Die Päpstin

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One of history's most controversial women is brought to life in this tale of Pope Joan, a girl destined for domesticity who rises to the Roman throne as Pope John Anglicus. Set in 814 in Ingelheim, a Frankland village, Joan is born during the harshest winter to an English father, a cruel canon, and a Saxon mother, Gudrun. While her father’s piety does not extend to his family, Gudrun imparts knowledge of their gods, facing punishment for it. Joan grows up with the teachings of both the warlike Saxon gods and the Church. When her brother John is sent away to school, Joan, who was meant to attend, runs away to join him in Dorstadt, where she falls in love with Gerold. Throughout her life, she is seen as a "lusus naturae," a freak of nature, as women in the Dark Ages are regarded as inferior. After John is killed in a Viking raid, Joan seizes the chance to escape her gender's fate by cutting her hair and disguising herself as a boy. Following the attack, she finds refuge in a Benedictine monastery, eventually making her way to Rome. The author notes in an Epilogue that this story is fictionalized due to the lack of documentation surrounding Joan's papacy, which the Catholic Church has sought to deny. Regardless of belief in her as Pope, the narrative explores the brutality of the Dark Ages, Vatican intrigue, and the status of women.