Pope Joan

Pope Joan (Latin: Ioannes Anglicus; 855–857) was a woman who purportedly reigned as popess (female pope) for two years during the Middle Ages. 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 several religious groups called the story into question. Until then, Joan was used as an exemplum in Dominican preaching and figured in books published in the Papal States. The Siena Cathedral, 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'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, that she reigned in the 9th century and that she entered the church to follow...