History Film / PopeJoan

Johanna of Ingelheim (Wokalek) is a girl with a bright mind and great curiosity, both of which are detested by her father (Glen), a fanatical, misogynist English missionary in 9th century Germany. A fortuitous encounter with the traveling Greek scholar Aesculapius (Edward Petherbridge), who realizes Johanna's talent for study, gives her the opportunity to attend the Cathedral school in Dorstadt despite not being customary for girls. Here the local Count Gerold (Wenham) takes her under his wing and the two fall in love. However, when Gerold is called to fight in the Imperial army, his jealous wife seizes the opportunity to get rid of Johanna by marrying her off. The ceremony is crashed by HornyVikings, and with most men away, they easily massacre the town. Johanna survives and flees, taking on her dead brother's identity and entering the Benedictine Abbey at Fulda, where she is trained as a ''medicus''. Forced to flee again, she arrives in Rome and heals [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Pope]] Sergius II (Goodman), becoming his chief advisor and finally his chosen successor, with nobody but the newly arrived Gerold knowing that she is a woman.

Johanna of Ingelheim (Wokalek) is a girl with a bright mind and great curiosity, both of which are detested by her father (Glen), a fanatical, misogynist priest in 9th century Germany. A fortuitous encounter with the traveling Greek scholar Aesculapius (Edward Petherbridge), who realizes Johanna's talent for study, gives her the opportunity to attend the Cathedral school in Dorstadt despite not being customary for girls. Here the local Count Gerold (Wenham) takes her under his wing and the two fall in love. However, when Gerold is called to fight in the Imperial army, his jealous wife seizes the opportunity to get rid of Johanna by marrying her off. The ceremony is crashed by HornyVikings, and with most men away, they easily massacre the town. Johanna survives and flees, taking on her dead brother's identity and entering the Benedictine Abbey at Fulda, where she is trained as a ''medicus''. Forced to flee again, she arrives in Rome and heals [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Pope]] Sergius II (Goodman), becoming his chief advisor and finally his chosen successor, with nobody but the newly arrived Gerold knowing that she is a woman.

Johanna of Ingelheim (Wokalek) is a girl with a bright mind and great curiosity, both of which are detested by her father (Glen), a fanatical, misogynist priest in 9th century Germany. A fortuitous encounter with the traveling Greek scholar Aesculapius (Edward Petherbridge), who realizes Johanna's talent for study, gives her the opportunity to attend the Cathedral school in Dorstadt despite not being customary for girls. Here the local Count Gerold (Wenham) takes her under his wing and the two fall in love. However, when Gerold is called to fight in the Imperial army, his jealous wife seizes the opportunity to get rid of Johanna by marrying her off. The ceremony is crashed by HornyVikings, and with most men away, they easily massacre the town. Johanna survives and flees, taking on her dead brother's identity and entering the Benedictine Abbey at Fulda, where she is trained as a ''medicus''. Forced to flee again, she arrives in Rome and heals [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Pope]] Sergius II (Goodman), becoming his chief advisor and finally his chosen successor, with nobody suspecting that she is a woman.

* SelfInflictedHell: If Johanna's father could just dial down his misogyny (and probably hypocrisy and narcissism), he could accept that God had taken Matthew with Him earlier and that He has no plans for his sons to attend religious school (as he is told by Aesculapius in regard to Johannes), be glad that his daughter wants to giver her life to serve Him too and move on with his life. And this is without getting into the implication that Matthew dies of pneumonia caused by staying under the rain outside while his father rapes his mother inside, or the ultimate death of his wife in childbirth after he denies her treatment, which leads to the breaking of his home life (as he had been warned about) and becoming a beggar in his old age.

Johanna of Ingelheim (Wokalek) is a girl with a bright mind and great curiosity, both of which are detested by her father (Glen), a fanatical, misogynist priest in 9th century Germany. A fortuitous encounter with the traveling Greek scholar Aesculapius (Edward Petherbridge), who realizes Johanna's talent for study, gives her the opportunity to attend the Cathedral school in Dorstadt despite not being customary for girls. Here the local Count Gerold (Wenham) takes her under his wing and the two fall in love. However, when Gerold is called to fight in the Imperial army, his jealous wife seizes the opportunity to get rid of Johanna by marrying her off. The ceremony is crashed by HornyVikings, and with most men away, they easily massacre the town. Johanna survives and flees, taking on her dead brother's identity and entering the Benedictine Abbey at Fulda as Brother Johannes Anglicus. Forced to flee again, she arrives in Rome, where she heals [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Pope]] Sergius II (Goodman), becomes his chief advisor and finally his chosen successor, with nobody suspecting that she is a woman.

* DisguisedInDrag:
** Johanna disguises herself as a man after Dorstadt is sacked and maintains the disguise while living at Fulda. Forced to leave the monastery to avoid exposure, she drops the disguise for a time. When she goes to Rome she resumes the disguise and rises through the Vatican ranks to become Pope.
** Arnalda follows in on Johanna's footsteps, embarking on a church career as a man and eventually becoming a bishop. At the end of the movie, she wonders how many disguised women are working as clergy.

Johanna of Ingelheim (Wokalek) is a girl with a bright mind and great curiosity, both of which are detested by her father (Glen), a fanatical, misogynist priest in 9th century Germany. A fortuitous encounter with the traveling Greek scholar Aesculapius (Edward Petherbridge), who realizes Johanna's talent for study, gives her the opportunity to attend the Cathedral school in Dorstadt. The local Count Gerold (Wenham) takes her under his wing and the two fall in love. However, when Gerold is called to fight in the Imperial army, his jealous wife seizes the opportunity to get rid of Johanna by marrying her off. The ceremony is crashed by HornyVikings, and with most men away, they easily massacre the town. Johanna survives and flees, taking on her dead brother's identity and entering the Benedictine Abbey at Fulda as Brother Johannes Anglicus. Forced to flee again, she arrives in Rome, where she heals [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Pope]] Sergius II (Goodman), becomes his chief advisor and finally his chosen successor, with nobody suspecting that she is a woman.

Johanna of Ingelheim (Wokalek) is a girl with a bright mind, great curiosity, and talent for study, all of which are detested by her father (Glen), a fanatical, misogynist priest in 9th century Germany. After a fortuitous encounter with the traveling Greek scholar Aesculapius (Edward Petherbridge) gives her the opportunity to attend the Cathedral school in Dorstadt, the local Count Gerold (Wenham) takes her under his wing and the two fall in love, but when Gerold is called to fight in the Imperial army, his wife seizes the opportunity to get rid of her by marrying Johanna off. However, the ceremony is crashed by HornyVikings, and with most men away, they easily massacre the town. Johanna survives and flees, disguising herself as a man and entering the Benedictine Abbey at Fulda as Brother Johannes Anglicus. Forced to flee once again, she arrives in Rome, where she heals [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Pope]] Sergius II (Goodman), becomes his chief advisor and finally his chosen successor, with nobody suspecting that she is a woman.