s, the Dominican Robert of Uzès recounted a vision in which he saw the seat "where, it is said, the pope is proved to be a man". Pope Joan has been associated with marvelous happenings.
Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...
(1304–1374) wrote in his ''Chronica de le Vite de Pontefici et Imperadori Romani'' that after Pope Joan had been revealed as a woman: However the attribution of this work to Petrarch may be incorrect.


Later development

From the mid-13th century onward the story of the female pope was widely disseminated and believed. Joan was used as an ''
exemplum An exemplum (Latin for "example", exempla, ''exempli gratia'' = "for example", abbr.: ''e.g.'') is a moral anecdote, brief or extended, real or fictitious, used to illustrate a point. The word is also used to express an action performed by anot ...
'' in Dominican preaching.
Bartolomeo Platina Bartolomeo Sacchi (; 1421 – 21 September 1481), known as il Platina () after his birthplace of Piadena, was an Italian Renaissance humanist writer and gastronomist, author of what is considered the first printed cookbook. Platina star ...
, the scholar who was prefect of the Vatican Library, wrote his ''Vitæ Pontificum Platinæ historici liber de vita Christi ac omnium pontificum qui hactenus ducenti fuere et XX'' in 1479 at the behest of his patron,
Pope Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...
. The book contains the following account of the female Pope:
Pope John VIII: John, of English extraction, was born at Mentz (
Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
) and is said to have arrived at popedom by evil art; for disguising herself like a man, whereas she was a woman, she went when young with her paramour, a learned man, to Athens, and made such progress in learning under the professors there that, coming to Rome, she met with few that could equal, much less go beyond her, even in the knowledge of the scriptures; and by her learned and ingenious readings and disputations, she acquired so great respect and authority that upon the death of
Pope Leo IV Pope Leo IV (died 17 July 855) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 10 April 847 to his death in 855. He is remembered for repairing Roman churches that had been damaged during the Arab raid against Rome, and for building the ...
(as Martin says) by common consent she was chosen pope in his room. As she was going to the Lateran Church between the Colossean Theatre (so called from Nero's Colossus) and St. Clement's her travail came upon her, and she died upon the place, having sat two years, one month, and four days, and was buried there without any pomp. This story is vulgarly told, but by very uncertain and obscure authors, and therefore I have related it barely and in short, lest I should seem obstinate and pertinacious if I had admitted what is so generally talked. I had better mistake with the rest of the world, though it be certain, that what I have related may be thought not altogether incredible.
References to the female Pope abound in the later
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
and
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
. Jans der Enikel (1270s) was the first to tell the story in German.
Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian people, Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so ...
wrote about her in ''
De Mulieribus Claris ''De Mulieribus Claris'' or ''De Claris Mulieribus'' (Latin for "Concerning Famous Women") is a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in Latin prose in 1361–1362. ...
'' (1353). The ''Chronicon'' of Adam of Usk (1404) gives her a name, Agnes, and furthermore mentions a statue in Rome that is said to be of her. This statue had never been mentioned by any earlier writer anywhere; presumably it was an actual statue that came to be taken to be of the female pope. A late-14th-century edition of the ''Mirabilia Urbis Romae'', a guidebook for pilgrims to Rome, tells readers that the female Pope's remains are buried at St. Peter's. It was around this time that a long series of busts of past Popes was made for the Duomo of Siena, which included one of the female pope, named as "Johannes VIII, Foemina de Anglia" and included between Leo IV and Benedict III. At his trial in 1415
Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1369 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czechs, Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and t ...
argued that the Church did not necessarily need a pope because, during the pontificate of "Pope Agnes" (as he also called her), it got on quite well. Hus's opponents at the trial insisted that his argument proved no such thing about the independence of the Church but they did not dispute that there had been a female pope at all.


During the Reformation

In 1587 Florimond de Raemond, a magistrate in the
parlement Under the French Ancien Régime, a ''parlement'' () was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 ''parlements'', the original and most important of which was the ''Parlement'' of Paris. Though both th ...
de Bordeaux and an
antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic sit ...
, published his first attempt to deconstruct the legend, ''Erreur Populaire de la Papesse Jeanne'' (also subsequently published under the title ''L'Anti-Papesse''). The tract applied humanist techniques of textual criticism to the Pope Joan legend, with the broader intent of supplying sound historical principles to ecclesiastical history, and the legend began to come apart, detail by detail. Raemond's ''Erreur Populaire'' went through successive editions, reaching a fifteenth as late as 1691. In 1601,
Pope Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII (; ; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 January 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born in Fano, Papal States to a prominen ...
declared the legend of the female pope to be untrue. The famous bust of her, inscribed ''Johannes VIII, Femina ex Anglia,'' which had been carved for the series of papal figures in the Duomo di Siena about 1400 and was noted by travelers, was either destroyed or recarved and relabeled, replaced by a male figure, that of
Pope Zachary Pope Zachary (; 679 – March 752) was the bishop of Rome from 28 November 741 to his death in March 752. He was the last pope of the Byzantine Papacy. Zachary built the original church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, forbade the traffic of sla ...
. The legend of Pope Joan was "effectively demolished" by
David Blondel file:David Blondel.jpg, David Blondel (1591 – 6 April 1655) was a French Protestant clergyman, historian and classical scholar. Life He was born at Châlons-en-Champagne. Ordained in 1614, he had positions as parish priest at Houdan and Rouc ...
, a mid-17th-century
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
historian, who suggested that Pope Joan's tale may have originated in a satire against
Pope John XI Pope John XI (; 910 – December 935) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from March 931 to his death. The true ruler of Rome at the time was his mother, Marozia, followed by his brother Alberic II. His pontificate occu ...
, who died in his early 20s. Blondel, through detailed analysis of the claims and suggested timings, argued that no such events could have happened. The 16th-century Italian historian
Onofrio Panvinio Onofrio Panvinio (; 23 February 1529 – 27 April 1568) was an Italian Augustinian friar, historian and antiquary who was the librarian to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Life and work Panvinio was born in Verona. At the age of eleven, he ...
, commenting on one of
Bartolomeo Platina Bartolomeo Sacchi (; 1421 – 21 September 1481), known as il Platina () after his birthplace of Piadena, was an Italian Renaissance humanist writer and gastronomist, author of what is considered the first printed cookbook. Platina star ...
's works that refer to Pope Joan, theorized that the story of Pope Joan may have originated from tales of
Pope John XII Pope John XII (; 14 May 964), born Octavian, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 16 December 955 to his death in 964. He was related to the counts of Tusculum, a powerful Roman family which had dominated papal politics for ...
; John reportedly had many mistresses, including one called Joan, who was very influential in Rome during his pontificate. At the time of the
Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
, various
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
writers took up the Pope Joan legend in their anti-Catholic writings, and the Catholics responded with their own polemic. According to Pierre Gustave Brunet,
Various authors, in the 16th and 17th centuries, occupied themselves with Pope Joan, but it was from the point of view of the polemic engaged in between the partisans of Lutheran or Calvinist reform and the apologists of Catholicism.
An English writer, Alexander Cooke, wrote a book entitled ''Pope Joane: A Dialogue between a Protestant and a Papist'', which purported to prove the existence of Pope Joan by reference to Catholic traditions. It was republished in 1675 as ''A Present for a Papist: Or the Life and Death of Pope Joan, Plainly Proving Out of the Printed Copies, and Manscriptes of Popish Writers and Others, That a Woman called Joan, Was Really Pope of Rome, and Was There Deliver'd of a Bastard Son in the Open Street as She Went in Solemn Procession''. The book gives an account of Pope Joan giving birth to a son in plain view of all those around, accompanied by a detailed engraving showing a rather surprised looking baby peeking out from under the Pope's robes. Even in the 19th century, authors such as Ewaldus Kist and
Karl Hase Karl August von Hase (25 August 1800 – 3 January 1890) was a German Protestant theology, theologian and church historian. Background He was born at Steinbach (near Penig) in Saxony. He studied at Leipzig and Erlangen, and in 1829 was ca ...
discussed the story as a real occurrence. However, other Protestant writers, such as
David Blondel file:David Blondel.jpg, David Blondel (1591 – 6 April 1655) was a French Protestant clergyman, historian and classical scholar. Life He was born at Châlons-en-Champagne. Ordained in 1614, he had positions as parish priest at Houdan and Rouc ...
and
Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in ad ...
, rejected the story.


