The Mystery of the Pregnant Pope (TRIH ep 403)
855 · Resource
Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine the legend of Pope Joan — a purported female pope said to have reigned disguised as a man and to have died in childbirth. They trace the story’s earliest attestations (Jean de Mailly and Martin of Poland), its adoption into lists of popes, and later scholarly demolition by David Blondel and the papal repudiation under Clement VIII. The hosts survey possible origins and analogues: the pornocratic period in Rome and powerful women like Marozia, th...
On these timelines: The Rest Is History (podcast), Resources: Combined
Around 855
- Reign of Alfred the Great (871)
- Khmer Empire (Angkor) (802)
- Reign of Charlemagne (768)
- Treaty of Verdun (843)
- Song invention of gunpowder (950)
- Viking Age (793)
- Coronation of Charlemagne (800)
- Diamond Sutra printed (868)
- Founding of Baghdad (762)
- House of Wisdom (830)