The ''Codex Gigas'' ("Giant Book"; ) is the largest extant

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...

in the world, at a length of . It is a Romanesque Latin Bible, with other texts, some secular, added in the second half of the book. Very large illuminated bibles were typical of Romanesque monastic book production, but even among these, the page-size of the Codex Gigas is exceptional. The manuscript is also known as the ''Devil's Bible'' due to its highly unusual full-page portrait of

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

, the Devil, and the legend surrounding the book's creation. Apart from the famous page with an image of the Devil, the book is not very heavily illustrated with figurative miniatures, compared to other grand contemporary Bibles. The manuscript was created in the early 13th century in the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of Podlažice in Chrast,

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, now a region in the modern-day

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The manuscript contains the complete Latin Bible in the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

version, as well as other popular works, all written in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. Between the Old and New Testaments is a selection of other popular medieval reference works:

Flavius Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing ''The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Judaea ...

's ''

Antiquities of the Jews ''Antiquities of the Jews'' (; , ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus in the 13th year of the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, which was 94 CE. It cont ...

'' and '' The Jewish War'',

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville (; 4 April 636) was a Spania, Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville, archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of the 19th-century historian Charles Forbes René de Montal ...

's encyclopedia ''

Etymologiae (Latin for 'Etymologies'), also known as the ('Origins'), usually abbreviated ''Orig.'', is an etymological encyclopedia compiled by the influential Christian bishop Isidore of Seville () towards the end of his life. Isidore was encouraged t ...

'', the chronicle of Cosmas of Prague ('' Chronica Boemorum''), and medical works: an early version of the '' Ars medicinae'' compilation of treatises, and two books by Constantine the African. Eventually finding its way to the imperial library of

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–16 ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, the entire collection was taken as spoils of war by the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...

in 1648 during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, and the manuscript is now preserved at the

National Library of Sweden The National Library of Sweden (, ''KB'', meaning "the Royal Library") is Sweden's national library. It collects and preserves all domestic printed and audio-visual materials in Swedish, as well as content with Swedish association published ab ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, where it is on display for the general public.

Description

The

codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

bookbinding Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...

is wooden boards covered in leather, with ornate metal guards and fittings. At long, wide and thick, it is the largest known medieval manuscript. Weighing , ''Codex Gigas'' is composed of 310 leaves of

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. It is often distinguished from parchment, either by being made from calfskin (rather than the skin of other animals), or simply by being of a higher quality. Vellu ...

claimed to be made from the skins of 160 donkeys, or perhaps calfskin, covering in total. The manuscript includes illuminations in red, blue, yellow, green, and gold.

Capital letters Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (more formally ''#Majuscule, majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (more formally ''#Minuscule, minuscule'') in the written representation of certain langua ...

at the start of books of the bible and the chronicle are elaborately illuminated in several colours, sometimes taking up most of the page; 57 of these survive. The start of the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

is missing. There are also 20 initials with blue letters and vine decorations in red. There are also two images representing Heaven and Earth during the Creation, as blue and green circles with respectively the sun, moon, and some stars, and a planet all of sea with no landmasses. Within books, major capitals are much enlarged, taking up the height of about five to six lines of text in red ink and placed in the margins. Less important divisions, such as the start of verses, are slightly enlarged within the text and highlighted with yellowish ink around the letter forms. The codex has a unified look as the nature of the writing is unchanged throughout, showing no signs of age, disease, or mold on the part of the scribe. This may have led to the belief that the whole book was written in a very short time (see § Legend). Scientists are investigating the theory that it took over 20 years to complete. The codex's extraordinary length, size, and detail have given rise to the legend that it was written by one scribe in one night with help from the Devil himself. It initially contained 320 sheets. However, twelve of these were subsequently removed. It is unknown who removed the pages or for what purpose.

Illustration of the Devil

Folio The term "folio" () has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging Paper size, sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for ...

