Die Päpstin

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One of history's most controversial figures is vividly portrayed in this tale of a girl who defies her origins to ascend to the papacy as Pope John Anglicus. Set in 814 in Ingelheim, a Frankland village, Joan is born during an unforgiving winter to an English father, a cruel canon, and a Saxon mother. Her father's piety is overshadowed by his brutality, especially towards women, while her mother, Gudrun, imparts knowledge of both Saxon gods and Church teachings. As Joan matures, she grapples with her identity, seen by others as a "lusus naturae," a freak of nature, embodying both male intellect and female form. The status of women in the Dark Ages is dire, viewed as inferior and necessary evils. Following her brother John's death in a Viking raid, Joan seizes the chance to escape her gender's constraints by cutting her hair and disguising herself as a boy. With Gerold, a figure from her past, unaware of her fate, Joan finds refuge in a Benedictine monastery, where she is accepted as a learned man, eventually making her way to Rome. The author notes in the Epilogue that this story is fictional, as the Church has sought to erase Joan's legacy. Regardless of belief in her papacy, the narrative weaves together themes of the Dark Ages, Vatican intrigue, and the plight of women.