In Our Time: Pope Joan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss a story that circulated widely in the Middle Ages about a highly learned woman who lived in the ninth century, dressed as a man, travelled to Rome, and was elected Pope Joan. Her papacy came to a dramatic end when it was revealed that she was a woman, a discovery that is said to have occurred when she gave birth in the street. The story became a popular cautionary tale directed at women who attempted to transgress traditional roles, and it famously blurred the boundary between fact and fiction. The story lives on as the subject of recent novels, plays and films