Book review: A woman pope is a possibility
By By Dane Roberts Wans On Bookreview
Legend has it that the Roman Catholic Church had a female pope during the 9th Century for a period of two years, five month and two days. Some legends have some truth to them. Is it possible that this is one of them?
The Roman Catholic concept of authority in the church being vested in the supreme pontiff, the bishop of Rome, the pope, the father to the entire church, can be traced back to Peter, the apostle, who was given the keys to the kingdom by Jesus. These keys, it is believed, gave him the office of pope. Tradition has it that only males can be popes. So to admit that somehow a female got in the line of Peter deals a blow to the male apostolic succession teaching.
The Roman Church has even gone so far as to postulate the theory that this legend popped up during the time of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century.
This theory can be disproved. A female pope was mentioned in the writings of the early Roman Church Fathers as pointed out in a book by Peter Stanford, “The Legend of Pope Joan.” Stanford has found that the mention of a female pope is recorded by a Martin Palonus in A.D.1265. Georgina Masson in “The Companion Guide to Rome” mentions the Romans told for centuries before A.D. 1550 that an English woman called Joan was successful at being elected pope after the death of Leo IV in A.D. 855.
The story is this: A female named Johanna took to dressing in men’s garb and was able to pass as a member of the male gender. She was able to get training — girls at this point of history were not considered able to learn and therefore were not taught the subjects that males were — and was able to work her way into the Catholic system to such a level that she was next in line to be pope after Leo IV.
Since this all occurred during the dark ages, it is not unlikely. There is a lot we don’t have verification for concerning this time period. This book offers a plausible story and a solution to the legend.
The story goes on. She, as Pope John Anglicus VIII, was Pope for two years, five months, two days. She would have carried it off if she didn’t get pregnant and give birth in front of a crowd as she journeyed to St. Peter’s Basilica. She was promptly killed by the crowd.
The story presented here of how Johanna came to wear male garb, travel to Rome, and be able to fool the Vatican is presented in a believable manner. The author takes the view that Pope John was a pawn used by the army of that day to rubber stamp each decision. It was the dark ages and the army was very strong at this point. They made kings and removed kings.
The author does a great job reconstructing the scant facts available. He spins his imagination in such a way that you feel you are reading history. At certain points I thought I was reading a book by Irving Stone, it was that well told.
It is a good read and even if you think the tale is a tall tale it offers escape.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 2, 2007. Read the original PDF.