Pope Joan: A Novel

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interesting history

Interesting take on the legend, but has some flaws

Not What I Was Looking For

Great writer

Riveting!

Pope Joan: A Novel
Donna Cross
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0345416260
Release Date: 1997-08-19

Amazon.com

One of the most controversial women of history is brought to brilliant life in Donn Woolfolk Cross's tale of Pope Joan, a girl whose origins should have kept her in squalid domesticity. Instead, through her intelligence, indomitability and courage, she ascended to the throne of Rome as Pope John Anglicus.

The time is 814, the place is Ingelheim, a Frankland village. It is the harshest winter in living memory when Joan is born to an English father and a Saxon mother. Her father is a canon, filled with holy zeal and capable of unconscionable cruelty. His piety does not extend to his family members, especially the females. His wife, Gudrun, is a young beauty to whom he was attracted beyond his will--and he hates her for showing him his weakness. Gudrun teaches Joan about her gods, and is repeatedly punished for it by the canon. Joan grows to young womanhood with the combined knowledge of the warlike Saxon gods and the teachings of the Church as her heritage. Both realities inform her life forever.

When her brother John, not a scholarly type, is sent away to school, Joan, who was supposed to be the one sent to school, runs away and joins him in Dorstadt, at Villaris, the home of Gerold, who is central to Joan's story. She falls in love with Gerold and their lives interesect repeatedly even through her Papacy. She is looked upon by all who know that she is a woman as a "lusus naturae," a freak of nature. "She was... male in intellect, female in body, she fit in nowhere; it was as if she belonged to a third amorphous sex." Cross makes the case over and over again that the status of women in the Dark Ages was little better than cattle. They were judged inferior in every way, and necessary evils in the bargain.

After John is killed in a Viking attack, Joan sees her opportunity to escape the fate of all her gender. She cuts her hair, dons her dead brother's clothes and goes into the world as a young boy. Gerold is away from Villaris at the time of the attack and comes home to find his home in ruins, his family killed and Joan among the missing. After the attack, Joan goes to a Benedictine monastery, is accepted as a young man of great learning, and eventually makes her way to Rome.

The author is at pains to tell the reader in an Epilogue that she has written the story as fiction because it is impossible to document Joan's accesion to the Papacy. The Catholic Church has done everything possible to deny this embarrassment. Whether or not one believes in Joan as Pope, this is a compelling story, filled with all kinds of lore: the brutishness of the Dark Ages, Vatican intrigue, politics and favoritism and most of all, the place of women in the Church and in the world. --Valerie Ryan

Book Description

"Engaging . . . Pope Joan has all the elements: love, sex, violence, duplicity, and long-buried secrets."
--Los Angeles Times Book Review

For a thousand years men have denied her existence--Pope Joan, the woman who disguised herself as a man and rose to rule Christianity for two years. Now this compelling novel animates the legend with a portrait of an unforgettable woman who struggles against restrictions her soul cannot accept.

When her older brother dies in a Viking attack, the brilliant young Joan assumes his identity and enters a Benedictine monastery where, as Brother John Anglicus, she distinguishes herself as a scholar and healer. Eventually drawn to Rome, she soon becomes enmeshed in a dangerous mix of powerful passion and explosive politics that threatens her life even as it elevates her to the highest throne in the Western world.

"Brings the savage ninth century vividly to life in all its alien richness. An enthralling, scholarly historical novel."
--Rebecca Fraser, Author of The Brontës

Customer Reviews:

interesting history.......2007-10-06

Interesting bit of history told in a compelling fashion. Although it took sometime to get into the book I enjoyed it once I finished. I would recommend for someone who likes historical fiction.

Interesting take on the legend, but has some flaws.......2007-10-05

I think I'm going to be another one in the minority here. I found the idea of a woman disguised as a man seated on the papal throne to be an interesting legend and the author did a decent job with it. I appreciated the research the author took on the period and customs of the times, which is not an easy task as so much is unknown about the dark ages.

