Devils Bible
By tony leather, 12th Apr 2012 | Follow this author
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First mention of the book is made in the year 1295, though thought to have actually been written 65 years before that. Originally in the possession of a a small Benedictine monastery ,around 1229 is thought to be the author date, but no records about its origin, author or reason for writing it still exist
Devils Bible
In the early 1200s, a literary work of amazing quality appeared Bohemia. The first place connected with this incredible written work is the Podlažice monastery, near Chrudim, from where th was transported to Sedlec, having been pawned to the Cistercian monks. Known through history by various names, including Codex Gigas, Liber Permonastery in grandis or simply the Devil’s Bible.
First mention of the book is made in the year 1295, though thought to have actually been written 65 years before that. Originally in the possession of a a small Benedictine monastery ,around 1229 is thought to be the author date, but no records about its origin, author or reason for writing it still exist
The Devil’s Bible is such a huge volume that it was, in medieval times, compared to the Seven Wonders of the World, about 3ft high, 20in aide and weighing a hefty 75kilos, the 312 parchment folios within It Amazingly so well written that is legible to the present day, this fascinating creation was the work, it is now thought, of just one person, possibly over a 20 year period.
Connected with a Devil legend, which holds that the book was written in answer to a devilish request, it is the great detail and lehgth to which the author goes, about Satan, that led to the popular name. Supposedly, a monk who once lived in the monastery was sentenced to be walled up alive for his sinful deeds, and to escape this, he promised to write the biggest book that the world, in a single night, but upon realizing he could never hope to do so, he called for help from the devil.
He drew the image of the devil, out of gratitude, into the book, but his life, despite dodging the original sentence, became hell on earth. Even the power of this tale was not enough to see the Codex Gigas condemned by the Spanish Inqisition, becoming instead an object of great interest to lovers both of the curious and of art.
Witten in Latin, the Codex contains fourteen different character texts, starting with the the Old Testament from the Bible, along with varying subject matters covered by further texts. The so-called Penitential text appears to be a kind of Priestly how-to manual, full of lists of sins and ways to atone for them.
It is right in the middle of this diatribe, on page 290 recto, that an almost half-metre-tall color figure of the devil appears. Depicted in the most extraordinary way, Several dark and gloomy pages follow, full of medical incantations, after which the most valuable document, The Chronicle of Bohemia , 1045-1125, by the Dean of the Prague Chapter Cosmas, the oldest and best copy in existence.
In 1295 abbot Pavel Bavor obtained the Codex for the library of the Brevnov monastery ,where it attracted the notice of the Bishop of Prague) and other scholars. The book was closely guarded in the monastery until it passed to the famous collections of Rudolph II., and can br found in Sweden today, a truly remarkable relic of times past, and a fascinating glimpse into history.
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