The origin of this ancient gigantic book is unknown.
In the Middle Ages, it was equated with the Seven Wonders of the World.
For over 700 years, this ancient manuscript has fascinated scholars.
The existence of the book is associated with a certain legend that should have worried the Church, but the truth is that this ancient manuscript was never condemned by the Inquisition …
History of creation
That the Church would allow a Bible that portrays the Devil sounds like a contradiction, but in this case it is true. According to one legend, the creation was written by a monk, assisted by the Devil himself …
Codex Gigas, which means "The Giant Book," is also known as the Devil's Bible. This is the largest medieval manuscript in the world.
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The true origin of the Codex is unknown, but a footnote in the manuscript shows that it was created as early as 1295 at the Benedictine monastery of Podlazice in Bohemia (today known as the modern Czech Republic). Soon after, the manuscript ended up in another monastery in Brevnov, near Prague.
Later, in 1594, Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia and King of Hungary, Croatia and Slavonia, took the Codex to his castle, where it was kept until it was stolen by the Swedish army during the Thirty Years War.
It became part of the collection of Queen Christina of Sweden. Today the Bible is kept in the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm.
On September 24, 2007, 359 years later, the Swedes gave permission to exhibit the manuscript in Prague.
The conditions for the issuance of the Code were strict, and the state had to guarantee the Bible in the amount of 15.1 million US dollars. In January 2008, the Devil's Bible was safely returned to the National Library in Stockholm.
This is a truly gigantic book, and, naturally, it has been compared to the Seven Wonders of the World in the Middle Ages.
Description of Creation
The Bible weighs nearly 75 kg and requires two librarians to lift it. There are 312 parchment folios in the Codex, therefore 624 pages, and their height is 890 mm and their width is 490 mm.
The codex includes the complete version of the Bible, and it is written in Latin. The manuscript also contains several short texts. The first is the work of repentance, a manual for priests with a list of sins and the corresponding methods of atonement. Parts of this work make it clear that it was written by a church leader who committed sins.
The Code also contains a magical formula on how to overcome evil, unhappiness, and disease. Inside there is a calendar containing a list of saints and local Bohemians. The calendar was used to keep track of the holidays of the Church. Everything indicates that this was the life work of one person. According to historians, the scribe in question probably spent twenty years on such a monumental work.
The reason why Codex Gigas is referred to as the Bible of the Devil is because there is a depiction of the devil in this large book. The Demon Lord's portrait is the most famous depiction in the Giga Codex. It is not uncommon to find images of the devil in ancient medieval manuscripts and other works, but this one is slightly different.
The main riddle of the manuscript
On the one hand, the devil is illustrated alone and takes up a whole page. Depicted in an empty landscape, standing between two large towers and raising his arms up in the air. He has only four fingers and toes. This illustration was painted to depict the devil as the prince of darkness.
According to legend, a monk who once lived in a monastery in Podlažice, Czech Republic, was sentenced to death for his sins.
To avoid punishment, he promised to write the largest book in the world overnight, which will make the monastery famous.
He soon realized that the task was beyond his powers, and he called for the help of the devil, who demanded the soul of a monk as payment. When the book was finished, the monk drew a picture of the devil to thank him for his support. Legend has it that the monk escaped punishment, but he lost his peace of mind and his life turned into hell …
Conclusion
This is a strange world we live in. It can be assumed that the legend of the creation of the world's largest book worried the pope and the church, but this was not so.
Despite its unconvincing source, this medieval manuscript was never condemned by the Inquisition. On the contrary, it has been studied by a number of scientists.