Pope Joan: Sacred Scandal

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 June 2024

⏱️ 35 minutes

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Summary

Out of the shadowy world of the medieval church, an extraordinary legend emerged of a woman who disguised herself as a man and remarkably, rose to become Pope. It's a story of secret identities, illicit affairs and a Church shaken by the unthinkable - a female pope giving birth in the midst of a sacred procession.

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Professor Craig Rustici from Hofstra University NY, author of The Afterlife of Pope Joan: Deploying the Popess Legend in Early Modern England. Together they try to unravel the threads of the scant historical evidence, the anti-papal agendas that may have fuelled the myth, and why the tale of a cross-dressing woman rising to the Throne of St. Peter continues to intrigue us more than seven centuries later.

This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Out of the shadowy world of the medieval church, an extraordinary legend emerged that has endured for more than seven centuries.
0:20.0	It's the story of a woman who disguised herself as a man and remarkably rose to become Pope.
0:26.0	This episode on Pope Joan was suggested by gone medieval listener Holly in New Zealand.
0:31.0	Hi Eleanor, my name's Holly Brown from Dunedin, New Zealand. Hi Eleanor, my name's Holly Brown from Deneed in New Zealand.
0:35.0	I had to pull out in my archaeology degree last year for health reasons and gone medieval
0:38.6	really helped me stay sane and feed my passion for medieval history when I got better.
0:43.2	I've really loved to hear an episode in Pope Joan.
0:45.5	I think whether or not she existed people believe she existed for hundreds of years
0:50.0	and that would be really interesting to explore.
0:52.0	Thank you for listening. Thank you for listening.
0:53.4	Thank you, Holly.
0:55.4	So, was there really a brilliant woman scholar
0:59.0	whose intellect and ambition shattered the ultimate glass
1:02.2	ceiling of Christendom.
1:04.4	Or was it all a provocative myth created to undermine the power and authority of the all-male
1:09.4	papacy?
1:10.4	From the first whispers in the 13th century chronicles to the so-called proof of a papal bust,
1:16.0	the Pope Joan Tale has captivated generations. It's a story of secret identities,
1:21.4	illicit affairs, and a church shaken by the unthinkable, a female
1:26.0	Pope giving birth in the midst of a sacred procession.
1:30.3	I'm Dr. Eleanor Yanega, and on this episode of Gond Medieval I'm joined by Professor Craig
1:34.6	Rusticisee from Hofstraen University New York State.
	...

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