There's a story that claims back in the middle of the 9th century CE, there once lived a Pope named John Anglicus. Very little is known about what this Pope actually did during their reign. But one thing that is believed by some historians is that Pope John actually held a shocking secret. You see, legend has it, Pope John Anglicus was actually a woman known as Pope Joan, who managed to hide her gender and rise to the most powerful throne in Europe.  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theconspiratorspodcast Notes: https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/how-history-keeps-ignoring-james-barry https://www.history.com/news/the-extraordinary-secret-life-of-dr-james-barry https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Pope-Joan-Alain-Boureau/dp/0226067459 https://www.press.umich.edu/135037/afterlife_of_pope_joan https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329309405_Pope_Joan_The_covered-up_pontificate_of_a_woman_or_a_fictional_legend_Second_Edition https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/medieval-coins-suggest-legendary-female-pope-may-have-existed-after-all-180970297/ female-pope-joan-medieval-coins.html">https://www.livescience.com/63598-female-pope-joan-medieval-coins.html Music: The following music was used for this media project: Music: Relaxing Piano Music by Kevin MacLeod Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4273-relaxing-piano-music License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Artist website: https://incompetech.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's a story that claims back in the middle of the 9th century CE, there once lived a Pope named John Anglicus. Very little is known about what this Pope actually did during their reign. But one thing that is believed by some historians is that Pope John actually held a shocking secret. You see, legend has it, Pope John Anglicus was actually a woman known as Pope Joan, who managed to hide her gender and rise to the most powerful throne in Europe.  Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theconspiratorspodcast Notes: https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/how-history-keeps-ignoring-james-barry https://www.history.com/news/the-extraordinary-secret-life-of-dr-james-barry https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Pope-Joan-Alain-Boureau/dp/0226067459 https://www.press.umich.edu/135037/afterlife_of_pope_joan https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329309405_Pope_Joan_The_covered-up_pontificate_of_a_woman_or_a_fictional_legend_Second_Edition https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/medieval-coins-suggest-legendary-female-pope-may-have-existed-after-all-180970297/ female-pope-joan-medieval-coins.html">https://www.livescience.com/63598-female-pope-joan-medieval-coins.html Music: The following music was used for this media project: Music: Relaxing Piano Music by Kevin MacLeod Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/4273-relaxing-piano-music License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Artist website: https://incompetech.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices