The Devil's Bible or the Codex Gigas - Prague Summer Seminar INLS 890-976-5111 by Sandra Wheeler (2011).pdf
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Wheeler, 1
Sandra W
Prague S
Summer
Wheeler
ummer Sem
2011
minar INLS 89
90.976.S111
The Dev
vil’s Bibl
le or the
e Codex G
Gigas
Photo
o courtesy of
f the Nationa
al Library of
Sweden
Wheeler, 2
Approximately eight centuries ago, the largest manuscript known to the world was
created, bearing strange pictures and an even stranger nickname – the Devil’s Bible. Was this
manuscript the work of several monks transcribing various texts commonly known to and used
by the Benedictine Order throughout the Middle Ages? Or was it the work of one solitary
monk? One legend claims that the devil actually wrote the manuscript at the request of a
Benedictine monk convicted of some crime. Mankind has been fascinated with this mysterious
manuscript since it was created. There is no identifiable scribe of this giant book, known in Latin
as the
Codex Gigas
, but there has been a great deal of research into the origins, history, and
travels of what was once considered to be the eighth wonder of the world. (Velinger &
Štráfeldová, 2007) It is currently 89 cm. by 49 cm., or approximately 35 inches by 19 inches
large, and contains 310 parchment leaves made out of either calfskin or donkey skins. Typical
manuscripts of that period usually had parchment leaves made out of sheep or goat skins, but
the
Codex Gigas
was no typical manuscript. The original unfolded parchment leaves were
almost 100 cm. x 100 cm., requiring the skins of much larger animals than the typical
manuscript. (National Library of Sweden, 2007) The manuscript is slightly smaller now than
when it was originally bound in its wood cover due to some slight trimming when it was re‐
bound in the 16
th
or 17
th
century. According to what historians have been able to determine,
the manuscript was written in the early 13
th
century in a Benedictine monastery somewhere in
the eastern portion of Bohemia. It reached its current resting place in 1649, when it became
part of the art and book collections belonging to Queen Christina of Sweden.
This “giant book,” or
Codex Gigas
as it has been called, has been known by various
names over the centuries, the most famous of which is the “Devil’s Bible.” It has also been
Wheeler, 3
called the
Liber giganteus, Gigas librorum,
and
Liber pergrandis
, which all roughly translated
mean “giant library” or “giant book.” (Boldan, Dragoun, Foltýn, Marek, & Uhlíř, 2007, p. 17) The
manuscript does not have an official name or title because it is a collection of several texts and
well known works dating throughout the early Middle Ages. However, it is most commonly
referred to as the “
Codex Gigas
” because of its enormous size, or “the Devil’s Bible,” either
because of an almost full‐page drawing of the devil or because of the legend associated with its
creation, dating back to the late Middle Ages. Historical references to the manuscript as a giant
“library” rather than a mere “book” are just as accurate as calling it a book, since it contains the
texts that might have been housed in the library of a moderately wealthy Middle Ages
Benedictine monastery.
Creation and Legend
Dating back toward the end of the Middle Ages, a somewhat strange and mysterious
legend became associated with the creation of the
Codex Gigas
. According to the legend, a
Benedictine monk was going to be punished for a crime he committed by being walled‐up alive.
The monk bargained for his life, vowing to write out the Old and New Testaments along with
several other texts common to the Benedictine Order in the early thirteenth century. If the
monk failed to complete the transcription by morning, he would submit to their punishment. As
the legend says, at midnight the monk realized he would never be able to finish transcribing all
of the texts, so he called upon the devil to help him finish the work, thus saving his life.
(National Library of Sweden, 2007) (Boldan, Dragoun, Foltýn, Marek, & Uhlíř, 2007) This legend
goes a long way toward explaining why the
Codex Gigas
is often called the Devil’s Bible,
Wheeler, 4
although the suppositions do not end there. Why would a Benedictine monk (or group of
monks) have placed the texts of the Old and New Testaments in the same manuscript with an
almost full‐page portrait of the devil, demonic conjurations, and violent incantations, if the
devil had nothing to do with the creation of this manuscript? (NGC Network International LLC,
2008) Other scholars believe it is called the Devil’s Bible because of the massive portrait of the
devil, along with the magical and demonic incantations.
At the time this manuscript was created, most lengthy works were made with several
monks acting as scribes or artists, oftentimes participating in both roles. With the physical size
of the
Codex Gigas
and the number of texts enclosed within its covers, scholars and
historiographers had largely assumed that it required a number of scribes in order to complete
the monumental task. However, National Geographic Television followed a group of scientists
studying the manuscript in an attempt to determine whether its creation was the work of
several scribes or merely one scribe. Using handwriting analysis and ultraviolet fluorescence
imaging, the forensic document experts determined that the manuscript was created by a
single monk acting as both scribe and illustrator. The experts not only tested the handwriting
throughout the
Codex Gigas
, but also the formula and consistency of the ink. (NGC Network
International LLC, 2008) Handwriting analysis has been used extensively in determining
authorship of handwritten documents because each person’s handwriting reflects individual
characteristics that no other person will have. Handwriting experts examine everything from
the shape of individual letters, to the amount of pressure used in writing, to the spacing
between letters as well as between individual words. (Layton, 2011) In the case of the
Codex
Gigas
, handwriting analysis and analysis of the ink itself showed that there was only one monk
Wheeler, 5
involved in transcribing the texts included in the manuscript.
Transcribing each of the works contained within the
Codex Gigas
would likely have been
a lifetime’s work for a single monk, while at the same time having to keep up with his daily
prayers and duties at the monastery. Monastic scribes typically had regular daily duties within
the monastery, and could not devote an entire day to their transcription work. At most, they
might have been allowed to transcribe a mere few hours a day, if even that much. If this was
the case with the
Codex Gigas
scribe, this manuscript may have taken him twenty or even thirty
years to complete! The forensic document analysis of the manuscript, however, does not show
evidence of failing eyesight or muscular infirmities, leading many scholars to wonder if this
scribe’s sole duty was the creation of the manuscript. Interestingly, the handwriting in the
manuscript contains enough unique characteristics that, when taken as a whole,
historiographers are certain there is no other work existing today by this same scribe. Is it
possible the
Codex Gigas
was his sole work? Unfortunately this is a question no one will ever be
able to answer.
Due to the massive size of the
Codex Gigas
, the animals used to provide skins for the
parchment leaves must have been larger than those used for the average manuscript made in
the early 13
th
century. Historians believe the skins came from either donkeys or calves, resulting
in parchment leaves of approximately 100 cm x 100 cm. The finished manuscript required 310
such parchment leaves, which when folded in half resulted in 620 pages. This would have been
of considerable cost to any monastery. The cost of the parchment leaves alone has led many
scholars to question in which monastery the
Codex Gigas
could have been created. Because of
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