Pope Joan: Sacred Scandal

<p>Out of the shadowy world of the medieval church, an extraordinary legend emerged of a woman who disguised herself as a man and remarkably, rose to become Pope.&nbsp;It's a story of secret identities, illicit affairs and a Church shaken by the unthinkable - a female pope giving birth in the midst of a sacred procession.</p><br><p>In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Eleanor Janega is joined by Professor Craig Rustici from Hofstra University NY, author of <em>The Afterlife of Pope Joan: Deploying the Popess Legend in Early Modern England</em>.&nbsp;Together they try to unravel the threads of the scant historical evidence, the anti-papal agendas that may have fuelled the myth, and why the tale of a cross-dressing woman rising to the Throne of St. Peter continues to intrigue us more than seven centuries later.</p><br><p>This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.</p><br><p><em>Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast</em></p><br><p>Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code MEDIEVAL - <a href="https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sign up here &gt;</a></p><br><p>You can take part in our listener survey <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/6FFT7MK" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here &gt;</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>