290 recto, otherwise empty, includes a full-page portrait of

, the Devil, about tall. Directly opposite the Devil is a full page depiction of the Kingdom of Heaven, thus juxtaposing contrasting images of

Good and Evil In philosophy, religion, and psychology, "good and evil" is a common dichotomy. In religions with Manichaeism, Manichaean and Abrahamic influence, evil is perceived as the dualistic cosmology, dualistic antagonistic opposite of good, in which ...

as Christian symbols. The Devil is shown frontally, crouching with arms uplifted in a dynamic posture. He is clothed in a white loincloth with small comma-shaped red dashes. These dashes have been interpreted as the tails of ermine furs, a common symbol of sovereignty. He has no tail, and his body, arms, and legs are of normal human proportions. His hands and feet end with only four fingers and toes each, terminating in large claws; his claws and large horns are red. He has a large, dark green head, and his hair forms a skull cap of dense curls. The eyes are wide open, small, with red pupils, and his red-tipped ears are large. His open mouth reveals his small white teeth, and two long red tongues protrude from the corners of his mouth. The double tongue evokes the forked tongue of a serpent, one of the forms attributed to Satan in Christian iconography and

demonology Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or occultism. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may be n ...

. The expression ''forked tongues'' is an ancient biblical metaphor (Nordenfalk 1975, n. 15). Several pages before this double spread are written in yellow characters on a blackened

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared Tanning (leather), untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves and goats. It has been used as a writing medium in West Asia and Europe for more than two millennia. By AD 400 ...

and have a very gloomy character, somewhat different from the rest of the codex. The discoloration is because these vellum pages have been exposed to the light as readers turned the pages toward the infamous illustration over the centuries.

History

According to legend, the codex was created by Herman the Recluse in the

monastery of Podlažice near Chrast in

(modern-day

), which was destroyed in the 15th century during the Hussite Revolution, but is now marked by a

maquette A ''maquette'' is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture or work of architecture. The term is a loanword from French. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', a diminutive of the Italian word for a sketch. Sculpture A maquette ...

in the town museum of Chrast. Records in the codex end in the year 1222. Shortly after it was written, the codex was pawned by the Benedictines to the Cistercian monks of the Sedlec Abbey, today a former Catholic monastery renowned for housing the Sedlec Ossuary, where it remained for 70 years. The

monastery in Břevnov reclaimed the codex around the end of the 13th century. From 1477 it was kept in the library of a monastery in Broumov, until in 1594 it was taken to

into the personal collection of the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the H ...

. At the end of the

in 1648, the entire collection was taken as war booty by the Swedish Imperial Army. From 1649 onwards, the manuscript has been kept in the Swedish Royal Library in

. On 7 May 1697, a fire at the Tre Kronor royal castle in Stockholm destroyed much of the Swedish Royal Library. The Codex Gigas was saved by being thrown out of a window; according to the vicar Johann Erichsons, it landed on and injured a bystander. A ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'' documentary included interviews with manuscript experts who argued that certain evidence (handwriting analysis and a credit to ''Hermann Inclusus'', i.e. "Herman the Recluse") indicates that the manuscript was the work of a single scribe.

Content

The first page has two

Hebrew alphabet The Hebrew alphabet (, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is a unicase, unicameral abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish languages, most notably ...

s. There are also added slips with

Early Cyrillic The Early Cyrillic alphabet, also called classical Cyrillic or paleo-Cyrillic, is an alphabetic writing system that was developed in Medieval Bulgaria in the Preslav Literary School during the late 9th century. It is used to write the Ch ...

and

Glagolitic The Glagolitic script ( , , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed that it was created in the 9th century for the purpose of translating liturgical texts into Old Church Slavonic by Saints Cyril and Methodi ...

alphabets (Folio 1). About half of the codex (f. 1–118) consists of the entire Latin Bible in the

version, except for the

books A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, mo ...

of Acts and

Revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

, which are from a pre-Vulgate version. They are books of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

, in the following order: Genesis to Ruth; Isaiah;

Jeremiah Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...

; Baruch; Lamentations; Daniel; Hosea to

Malachi Malachi or Malachias (; ) is the name used by the author of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Nevi'im (Prophets) section of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh. It is possible that ''Malachi'' is not a proper name, because it means "messenger"; ...

