108. April Fool’s Episode: Pope Joan, Rome 855-857

Lots of the images of Pope Joan show her sitting in papal state, but there are also lots of images of Pope Joan giving birth in the streets of Rome. Here, she’s not riding a horse, but she is leading a procession. And she’s totally shocked that there’s now a baby in the street. (c. 1450, Spencer Collection)

For all of the middle ages, almost everybody believed that earlier in church history, there had been a pope who was, instead of being male,  a woman, who  met, alas, a Bad End. She wasn’t there, as some people suspected then, and as we know now, but the story is so damn good it’s hard to let go of. Whichever version of the story you’re dealing with. Anne explains the different versions of Pope Joan and how we know she wasn’t there, and Michelle is delighted by the vast amount of popular works telling her story. Musicals! No kidding! And too many novels to list.

Link to Podcast

Link to Show Notes

Link to Transcript

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *