Is it true that one day a woman was chosen by the Roman dad?

The story of Papess John, a woman who has become a pontiff is one of the most common legends about the Middle Ages. Until now, many give her out as reliable. We decided to check whether Papessa John existed.

The legend of Papess John did not lose its popularity either in the Middle Ages or in the new time, she still appears in blogs and on historical sites. Giovanni Bokkaccio wrote about her in the book "About famous women"(1361), in the XX century, a woman was shot about a woman on a papal throne movies, in our time, Papessa John is dedicated to Articles On popular sites.

The earliest mention of the story of Papess dates back to the middle of the 13th century. The Dominican monk Jean de Maya left on his fields Chroniclescompiled in 1250–1254, the following remark: “Check. There is a story about a kind of dad, or, rather, a papess, as it was a woman; Having changed into a man, she became, thanks to her giftedness, a notary of Curia, then the cardinal and, finally, dad. Once she was riding a horse and at that moment was born a child. Her legs were tied and dragged to the horse's tail; For half a mile, the crowd threw stones into it and scored to death, but they buried it where she died. And on the tombstone they wrote: "Petre Pater Patrum Papissae Prodito Partum" ("About Pyotr, Father of the Fathers, expose the birth of the son of a papessa"). " In the Chronicle of Jean de Maya, there was no dating of this legend, and the notes in the fields were left on the pages describing the events of the late XI century.

Then the story began to spread: in total, the researchers counted more than a hundred references in medieval sources, that is, from the Chronicle of de Maya to 1500. Among them Chronica minorcompiled by the Franciscans in Erfurt around 1261, and "Chronicle of dads and emperors»Archbishop Martin Opavsky (1277). Later sources, as a rule, copy with insignificant changes the legend in the presentation of Martin Opavsky: a woman named John, born in a mining in the family of an English missionary, escaped with her lover in Greece, where she received a spiritual education, impending herself as a man. Then she was waiting for a brilliant career, which was crowned with a papal throne. Moreover, John was chosen unanimously thanks to her mind and knowledge. Then, according to Martin Opavsky, she began to give birth right during the solemn procession and died of tribal torment. The chronicler even clarifies when exactly the papessa rules - immediately after the pope of Leo IV, that is, after 855. And its pontificate lasted about two and a half years.

Later, the history of the papessa of John was used in a religious polemic as arguments against the Catholic Church. For example, this legend is mentioned by the predecessor of the Reformation, the English religious philosopher John Wick. In the essay "About papal power"(1382) He clarifies that at the birth of Papess John was named Anna. And the follower of Wycliffe, burned in 1415 by the Czech reformer Yang Gus in his book "About the church»Calls the woman Agnes.

Over time (and with the advent of each new version) there were more and more details. If the first chroniclers could not bring either the papessa name or the dates of its pontificate, then later authors have already added details. If you summarize the versions, it turns out that the papessa John is the rule either between the dads of Leo IV (the years of the pontificate 847–855) and Benedict III (855–858), or between John VIII (872–882) and Marina I (882–884). At the same time, medieval chronicles do not record two -year intervals between pontifications in which the reign of the papessa could fit.

The circumstances of the election of Benedict III in 855 in detail Described: Emperor Louis II opposed the choice of the Roman curia and put Anastasia on the holy throne instead of Benedict III of his protege. But a few weeks later, Anastasius was forced to renounce (he entered history as another antipap, that is, not recognized by the Church). Well, in the second case election Marina I happened at all on the same day when his predecessor John VIII died, just in order to avoid the emperor's intervention.

Historians have not yet discovered any other traces of the existence of the papess of John, except for notes in the chronicles after the alleged scandal. Over the centuries, the only evidence was the procedure for checking the sexual characteristics of the future pope, which was supposedly carried out so that the embarrassment with the election of John would not be repeated. The first about this wrote Benedictine monk Geoffrea de Kurlon in 1290. According to him, dad sat on a special chair, and one of the cardinals checked whether all the necessary organs were in place.

Girolamo Arnaldi, one of the largest medical historians, a specialist in the history of Roman dads, NotesThat only three similar chairs have been preserved, two of which were made in antiquity and intended for washing or for childbirth. And the third really belonged to dads, but was used not for ceremonies, but to send natural needs. None of the many evidence of this unusual ritual is written by direct participants in intronization, all of them are based on rumors, Arnaldi notes. Therefore, the procedure for feeling the male genital organs of Roman dads is most likely the same legend as History about a silver hammerwho allegedly beat on the forehead of the pontiffs after death.

None of the authoritative historians doubt that Papessa John is a legend not supported by facts. Therefore, the dispute is mainly underway about what circumstances this myth appeared. Back in 1602, Cardinal Cesare Baronio suggestedthat the legend throws a shadow on the holy throne was created in the middle of the 9th century by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Fighting For influence in the Christian world with Pope John VIII. According to Baronio, the goal of Photius was to emerge doubts about the male essence of the pontiff.

At the same time already mentioned by Girolamo Arnaldi He thinks This version is insolvent. He cites another legend, known from Pope Leo IX, about Patriarchess - a woman who became the Patriarch of Constantinople. The legend arose in the most difficult period of the relationship between Rome and Constantinople, shortly before the Great Schhism - a split that finally divided the eastern and Western churches in 1054. According to Arnaldi, Patriarch Mikhail Kerulary, reacting to the statements of Patriarchess, would certainly recall the papess if such a story existed. But the first mention of John appeared only after two centuries.

Why the legend of the papess arose precisely in the XIII century and this story was directed against which of the dads was still unclear. Many researchers converge In the opinion that the legend could arise in the X century, during the period of pornocracy - The era of decline The Roman Church, when the dads surrounded themselves with numerous mistresses and illegitimate children. Then, perhaps, the story of Papessa became a city legend, and the first chronicler Jean de Maya heard it from someone (noting in the manuscript that the information has yet to be verified). And only then the legend parted in numerous retelling and became the instrument of polemicists - from Wycliffe, Hus and Luther to anticlericals of the 19th century.

Photo on the cover: Illustration from the German edition "On the famous women" Giovanni Bokkaccio, 1474. Source: Wikimedia Commons / British Museum

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What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. L`Histoire. La Vraie Histoire de la Papesse Jeanne
2. Is it true that after death, the Pope is hit on the forehead with a silver hammer to make sure that he is dead?
3. Is it true that the Roman dad in Rafael’s painting “Sistine Madonna” has six fingers on his hand?