Thunder and Lightning, 284. Twelve Nights in a Hunter's Camp, 427. Taine's Italy, Florence, etc., 574. The Fisher Maiden, 576. The Two Schools, 859. The Irish Widow's Son, 860. Veith's Instruments of the Passion, 141. Wonders of Optics, The, 284. Why Men do not Believe, 284. Wiseman's Meditations, 421. Winifred, 575. Warwick, 716. Walter Savage Landor, 718. Wandering Recollections of a Busy Life, 718. Way of Salvation, The, 859. Young Christian's Library, 719. ---------- {1} The Catholic World. ---------- Vol. IX., No. 49. April, 1869. ---------- The Fable Of Pope Joan. "But avoid foolish and old wives' fables."--I Tim. iv. 7. Every one is more or less familiar with the story of a female pope, which runs thus: Pope Leo IV. died in 855, and in the catalogue of Popes Benedict III. appears as his successor. This, claim the Joan story-tellers, is incorrect; for between Leo and Benedict the papal throne was for more than two years occupied by a woman. Her name is not permitted to appear in the list of popes, for the reason that historians devoted to the interests of the church desired to throw the veil of oblivion over so sacrilegious a scandal, and here, say they, is the true account of the affair. On the death of Leo IV. the clergy and people of Rome met to elect his successor, and they chose a young priest, a comparative stranger in Rome, who during his short residence there had acquired an immense reputation for learning and virtue, and who, on becoming pope, assumed the name of John VII., or, according to some, John VIII. [Footnote 1] [Footnote 1: And it was the most convenient one to take. Before 855 there were seven popes named John, and at the period when the story began to spread there had been twenty-one.] Now, the pope so elected was, in fact, a woman, the daughter of an English couple travelling in Germany. She was born in Fulda, where she grew up and was well educated. Disguised as a man, she entered the monastery at Fulda, where she remained undiscovered for years, and from which she eventually eloped with a monk. They fled to England, thence to France and Italy, and finally to Greece. They were both profoundly versed in all the science of the day, and went to Athens to study the literature and language of that country. Here the monk died. Giovanna (her name was also Gilberta or Agnes, according to the fancy of the writer) [Footnote 2] then left Athens and went to Rome, where her reputation for learning and the fame of her virtue soon spread. [Footnote 2: Her maiden name was for the first time given at end of 14th century. It was then Agnes.] She gave public lectures and disputations, to which she attracted immense crowds of hearers, all delighted with her exemplary piety and astonished at her matchless learning. {2}