mudlady, I haven't read the book but have often wondered if Pope Joan was real. Has Cross 'made up' a story or is her work based on some sort of truth?

Gotta love Google !!

Pope Joan was a mythical female pope who allegedly reigned for a few years some time during the Middle Ages. The story first appeared in 13th-century chronicles,[1] and was subsequently spread and embellished throughout Europe. It was widely believed for centuries, though some modern religious scholars consider it fictitious, perhaps deriving from historicized folklore regarding Roman monuments or from anti-papal satire.
The first mention of the "mythical" female pope appears in the chronicle of Jean de Mailly, but the most popular and influential version was that interpolated into Martin of Opava's Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum, later in the 13th century. Most versions of her story describe her

as a talented and learned woman who disguises herself as a man, often at the behest of a lover. In the most common accounts, due to her abilities, she rises through the church hierarchy, eventually being elected pope; however, while riding on horseback, she gives birth, thus exposing her sex. In most versions, she dies shortly after, either being killed by an angry mob or from natural causes. Her memory is then shunned by her successors.

Cross says there is documentation both to confirm and deny the existence of a female pope.

My friend is a devote Catholic and when she asked me to read this book I didn't know what to expect. Here is what I sent to her after completing the book:

> I finished the book and it was very interesting. It was also tedious to read because of the frequency of the use of Latin, which I couldnâÂÂt ignore and tried studiously to translate. I canâÂÂt help myself whenever I am offered an intellectual challenge. Also, there were a number of foreign words, liturgical language and sophisticated terms that kept slowing me down. My Kindle has a built in dictionary but it isnâÂÂt very comprehensive. I believe the story could have been told just as well if it were written in simpler English. Another thing; "names which I couldnâÂÂt pronounce. I know a lot of people just ignore this stuff but it annoys me because I canâÂÂt. Very likely an Aspie curse. A different part of the story describes the horrible difficulties all but the rich faced simply to survive and the terrible unfairness to women and anyone but the first born son. Humans have a long history of behaving in very stupid, cruel and selfish ways. As to whether a woman could successfully masquerade as a man, stature, voice, lack of facial hair and even body odors should have given her away. She certainly would have had to be flat chested. Still, people were so dismally ignorant and superstitious it may have been a possibility. That she tried to abort disappointed me because she was otherwise depicted as a very moral person.
> >
> > I have vaguely heard that popes were examined upon election to prove they were male but it never really impressed me. I have done some reading and there are convincing arguments both that a woman did or did not become a pope. In todayâÂÂs world, without the churchâÂÂs archaic preference for males, I see no reason why a woman couldnâÂÂt function well as a pope.
> >
> > I feel as if I were still in high school and just wrote a book report .

She replied that she gave me an A but said it would have been an A+ if it had been longer. When asked her why she asked me to read this book, hoping for a discussion of the content, she simply said she didn't recall but we were probably discussing female popes. Not I ;-) Anyway, it was an interesting read.

I've often wondered whether I'd like that book, mudlady. Your description ("book report") doesn't make it sound very tempting. Are you recommending it?

I do recommend reading Pope Joan. I am easily irritated. The "Aspie curse" I mentioned refers to the fact that I have Asperger Syndrome. I was distracted by names I couldn't pronounce and frequent passages of Latin prayers and expressions. I am so old I recall the Latin Mass of the Catholic Church and also took Latin in High School because that was expected of college bound students. I am very competitive and couldn't help myself from pausing to translate the Latin when I could. I know some readers are able to ignore stuff like this, but I can't. I would have breezed through the book without these distractions. However, the description of the living conditions during that period and the terrible class injustice the ordinary and very poor people had to endure was very interesting and enlightening. I can't believe anyone survived those harsh times. I believe it was possible for a woman to pass as a male but it would have been very difficult. To live that way must have been a huge emotional strain. The book can be read as a simple love tragedy but the history that was revealed was also important to me. Hope this helps you to decide if you wish to read this book.

I've always been curious about the Pope Joan story, and long ago picked up a copy of The Legend of Pope Joan by Peter Stanford at a library sale. However, the book has been sitting in the TBR pile for over a decade. I pulled it out this morning to take a look and the flyleaf claims that not only is the story true, but that she was an Englishwoman (!).

I doubt I'll ever read the book, but I might get to it eventually. I've kept it because having been raised Catholic (and always chafing at the male-only hierarchy) the possibility that she did exist always cheered me.

I did read it, a long time ago, and liked it. This posting has made me want to re-read it. As for women passing as men, this has been going on for centuries, in all cultures. Some famous examples took place during the American Civil War, when a few women bound their chests and wore men's garb and actually ended up on the front lines.

I read this with my book club a while ago. I think we all liked it, and it proved to be interesting for discussion. I remember enjoying reading the part about her life as a monk and healer. I liked the later part of the book less, as I recall.

By the way, it was made into a movie, too.

Another good female posing as male priest story is The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich.