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According to medieval legend, Pope Joan was a female pope who reigned from 855- 858.Pope Joan is generally regarded by historians as a myth, possibly originating as an anti-papal satire which gained a degree of plausibility due to certain genuine elements related in the story.
1 Overview
There are many versions of this legend, placing different stories in different centuries and circumstances. According to one version, an English woman, educated in Mainz, dressed as a man and, due to the convincing nature of her disguise, became a monk under the name of Johannes Anglicus. She was elected after the death of Pope Leo IV (term January, 847 - July 17, 855) at a time when the method of selecting popes was haphazard. She took the name Pope John VIII.
She was sexually promiscuous and became pregnant by one of her lovers. During an Easter Procession near the Basilica of San ClementeThe Basilica of San Clemente is a complex of buildings in Rome, Italy centered around a 12th century Roman Catholic church dedicated to Pope Clement I. The site is notable as being an archeological record of Roman architectural, political and religious hi, over-enthusiastic crowds pushed around the horseThis article discusses ungulate mammals. For other meanings of horse see Horse (disambiguation). The Horse Equus caballus is a large ungulate mammal, one of the seven modern species of the genus Equus''. It has long played an important role in transportat which was carrying the Pontiff. The horse reacted, almost causing an accident. The trauma of the experience led "Pope John" to go into premature labour.
Pope Joan was dragged feet-first by a horse through the streets of RomeRome ( Italian and Latin Roma is the capital city of Italy, and of its Lazio region. It is located on the lower Tiber river, near the Mediterranean Sea, at 41°50'N, 12°15'E. The Vatican City State, a sovereign enclave within Rome, is the seat of the Roman, and stoned to death by the outraged crowd. She was buried in the street where her identity had been revealed, between the St. John LateranAlessandro Galilei in 1735 St. John Lateran (Italian San Giovanni in Laterano is the oldest, and ranks first among the great patriarchal basilicas of Rome. Many are unaware that it, not St. Peter's Basilica, is the cathedral of Rome and the seat of the Po and St. Peter'sPeter's Basilica ( Italian San Pietro in Vaticano is a Catholic major basilica in Vatican City, an enclave of Rome. This building is often described as the largest church ever built (it covers an area of 23,000 mē and has a capacity of over 60,000) and on BasilicaThe Latin word, basilica (derived from Greek basilike sto royal stoa , was originally used to describe a Roman public building (as in Greece, mainly a tribunal), usually located at the centre of a Roman town ( Forum). In Hellenistic cities, public basilics. This street was (supposedly) avoided by subsequent papal processions - though when this latter detail became part of the popular legend in the 14th century13th century 14th century 15th century more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to 1400. Events The transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age Beginning of th, the Papacy was at Avignon, and there were no papal processions in Rome.
Joan was reportedly succeeded by Pope Benedict III, who reigned only briefly but made sure that his predecessor was omitted from the historical record. Benedict III is otherwise considered to have reigned from 855 to April 7, 858. Joan's ordinal name was later assumed by another Pope John VIII (term December 14, 872 - December 16, 882).
Supposedly, since her time, any candidate for the pope undergoes an intimate examination to ensure he is not a woman (or eunuch) in disguise. This involved sitting on a chair which has a hole in the seat. The most junior deacon present then feels under the chair to ensure the new Pope is male: "And in order to demonstrate his worthiness, his testicles are felt by the junior present as testimony of his male sex. When this is found to be so, the person who feels them shouts out in a loud voice testiculos habet ("He has testicles") And all the clerics reply Deo Gratias ("Thanks be to God"). Then they proceed joyfully to the consecration of the pope-elect" - Felix Hamerlin , De nobilitate et Rusticate Dialogus (c. 1490), quoted in The Female Pope, by Rosemary & Darroll Pardoe (1988).
