JOAN

joan, a mythical female pope, who is usually placed between leo iv. (847-855) and benedict iii. (855-858). one account has it that she was born in england, another in germany of english parents. after an education at cologne, she fell in love with a benedictine monk and fled with him to athens disguised as a man. on his death she went to rome under the alias of joannes anglicus (john of england), and entered the priesthood, eventually receiving a cardinal's hat. she was elected pope under the title of john viii., and died in childbirth during a papal procession. a french dominican, steven of bourbon (d. c. 1261) gives the legend in his _seven gifts of the holy spirit_. he is believed to have derived it from an earlier writer. more than a hundred authors between the 13th and 17th centuries gave circulation to the myth. its explosion was first seriously undertaken by david blondel, a french calvinist, in his _eclaircissement de la question si une femme a ete assise au siege papal de rome_ (1647); and _de joanna papissa_ (1657). the refutation was completed by johann dollinger in his _papstfabeln des mittelalters_ (1863; eng. trans. 1872).