pope joan by donna woolfolk cross
you may have heard about this story of a woman who, disguised as a man, rose to the rank of pope in the 800s. then died or was killed after giving birth during a procession to a church in rome. of course the story was suppressed & joan (or john as she was known) was removed from the list of popes.
a bit of background here; it was very crappy to be a woman in this time period (in a lot of them actually) but during this era known by many as the dark ages (some prefer early middle ages) women were treated worse than animals. their husbands or fathers could beat them & rape was considered a minor theft. the belief was that the size of a woman's brain & uterus were directly proportional, the more that a woman learned & the biger her brain got, the smaller her uterus got and then she couldn't have any children. the use of medicines was viewed as witchcraft, especially if administered by women. any knowledge from the greeks was dismissed because it came from "heathens." bathing was almost unheard of, bloodletting was a popular cure & prayer the answer to almost anything. to quote daniel in the episode demons; well, they didn't call them the dark ages because it was dark.
some would argue that there were some bright spots during this time. it's like the night sky, there's some stars & sometime the moon shines, but let's face it, it's dark.
netflix has a documentary called the dark ages, which i recommend
in this novel joan is the youngest of 3 children of an english father & a saxon mother. she tells joan of the old songs & myths, so right away she has a duality; the old religion & the new. her father is a canon and is grooming the oldest son for the church. this brother secretly teaches her to read & write at the age of 6 after she argues that st. catherine of alexandria knew how. he dies & joan revelas that he taught her to read, the father blames her for the boy's death because of her "sin." he then focuses his efforts on the younger boy, who has trouble learing and would rather be a warrior. the father brings in a priest to teach him, but joan shows her knowledge and he teaches them both. from him she learns greek & reasoning. eventually he must leave, but arranges for her to learn at a school. but her father sends off her brother, john, with the man that comes claiming there was a mistake. joan runs away that night to follow & because the man was killed by a bandit, she convinces that group he was to meet up with that her father insisted that she go also.
at the school she's tormented by the other students (all boys) & housed with a knight and his family. in a few years she falls in love with him and he with her (one of those unhappy arranged marriages). when he leaves to try to calm his passions, his wife (who knows about them) arranges for her to get married. her brother is being sent to a monastery & won't be able to continue his warrior training. he reveals that he hates joan, not only because she's different but because of the close relationship she had with their mother. just before the wedding can take place, vikings attack killing everyone except for joan who hid. she takes her brother's clothes & goes to the monastery under his name. there she learns about healing & which herbs can help sickness. over then next 10-12 years she makes a name for herself as a healer of note. but when the plague his and she gets sick she runs off before anyone finds out she's a woman. she finds refuge with the son of a woman that she helped and his family. while recovering joan teaches he daughter to read & write. he'd like her stay and help out, but joan likes her freedom as a man & goes to rome.
while there she puts her skills to use help the poor & when the pope is sick she is sent for as on one else can help him. she discovers his problem is gout, which she treats. but he becomes despondent after having his brother put to death for stealing from the papal treasury & dies. the next pope keeps her as a healer and promotes her to a position to watch over widows & orphans. in the meantime the knight that she loved turns up, they admit they still have feelings but agree not to act on them. this pope is poisoned by the agent of a man who wants the position. joan is elected pope, much to her surprise after having agreed to run away with her love. as pope she tries to help the poor & women, but meets resistance. during a flood of rome, joan goes out with the knight (who she make captain of the pope's army) to try to rescue the poor in a small boat. but both are washed into the top floor of a tenement and since he's soaking wet & getting sick she huddles naked with him under an old cloak for warmth. you can guess what happens next.
a few months later she discovers that he's pregnant & tries a potion to abort it, she fails. joan confesses her condition to her lover and agrees to run away after easter. but during a procession, agents for the guy who wants the pope role kill her love & during the confusion her horse rears & she hits a part of the saddle. she miscarries and dies, either from blood loss or shock.
at the end the girl she once taught is now living as a man & a monk. she had written joan in the popes list she was left off off. she wonders how many other women are living as men.
