Pope Urban II: Did you mean...?

A 1645 illustration showing a cardinal checking that Pope Innocent X (in office 1644-55) is indeed a man.

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...

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 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...

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 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).

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 1526 CE portrait by Sebastiano del Piombo of Pope Clement VII (r. 1523-1534 CE). (National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples, Italy)

A portrait of Pope Julius II (r. 1503-1513 CE) by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael, c. 1512 CE. (National Gallery London)

A 1775 portrait by Pompeo Batoni of Pope Pius VI (r. 1775-99). (National Gallery of Ireland)