medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear Christopher,
On these and other aspects of the legend of Pope Joan see Alain Boureau's
book, recently translated into English as "The Myth of Pope Joan."
Sean Field
-----Original Message-----
From: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Christopher M.
Mislow
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2003 1:26 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [M-R] Pope Joan
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear Fellow List Members,
I am in the midst of reading an historical novel by Donna Cross about the
life (legend?) of the only female pope, Pope Joan, in the Ninth Century.
The cover reproduces a photograph of the _stella [sic] stercoraria_ (from
Cesare D'Onofro's _La Papessa Giovanna_) which, insofar as I have been able
to discern, is a latrine-line chair with a hole in the bottom, located in
St. John Lateran from the 10th-16th centuries, on which new popes had to
sit, and beneath which the lowest cleric reached his hand to verify the
pope to be a man.
Two questions, one of language, the other of Church history. First, is the
phrase _stella stercoraria_ a corruption? I have seen _sella stercoraria_
and _sedia stercoraria_; but, while I was aware of the Dog Star, Dung Star
is a new one on me<g>.
Second, is there any accepted consensus on the actual use of this chair?
The only reference to "stercoraria" I was able to find in the on-line
Catholic Encyclopedia, for example, seems implicitly to disclaim it. That
entry states that "[t]he _stercoraria_, or red marble throne on which the
popes sat" derives it name from the anthem _De stercore erigeus pauperem_
sung during the ceremony of papal enthronement.
--Christopher
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|