Feminism, History
She Disguised as a Man and Became A Female Pope
The Catholic Church denied her existence but failed to destroy all evidence about Pope Joan.
The Catholic church has been known for keeping secrets and conspiracies that left the public to wonder in its mysteries for centuries. One tale that has been haunting the Vatican is the missing records of the only woman pope that ruled the Catholic church for over two years.
However, based on historians’ investigations, there have been documents proving that a female pope reigned the Papal States during the medieval period. These reports will be the basis of this article to tell the story of the sole female pope in history, known as Pope Joan.
Joan’s Early Life
Mary Malone, a former nun who wrote Women in Christianity: The First Thousand Years, argued that Pope Joan existed. In her book, she dedicated a chapter for the woman pope. Malone gathered all accounts from ancient historians claiming of Joan’s existence. One of which was from Martin Polonus, a Polish Dominican. In his 13th-century manuscript, Chronicle of the Popes and Emperors, he narrated the early life of the sole popess, named Johannes Anglicus.
