The Codex Gigas 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 theBenedictine monastery of Podlažice in Bohemia (modern Czech Republic).
The codex is bound in a wooden folder covered with leather and ornate metal. At 92 cm tall, 50 cm wide and 22 cm thick it is the largest known medieval manuscript. Weighing 74.8 kg , Codex Gigas is composed of 310 leaves of vellum allegedly made from the skins of 160 donkeys or perhaps calfskin.The Codex Gigas is the world's largest medieval manuscript.It initially contained 320 sheets, though some of these were subsequently removed.It is unknown who removed the pages or for what purpose but it seems likely that they contained the monastic rules of the Benedictines.
On Page 290, there was a unique picture of the devil, about 50 cm tall. Several pages before this are written on a blackening parchment and have a very gloomy character, somewhat different from the rest of the codex. The reason for the different coloring is that when parchment is exposed to light it "tans", as parchment is made from animal skins, so over the centuries the pages that were exposed will have a darker color to them. Directly opposite the devil is a full picture of the kingdom of heaven, juxtaposing the "good versus evil," in contrast with the picture of the devil
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 angel 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.
The Codex Gigas 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 theBenedictine monastery of Podlažice in Bohemia (modern Czech Republic).
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