The first known deck of 1450 is called ‘Visconti-Sforza which was owned by the son of the Duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza and his wife who is thought to have commissioned the deck, Duchess Bianca Maria Visconti. One of the cards found in this deck is titled La Papessa and shows a woman wearing the three tiered crown of the Papacy. Some say her name is Pope Joan who pretended to be male to become Pope but had a child during a popular outdoor event. However, the true story is as follows:
An Umiliati noblewoman and nun similar to the Beguines, Maifreda da Pirovano lived in Italy in 1300. She was the head of a sect who worshipped high born, possibly Princess, Guglielma of Bohemia, who died in 1281 and believed that Guglielma's resurrection would herald a new religion of women leaders. Guglielma had many followers (Guglielmites) who believed she was the incarnation of the Holy Spirit. Maifreda was elected Pope and
said mass over Guglielma's grave, and certainly three of her disciples were arrested by the Inquisition, interrogated and tortured by Andrea Saramita, one of her most devoted followers, and she and others were burnt at the stake for heresy against the Roman Catholic Church. Maifreda was the first cousin of Matteo Visconti the Ghibelline (antipapist ruler of Milan).
Bianca Maria Visconti also commissioned a painting of Guglielma which is in the austere San Andrea church in Brunate. But La Papessa, who was she?
Maifreda was an Umiliau nun who lived in Italy around 1300. She was the head of a small heretical sect in Milan and she celebrated Mass. The sect worshipped a woman named Gugliema, who had died in a Cistercian abbey in 1281. Her followers considered her to be the incarnation of the holy spirit and believed that was the true Pope. Eventually she was arrested and burned at the stake but her memory lingered in the tarot cards that were made in the place where she had lived.
She is the High Priestess, who expresses knowledge that is not immediately apparent. It is a mature woman who helps us to discover our own inner wisdom. she provides a bridge between our inner life and the world around us. She is a spiritual advisor, a psychotherapist, a psychic medium, a fairground gypsy, all represent her, some wiser than others. She is the epitome of female power, introspection, intuition, the one who others confide in, a wise and safe sage. She says: The world is independent. When you harm another, you harm yourself, and when you care for others, you care for yourself. Listen to your inner thoughts and feelings, and act with honour and kindness. Symbols could be a book or crystal ball. Colours are swirling blues.
https://www.academia.edu/620667/The_Heretic_Saint_Guglielma_of_Bohemia_Milan_and_Brunate_2005_
Article Wendy Stokes https://wendystokes.co.uk
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