EDIT: it's a well-written book IMHO very interesting & informative of the time period.do i think this could've happened? yeah i do. there could've been dozens or maybe hundreds of women living as men. they, most likely, would've only been found out upon their deaths. unless burned to death or lost at sea. the author gives a few examples of women who lived as men & how they were found out. This entry was originally posted at https://archersangel.dreamwidth.org/42130.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
a bit of background here; it was very crappy to be a woman in this time period (in a lot of them actually) but during this era known by many as the dark ages (some prefer early middle ages) women were treated worse than animals. their husbands or fathers could beat them & rape was considered a minor theft. the belief was that the size of a woman's brain & uterus were directly proportional, the more that a woman learned & the biger her brain got, the smaller her uterus got and then she couldn't have any children. the use of medicines was viewed as witchcraft, especially if administered by women. any knowledge from the greeks was dismissed because it came from "heathens." bathing was almost unheard of, bloodletting was a popular cure & prayer the answer to almost anything. to quote daniel in the episode demons; well, they didn't call them the dark ages because it was dark.
some would argue that there were some bright spots during this time. it's like the night sky, there's some stars & sometime the moon shines, but let's face it, it's dark.
netflix has a documentary called the dark ages, which i recommend
in this novel joan is the youngest of 3 children of an english father & a saxon mother. she tells joan of the old songs & myths, so right away she has a duality; the old religion & the new. her father is a canon and is grooming the oldest son for the church. this brother secretly teaches her to read & write at the age of 6 after she argues that st. catherine of alexandria knew how. he dies & joan revelas that he taught her to read, the father blames her for the boy's death because of her "sin." he then focuses his efforts on the younger boy, who has trouble learing and would rather be a warrior. the father brings in a priest to teach him, but joan shows her knowledge and he teaches them both. from him she learns greek & reasoning. eventually he must leave, but arranges for her to learn at a school. but her father sends off her brother, john, with the man that comes claiming there was a mistake. joan runs away that night to follow & because the man was killed by a bandit, she convinces that group he was to meet up with that her father insisted that she go also.
at the school she's tormented by the other students (all boys) & housed with a knight and his family. in a few years she falls in love with him and he with her (one of those unhappy arranged marriages). when he leaves to try to calm his passions, his wife (who knows about them) arranges for her to get married. her brother is being sent to a monastery & won't be able to continue his warrior training. he reveals that he hates joan, not only because she's different but because of the close relationship she had with their mother. just before the wedding can take place, vikings attack killing everyone except for joan who hid. she takes her brother's clothes & goes to the monastery under his name. there she learns about healing & which herbs can help sickness. over then next 10-12 years she makes a name for herself as a healer of note. but when the plague his and she gets sick she runs off before anyone finds out she's a woman. she finds refuge with the son of a woman that she helped and his family. while recovering joan teaches he daughter to read & write. he'd like her stay and help out, but joan likes her freedom as a man & goes to rome.
while there she puts her skills to use help the poor & when the pope is sick she is sent for as on one else can help him. she discovers his problem is gout, which she treats. but he becomes despondent after having his brother put to death for stealing from the papal treasury & dies. the next pope keeps her as a healer and promotes her to a position to watch over widows & orphans. in the meantime the knight that she loved turns up, they admit they still have feelings but agree not to act on them. this pope is poisoned by the agent of a man who wants the position. joan is elected pope, much to her surprise after having agreed to run away with her love. as pope she tries to help the poor & women, but meets resistance. during a flood of rome, joan goes out with the knight (who she make captain of the pope's army) to try to rescue the poor in a small boat. but both are washed into the top floor of a tenement and since he's soaking wet & getting sick she huddles naked with him under an old cloak for warmth. you can guess what happens next.
a few months later she discovers that he's pregnant & tries a potion to abort it, she fails. joan confesses her condition to her lover and agrees to run away after easter. but during a procession, agents for the guy who wants the pope role kill her love & during the confusion her horse rears & she hits a part of the saddle. she miscarries and dies, either from blood loss or shock.
at the end the girl she once taught is now living as a man & a monk. she had written joan in the popes list she was left off off. she wonders how many other women are living as men.
EDIT: it's a well-written book IMHO very interesting & informative of the time period.do i think this could've happened? yeah i do. there could've been dozens or maybe hundreds of women living as men. they, most likely, would've only been found out upon their deaths. unless burned to death or lost at sea. the author gives a few examples of women who lived as men & how they were found out. This entry was originally posted at https://archersangel.dreamwidth.org/42130.html. Please comment there using OpenID.