; Job;

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

and Kings;

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

to Song of Solomon; Wisdom of Solomon; Wisdom of Jesus; Chronicles;

Esdras The name "Esdras" is found in the title of four texts (entitled Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras in most English versions) attributed to, or associated with, the prophet Ezra. The naming convention of the four books of Esdras differs betwee ...

; Tobit;

Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...

;

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

; and

Maccabees The Maccabees (), also spelled Machabees (, or , ; or ; , ), were a group of Jews, Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. Its leaders, the Hasmoneans, founded the Hasmonean dynasty ...

. Apart from the alphabets at the start, the entire book is written in

. The two works of Flavius Josephus follow (''Antiquities of the Jews'' and ''The Jewish War'') (f. 118–178). The first page of Josephus, which recounts the

Genesis creation narrative The Genesis creation narrative is the creation myth of both Judaism and Christianity, told in the book of Genesis chapters 1 and 2. While the Jewish and Christian tradition is that the account is one comprehensive story, modern scholars of ...

, is illustrated in the margin with pictures of Heaven and Earth (f. 118v). These works are followed by

's encyclopedia ''

'' (f. 201–239), and the medical works (f. 240–252). Following a blank page, the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

commences with

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...

Epistle of James The Epistle of James is a Catholic epistles, general epistle and one of the 21 epistles (didactic letters) in the New Testament. It was written originally in Koine Greek. The epistle aims to reach a wide Jewish audience. It survives in manusc ...

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Bible#Christian Bible, Christian Bible. Written in Greek language, Greek, ...

, and

Epistle to the Romans The Epistle to the Romans is the sixth book in the New Testament, and the longest of the thirteen Pauline epistles. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by Paul the Apostle to explain that Salvation (Christianity), salvation is offered ...

Epistle to the Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews () is one of the books of the New Testament. The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle; most of the Ancient Greek manuscripts, the Old Syriac Peshitto and ...

(f. 253–286). This is followed by some pages with common prayers and a page of "three adjurations and two charms", some of them known from Jewish sources (f. 286–291). The full-page images of the Heavenly City and the Devil are on f. 289–90 of this section. Then comes the '' Chronica Boemorum'' of Cosmas of Prague (f. 294–304). A list of brothers in the

monastery of Podlažice, and a calendar with a necrology, magic formulae, the start of the

introit The Introit () is part of the opening of the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations. In its most complete version, it consists of an antiphon, psalm verse and '' Gloria Patri'', which are spoken or sung at the ...

s for feasts, and other local records round out the codex (f. 305–312).

Legend

According to one version of a legend already recorded in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the scribe was a Christian monk who broke his monastic vows and was sentenced to be walled up alive. To escape death, he promised to create, in one night, a book to glorify the monastery forever, including all human knowledge. Near midnight, he became so desperate that he prayed to

Lucifer The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...

to help him finish the book in exchange for his soul. The Devil completed the manuscript, and the monk added the Devil's picture as a tribute. In tests to recreate the work, it is estimated that reproducing the calligraphy alone (without the illustrations or embellishments) would have taken twenty years of non-stop writing. CodexGigas 218 Judith.jpg, Initial with a squirrel Alphabets Codex Gigas.jpg, F1v, showing Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Glagolitic, and Old Cyrillic alphabets CodexGigas 233 I-IIMaccabees.jpg, End of Book of Maccabees and start of

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

, with author portrait CodexGigas 234 AntiquitatesIudaicae.jpg, F118v, start of

, Heaven and Earth CodexGigas 400 Isidorus.jpg, Blue and red capital in Isidore Codex Gigas facsimile.jpg, Viewing a

facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of r ...

in the Czech Republic

References

Bibliography

External links

* (complete Codex Gigas in medium resolution) {{Authority control 13th-century biblical manuscripts 13th-century illuminated manuscripts Catholic illuminated manuscripts Christian iconography Czech manuscripts Deal with the Devil Demons in art Illuminated biblical manuscripts Romanesque art Thirty Years' War Vetus Latina New Testament manuscripts Vulgate manuscripts War trophies World Digital Library