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One of the most famous stories about the medieval papacy is that, supposedly sometime in the 9th or 11th century, there was a woman named Joan who disguised herself as a man and became Pope John. While it might sound like a modern, anti-Catholic creation, this story was actually invented in the Middle Ages. In this episode, Nathan returns to the realm of medieval conspiracy theories to talk about the medieval origins and development of the myth of Joan, as well as the social role of conspiracy theory.
Podcaster: Nathan
Further Reading
Alain Boureau. The Myth of Pope Joan. University of Chicago Press, 2000. Vincent Dimarco. "The Medieval Popess." In Misconceptions About the Middle Ages. Ed. Stephen Harris. Routledge, 2008. pp.63-69. Rhiannon Daniels. "Controversy, censorship, and Boccacio's Life of Pope Joan." Studi sul Boccaccio 34 (2006): 185-198. Thomas F.X. Noble. "Why Pope Joan?" Catholic Historical Review 99, no. 2 (2013): 219-238. Craig Rustici. The Afterlife of Pope Joan: Deploying the Popess Legend in Early Modern England. University of Michigan Press, 2006. Related Content This episode is part of our Medieval Conspiracy Theories Series Music: "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin Macleod (www.incompetech.com)
matejsimo
1/27/2021 12:14:28 pm
i loved it it is rally interesting
Banditqueen
8/24/2021 12:49:04 am
I remember the film Pope Joan years ago and the story rewritten for a modern audience some time later. Its a fantastic story and you can see how it might happen, but whether it was true or not is probably debatable. I particularly loved the bit where the woman, in the film version anyway, gave birth in public and the crowd tore her to pieces. That part is most likely nonsense. But you can see how a nun, escaping war in the nineth century might dress as a priest to survive, get mistaken for a real cleric and too afraid to say anything end up being taken for a real priest, promoted and so on. You never know. 😉 Leave a Reply. |