𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗗𝗘𝗫 𝗚𝗜𝗚𝗔𝗦: 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 ❜❜𝗗𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗟❜❜ 𝗪𝗥𝗢𝗧𝗘 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗕𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗘…

The Codex Gigas, which is considered to be the largest extant medieval manuscript in the world, is currently housed at the Swedish National Library in Stockholm.

This gigantic (weighs over 70 kg and is 92 cm high) book should have been written before 1229, as evidenced by the registration made in the SEDLEC monastery, the oldest monastery of Cistercian monks in the Czech Republic, founded in the year 1142 The date should be fairly certain because some data contained in the Codex offer certain points as to its dating. For example, there is talk of the canonization of St. Procopius of Sazava, patron saint of the current Czech republic. The book then passed to the Břevnov monastery. Between 1477 and 1593 it was instead kept in the Broumov monastery and then in Prague.

The reasons why it is defined as the “Devil’s Bible” are two: the first is linked to the image on page 290, which depicts Lucifer and the second is linked to the complexity of the handwriting and graphics of the manuscript, which are absolutely uniform in all of its 320 pages. It would have taken 20 years to complete the work with that graphic.

To explain the incredible uniformity of the writing of this improper bible, legend has it that it was written by a monk, Herman the Recluse, who had broken his monastic vows and was sentenced to death. In exchange for his freedom, he offered to write in one night a manuscript of such depth as to glorify the Benedictine monastery of Podlažice, in what was then Bohemia, for centuries. Realizing the impossibility of the success of the ”mission”, he turned to Lucifer and exchanged his freedom for his soul.

The devil completed the manuscript and the monk added his image as a sign of gratitude
Since 1649 the Codex Gigas (along with many others) is in the Royal Library of Sweden.

But what is this book about in the numerous pages? First, it contains the well-known biblical content, but also talks about the history, etymology and lives of the saints. There also appear certain magical formulas and writings on the Greek, Cyrillic and Hebrew alphabets. In short, the history of the book is quite varied, imbued as it is with the legacies and mysteries of the medieval period; for this reason it continues to fascinate even in this modern era.