The problem I had is the incredible coincidences throughout the book where Joan is just saved in the nick of time in true soap opera fashion (think Days of Our Lives -- no better yet the Perils of Pauline) from disaster upon disaster to chance upon chance of being discovered as a woman, to the near escape from the Viking raid and more ad infinitum. It never stopped until the very end, there were so many times where you just want to roll your eyes and say give me a break!

All in all a light pleasant read, but not one I'm apt to write home to friends and family about nor one I will want to pick up and read again. I'd recommend getting it from the library first, and then buy it if you love it. JMHO.

Not What I Was Looking For.......2007-09-26

If you're looking for a book about the real Pope Joan, this isn't it. Though fairly well written, this is a novel and it reads like a standard romance novel. Lots of rules being bent or broken to accommodate the characters and plenty of drama.

The author clearly did a great deal of research on life in the middle ages and incorporated as much reality as possible into the story, but if you're looking for information on the real Pope Joan or how a woman could have become Pope in that era, this won't be what you're looking for.

Great writer.......2007-09-12

The author writes a very believable story. Her description of the times and the impact on women at that time is extraordinary. An excellent read.

Riveting! .......2007-08-31

I just finished this book and cant wait to pass it on. It is definitely one of my top 10. If you liked "Girl w/a Pearl Earring", "Birth of Venus", you will love this story. It is beautifully written, I couldnt put it down. Pope Joan has a strength and wisdom to be admired. This is a story of oppression, a heartbreaking love affair and another scandal in the catholic church. I will be the first in line when the movie comes out!!!

The Legend of Pope Joan: In Search of the Truth

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Author with an axe to grind
Plausible But Not Probable
Sensationalist nonsense
More about Peter Stanford than about Pope Joan
A Believer's Look at History

The Legend of Pope Joan: In Search of the Truth
Peter Stanford
Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Medieval | World | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 042517347X
Release Date: 2000-04-10

Book Description

The legend of Pope Joan--an Englishwoman who disguised herself as a man and became pope in the ninth century--has been a source of controversy for a thousand years. Fascinated by her story, but skeptical of its authenticity, British journalist Peter Stanford decided to investigate the facts. His search for the truth has produced the definitive account of one of the most intriguing mysteries of the Catholic Church. With all the riveting drama of an historical detective novel, this exciting study utilizes a variety of sources and methods, from ancient papal tomes to present-day psychological profiling. And in an age when many women identify with Joan's struggle for recognition in a male-dominated institution, Stanford speculates on what her legend's longevity means for the church--and asks why she still has such a powerful grip on our imaginations.

"A compelling account of one of the least-known stories in church history."-- The Boston Globe

"The definitive study of an amazing legend."-- Publishers Weekly

"Unfolds like a good mystery yarn...thorough, intelligent, and absorbing."-- The Boston Globe

"Stanford renders the myth itself--how this woman who penetrated the ultimate men's club has been represented, reviled, and revered for more than a millennium--in fascinating detail."-- Entertainment Weekly

"Carefully researched and of broad interest."-- Library Journal

"A valuable tool for understanding the sexual politics of the Catholic Church--as contentious an issue now as it ever has been--and an extremely engaging read as well."-- Willamette Week (Portland, OR)

Customer Reviews:

Author with an axe to grind.......2006-12-16

If you read what Peter Stanford writes in newspapers, you'll quickly learn that he's deeply ideologically committed to a range of agendas that happen to be at odds with the teaching of the Catholic Church, one of his favorite subjects. The Church's apparent unresponsiveness to Mr. Stanford's shrill demands that it change its ancient teachings, practices, etc., to suit his tastes is apparently intolerable to Stanford, who as another reader pointed out, is certainly no scholar or historian, but an amateur.
You'll find better reading elsewhere. This is a load of junk - unprofessional, unscholarly, and unreadable.

