Pope Joan 

An Englishwoman is considered by many to have become a Pope by posing as a Man. She is said to have died in childbirth. She is sometimes called Pope Joan but was usually called Pope John VIII. The Catholic Church denies that this happened since it considers any Woman to be unfit for even being a Priest let alone a Pope. The High Priestess Card of the Tarot, AKA Papess, is sometimes consider representative of the Female Pope, perhaps Pope Joan or perhaps Mary Magdalene, which probably explains the displeasure of the Church with regard to the Tarot. (See "The Second Messiah" p 92)