Rome Italy, the year is 1099, and the Holy Father fidgets restlessly in his sedia gestatoria – a kind of sedan chair – as the papal procession winds through the streets. It is becoming clear to the Pope’s entourage that something is not quite right. The Pope’s face is twisted in pain and he lets out a cry of pain.
The papal procession stops in a small alley between the Colosseum and the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. The Holy Father’s entourage rushes to help him, but then recoils in horror when the Pope gives birth to a baby!
So says the legend of Pope Joan, the potato, but could it be based on truth? Was there ever a real potato?
The official position of the Catholic Church is to deny the existence of a female Pope. They say that Pope Joan was simply a mythical figure, and yet the chroniclers, who were some of the most distinguished high-calibre writers of their time: papal chamberlains, archbishops and bishops, claim that a female pope, the Papa Juana really existed.
Critics will point that records claiming there was a female Pope were recorded two or three hundred years after the event. However, this is also true of most of the other Popes of the Middle Ages and the Catholic Church is happy to accept them as genuine. Is the Catholic Church prepared to ignore Pope Joan simply because she was shown to be a woman?
There are a number of strange customs. associated with the office of the Pope that only make sense if the story of Pope Joan were true.
Custom one:
When participating in papal processions, the Pope ritually turns his back on a particular street. It is commonly known as “Shunned Street” and contains an “Edicola”, a hermitage believed to be the place where Pope Joan gave birth. Attempts to rededicate the sanctuary with a statue of Our Lady have largely failed as the site remains infamous as the place where Pope Joan gave birth.
Two custom:
Right in the middle of Saint Peter’s in Rome there is a special altar that only the Pope himself uses. The base of the altar represents a strange series of images. Seven of the images show a woman wearing a papal crown with her face apparently contorted in pain. The eighth image is that of a baby on a representation of a swollen belly. Beneath her belly are what appear to be contracted folds of skin, giving the impression of a birth in progress.
Three custom:
A very special chair called the “Stedia Stercoraria” lies hidden in the depths of the Vatican museum. It is a very unusual piece of furniture similar in structure to a chest of drawers, with a keyhole-shaped hole cut in the middle of the seat. Commonly known as “The chair that feels like a ball”, it was used as part of the Election Ceremony for the Popes.
Many medieval travelers have recorded the method of its use: before an appointment as pope could be confirmed, the papal candidate had to remove his clothes (behind a screen) and sit in the special chair. The youngest deacon present would kneel and reach under the chair to confirm that the candidate did indeed possess testicles and was therefore male.
The obvious question is Of course, what else besides the unique existence of a female Pope could explain the three customs mentioned above. Maybe there is another rational explanation for them, but I can’t think of one. Can you?