Plausible But Not Probable.......2006-02-04

Although far from scholarly, this is an intriguing and readable study of the lurid urban myth, legend, or (maybe) even legitimate history of a 9th-century woman who disguised herself as a man, and rose through the hierarchy of the Catholic church to become pope-- only to have her deception exposed when she gave birth during a papal procession.

Stanford maakes the story almost as much about himself as about his subject, which is unfortunate, since he's not all that interesting. Laying bare the bones of one's research-- the researchers telling the readers how they acquired their information-- is quite fashionable these days among certain writers, even some professional historians, but Stanford does too much of that. He also makes some gross errors in his references to works of art relevant to his subject, describing a catacomb painting and a mosaic inaccurately, although he could have easily gone to see both of them during his stays in Rome.

The most interesting part of the book is the discussion of how the Catholic church has dealt with the story over the centuries. Apparently the Church preserved the tale for many centuries as a true story, but a horrible example of female duplicity and ultimate weakness-- a moralist's delight, and a pre-Freudian claim that (female) anatomy is inescapable destiny. But when Protestants started using the story to undermine the papacy's claim to legitimacy, the Church turned the tables and began dismissing Pope Joan as a complete fabrication, even going so far as to claim that all 500 or so references to her story in pre-Reformation sources were PLANTED there by assiduous Protestants!

Stanford seems a little too ready to believe the story; he clearly wishes it to be true, which colors his interpretation of the data he uncovers. But it's the kind of tale where such bias seems inevitable: those who believe the story is true will brush aside all attempts to disprove it, and those who believe it's a legend will refuse to accept any of the evidence for its veracity.

Sensationalist nonsense.......2005-04-09

Like other pseudo-history books (e.g., "Holy Blood, Holy Grail"), the author takes a barely plausible hypothesis and attempts to con the reader into believing it is fact. However, when Stanford does dare to delve into areas that can be easily checked by the reader, his con game is exposed. For example, at one point in the book, he mentions a trip to Bologna to find the church of San Petronio. He claims he could not find the church after an extensive search. However, even a first-time visitor to Bologna would be able to find San Petronio as it is the largest church in the city (when it was originally built, the city attempted to make it larger than St. Peter's in Rome) and stands very conspicuously in the main piazza of Bologna! If such a glaring misstatement can be so easily exposed, how can the knowledgable reader believe anything else Stanford has to say about the viability of Pope Joan?

Perhaps unwittingly, Stanford does provide the reader with what might be the most credible basis for the legend of Pope Joan when he mentions the influence of Marozia on the papacy in the 10th century. Marozia was an Italian noblewoman and daughter of the powerful Roman consul Theophylact and his wife Theodora. She was also the mistress of Pope Sergius III (904-911) and bore him a son who, through her influence, became Pope John XI in 931. Marozia wielded considerable influence on her son the Pope and it is quite possible that the Roman citizenry mockingly referred to him as "Pope Joan" (as in Latin, John = Ioannes and Joan = Ioanna). Investigating the influence of Marozia and the Theophylact family on the papacy as it was growing in strength would have made for a far more interesting book. Unfortunately, The Legend of Pope Joan does not offer us that.

More about Peter Stanford than about Pope Joan.......2003-12-28

It is hard to avoid being fascinated by the story and mystery of Pope Joan. What an intriguing topic, belonging to a part of time of which little is known - which may be why the era is often referred to as "The Dark Ages"... Like may other reviewers of this book, I accidentally ran into references to Pope Joan, then tried to deepen my knowledge of it by purchasing this book: I was also in search of the truth:-)

I enjoyed reading the book, but was left somewhat disappointed at the end. I was expecting a somewhat scholarly review and analysis of the evidence, and hopefully some original research and findings. Instead, the book really discusses the author's search for more information on the topic. It is, to a certain degree, more a travelogue than a book of history research.

