"I have never considered such a complicated issue." Guo Ponu, like Guo Kang, had just realized this problem. She was indeed not as sensitive as Theodora, so she had to admit: "Then go back, and I will ask your mother for her advice."
"But, what does little Jeanne want to do?" She thought about it over and over, but couldn't figure out why: "She is in France, so why not just ask for a title or a title?"
"Let me tell you, although the relationship between the royal family and her father is not good now, her family is here. Now that France is undergoing civil strife, other people naturally need to squeeze out people like her father who are not very capable and are in the way to expand the business. own power." She analyzed: "But I think that as long as the power of the Ming Dynasty and Rome are still there, and when France stabilizes, the new king will definitely show goodwill to her family - it may not even be this The king of the family. Even if the British king wins in the end, he will become the new French king and continue these policies."
"That's right." Guo Kang agreed.
If Guo Ponu takes it seriously, he can still think about the problem carefully. Unfortunately, she is usually too careless and is often too lazy to think about it so much. I don’t know why today, if I take it more seriously, I feel more reliable.
"Then what else does she want to do?" Guo Ponu was quite curious: "Does she want to be the Patriarch like the Roman Catholic Church?"
"That story about the Catholic Church is not true either." Guo Kang corrected him.
"Ah?" Guo Ponu said again with surprise on his face: "The female pope is not real?"
"There is no definite evidence anyway." Guo Kang told her: "Judging from more authoritative information, it should be fiction."
"That's it..." Guo Ponu was still a little disappointed.
Guo Kang didn't know what to say to her.
The story of Pope Joan originated in the Middle Ages and is generally considered fiction by modern people - the problem is that in the late Middle Ages, many people believed it to be true.
Moreover, not only the common people think so, but also many priests and even church leaders at the level of regional bishops are convinced of this and have specially recorded it.
There are two versions of this story. The French version says that Joan was an ordinary village girl from the German region, but she was very thirsty for knowledge. At that time, only monasteries could provide education to the common people, so she disguised herself as a man, entered the monastery to study, and through her hard work, became a famous local theologian.
After that, in order to further her studies, she traveled to many places, and finally came to Rome, the center of the Catholic Church. Thanks to her solid theological skills, she rose through the ranks within the Holy See. At the same time, she also gained support from the common people because of her compassion and willingness to help others. Therefore, after the death of the then pope, she succeeded to the throne amidst the cheers and applause of clergy and people, and chose "John" as the pope's name.
However, after taking the throne, Ruoan fell in love with a man. More than two years after she became pope, Joan gave birth to a baby in public during a procession on Via Sacred Street, which was the main street in ancient Rome.
The crowd was in an uproar. The people who discovered the truth were extremely angry and tied her behind a ponytail and paraded her through the streets. However, when the anger passed, people remembered her usual good deeds, so instead of executing her, they imprisoned her. Her children were also adopted by the church and eventually became a bishop.
Other versions have different endings, such as another popular Polish version, which is harsher. This version also believes that Joan was a German and later studied in Athens. Because of his high level of knowledge, he later became a notary, a priest, and a cardinal. After her appointment as Pope was exposed, she was cursed and stoned to death by the people.
The street where she gave birth is the "Holy Way" connecting St. Peter's Basilica and the Lateran Palace, the official residence of the Pope. But later, the popes were ashamed of it, calling it the road of shame or the road of avoidance, and tried to avoid it.
No matter which version, the plot is very twists and turns, so it is widely circulated.
"I think the authors of this story seem to know the inside of the church quite well." Guo Kang told Guo Ponu: "If you look at the election of the pope, it is actually an unpopular knowledge point: the pope does not necessarily pass a secret vote There are actually three ways to produce it.”
"Through the loud cheers or applause of the participants, the election can also be passed directly. Because this is a formal method that has been passed down from the classical period and has the same legal effect as voting-if it is based on the original Greek democratic system, this method In fact, it’s more formal than voting." Guo Kang said with a smile:
"The third type is 'compromise'. This is actually a system allowed within the church's rules."
"I understand." Guo Ponu nodded: "No wonder so many people were fooled. It turned out to be the insider who made it up... But what is this for? To pave the way for women to become priests?"
"How is it possible? The other way around is almost the same." Guo Kang shook his head: "This story appeared during the reform of the Catholic Church. The purpose was to use exaggerated stories to tell everyone how serious the corruption of the church was. You see, women are all Being able to become the Pope, is there anything more outrageous than this?"
"At that time, many priests in Western Europe called for reforms, requiring strict church discipline, strengthening self-discipline, and reversing the corruption and degeneration of the church so that it could be revived. In this environment, the emergence of a female pope was a sign of poor church management and The hint that there is a huge problem in the system - well, maybe it’s not even a hint, it’s an obvious irony.”
"They read the story of the female pope, not like we read Mulan." Guo Kang reminded: "The original intention is to prevent such people from appearing. The story is also a lesson for everyone, not a role model."
"Then... there's no chance for little Jeanne." Guo Ponu felt a little regretful after hearing his analysis.
"After all, this story is not true - or at least it's not true." Guo Kang said: "Otherwise, it would be like Wu Zetian, and it would be more difficult for women to hold these positions in the future."
"Of course, they are not the only ones with such stories. I heard that the Catholic Church also viewed us this way for a long time." He told Guo Ponu: "The Archbishop of Rome himself had doubts."
"Do they also like this kind of strange stories?" Guo Ponu asked.
"No. They think that Eastern Roman emperors can appoint favored ministers and even eunuchs as bishops. Of course, it is conceivable to appoint a woman." Guo Kang spread his hands: "If I have to say it, they have doubts. Be more logical..."
(End of chapter)