Recent analysis and critique

Most scholars of the 20th and 21st centuries have dismissed Pope Joan as a medieval
legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...
. British historian
John Julius Norwich John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich, (15 September 1929 – 1 June 2018), known as John Julius Norwich, was an English popular historian, writer of widely read travel books, and television personality. Biography Youth Norwich was born ...
dismissed the myth with a logical assessment of evidence. In the ''Oxford Dictionary of Popes'', J. N. D. Kelly declares the legend "Scarcely needs painstaking refutation today, for not only is there no contemporary evidence for a female Pope at any of the dates suggested for her reign, but the known facts of the respective periods make it impossible to fit one in." The appendix entry also cites chronological and material differences in the instances of the legend's telling, suggests an origin, and points to the Protestant historian
David Blondel file:David Blondel.jpg, David Blondel (1591 – 6 April 1655) was a French Protestant clergyman, historian and classical scholar. Life He was born at Châlons-en-Champagne. Ordained in 1614, he had positions as parish priest at Houdan and Rouc ...
, who "effectively demolished it in treatises published at Amsterdam in 1647 and 1657." The 1910 ''
Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...
'' elaborated on the historical timeline problem:
Between Leo IV and Benedict III, where Martinus Polonus places her, she cannot be inserted, because Leo IV died 17 July 855, and immediately after his death Benedict III was elected by the clergy and people of Rome; but, owing to the setting up of an
Antipope An antipope () is a person who claims to be Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church in opposition to the officially elected pope. Between the 3rd and mid-15th centuries, antipopes were supported by factions within the Church its ...
, in the person of the deposed Cardinal Anastasius, he was not consecrated until 29 September. Coins exist which bear both the image of Benedict III and of Emperor Lothair, who died 28 September 855; therefore Benedict must have been recognized as pope before the last-mentioned date. On 7 October 855, Benedict III issued a charter for the Abbey of Corvey.
Hincmar Hincmar (; ; ; 806 – 21 December 882), archbishop of Reims, was a Frankish jurist and theologian, as well as the friend, advisor and propagandist of Charles the Bald. He belonged to a noble family of northern Francia. Biography Early life Hincm ...
, Archbishop of Reims, informed Nicholas I that a messenger whom he had sent to Leo IV learned on his way of the death of this Pope, and therefore handed his petition to Benedict III, who decided it (Hincmar, ep. xl in P.L., CXXXVI, 85). All these witnesses prove the correctness of the dates given in the lives of Leo IV and Benedict III, and there was no
interregnum An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of revolutionary breach of legal continuity, discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one m ...
between these two Popes, so that at this place there is no room for the alleged Popess.
It has also been noted that enemies of the papacy in the 9th century make no mention of a female Pope. For example,
Photios I of Constantinople Photius I of Constantinople (, ''Phōtios''; 815 – 6 February 893), also spelled ''Photius''Fr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., and Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Mate ...
, who became
Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...
of Constantinople in 858 and was deposed by
Pope Nicholas I Pope Nicholas I (; c. 800 – 13 November 867), called Nicholas the Great, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 858 until his death on 13 November 867. He is the last of the three popes listed in the Annuario Pontif ...
in 863, had a contentious relationship with the Pope. He strongly defended his own authority as patriarch and opposed the influence of the Pope in Rome and would have likely highlighted any scandals of that time regarding the papacy; but he never mentions the story once in any of his voluminous writings. Indeed, at one point he mentions "Leo and Benedict, successively great priests of the Roman Church". Rosemary and Darroll Pardoe, authors of ''The Female Pope: The Mystery of Pope Joan'', theorize that if a female pope did exist, a more plausible time frame is 1086 and 1108, when there were several antipopes; during this time the reign of the legitimate popes Victor III,
Urban II Pope Urban II (; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening the Council of Clermon ...
, and
Paschal II Pope Paschal II (; 1050  1055 – 21 January 1118), born Raniero Raineri di Bleda, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was creat ...
was not always established in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, since the city was occupied by
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and List of kings of Burgundy, Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was t ...
, and later sacked by the
Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...
. This also agrees with the earliest known version of the legend, by Jean de Mailly, as he places the story in the year 1099. De Mailly's account was acknowledged by his companion Stephen of Bourbon. Peter Stanford, a British writer and former editor of '' The Catholic Herald'', concluded in ''The Legend of Pope Joan: In Search of the Truth'' (2000) "Weighing all th evidence, I am convinced that Pope Joan was an historical figure, though perhaps not all the details about her that have been passed on down the centuries are true". Stanford's work has been criticised as "credulous" by one mainstream historian, Vincent DiMarco. Against the lack of historical evidence to her existence, the question remains as to why the Pope Joan story has been popular and widely believed.
Philip Jenkins Philip Jenkins (born April 3, 1952) is a professor of history at Baylor University in the United States, and co-director for Baylor's Program on Historical Studies of Religion in the Institute for Studies of Religion. He is also the Edwin Erle S ...
in '' The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice'' suggests that the periodic revival of what he calls this "anti-papal legend" has more to do with
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
and
anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics and opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and its adherents. Scholars have identified four categories of anti-Catholicism: constitutional-national, theological, popular and socio-cul ...
wishful thinking than historical accuracy. The ''sedes stercoraria'', the throne with a hole in the seat, now at St. John Lateran (the formal residence of the popes and center of Catholicism), is to be considered. This and other toilet-like chairs were used in the consecration of Pope Pascal II in 1099. In fact, one is still in the
Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...
, another at the
Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
. The reason for the configuration of the chair is disputed. It has been speculated that they originally were Roman
bidet A bidet (, ) is a bowl or receptacle designed to be sat upon in order to wash a person's Sex organ, genitalia, perineum, inner buttocks, and human anus, anus. The modern variety has a plumbed-in water supply and a drainage opening, and is thus a ...
s or imperial birthing stools, which because of their age and imperial links were used in ceremonies by Popes intent on highlighting their own imperial claims (as they did also with their
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
title, '' Pontifex Maximus''). Alain Boureau quotes the humanist Jacopo d'Angelo de Scarparia, who visited Rome in 1406 for the enthronement of
Gregory XII Pope Gregory XII (; ;  – 18 October 1417), born Angelo Corraro, Corario," or Correr, was head of the Catholic Church from 30 November 1406 to 4 July 1415. Reigning during the Western Schism, he was opposed by the Avignon claimant Benedi ...
. The pope sat briefly on two "pierced chairs" at the Lateran: "... the vulgar tell the insane fable that he is touched to verify that he is indeed a man", a sign that this corollary of the Pope Joan legend was still current in the Roman street. Medieval popes, from the 13th century onward, did indeed avoid the direct route between the Lateran and St Peter's, as Martin of Opava claimed. However, there is no evidence that this practice dated back any earlier. The origin of the practice is uncertain, but it is quite likely that it was maintained because of widespread belief in the Joan legend, and it was thought genuinely to date back to that period. Although some medieval writers referred to the female pope as "John VIII", a genuine
Pope John VIII Pope John VIII (; died 16 December 882) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 14 December 872 to his death. He is often considered one of the most able popes of the 9th century. John devoted much of his papacy to attempting ...
reigned between 872 and 882. Due to the scarcity of records in the
Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...
, confusion often reigns in the evaluation of events. The Pope Joan legend is also conflated with the gap in the numbering of the Johns. In the 11th century, Pope John XIV was mistakenly counted as two popes. When Petrus Hispanus was elected pope in 1276, he believed that there had already been twenty popes named John, so he skipped the number XX and numbered himself John XXI. In 2018, Michael E. Habicht, an archaeologist at
Flinders University Flinders University, established as The Flinders University of South Australia is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across a number of locations in South Australia and ...
, published new evidence in support of an historical Pope Joan. Habicht and grapho-analyst Marguerite Spycher analyzed papal monograms on medieval coins and found that there were two significantly different monograms attributed to Pope John VIII. Habicht argues that the earlier monogram, which he dates from 856 to 858, belongs to Pope Joan, while the latter monogram, which he dates to after 875, belongs to Pope John VIII.


