Pope Joan: The Woman Who Allegedly Became Pope
Date: Allegedly Reigned c. 855–857 CE
Location: Rome, Papal States (modern-day Italy)
A Legend Born in Shadow
In a time when women were forbidden from holding any sacred office—when the power of the Church rivaled that of kings—a single name has echoed through history like a whispered scandal: Pope Joan.
They say she wore the robes of a man.
They say she ruled the Church with wisdom and grace.
They say she was discovered only when she gave birth in the streets of Rome.
But they don’t say her name in the Vatican.
The Woman Behind the Veil
The story begins with a gifted young woman—perhaps born in Mainz, Germany, or Athens, or somewhere lost to time. She was said to have disguised herself as a man under the name John Anglicus in order to study theology, a privilege denied to her by gender but not by intellect.
She rose quickly through the Church's ranks, admired for her knowledge, compassion, and diplomacy. By the time she was elected pope, no one suspected the truth.
She was revered. Respected. Beloved.
And then the veil tore.
The Moment of Unmasking
According to legend, Pope Joan’s secret was revealed not by confession or betrayal—but by childbirth.
While leading a procession near the Lateran, she allegedly went into labor in the middle of the street. Shock. Chaos. Outrage. Some say the crowd stoned her to death on the spot. Others say she was exiled, her child raised in secret.
The location—between the Colosseum and St. Clement’s Church—was, for centuries, deliberately avoided by papal processions. As if the ground still remembered.
Fact or Folklore?
Historians argue fiercely over her existence.
There is no mention of Pope Joan in official Vatican records. The gap between Pope Leo IV and Pope Benedict III—the time she supposedly reigned—is explained away as legend.
Yet medieval chronicles from the 13th century mention her. Statues once stood in Rome depicting a female pope. A strange papal chair with a hole in the seat—the sedia stercoraria—was used for centuries, possibly to ensure a new pope was male.
Was she real? A metaphor? Or a heretic myth meant to shame the Church?
Perhaps that’s why the story endures—because we don’t know.
Conclusion: The Power of a Name Unspoken
Whether Pope Joan truly reigned, or merely lives in legend, her story touches something ancient and raw: the fear of hidden power. The audacity of intellect over hierarchy. The possibility that a woman could lead, and lead well, in a world that said she could not.
Real or not, her name has never been canonized.
But it has never been forgotten either.
And sometimes, what the Church erases, history remembers.
Key Characters:
- Pope Joan / John Anglicus – The alleged female pope who rose to power in disguise
- Medieval Chroniclers – Like Martin of Opava, who first documented her story
- Roman Citizens – Witnesses to her alleged unmasking
- Church Authorities – Who may have suppressed the story, or perhaps, never encountered it at all
References:
- Martin of Opava, Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum, 13th century
- Donna Woolfolk Cross, Pope Joan: A Novel (fiction based on legend)
- Vatican records and academic rebuttals
- Eyewitness lore and oral traditions
Reviewed by Sagar B
on
June 22, 2025
Rating:
No comments: