In the first centuries of Christianity, this word was applied to all bishops, and initially to all priests who enjoyed the right of blessing. Until the 6th century, some bishops were still called popes. But later the title of Pope was given exclusively to the Roman and Alexandrian bishops. However, there was a case in history when one of the dads became a mother. And in the truest sense of the word.
Love will take away from the monastery
This story took place in the middle of the 9th century. In the family of an English missionary who preached in Germany, there was a girl named Agnes. Her mother died in childbirth. The bearer of the word of God traveled through the cities and towns with his child. The girl turned out to be smart and soon could quote the Old and New Testaments no worse than her father, which greatly surprised those around her.
At the age of 14, Agnes was completely orphaned. Fearing for her life and honor, the girl changed into men's clothes and went as a novice (novice?) To the Benedictine monastery. There she met her first love. The lover of Agnes turned out to be a young monk. For a long time, lovers managed to hide their feelings. But then somehow the brethren managed to find out that the hard-working and well-read novice was a woman.
Agnes and her friend fled the monastery. They wander around Europe in search of peace and knowledge. Agnes is in Athens studying at the famous local school of philosophers. But the happiness of young people did not last long. Her lover dies suddenly. Agnessa changes into a man's dress again and goes to Rome.
There, thanks to her knowledge and abilities, she managed to get a place of notary (head of the papal chancellery). The efforts of the well-read and intelligent official of the Vatican were noticed by Pope Leo IV himself. Soon Agnes (or John Langlois, as she began to call herself) received a scarlet cardinal's cap and mantle. She successfully dealt with not only church, but also state affairs. In particular, Agnes led the construction of the high stone walls that still surround the Vatican.
Further more. Dying, Pope Leo IV pointed to the newly minted Cardinal John as his successor. In those days, the popes did not elect a conclave, but, let's say, a general meeting of all the inhabitants of the Eternal City. Agnessa skillfully ran the “election campaign”. The elections of the popes at that time were not much different from today's presidential elections. People were generously treated to wine, pretty women offered their kisses in exchange for votes. And everyone praised their candidates as best they could. Agnes's campaign headquarters acted in very different ways. They promised the inhabitants of Rome generous donations and vowed that the new pope, unlike his predecessors, would not spend money on numerous mistresses. And in this the candidate did not deceive his electorate. Agnes was out of competition. As the only worthy candidate, she was unanimously nominated as heiress (heir?) To the throne of St. Peter.
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A pregnant high priest
Agnes was dad for only two years. Her reign was soft and humane, without the cruelty and torture of the Inquisition. She issued bulls against the corrupt clergy. But the pope herself could not resist the temptation. After all, she was a woman, and the call of the basic instinct was stronger than her mind. Agnes made herself a lover from among the clergy of one of the cathedrals of the Vatican. And after a while, Pope John felt that he would soon become a mother.
The wide folds of the cassock helped to hide the pontiff's noticeably rounded tummy from human eyes. However, the time of birth was approaching. Agnes, referring to her illness, tried not to appear in public. But when she was already nine months pregnant, an epidemic began in Rome. The people demanded that the Pope make a procession to the god. And Agnes was forced to lead it.
The procession took place on November 20, 857. During the procession not far from the ruins of the Colosseum, Agnes began to struggle. To the surprise and horror of everyone present, dad fell to the ground and … gave birth to a dead child. He himself died soon after. Pope (mom) and son were later buried in the Church of St. Clement.
The official Vatican now categorically denies the very existence of Pope (Papess?) John. But one of the circumstantial evidence of the veracity of the story we told was a strange custom that existed from the 10th to the beginning of the 16th century. This was the so-called ritual of checking the sex of the newly elected pope. A special chair with a hole in the seat was used (it is now kept in one of the Roman museums). A candidate for the Pope was put in it, a deacon climbed under the seat to check on the presence of a man's nature. At the word ovum, meaning "egg," cheers were heard from the highest dignitaries of the Vatican. In this way, the Catholic Church tried to suppress possible attempts to elect next representatives of the fairer sex to the Pope.
Tiara for a lover
A century later, in the Vatican lived and actually ruled the Countess of Tuscany Marotia, who, although she did not wear the papal tiara on her pretty head, had no less power and influence than any other Roman pontiff.
Marotia had a habit of nominating her lovers to the post of head of the Catholic Church. The Roman curia obediently approved all the candidates proposed by the Countess of Tuscany. Marotia elevated Anastasius III (911-913) and Landon I (913-914) to the papal throne. In 928, the countess raised a mutiny in Rome, during which he was overthrown, taken prisoner and later strangled in prison, Pope John X, who was guilty before the formidable countess only by being the lover of her mother Theodora.
Having overthrown two more popes (Leo VI and Stephen VIII), Marotia placed her son on the papal throne, whom she gave birth to from Pope Sergius III. The son of his power-hungry mother, Pope John XI, however, was soon overthrown by his brother Albrecht. Marotia and her deposed son ended up in prison, where they soon died (according to the official version, a completely natural death). And Albrecht did not rest until he elevated his son, Pope John XII, to the papal throne.
Execution after death
Condescending to the lascivious pontiffs, the popes were unusually strict with their colleagues, suspected of heresy.
In 897, Pope Stephen VII learned that his predecessor, Pope Formosus, had fallen into heresy. The Hello Pope ordered that the body of the heretic be dug up and brought to justice. The deceased was dragged by the legs to the trial, at which the cardinals sentenced the former head of the Catholic Church to death. Two fingers of the right hand were cut off from the corpse and the deceased was thrown into the Tiber. There he was caught out of the water by a compassionate inhabitant of the Eternal City, who buried the heretic pope. But in 905, Pope Sergius III decided to condemn the deceased again. Formosus' corpse was dug out of the grave, clothed in papal clothes and placed on the throne.
The new trial and sentence turned out to be more severe for the heretic pope than the previous ones. The Cardinals sentenced Formosus to beheading and the three remaining fingers on his right hand. The corpse was again thrown into the Tiber, from where no one dared to catch it.
Father to all fathers
Pope Innocent VIII (1484-492) was called "the real Pope of Rome".
The pontiff received this title deservedly. The inhabitants of Rome joked: "The streets of the capital of the world are teeming with his children and zealously populate the earth" and said that "at last a pope has appeared, who has the right to be called the father of Rome."
Only officially indefatigable Pala was the father of eight boys and an equal number of girls. Innocent VIII himself joked that "if the Gods did not give him the opportunity to have children, then the devil sent him many nephews." By "nephews," the Pope meant his many offspring. However, dad sometimes openly admitted his paternity.
So, on a grand scale and splendor, he celebrated the wedding of his daughter Theodorina with the king of Naples. And he married his son Francesco to the daughter of the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo Medici. As a present, the pope presented the son of his matchmaker with a cardinal's hat. He was not even stopped by the fact that the newly-made cardinal at that moment was only … 13 years old.
Magazine: Mysteries of History №7. Egor Shumilin