Codex Gigas

Illuminated initial at the start of the Wisdom of Solomon

The codex's bookbinding is wooden boards covered in leather, with ornate metal guards and fittings. At 92 cm (36 in) long, 50 cm (20 in) wide and 22 cm (8.7 in) thick, it is the largest known medieval manuscript.[6] Weighing 74.8 kg (165 lb), Codex Gigas is composed of 310 leaves of vellum claimed to be made from the skins of 160 donkeys, or perhaps calfskin, covering 142.6 m² (1,535 sq ft) in total.[7] The manuscript includes illuminations in red, blue, yellow, green, and gold. Capital letters 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 is missing. There are also 20 initials with the letters in blue, with vine decoration 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.[8]

The codex has a unified look as the nature of the writing is unchanged throughout, showing no signs of age, disease, or mood on the part of the scribe.[9] This may have led to the belief that the whole book was written in a very short time (see § Legend), but scientists are starting to investigate the theory that it took over 20 years to complete.[10]

The extraordinary length, size, and detail of the codex have given rise to the legend that it was written by one scribe in one night with help from the devil himself.[11][12] It initially contained 320 sheets, though twelve of these were subsequently removed.[13] It is unknown who removed the pages or for what purpose.

Illustration of the Devil

Illustration of the devil, Folio 290 recto

Folio 290 recto,[14] otherwise empty, includes a picture of the devil, about 50 cm (20 in) tall. Directly opposite the devil is a full page depiction of the kingdom of heaven, thus juxtaposing contrasting images of Good and Evil. 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; both 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 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 of Satan in Christian iconography. 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 and have a very gloomy character, somewhat different from the rest of the codex. The reason for the discoloration is that these vellum pages have been exposed to the light as readers over the centuries turned the pages toward the infamous illustration.

Opening of the Gospel of Matthew

According to legend, the codex was created by Herman the Recluse in the Benedictine monastery of Podlažice near Chrudim in the Czech Republic which was destroyed in the 15th century during the Hussite Revolution, but is now marked by a maquette in the town museum of Chrast. Records in the codex end in the year 1222.[15] Shortly after it was written, it was pawned by the Benedictines to the Cistercian monks of the Sedlec Monastery, where it remained for 70 years. The Benedictine monastery in Břevnov reclaimed the bible around the end of the 13th Century.[16] From 1477 it was in the library of a monastery in Broumov, until in 1594 it was taken to Prague into the collection of Emperor Rudolf II.

At the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648, the entire collection was taken as war booty by the Swedish army. From 1649, the manuscript has been kept in the Swedish Royal Library in Stockholm.[17]

On 7 May 1697, a fire at the Tre Kronor royal castle in Stockholm destroyed much of the Royal Library. The Codex Gigas was thrown out a window; according to the vicar Johann Erichsons, it landed on and injured a bystander.[18]

A National Geographic documentary included interviews with manuscript experts who argued that certain evidence (handwriting analysis and a credit to Hermann Inclusus – "Herman the Recluse") indicates the manuscript was the work of a single scribe.[19]

The first page has two Hebrew alphabets. There are also added slips with Early Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets (Folio 1). About half of the codex (f. 1–118) consists of the entire Latin Bible in the Vulgate version, except for the books of Acts and Revelation, which are from a pre-Vulgate version. They are in the order: Genesis to Ruth; Isaiah; Jeremiah; Baruch; Lamentations; Daniel; Hosea to Malachi; Job; Samuel and Kings; Psalms to Song of Solomon; Wisdom of Solomon; Wisdom of Jesus; Chronicles; Esdras; Tobit; Judith; Esther; and Maccabees.[20]

The two works of Josephus then continue the history of the Jews (f. 118–178). The first page of Josephus, which recounts the Genesis creation story, is illustrated in the margin with pictures of Heaven and Earth (f. 118v). These works are followed by Isidore's Etymologiae (f. 201–239), and the medical works (f. 240–252). Following a blank page, the New Testament commences with Matthew to Acts, James to Revelation, and Romans to Hebrews (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 Cosmas of Prague's Chronica Boemorum (f. 294–304). A list of brothers in the Podlažice monastery, and a calendar with a necrology, magic formulae, the start of the introits for feasts, and other local records round out the codex (f. 305–312).[20]

Apart from the alphabets at the start, the entire book is in Latin.[20]

According to one version of a legend already recorded in the Middle Ages, the scribe was a 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 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.[1][21][22] In tests to recreate the work, it is estimated that reproducing only the calligraphy, without the illustrations or embellishments, would have taken twenty years of non-stop writing.[10]

• 
  Initial with a squirrel
• 
  F1v, showing Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Glagolitic, and Old Cyrillic alphabets
• 
  End of Book of Maccabees and start of Josephus, with author portrait
• 
  F118v, start of Josephus, Heaven and Earth
• 
  Blue and red capital in Isidore
• 
  Viewing a facsimile in the Czech Republic

• List of New Testament Latin manuscripts
• List of Glagolitic manuscripts

• Boldan, Kamil; Dragoun, Michal; Foltýn, Duan; Marek, Jindřich; Uhlíř, Zdeněk (2007). The Devil's Bible – Codex Gigas: The Secrets of the World's Largest Book. NKP. ISBN 978-80-7050-532-8.

• Bártl, S., Kostelecký, J.: Ďáblova bible. Tajemství největší knihy světa, Paseka, 1993. ISBN 80-85192-64-0
• J. Belsheim, Die Apostelgeschichte und die Offenbarung Johannis in einer alten lateinischen Übersetzung aus dem 'Gigas librorum' auf der königlichen Bibliothek zu Stockholm (Christiana, 1879).

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Codex Gigas.

• Official Codex Gigas site at the National Library of Sweden. (complete Codex Gigas in medium resolution)