Martin of Troppau's account had her ruling male-dominated Christendom from 855 till 858, specifically two years, seven months, and four days. Her original name, according to some, was Agnes. Others called her Gilberta and Jutta. But by no name would she win a place in the Vatican's official catalog of popes. The church insists that its papal line, dating back to St. Peter, is an unbroken string of men.
Scholars tend to agree.
An array of reference books, from the Encyclopaedia Britannica to the Oxford Dictionary of Popes , dismiss Pope Joan as a mythical or legendary figure, no more real than Paul Bunyan or Old King Cole. The chief weakness of the Pope Joan story is the absence of any contemporary evidence of a female pope during the dates suggested for her reign. In each instance, clerical records show someone else holding the papacy and doing deeds that are transcribed in church history. Another problem is the gap between the alleged event and the news of it. That's akin to word breaking out just now that England in 1600 had a queen named Elizabeth.