Rome, 855. A woman acquired the Catholic papacy until 857, this is officially in the years corresponding to the Benedict period III.aren. Some say that Benedict III himself was a woman and others place the mandate of the Blessed Mother between the years 872 and 882, that is, during the period of John VIII.aren, perhaps because the alleged Blessed Mother was named John.

Joana was born in 822 in Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany. As a clergyman, she received religious and cultural instruction that was forbidden to women of the time. In order to continue his studies, he began working as a copyist under the masculine name of Johannes Anglicus.

After travelling to Constantinople, Athens and the Kingdom of the Franks, he arrived in Rome in 848, always protected in his male identity. Kurian was apparently aware of Joana’s wisdom and wanted to meet the young Leon IV.ak. He soon became the secretary of the Holy Father’s international affairs. It is said that after the death of Leo IV, John himself was named successor; he was called Benedict III or John VIII.

Two years later, Joan had sexual relations with the Ambassador of Saxony, Lanberto, and became pregnant. In the middle of a procession she began to feel the contractions of childbirth and right there, in front of the parishioners, she gave birth. According to Jean de Mailly, Joana was stoned to death by the indignant crowd, while in the texts of Polish Martin, the Holy Mother was killed by the birth itself.

In the absence of a document proving this story, it must be left in the realm of legends. On the contrary, very detailed information has been preserved about the series of Saindu Fathers of the 9th century and the mentions of Saindu Mother Joan are much later.

John VIII.ak To criticize his lukewarm attitude and weakness towards the Church of Constantinople, his enemies say he was nicknamed “Holy Mother John.” Later, at the time of the Great Schism, several used the story to claim the right to dismiss the Holy Father. Thus, there would be dark struggles for power at the base of the beautiful legend.