DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.55699#0174
138
THE LANDSCAPE ANNUAL.
expected^ was soon rendered an object of respect; by the
skill with which she disputed on the most difficult ques-
tions of the schools; and the eloquent harangues which
flowed from her tongue. Every day brought some addi-
tion to her fame ■ all Rome was astonished at her uni-
versal accomplishments ■, and the increase of her reputa-
tion was accompanied by rapid promotion in the favour
of the ruling ecclesiastics.
At length; while in the zenith of her glory. Pope Leo
breathed his last, and; to render her life the most remark-
able a woman ever passed, Joan, it is said, was elected to
fill the vacant throne. The confidence which had hitherto
supported her did not fail her in this elevated and im-
portant station. As she had before manifested all the
qualifications necessary to an accomplished scholar, she
now seemed to possess the virtues and dignity required
in the supreme ruler of Christendom. By the authority
vested in the office she possessed, she made bishops and
priests, consecrated churches, administered the sacra-
ments, and, to complete the climax with an old writer
on the subject, gave men her feet to kiss. This, how-
ever, was not all. During her popedom Lotharius ab-
dicated the throne of the empire, and Lewis the Second,
being elected in his stead, came to Rome to receive
the imperial crown at the hand of the pope, and was
formally invested with the insignia of his rank by Joan.
So perfectly, according to the tradition, was this
extraordinary woman qualified for the part she had to
act, that it seems probable the imposture would never
have been discovered had she controlled her licentious
passions. But having found a new lover in one of the
THE LANDSCAPE ANNUAL.
expected^ was soon rendered an object of respect; by the
skill with which she disputed on the most difficult ques-
tions of the schools; and the eloquent harangues which
flowed from her tongue. Every day brought some addi-
tion to her fame ■ all Rome was astonished at her uni-
versal accomplishments ■, and the increase of her reputa-
tion was accompanied by rapid promotion in the favour
of the ruling ecclesiastics.
At length; while in the zenith of her glory. Pope Leo
breathed his last, and; to render her life the most remark-
able a woman ever passed, Joan, it is said, was elected to
fill the vacant throne. The confidence which had hitherto
supported her did not fail her in this elevated and im-
portant station. As she had before manifested all the
qualifications necessary to an accomplished scholar, she
now seemed to possess the virtues and dignity required
in the supreme ruler of Christendom. By the authority
vested in the office she possessed, she made bishops and
priests, consecrated churches, administered the sacra-
ments, and, to complete the climax with an old writer
on the subject, gave men her feet to kiss. This, how-
ever, was not all. During her popedom Lotharius ab-
dicated the throne of the empire, and Lewis the Second,
being elected in his stead, came to Rome to receive
the imperial crown at the hand of the pope, and was
formally invested with the insignia of his rank by Joan.
So perfectly, according to the tradition, was this
extraordinary woman qualified for the part she had to
act, that it seems probable the imposture would never
have been discovered had she controlled her licentious
passions. But having found a new lover in one of the