Peter Stanford does review the litterary evidence that is available on Pope Joan, all of which, of course, is at least third hand. He describes in interesting fashion the milieu that could have fashioned Pope Joan in England, then in middle Europe. He describes in detail his personal travel to the different sites that are associated with Pope Joan. More than anything, the book describes his search for the truth on Pope Joan - an interesting topic in itself.

However, Peter Stanford is not a historian. His personal quest in search of information on Pope Joan is basically what you or I would be doing if we were to dig into the topic in a serious manner: an interesting review of existing material by an amateur. This is not a scholarly study of Pope Joan's mystery. It does not add to the existing information. It does not bring any penetrating analysis to the subject. To a degree, I think that the several reviewers who were somewhat disappointed in this book, had, like me, the wrong expectations for what the contents would be.

If you are looking for the story of a man's personal search for more information on a puzzling topic of history, by all means buy this book. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a deep analysis of the Pope Joan mystery (or a solution...), then move on and look for something else.

Best from camisdad

A Believer's Look at History.......2002-12-01

I became aware of the legend of Pope Joan a number of years ago upon reading Donna Woolfolk Cross's novel Pope Joan. Since then, I've come across mentions of the legend in a number of places, including some interesting papal histories. However, I had never looked into the story seriously so I decided to read a few books. One of the first I came across was this one by Peter Stanford.

I was reasonably pleased with this book. Stanford appears to have done some serious research into the historical sources of the story of the female pope. In addition, he has relates a number of interviews with important historians both inside and outside the Vatican. Most importantly, the book is quite easy to read as he tells it more as the story of his personal search for the truth as opposed to a dry history.

This, however, is also the source of the book's main weakness. Stanford is clearly prejudiced before he even begins his search. Clearly, he believes there was such a person as Pope Joan and he is merely looking for pieces of information to back up his position. Granted, he is honest enough to admit that there is absolutely no way a definitive answer to this question will ever come but this cannot cover his strong belief that there was such a person.

Book Description

Amid the religious tumult of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, English scholars, preachers, and dramatists examined, debated, and refashioned tales concerning Pope Joan, a ninth-century woman who, as legend has it, cross-dressed her way to the papacy only to have her imposture exposed when she gave birth during a solemn procession.

The legend concerning a popess had first taken written form in the thirteenth century and for several hundred years was more or less accepted. The Reformation, however, polarized discussions of the legend, pitting Catholics, who denied the story’s veracity, against Protestants, who suspected a cover-up and instantly cited Joan as evidence of papal depravity. In this heated environment, writers reimagined Joan variously as a sorceress, a hermaphrodite, and even a noteworthy author.

The Afterlife of Pope Joan examines sixteenth- and seventeenth-century debates concerning the popess’s existence, uncovering the disputants’ historiographic methods, rules of evidence, rhetorical devices, and assumptions concerning what is probable and possible for women and transvestites. Author Craig Rustici then investigates the cultural significance of a series of notions advanced in those debates: the claim that Queen Elizabeth I was a popess in her own right, the charge that Joan penned a book of sorcery, and the curious hypothesis that the popess was not a disguised woman at all but rather a man who experienced a sort of spontaneous sex change.

The Afterlife of Pope Joan draws upon the discourses of religion, politics, natural philosophy, and imaginative literature, demonstrating how the popess functioned as a powerful rhetorical instrument and revealing anxieties and ambivalences about gender roles that persist even today.

Craig M. Rustici is Associate Professor of English at Hofstra University.

Curious Myths of the Middle Ages: The Sangreal, Pope Joan, The Wandering Jew, and Others (Dover Books on Anthropology and Folklore)

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A Compendium of Fascinating Stories

Curious Myths of the Middle Ages: The Sangreal, Pope Joan, The Wandering Jew, and Others (Dover Books on Anthropology and Folklore)
Sabine Baring-Gould
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0486439933

Book Description

Absorbing compilation of vintage tales surrounding such figures as William Tell, Saint Patrick, the Pied Piper, the Knights of the Holy Grail, and the Man in the Moon, complete with introductory essays on their mythological or historical origins. 5 plates of illustrations; 11 line drawings.

