Chronicles of the mid-13th century begin telling of a woman who reigned as pope in disguise. No earlier source records her, and historians regard the story as legend.
Contested history
Consensus: No contemporary evidence shows a female pope; the story first appears in chronicles of the 1250s and historians treat it as legend.
A woman disguised as a man reigned as pope in the 9th centuryUnsupported
Papal lists, letters and coins of the period leave no gap for her, and no source mentions her until about 400 years later.
The legend grew from Roman folklore and later anti-papal useEstablished
It spread through Martin of Opava's popular chronicle and was taken up by Protestant polemicists before scholars, including Protestant ones, rejected it.