The Roman Church hid the confirmation of this incredible fact very reliably, and in the official chronicle of the Vatican about John VIII, who bore the title of Pope from 855 to 857, there is no information.
So was dad?
Historical facts are a fundamental thing. And carefully examining the realities of the Roman Church, eminent historians provide a series of undeniable evidence. One of the most compelling arguments is the fact that as many as fifteen years after the reign of the first John VIII in the Roman annals there is a mention of the second John VIII, whose reign lasted 10 years starting from 872.
This fact can be explained as an attempt to reliably hide the occupation of the throne of the pope by a woman. It was precisely for the destruction of all traces of a woman's stay in the bosom of the Vatican that the "annoying" confusion occurred in the "numbering" of the holy John. To hide the traces of the infamous scandal, the Church of Rome officially attributed the years of the reign of the extraordinary popess to the years of the reign of Pope Benedict III, who occupied the throne immediately after John VIII. For this top-secret reason, historians have done a tremendous amount of work in the archives in order to restore an approximate biography of a woman seated on the papal throne under the name of Pope John VIII from disparate sources of church records.
Way to the throne
The mother of the girl, who was baptized under the name of Agnes, died during childbirth, and the missionary father raised the baby. Wandering around England, through prayer, he tried to return heretics to the true faith. However, faith was often not enough, and then fists were used as the main argument. As a result of one of the pugilistic fights, Agnes's father crippled badly and soon died, leaving his 14-year-old daughter to take care of herself. With a phenomenal memory, Agnes could recite the Scriptures by heart and began to earn a living by preaching. But in those days, the woman’s life was full of dangers, and in order to protect herself, Agnes changed into a man, cutting off the plush braids. So John Langlois appeared, who entered the monastery as a novice.
It was in the monastery that she met her first love in the person of a young monk. So that the secret of John Langlois would not be revealed, lovers flee from the walls of the monastery to France, where Agnes participates in disputes on theology, and later she studies philosophy in Athens. After the sudden death of his beloved John, he moved to Rome, again incarnating as a man. In Rome, thanks to the established acquaintances, she manages to get the position of a notary. Fulfilling the mission of the modern secretary, Agnes continued to amaze the papal ministers with her knowledge, because then not all rulers could write their name.
The then Pope Leo IV praised the work of his notary and soon made John Langlois to the rank of Cardinal. The young cardinal sunk into the soul of the pope so much that he, dying, pointed to John as his successor.