Customer Reviews:

A Compendium of Fascinating Stories.......2007-09-09

I was interested in this book because it covered stories with which I was already familiar--the Wandering Jew, Pope Joan, the Grail--and for which I am always interested in finding new resources. The bonus was that I discovered deeper roots for stories I only knew superficially--the Pied Piper, Prester John, William Tell--and I learned of fascinating myths I barely recognized--the Seven Sleepers, Melusina, the Swan Maidens, etc.

Like the Victorian scholar he was (this was originally published in 1894), Rev. Baring-Gould is expert at tracing the roots of the various stories and legends. He then carries the stories forward and shows how the root story can become a basis for related myths across cultures and countries. For example, how the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus inspires the story of Rip Van Winkle. It is difficult not to see the silliness of some fervored believers of the truth of some of these stories when it is so easy to trace the variations from country to country. Sometimes the root story is not even the best known or most widely believed.

On the other hand, Rev. Baring-Gould can sometimes be a little cavalier with his judgements which, again, is quite typical of his time. And anyone not familiar with the Victorian scholarly writing style will certainly be turned off. I enjoy it myself, though even I found some of the passages pushing on a little long. Rev. Baring-Gould also has the facility with various languages (Latin, Greek, French, etc.) which was common for an educated European at the time. He quotes from these sources often and, using them untranslated, leaves those less familiar with these languages (like myself) in the dark.

Still, this is a compendium of interesting medieval myths that reads quite well considering its age. Anyone interested in these stories will find much of interest here that will impact their understanding of how they have made it (or not) into today's compendium of myth.

Average customer rating:

A tale of two Pope Joans
AWFUL!!
Dated and unsatisfying hodge-podge
BO-RING!
Book Reading Groups Beware!

Pope Joan
Emmanual Royidis , and Lawrence Durrell
Manufacturer: Overlook TP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0879517867

Customer Reviews:

A tale of two Pope Joans.......2006-06-06

A while back I acquired copies of two books entitled Pope Joan, one translated from the Greek by Lawrence Durrell and one written by Donna Woolfolk Cross. Somehow they have languished for two years on my bookshelf (which ironically is the length of time the good lady was said to have occupied the Papal throne), but I have just finished reading them, not back to back but actually alternating the two so that I started and finished them both within the same period of time.

They were vastly different in both writing style and content- though there was a similar kernel within each.

The Durrell book, which is a battered and yellowed little paperback, was written in a style that took some adjustment to read. Flowery, cynical, jaded, and very funny once you got used to the effusive flow of words. Apparently the original author of this (in the Greek) was excommunicated for writing it.

The Cross book, is well researched, told in the type of historical fiction style more like some of the historical fiction I read as a teen that told the story with some embellishment and some romance, more in modern day parlance. The fact that I found the story a little too pat, is my own fault, not hers. Horrible father, long suffering mother, daughter who shines at everything and would have been the ideal child had she not had ovaries...But Cross's Joan always lands on her feet (well-- except for one time in the flood of the Tiber, when she seems to have landed on her back-- no more or there's a spoiler there.)

My dear friend who is a priest would be appalled that I might even consider it to be historically based. But who is to say? The 800's were a long time ago and historical information or sources from that time are sketchy.

AWFUL!!.......2005-12-31

A comic masterpiece? Hardly. Didn'tlaugh once. Might have been funny in 1886, but it sure isn't now. Anyway, the book is not what I was looking for, which was serious historical fiction--an imaginative re-telling of this intriguing, long-lost story. I found it afterwards in the novel by Donna Woolfolk Cross, which is very well-researched, beautifully written, and deeply moving. That's the one to get, not this boring and unfunny "comic masterpiece".

Dated and unsatisfying hodge-podge.......2005-12-29

Supposedly a novel, this very dated tome is neither fish nor fowl. It can't seem to decide what it wants to be. A story or a lecture? Serious historical fiction, or a platform for a broad satirical attack on the Catholic Church? If the latter, then be warned: most readers won't find it very funny. Humor ages fast. What's amusing in one era is a great big yawn in another.

There's no plot in any modern sense of the word. Joan wanders, picaresque fashion, from one implausible adventure to another, with tedious predictability. Every ten pages or so I had to fight the temptation to put it down, for the story keeps lagging, occasionally coming to a dead halt to allow the author to launch yet another boring and repetitive diatribe against the Church.

There's no character development or subtlety. Joan is a difficult character to like, for she seems to have little motivation except an undiscriminating sexuality, which exists primarily as a device to launch her into strained and silly encounters with prelates. The prose is excruciatingly awkward, probably because 1. it was written 150 years ago, and 2. it's been translated from the Greek. For proof of this, just read the passage quoted by one of the Spotlight reviewers above (who cites it to prove that the writing is wonderful!): "Such a miracle was unheard of; and indeed would have been a singular contribution to the annals of Christian thaumaturgy which, while it borrowed many a prodigy from the pagans, had not yet reached the point where..." etc. etc. Shakespeare, this isn't. Nor is it Joyce Carol Oates or Sue Monk or Frank McCourt or any other modern writer with a feel for the beauty and the power of the English language.

If you're looking for a non-fiction book about Pope Joan that discusses the historical evidence for her existence, then get the books by Peter Stanford (pro-Joan) or Alain Bourreau (anti-Joan). If you're looking for an exciting and well-written read based on the actual historical record, then get the novel by Donna Woolfolk Cross. Avoid this ROYIDIS/DURRELL book at all costs, for it's neither one nor the other.

BO-RING!.......2005-12-28

Bought this book thinking it was by Lawrence Durrell, for that's the author name on the cover. Don't be deceived! This book isn't written by Lawrence Durrell; the fact that his name is on the cover is obviously an attempt by the publisher to capitalize on his name. It was written over 150 years ago, in Greek, by Emmanuel Royidis, and only TRANSLATED, over 100 years later, by Durrell.

I suppose this book might be of interest to graduate students interested in studying early, formative, novel-writing. But the book is not an enjoyable experience for modern readers. It really shows its age in clumsy, out-dated phrases like, "And now, Dear Reader, let me explain..." True, as some previous reviewers have mentioned, there's occasional flashes of humor, but they're not worth the long, dull stretches of pedantic lecturing. I recommend the Cross novel instead, both for its riveting story-telling and for the fascinating information about the evidence for Pope Joan's historical existence contained in Cross' "Author's Note".

Book Reading Groups Beware!.......2005-12-23

Our bookgroup scheduled a speakerphone chat with Donna Woolfolk Cross, author of the "other" Pope Joan, and I bought this book by accident! I was so confused when everyone said how much they loved the book -- only to find out I had read the wrong one. I had so much trouble participating in the conversation because I had so much trouble slogging through this Royidis/Durrell version of the story.

The Royidis/Durrell version of Pope Joan is sl-o-o-o-w moving, old-fashioned (after all, it's more than 100 years old), and dull. In contrast, the Cross version is fast-paced, riveting and impossible to put down! The notes at the end of the Cross book, documenting her research, are fascinating, and make it so clear that Joan was more than a fantasy.

If you insist on reading this version, read it for comparison purposes only, and enjoy a good snooze. If you want a great read, accompanied by actual historical reference, purchase the Cross version of Pope Joan.

