Review by Booklist Review
Intrigued by an obscure legend he stumbled across while vacationing in Rome, Stanford decided to attempt to fit together the pieces of an intricate historical puzzle. According to Roman Catholic folklore, a ninth-century woman successfully disguised herself as a man and became pope, reigning for a period of approximately two years before her secret was revealed when she gave birth to a baby. Most contemporary church historians attribute the story of Pope Joan to anti-Catholic and anticlerical propagandists, but Stanford uncovered and researched more than 500 medieval writers who recorded various details of Joan's pontificate. Unable to prove conclusively that Joan and her papacy existed, he is nevertheless able to present a remarkably credible and convincing case on her behalf. On the basis of evidence he collected, Stanford proposes that Joan probably achieved the office of the pope during a particularly tumultuous and corrupt period in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Although his thesis remains debatable, Stanford displays a decided flair for retrospective detection. --Margaret Flanagan
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
According to a persistent legend, around A.D. 1100 a young English woman named Joan disguised herself as a man and was elected as pope. Pope Joan reigned for about two years until, as the story goes, she died after giving birth to a child. Stanford marshals the thin historical substantiation behind this legend in his attempt to ferret out its truth. He comes up with intriguing facts, including the present-day existence of a strange-looking chair designed to view the papal genitals, thought to have been introduced after the Joan episode to prevent it from happening again. Ultimately Stanford opts for a qualified acceptance of the story's truth: "Weighing all this evidence, I am convinced that Pope Joan was an historical figure, though perhaps not all the details about her that have been passed down through the centuries are true.... [S]he achieved the papacy at a time when the office was hopelessly debased and corrupt, [and] was moderately successful, but... her triumph was short-lived." Stanford's masterful presentation of the historical evidence makes this the definitive study of an amazing legend that has been a source of fascination for centuries. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
British journalist Stanford (The Devil, LJ 9/15/96) engagingly relates the legend of the English woman who, disguised as a man, was elected pope in 853 and deposed or killed in 855 when her gender became known, perhaps because she gave birth. Stanford's careful research finds much support for the basic historicity of this widespread myth. He recounts his journeys to find manuscripts telling of a pope between the reigns of Leo IV and Benedict III and discusses the possibility that Protestants altered manuscripts by inserting Joan in order to discredit the papacy. Stanford discovers visual art depicting women functioning as celebrants of the Eucharist, as well as references to statues of Pope Joan, stories of her burial, and a seat new popes sat on to have their ownership of testicles verified. Carefully researched and of broad interest; recommended for general and specialized collections.Carolyn M. Craft, Longwood Coll., Farmville, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A flimsy argument for the existence of a female pope in the ninth century. Stanford, former editor of London's Catholic Herald and author of The Devil: A Biography (1996), has resurrected a wonderful legend: that a young medieval Catholic woman disguised herself as a man, became educated, climbed the ecclesiastical ladder and served as pope for more than two years, only to be unmasked when she gave birth during a public processional. But Stanford too doggedly persists in his determination to see historical evidence for Joan's papacy where almost none exists. His case is built upon circumstances, and he rashly jumps from possibility to fact. No mention of Joan is made in any extant source until the mid-13nth century (though Stanford gamely tries to persuade us that an 11th-century text that does not mention Joan by name is, in fact, referring to her). Stanford treats the 1265 Polonus chronicle as gospel truth--for example, in the second chapter, he notes that Polonus claimed the son Joan bore in the street later went on to become bishop of Ostia. Eighty pages later, Stanford writes that because we "know" that Joan's son became bishop of Ostia, it makes sense that Joan was buried there. This kind of shoddy detective work only builds a house of cards. Some of this is excusable by Stanford's own obvious enthusiasm for his subject matter; he so clearly wants the reader to believe what he has come to accept as historical truth. This eagerness blinds him to the far more provocative questions he neglects to raise until the conclusion of the book: why is Joan still revered by so many, including proponents of women's ordination, transvestites, and anti-clericalists? What is at stake here for the Catholic Church? Why, despite the weak historical evidence, does the legend of Pope Joan persist? Tenuous, inadequate history that overlooks the more salient issues surrounding Joan's legend. (8 pages b&w photos) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
