Pope gregory i: Did you mean...?

A c. 1450 illustration showing Pope Joan giving birth during a procession. Pope Joan was a legendary female pope of the Middle Ages said to have reigned from 855 to 858. Her existence is disputed. (Spencer Collection)

The Unam Sanctam (1302) was a papal bull issued by Pope Boniface VIII (served 1294-1303) requiring the complete submission of all people, including kings, to the authority and dictates of the pope. As the Church was understood as holding...

Chlothar I (l. c. 498-561) was a Merovingian king of the Franks, the second to rule over a unified Frankish kingdom after his father, Clovis I (l. c. 466-511). When Clovis died in 511, his kingdom was divided up between his four sons, but...

John Wycliffe (l. 1330-1384, also John Wyclif) was an English theologian, priest, and scholar, recognized as a forerunner to the Protestant Reformation in Europe. Wycliffe condemned the practices of the medieval Church, citing many of the...

The Protestant Reformation (1517-1648) refers to the widespread religious, cultural, and social upheaval of 16th-century Europe that broke the hold of the medieval Church, allowing for the development of personal interpretations of the Christian...

A 15-16th century manuscript illustration of Pope Joan, a legendary female pope of the Middle Ages said to have reigned from 855 to 858. Her existence is disputed. (Bibliothèque nationale de France).

Cats in the Middle Ages were generally disapproved of, regarded as, at best, useful pests and, at worst, agents of Satan, owing to the medieval Church and its association of the cat with evil. Prior to the widespread acceptance of Christianity...

Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536 CE) was a Spanish princess who famously became the Queen of England and the first wife of Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE). When the marriage did not produce a male heir, Henry VIII became desperate to...

A medieval manuscript illustration showing Pope Innocent III (r. 1198-1216 CE) and the crusaders of the Albigensian Crusade in southern France (1209-1229 CE). (Chronicles of Saint-Denis, British Library, London)

A statue of Pope Urban II (r. 1088-1099 CE) who called for the First Crusade (1095-1202 CE). Clermont-Ferrand, France.