A quiz question · hard
In whose 13th-century chronicle does the Pope Joan legend first appear?
The story appears in the Dominican Martinus Polonus's Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum, written around 1278 — four centuries after Joan's supposed 855-858 reign. No 9th- or 10th-century source mentions her.
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The Female Pope Who Reigned for Two Years and Five Months in the Ninth Century and Almost Certainly Did Not Exist According to a 13th-century Dominican chronicle, an English-born woman called Joan reigned as Pope John VIII from about 855 to 858 CE, gave birth during a Lateran procession, and was killed by the crowd. No 9th- or 10th-century source mentions her. The story is almost certainly a 13th-century fabrication. It was treated as historical fact for 400 years.
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