The Codex Gigas (English: Giant Book) is the largest extant medieval manuscript in the world. It is also known as the Devil’s Bible because of a large illustration of the devil on the inside and the legend surrounding its creation. It is thought to have been created in the early 13th century in the Benedictine monastery of Podlažice in Bohemia (modern Czech Republic). It contains the Vulgate Bible as well as many historical documents all written in Latin. During the Thirty Years’ War in 1648, the entire collection was stolen by the Swedish army as plunder, and now it is preserved at the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm, though it is not normally on display. According to one version of a legend that is already recorded in the Middle Ages the scribe was a monk who broke his monastic vows and was sentenced to be walled up alive. In order to forbear this harsh penalty he promised to create in one single night a book to glorify the monastery forever, including all human knowledge. Near midnight he became sure that he could not complete this task alone, so he made a special prayer, not addressed to God but to the fallen archangel Lucifer, asking him to help him finish the book in exchange for his soul. The devil completed the manuscript and the monk added the devil’s picture out of gratitude for his aid. In tests to recreate the work, it is estimated to have taken 20 or more years to have written the work. source and more info
Pop-upView Separately

The Codex Gigas (English: Giant Book) is the largest extant medieval manuscript in the world. It is also known as the Devil’s Bible because of a large illustration of the devil on the inside and the legend surrounding its creation. It is thought to have been created in the early 13th century in the Benedictine monastery of Podlažice in Bohemia (modern Czech Republic). It contains the Vulgate Bible as well as many historical documents all written in Latin. During the Thirty Years’ War in 1648, the entire collection was stolen by the Swedish army as plunder, and now it is preserved at the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm, though it is not normally on display.

According to one version of a legend that is already recorded in the Middle Ages the scribe was a monk who broke his monastic vows and was sentenced to be walled up alive. In order to forbear this harsh penalty he promised to create in one single night a book to glorify the monastery forever, including all human knowledge. Near midnight he became sure that he could not complete this task alone, so he made a special prayer, not addressed to God but to the fallen archangel Lucifer, asking him to help him finish the book in exchange for his soul. The devil completed the manuscript and the monk added the devil’s picture out of gratitude for his aid. In tests to recreate the work, it is estimated to have taken 20 or more years to have written the work.

source and more info

1273 Notes/ Hide

  1. constitutional reblogged this from fuckyeahmedievalism
  2. preguntashermosas reblogged this from mediumaevum
  3. shitthatinspires reblogged this from black-list
  4. barangutan reblogged this from mediumaevum
  5. atlasfishard reblogged this from naught-but-a-lioness
  6. laureneatshearts reblogged this from quesobandito
  7. quesobandito reblogged this from lucifermaycry
  8. cinnon reblogged this from forgedhalo
  9. an-obsessive-life reblogged this from satannista
  10. swallowxtail reblogged this from urban-cocaine
  11. awesomeocelot reblogged this from spaceninjasfromouterspace
  12. manalimtiaz reblogged this from illluminadi
  13. illluminadi reblogged this from starksexual
  14. scatenarsi reblogged this from thegubbins
  15. thegubbins reblogged this from metalliccolouredphallus
  16. mightythesaurusrex reblogged this from ogprincesscalamity
  17. naomisonaboat reblogged this from ogprincesscalamity
  18. ogprincesscalamity reblogged this from metalliccolouredphallus
  19. theoperatorspr0xy reblogged this from metalliccolouredphallus
  20. geekybones reblogged this from metalliccolouredphallus
  21. ticktockmeow reblogged this from metalliccolouredphallus
  22. metalliccolouredphallus reblogged this from ahandfulofwords
  23. kungfuwolfbitch reblogged this from urban-cocaine
  24. urban-cocaine reblogged this from anti-humanxs
  25. amor-y-rabia reblogged this from anti-humanxs

Recent comments

Blog comments powered by Disqus