The legend of Papese Jeanne, or when Jean VIII gave start on the street | EUROtoday

For others, Papese Jeanne is Marozie, the omnipotent mom of Pope John XI. In 931, this formidable matron imposed its 21 -year -old son on the throne of Saint Peter and governs instead, pulling the strings within the shadows. A lady who reigns, even by proxy, that is sufficient to make the chroniclers shudder and gas the wildest rumors.

The papal legend and its myths

It all begins, as usually, with a superb outdated ragot. In the thirteenth^e century, Martin de Poland, facetious columnist, says {that a} lady, disguised as a person, would have climbed all the degrees of the ecclesiastical hierarchy till he sit on the throne of Saint Peter. His reign, it’s mentioned, would have lasted two years, seven months and 4 days, till nature, treacherous, betray it in full procession. History hits the story: it’s resumed, amplified, embellished. We give her a reputation, Jeanne, typically Agnès, we endow her with a lover, a toddler, an English or German origin, relying on the story of the storyteller.

But what strikes is the plasticity of the story: every century, every creator, goes from its model, including crisp particulars, invented dialogues, miracles or divine punishments. The papermother turns into the image of the decadence of the Church, the feminine crafty, the fragility of the establishments. We paint it, we sculpt it, we play it on stage. In brief, she turns into a star.

But to look extra intently, every thing bell on this story. First, no up to date doc mentions the Popese Jeanne. The official lists of the popes, rigorously held for the reason that High Middle Ages, have by no means left the slightest place to a mysterious Jeanne. The critical chroniclers, even probably the most hostile to the papacy, blow a phrase earlier than the thirteenth^e century, nearly 4 hundred years after the alleged information.