What is "pope joan"

Pope \Pope\ (p[=o]p), n. [AS. p[=a]pa, L. papa father, bishop. Cf. Papa, Papal.]

1. Any ecclesiastic, esp. a bishop. [Obs.]
   --Foxe.

2. The bishop of Rome, the head of the Roman Catholic Church. See Note under Cardinal.

3. A parish priest, or a chaplain, of the Greek Church.

4. (Zo["o]l.) A fish; the ruff.

   Pope Joan, a game at cards played on a round board with compartments.

   Pope's eye, the gland surrounded with fat in the middle of the thigh of an ox or sheep.
   --R. D. Blackmore.

   Pope's nose, the rump, or uropygium, of a bird. See Uropygium.

   to be more Catholic than the Pope to adhere more stringently to Roman Catholic practices and doctrine than is required by church doctrine; -- usually used in a negative sense to mean, to be excessively pious.

Pope Joan was, 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.

Most versions of her story describe her as a talented and learned woman who disguised herself as a man, often at the behest of a lover. In the most common accounts, due to her abilities, she rose through the church hierarchy and was eventually elected pope. Her sex was revealed when she gave birth during a procession, and she died shortly after, either through murder or natural causes. The accounts state that later church processions avoided this spot, and that the Vatican removed the female pope from its official lists and crafted a ritual to ensure that future popes were male. In the 16th century, Siena Cathedral featured a bust of Joan among other pontiffs; this was removed after protests in 1600.

Jean de Mailly's chronicle, written around 1250, contains the first mention of an unnamed female pope, and it inspired several more accounts over the next several years. The most popular and influential version is that interpolated into Martin of Opava's Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum, later in the 13th century. Martin introduced details that the female pope's birth name was John Anglicus of Mainz, that she reigned in the 9th century, and that she entered the church to follow her lover. The legend was universally accepted as true until the 16th century, when a widespread debate among Catholic and Protestant writers called the story into question; various writers noted the implausibly long gap between Joan's supposed lifetime and her first appearance in texts. Pope Joan is now widely accepted to be fictional, though the legend remains influential in art, literature, drama, and film.

Pope Joan is an international epic film produced by Bernd Eichinger, based on American novelist Donna Woolfolk Cross' novel of the same name about the legendary Pope Joan. Directed by Sönke Wortmann, it stars Johanna Wokalek as Joan, David Wenham as Gerold, her lover, and John Goodman as Pope Sergius II. The film's world premiere occurred in Berlin on 19 October 2009, with its general release in Germany on 22 October 2009.

Pope Joan is a 1996 novel by American writer Donna Woolfolk Cross. It is based on the medieval legend of Pope Joan. For the most part this novel is the story of a young woman, whose desire to gain more knowledge compels her to dress up as a man, who (due to events beyond her control) eventually rises to become the pope. The novel has been adapted into a film, Pope Joan, released in 2009.

Pope Joan is a 1972 British, mediaeval costume drama film based on the story of Pope Joan. Even though modern consensus generally disputes Pope Joan as legendary, in this film she is treated as fact.

It was directed by Michael Anderson and has a cast which includes Liv Ullmann (in the lead role), Olivia de Havilland, Lesley-Anne Down, Franco Nero and Maximilian Schell. The soundtrack was composed by Maurice Jarre with additional choral music provided by The Sistine Chapel Choir, directed by Domenico Bartolucci.

The film was released on DVD in 2003 on Region 1 format disc. It was also re-titled in some areas as The Devil's Imposter, with much material cut.

The version of the film released in 1972 differed significantly from the version that had originally been filmed. Anderson's original was made with flashbacks and flash-forward sequences about a modern-day evangelical preacher who believes her life parallels that of Pope Joan. In this version psychiatrists try to send her back through her past lives to establish if she is the reincarnation of Pope Joan. However, the distributor decided to have all of the contemporary sequences removed and released the film as a straightforward historical drama. In 2009 the film was re-edited and the previously unreleased footage was re-inserted. It was re-released under the title She… Who Would Be Pope.

Pope Joan is the subject of a medieval legend about a woman who reigned as pope.

Pope Joan may also refer to:

• Pope Joan (1972 film)
• Pope Joan (2009 film), based on the Cross novel
• Pope Joan (card game)
• Pope Joan (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse
• Pope Joan (novel), a 1996 novel by Donna Woolfolk Cross

Pope Joan, a once popular Victorian family game, is an 18th-century English round game of cards for three to eight players derived from the French game of Matrimony and Comete, and ancestor to its less elaborate relative Newmarket and Spinado.

Although its first published rules have appeared in Hoyle's Games edition of 1814, the earlier reference to the game Pope Joan, originally called Pope Julius, comes from The Oxford English Dictionary in 1732.

Pope Joan (1809 – 1830) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. She won four of her eight starts before being retired to stud, where she became a successful broodmare. She foaled 1000 Guineas winner Tontine, 2000 Guineas winner Turcoman and Epsom Oaks winner Turquoise. Pope Joan was bred by Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton and after his death was owned by his son George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton.