The legend of Pope Joan

SERIES: Figures of history in the Rome of yesteryear.
SPEAKER: Annastella Carrino
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 6 p.m.

Pope Joan is a legendary figure whose fame spans the centuries, each time marked by increasingly negative connotations. She is a woman in disguise, so cultured that she misleads a world of men who end up electing her pontiff unanimously. But she is also an impossible pope because she is “papess.” And she is and remains a woman, “in spite” of male clothing, a lively intellect, great culture and brilliant eloquence. A woman whose “secret” body ends up taking back her rights in an unexpected and dramatic way. To the deception of disguise, to the guilt of occupying the highest seat in Christendom without having any right to it, Joan, through pregnancy and childbirth, adds a sin that takes on demonic overtones.

Annastella Carrino is a full professor of modern history and gender history at the University of Bari. She is currently working on issues of gender history and in particular on women's forms of acted violence. 

Her most recent publications include Les Rocca de Marseille. Passions et intérêts d'une famille-entreprise, Paris, Garnier, 2020; La violenza femminile fra stereotipi e tabù, introduction to the monographic dossier L'ordine infranto. Women's Violence between the Middle Ages and the Modern Age, edited by A. Carrino, in “Society and History,” 182, 2023, pp. 685-698; “Il s'agit d'un certain pape ou plutôt d'une papesse,” in “Rivista di storia e letteratura religiosa,” 2023, 1, pp. 171-178.

Free admission while seats last.

Reservation at the link.