Over the centuries the book has been given many names, Svartboken, Gigas Librorum, Fan’s Book, but it’s two most common are the Codex Gigas and the Devil’s Bible.
The Bible is the largest extant medieval manuscript in the world. It is nearly one metre in height from top to bottom, half a metre wide and is so heavy that it takes two men to lift it. Its 624 pages are made out of donkey skin and it is estimated that it would have taken 140 animals to acquire.
The origin of the Bible is shrouded in medieval myth but it is known at least that it was created sometime in the middle of the twelfth by a Benedictine monk from the small Bohemian monastery of Podlažice.
According to legend the manuscript was created by a single monk as penitence for breaking his vows. His sin is no where mentioned, but whatever it may have been it warranted the punishment of being walled up alive in his cell and left to starve for his deed.
The monk pleaded to escape this fate and in a fit of desperation and to atone for his trespasses he promised to write the most wonderful book that the world had ever seen to bring glory to the monastery and to God. This book would contain the entire Bible as well as all other human knowledge and, what is more, he would do it all in one night.
By midnight the adrenalin coursing through his blood had cooled and it was clear that such a task was truly impossible. Searching for options and alternatives the monk found no solution to escape; save one. The legend tells how the monk prayed fervently for salvation however he did not petition God, Jesus or the saints. Instead he prayed to the fallen angel Lucifer; the devil.
In exchange for his eternal soul Satan enabled the monk somehow to pen the manuscript in the hours before dawn. The book, and the legend surrounding it, takes its name from a drawing of the Devil, a half man, half beast figure with cloven hoofs and a forked tongue, located in its pages which the monk supposedly drew in gratitude to his Saviour. This ichnographic depiction is unprecedented and unrepeated in mediaeval manuscripts.
As well as the complete Old and New Testaments of the Bible the manuscript contains information on thirteen other texts of differing character. These include Isidore of Seille’s Encyclopedia Etymologiae, Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, Cosmas of Prague’s Chronicle of Bohemia as well as medicinal and religious treaties containing information on how to drive out sickness, cast out daemons and spells on how to catch a thief.
The monk’s history vanishes there. No one knows if his atonement gift was accepted and he rejoined his monastic brothers or if his Devil’s bargain failed to spare him from his fate or one more gruesome. The book’s tale continues however. Shortly after the Bible’s completion the monastery at Podlažice faced financial ruin and its prized possession was sold to a larger Order on the outskirts of Prague. The new home however soon found itself beset by misfortune and the book was returned. The monastery at Podlažice was destroyed during the Hussite War of the fifteenth centaury but the Codex escaped this fate and found its way to another monastery.
Despite the dark tales of it origin however the book was never condemned by the Inquisition, prevalent at that time in the Holy Roman Empire. On the contrary scholars travelled from afar to glimpse the manuscript. During this time eight pages from the manuscript were removed. Their whereabouts remains a mystery to this day. Eventually the Codex attracted the attention of the Emperor himself.
The Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II was obsessed by occult and esoteric texts and acquired the Codex Gigas for himself. He was a man driven by his lifelong quest to uncover the secret of Alchemy and the fabled Philosophers Stone and many of the greatest alchemists and astrologers of the time including John Dee and Edward Kelley visited his court in Prague.
Soon after his acquisition of the Devil’s Bible however Rudolf became erratic and paranoid until he was eventually declared unfit to rule and stripped of his kingship. Only a few years later Swedish forces sacked Prague and plundered the royal palaces during the Thirty Years War. The Codex was taken from the Royal Library and taken back to Sweden as booty where it remains to this day.
The book has been the source of the extensive study over the years and continues to fascinate. Research showed that it was penned by a single hand and such a task would have taken twenty, even thirty years. And what became of those missing pages? Are they still in existence today, and if so what secrets do they contain? Perhaps we will never know.
The Bible is the largest extant medieval manuscript in the world. It is nearly one metre in height from top to bottom, half a metre wide and is so heavy that it takes two men to lift it. Its 624 pages are made out of donkey skin and it is estimated that it would have taken 140 animals to acquire.
The origin of the Bible is shrouded in medieval myth but it is known at least that it was created sometime in the middle of the twelfth by a Benedictine monk from the small Bohemian monastery of Podlažice.
According to legend the manuscript was created by a single monk as penitence for breaking his vows. His sin is no where mentioned, but whatever it may have been it warranted the punishment of being walled up alive in his cell and left to starve for his deed. The monk pleaded to escape this fate and in a fit of desperation and to atone for his trespasses he promised to write the most wonderful book that the world had ever seen to bring glory to the monastery and to God. This book would contain the entire Bible as well as all other human knowledge and, what is more, he would do it all in one night.
By midnight the adrenalin coursing through his blood had cooled and it was clear that such a task was truly impossible. Searching for options and alternatives the monk found no solution to escape; save one. The legend tells how the monk prayed fervently for salvation however he did not petition God, Jesus or the saints. Instead he prayed to the fallen angel Lucifer; the devil.
In exchange for his eternal soul Satan enabled the monk somehow to pen the manuscript in the hours before dawn. The book, and the legend surrounding it, takes its name from a drawing of the Devil, a half man, half beast figure with cloven hoofs and a forked tongue, located in its pages which the monk supposedly drew in gratitude to his Saviour. This ichnographic depiction is unprecedented and unrepeated in mediaeval manuscripts.As well as the complete Old and New Testaments of the Bible the manuscript contains information on thirteen other texts of differing character. These include Isidore of Seille’s Encyclopedia Etymologiae, Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, Cosmas of Prague’s Chronicle of Bohemia as well as medicinal and religious treaties containing information on how to drive out sickness, cast out daemons and spells on how to catch a thief.
The monk’s history vanishes there. No one knows if his atonement gift was accepted and he rejoined his monastic brothers or if his Devil’s bargain failed to spare him from his fate or one more gruesome. The book’s tale continues however. Shortly after the Bible’s completion the monastery at Podlažice faced financial ruin and its prized possession was sold to a larger Order on the outskirts of Prague. The new home however soon found itself beset by misfortune and the book was returned. The monastery at Podlažice was destroyed during the Hussite War of the fifteenth centaury but the Codex escaped this fate and found its way to another monastery.
Despite the dark tales of it origin however the book was never condemned by the Inquisition, prevalent at that time in the Holy Roman Empire. On the contrary scholars travelled from afar to glimpse the manuscript. During this time eight pages from the manuscript were removed. Their whereabouts remains a mystery to this day. Eventually the Codex attracted the attention of the Emperor himself. The Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II was obsessed by occult and esoteric texts and acquired the Codex Gigas for himself. He was a man driven by his lifelong quest to uncover the secret of Alchemy and the fabled Philosophers Stone and many of the greatest alchemists and astrologers of the time including John Dee and Edward Kelley visited his court in Prague.
Soon after his acquisition of the Devil’s Bible however Rudolf became erratic and paranoid until he was eventually declared unfit to rule and stripped of his kingship. Only a few years later Swedish forces sacked Prague and plundered the royal palaces during the Thirty Years War. The Codex was taken from the Royal Library and taken back to Sweden as booty where it remains to this day.
The book has been the source of the extensive study over the years and continues to fascinate. Research showed that it was penned by a single hand and such a task would have taken twenty, even thirty years. And what became of those missing pages? Are they still in existence today, and if so what secrets do they contain? Perhaps we will never know.
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