Pope Joan
![Illustrated manuscript depicting Pope Joan with the papal tiara. Bibliothèque nationale de France, circa 1560.](/Images/godic/202501/16/Papesse_Jeanne_BnF_Français_599_fol._881112.jpg")
![Depiction of](/Images/godic/202501/16/Joannes_septimus1112.jpg")
![An untitled popess on the Rosenwald Sheet of uncut Tarot woodcuts. Early 16th-century. Now in National Gallery in Washington, D.C.](/Images/godic/202501/16/La_Papessa1113.jpg")
![Pope Joan giving birth. Woodcut from a German translation by Heinrich Steinhöwel of Giovanni Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris, printed by Johannes Zainer at Ulm ca. 1474 (British Museum)](/Images/godic/202501/16/Woodcut_illustration_of_Pope_Joan_-_Penn_Provenance_Project1113.jpg")
Pope Joan is, according to popular legend, a woman who reigned as pope for a few years during the Middle Ages. Her story first appeared in chronicles in the 13th century and subsequently spread throughout Europe. The story was widely believed for centuries, but most modern scholars regard it as fictional.