In fiction

Pope Joan has remained a popular subject for fictional works across artistic forms. Plays featuring or referencing her include
Ludwig Achim von Arnim Carl Joachim Friedrich Ludwig von Arnim (26 January 1781 – 21 January 1831), better known as Achim von Arnim, was a German poet, novelist, and together with Clemens Brentano and Joseph von Eichendorff, a leading figure of German Romanticism. L ...
's ''Päpstin Johanna'' (1813), a fragment by
Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
(in ''Werke'' Bd 10), a
monodrama A monodrama is a theatrical or operatic piece played by a single actor or singer, usually portraying one character. In opera In opera, a monodrama was originally a melodrama with one role such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau's '' Pygmalion'', which w ...
, ''Pausin Johanna'', by Cees van der Pluijm (1996), and
Caryl Churchill Caryl Lesley Churchill (born 3 September 1938) is a British playwright known for dramatising the abuses of power, for her use of non- naturalistic techniques, and for her exploration of sexual politics and feminist themes.
's 1982 play, '' Top Girls'', which featured Pope Joan as a character. In July 2019 a theatrical show, ''Pope Joan'', was held in
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
at
Mdina Mdina ( ; ), also known by its Italian epithets ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdina, fortified city in the Western Region, Malta, Western Region of Malta which served as the island's former capital, from antiquity ...
ditch featuring her as the main character. She has also appeared widely in novels. The Greek author Emmanuel Rhoides' 1866 novel, '' The Papess Joanne'', was admired by
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...
and
Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; ; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French Artistic symbol, symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896)'','' often cited as a forerunner of the Dada, Surrealism, Surrealist, and Futurism, Futurist ...
and freely translated by
Lawrence Durrell Lawrence George Durrell (; 27 February 1912 – 7 November 1990) was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer. He was the eldest brother of naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell. Born in India to British colonial pa ...
as ''The Curious History of Pope Joan'' (1954). The legend also inspired Jarry's final written work before his death, ''The Pope's Mustard-Maker'' (1907), an operetta about a female pope known as Jane of Eggs, who operates under the papal name John VIII. The American Donna Woolfolk Cross's 1996
historical romance Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Lord Byron, Byron helped popularize in the early 19th century. The genre often takes the form of the novel. Varieties ...
, '' Pope Joan'' (later produced as a German musical and 2009 film). Other novels include Wilhelm Smets' ''Das Mährchen von der Päpstin Johanna auf’s Neue erörtert'' (1829),
Marjorie Bowen Margaret Gabrielle Vere Long (née Campbell; 1 November 1885 – 23 December 1952), who used the pseudonyms Marjorie Bowen, George R. Preedy, Joseph Shearing, Robert Paye, John Winch, and Margaret Campbell or Mrs. Vere Campbell,Jessica Amanda Sa ...
's ''Black Magic'' (1909), Ludwig Gorm's ''Päpstin Johanna'' (1912), Yves Bichet's ''La Papesse Jeanne'' (2005) and Hugo N. Gerstl's ''Scribe: The Story of the Only Female Pope'' (2005).
Howard Pyle Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator, Painting, painter, and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life ...
's ''
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood ''The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire'' is an 1883 novel by the American illustrator and writer Howard Pyle. Pyle compiled the traditional Robin Hood ballads as a series of episodes of a coherent narrative. Fo ...
'' contains a reference. In the 2016 novel by Robert Harris, ''
Conclave A conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to appoint the pope of the Catholic Church. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Concerns around ...
'' ( later filmed), a liberal candidate to the Papacy states that his reginal name would be "John", foreshadowing a twist with parallels to the legend of Pope Joan. Emily Maguire’s 2024 historical fiction novel, ''Rapture'', is a retelling of the legend of Pope Joan. There have been two films based on the story of Pope Joan. In 1972, Michael Anderson directed '' Pope Joan'' (1972; released as ''The Devil's Imposter'' in the US; re-released in 2009 as ''She ... Who Would Be Pope''). And in 2009, Cross's novel was filmed as '' Pope Joan''. Finally, Pope Joan has even featured in video games. She appears as a Ruler class Servant in the 2015 mobile game '' Fate/Grand Order'', and is the inspiration for Johanna, one of Makoto Niijima's titular personas (manifestations of the soul used by humans to battle demons), in the 2016 video game ''
Persona 5 is a 2016 role-playing video game developed by P-Studio and published by Atlus. The game is the sixth installment in the ''Persona'' series, itself a part of the larger ''Megami Tensei'' franchise. It was released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStat ...
''.


See also

*
Legends surrounding the papacy The papacy has been surrounded by numerous legends. Among the most famous are the claims that the papal tiara bears the ''Number of the Beast'' inscriptions, that a woman was once elected pope, or that the pope elected after Pope Benedict XVI wa ...
*
Marozia Marozia, born Maria and also known as Mariuccia or Mariozza ( 890 – 937), was a Roman noblewoman who was the alleged mistress of Pope Sergius III and was given the unprecedented titles ''senatrix'' ("senatoress") and ''patricia'' of Rome by Po ...
* ''
Saeculum obscurum (, "the dark age/century"), also known as the Rule of the Harlots or the Pornocracy, was a period in the history of the papacy during the first two thirds of the 10th century, following the chaos after the death of Pope Formosus in 896, which ...
'' * Theodora (senatrix) * The High Priestess


References


Further reading


Primary sources

* Jean de Mailly ''Chronica Universalis Mettensis'' (1254) *
Martin of Opava Martin of Opava, Order of Preachers, O.P. (died 1278) also known as Martin of Poland, was a 13th-century Dominican Order, Dominican friar, bishop (Catholic Church), bishop and chronicler. Life Known in Latin language, Latin as ''Frater Martinu ...
''Chronicon pontificum et imperatorum'' (1278)


Secondary sources

* * Clement Wood, ''The Woman Who Was Pope'', Wm. Faro, Inc., New York. 1931 * Arturo Ortega Blake, ''Joanna Kobieta która zostala Papiezem'', Edit. Philip Wilson, 2006. Published in Warszawa, . * Alain Boureau, ''The Myth of Pope Joan'', University of Chicago Press, 2000. Published in Paris as ''La Papesse Jeanne''. The standard account among historians, . * Stephen L. Harris, Bryon L. Grigsby (eds), ''Misconceptions about the Middle Ages'', Routledge, 2007. . * Peter Stanford, ''The She-Pope. A Quest for the truth behind the Mystery of Pope Joan'', Heineman, London 1998 . Published in the US as ''The Legend of Pope Joan: In Search of the Truth'', Henry Holt & Company, 1999. A popularized journalistic account.
"Top 5 Myths About the Papacy"
* Joan Morris, ''Pope John VIII, an English Woman, Alias Pope Joan'' Vrai Publishers, London 1985 . * Michael E. Habicht,''Päpstin Johanna. Ein vertuschtes Pontifikat einer Frau oder eine fiktive Legende?'' epubli, Berlin 2018 . * Michael E. Habicht,''Pope Joan: The covered-up pontificate of a woman or a fictional legend?'' epubli, Berlin 2018

* Alcuin Blamires, ed., ''Woman Defamed and Woman Defended'', Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992. * Pope Joan discussion podcast on
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
In Our Time (radio series) ''In Our Time'' is a BBC Radio 4 discussion series and podcast exploring a wide variety of historical, scientific and philosophical topics, presented by Melvyn Bragg, since 15 October 1998.
: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0027d6t


Fiction

* Donna Woolfolk Cross, ''Pope Joan: A Novel'' Three Rivers Press, 2009. *
Lawrence Durrell Lawrence George Durrell (; 27 February 1912 – 7 November 1990) was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer. He was the eldest brother of naturalist and writer Gerald Durrell. Born in India to British colonial pa ...
, ''The Curious History of Pope Joan''. London: Derek Verschoyle, 1954. Freely translated from the Greek Papissa Joanna, 1886, by Emmanuel Rhoides. * Emmanuel Rhoides
''Papissa Joanna''
translated by T. D. Kriton, Govostis, Athens, 1935.


External links

*
ABC Prime time Looking for Pope Joan
*
Pope Joan
by Dennis Barton gives timeline esp. of stories appearance in written histories.


Mystery Files: Pope Joan
2012, Episode 10. Smithsonian Channel. Retrieved 17 February 2014. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joan, Pope Fictional characters introduced in the 13th century Christian folklore Fictional cross-dressers Medieval legends Women and the papacy Nonexistent people Colosseum