Bergoglio really should have gone for Lando II

May 27, 2016 9:56 AM

You thought the numbering of English monarchs was bad? The papacy is even worse.
posted by Chrysostom (6 comments total)

If were are to believe the Prophecy of Malachi, Bergoglio is the end of the line.

Prophecies are, of course, subject to interpretation.
posted by BWA at 10:26 AM on May 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Disappointingly, “antipopes” are not, as the name suggests, a type of evil, mirror universe pope – the sort that, if they ever came into contact with the actual pope, would wipe out the space-time continuum.

Amen.
posted by zombieflanders at 10:53 AM on May 27, 2016 [8 favorites]

The Google Image search for "Pope Lando" had had to be manually cleaned up more than a few times.
posted by GuyZero at 10:55 AM on May 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

More ordinal fun: The princely house of Reuss started calling all their sons "Heinrich" in the 13th century, which must have simplified regnal ordering immensely until the house started splitting into a myriad of cadet branches. Each branch used their own ordering convention, some continuing the count, others restarting at "Heinrich I" every century. By the 20th century, the pileup of Heinrichs renders the family chronology a complete mess.

For example, Heinrich IV, Prince Reuss of Köstritz (1919-2012), was the son of Prince Heinrich XXXIX. He (Heinrich IV) ascended to the head of the house after his distant cousin Prince Heinrich XLV disappeared in 1945. Heinrich IV had one son, Prince Heinrich XIV, who has two sons, Heinrich XXIX, Hereditary Prince Reuss, and Prince Heinrich V Reuss.
posted by Iridic at 11:05 AM on May 27, 2016 [10 favorites]

five Pope Felixes

Felices, surely.
posted by The Tensor at 11:30 AM on May 27, 2016 [7 favorites]

Disappointingly, “antipopes” are not, as the name suggests, a type of evil, mirror universe pope
erm these batshit insane followers of something beg to disagree.
posted by adamvasco at 11:33 AM on May 27, 2016 [1 favorite]