Pope Joan

Donna Woolfolk Cross’s debut historical novel, Pope Joan (1996), is a fictionalized account of the ninth-century woman who disguised herself as a man, later becoming the first female pope. The bestselling book received impressive reviews following its publication, and screenwriters later adapted it for both film and television. Before becoming a full-time writer, Cross taught college English. She also worked as an editorial assistant for a small publishing company and wrote books about the English language.

Joan of Ingelheim was born in 814. Her father is a priest, the Canon of Ingelheim. He married Gudrun, a Saxon woman. It wasn’t an easy pregnancy and Gudrun almost died. Joan’s father despises Joan for almost killing Gudrun and for being a girl. He believes that women cause sin and daughters are a punishment.

Joan isn’t like most girls in the ninth century, much to her father’s despair. She loves to read and learn new things; she doesn’t want to be an uneducated housewife. She wants to reach her full potential. Her father doesn’t know that she is teaching herself to read because she knows he will punish her for her disobedience.



Joan has two brothers, Matthew and John. Joan’s father loves his sons and expects them to achieve great things. Matthew and John are expected to carry on the family name and to look after Joan if she doesn’t marry. Always treated like a burden, Joan doesn’t have a close relationship with anyone in her family.

One day, Joan’s father discovers that she can read. Horrified, he punishes her severely for going against his wishes. When Matthew dies from illness shortly afterward, Joan’s father believes God is punishing him for letting his daughter go so far astray. John doesn’t blame Joan, but he doesn’t want much to do with her after Matthew’s death.

When John leaves for school, Joan begs and pleads to go with him. Happy to get rid of her, her father lets her go. He doesn’t care much about what happens to her, even though there is no guarantee that the school will accept her. Knowing that she is bright and talented, Joan trusts the school will accept her if she works hard enough.



Joan is right—the school accepts her eventually. The problem is that she can’t live with the other students because they’re all boys. The school arranges for her to live with Gerold, a knight, and his family. Once she finishes school, she must find alternative accommodation.

However, amazed by her talents, her good nature, and her beauty, Gerold falls in love with Joan. Joan returns Gerold’s affection, but she cannot act on it because he is already married. Gerold’s wife, naturally, despises Joan. She resents agreeing to take Joan in as a ward and plans to get rid of her.

Gerold’s wife arranges for Joan to marry another nobleman. Although Joan doesn’t want to get married, she is powerless. However, as the ceremony begins, Vikings attack and overrun the settlement. John dies in the struggle. Joan feels responsible for John’s death even though, rationally, she knows she is not. She knows that she cannot marry this knight, and she doesn’t want to stay with Gerold anymore.



Disguising herself as a boy, Joan takes John’s place at a local monastery. Here, she learns skills such as medicine, and she turns to the priesthood. She is ordained as a priest in John’s place. No one knows the truth about who she really is. When her father comes to see John ordained, even he doesn’t suspect the truth until Joan reveals herself to him.

Joan’s father dies from a stroke caused by the shock. Worrying that she is cursed, Joan thinks her father was right to despise her. When a fever spreads through the monastery, claiming many lives, Joan expects to die next. However, she survives, fleeing before anyone realizes the truth about her.

Joan spends time perfecting her work as a physician. She still disguises herself as a man although she doesn’t know how long she can keep it up. She looks like a woman now, and it is only a matter of time before she is discovered. Still, she travels to Rome because of her affinity for the church, and senior clergymen quickly identify her talents.



Within a few months, Joan becomes the Pope’s personal physician. He doesn’t know his acclaimed doctor is a woman. When Gerold visits Rome, happening upon Joan by chance, promises to keep her secret. He still loves Joan, and he would not do anything to hurt her. They begin a secret relationship.

Everything is working out for Joan until she becomes pregnant. Not able to hide her pregnancy, so she plans to flee from Rome. However, the Frankish Emperor invades Rome and Joan cannot leave the Pope unattended. When Gerold and the Pope both die, Joan becomes the Pope; her second-in-command is also a woman disguised as a man. Together, they reimagine the Catholic Church.