The woman who was pope;: A biography of Pope Joan, 853-855 A.D.,

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An Excellent Biography on Pope Joan

The woman who was pope;: A biography of Pope Joan, 853-855 A.D.,
Clement Wood
Manufacturer: W. Faro
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Pope Joan

ASIN: B000858LDA

Customer Reviews:

An Excellent Biography on Pope Joan.......2007-01-28

When I started to read this book I could not put it down. Clement Wood wrote passionately about a woman who became Pope in the year 853. She died in 855. I do not want to give the story away, but if you read this book you will believe everything Clement Wood says about a young girl who disguised herself as a male to enter a monastery. He writes with evidence and proof of Pope Joan's existence. There are many books on Pope Joan. A recent one is, "Pope Joan," a novel by Donna Woolfolk Cross and is in the works to become a movie, some time in May. I have read her book as well as many of the Pope Joan books. Clement Wood's book, published in 1931 is the best. The reading is easy as he goes through her entire life thoroughly and passionately. The reader can tell that Wood has written this book with his heart and soul into it. He made me a true believer of this noble woman who was denied her rightful place in history.

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Pope Joan: A Historical Study

Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0766180263

Book Description

1886. The author, a Greek, has undertaken the task of proving the existence of a female pope, passing under the title of John VIII. A translation of this historical study is now, for the first time, presented to the English reader. The reader has here placed before him ample materials to enable him to arrive at a just, or perhaps a probable, conclusion.

The She-Pope: a Quest for the Truth Behind the Mystery of Pope Joan

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The She-Pope: a Quest for the Truth Behind the Mystery of Pope Joan
Peter Stanford
Manufacturer: Heinemann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0434024589

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Reasoned and well researched

The Myth of Pope Joan
Alain Boureau
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0226067459

Book Description

In the ninth century, a brilliant young woman named Joan disguised herself as a man so that she could follow her lover into the then-exclusively male world of scholarship. She proved so successful that she ascended the Catholic hierarchy in Rome and was eventually elected pope. Her pontificate lasted two years, until she became pregnant and died after giving birth during a public procession from the Vatican.

Or so the legend goes—a legend that was fabricated sometime in the thirteenth century, according to Alain Boureau, and which has persisted in one form or another down to the present day. In this fascinating saga of belief and rhetoric, politics and religion, Boureau investigates the historical and ecclesiastical circumstances under which the myth of Pope Joan was constructed and the different uses to which it was put over the centuries. He shows, for instance, how Catholic clerics justified the exclusion of women from the papacy and the priesthood by employing the myth in misogynist moral tales, only to find the popess they had created turned against them in anti-Catholic propaganda during the Reformation.

Customer Reviews:

Reasoned and well researched.......2005-10-07

It is a joy to see this finely researched volume on a topic of such mythic proportions. I have read several other books on the topic, but it is difficult to find writers who are interested in historical reality when it comes to Pope Joan. As a Roman Catholic theologian concerned with the all-male prerogative regarding clerical service and power, I would be thrilled if there were some credible evidence for this event. Alas, none can be found.

Still, many (Romans and reformers alike) believed it factual. For them it gained credence from ritual and iconic evidence such as the birthing chairs used in pontifical ceremony that were supposedly necessary because a testicular examination had to be made of newly-elected popes after the fraud perpetrated by "la popessa."

Yet, Boureau doesn't seem interested only in writing an authentic history of the legend. He seeks to get behind that legend. So he looks closely at the relationship between the increasingly imperial-minded papacy of the Middle Ages and the psychological and personal rift that developed between the Bishop of Rome and his flock.

Detailed and exact, this fascinating book will assist its readers in understanding the possible source for this persistent myth. Like all myths, it lacks historical accuracy but it is full of truthful insights about sacramental power, the nature of Christian service, ecclesiastical authority and the persistent prevalence of patriarchalism. Because of its beautiful attention to detail, it is a weighty volume and may be difficult for those who are just delving into ecclesiastical history. But for those who enjoy swimming in this particular Tiber, it will be rewarding and enjoyable.

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