This book has another name. - Codex Gigas, it is under this name that the manuscript is known to most scholars. It is believed that appeared in one of the monasteries of the Czech Republic in the 13th century, it is a unique work created from the skin of animals, 90 cm high and weighs 75 kg. It contains the New and Old Testaments along with recipes and magic spells, methods of exorcism, an unusual combination of texts that are not found anywhere else. This is one of the most amazing and inexplicable manuscript books. However, this is not just a book of enormous size. It has a supernatural appeal and a way to inspire horror. Many famous historical figures wished to possess this book.
Even now interest in not fading away. Although she is now kept permanently in Sweden, in 2007 for the first time she went to her homeland - to the Czech Republic. Everyone who has seen this book has felt its unusual nature. The manuscript, in addition to text and illustrations, contains a terrifying portrait of the Devil himself, located on page 290. There are 640 pages in the Devil’s Bible. Not all pages are in good condition, some are lost forever. But those that remain are of undoubted interest to scientists. Nobody until some time knew who, when, and why placed a huge portrait of Satan in it.
Who wrote the devil's bible ?
There is a legend according to which in one of the monasteries in the Czech Republic in the Middle Ages one of the monks belonging to the Order of the Benedictines committed a crime. In anticipation of punishment, divine inspiration comes to the monk. For the sake of atonement, he is ready to write a large treatise, unique in content, in which the Old and New Testaments and all the knowledge of that time will be placed. The abbot of the monastery gives him a chance. Inspired by this opportunity to make amends, the monk gets to work, but by midnight he realizes that it is impossible to create such a work in one night, and turns to Satan for help, which helps him complete the work he has begun. But this is a legend, and scientists, through studying and various kinds of research, are trying to uncover all the secrets of this book and establish the identity of the creator of the Codex. Or did several census takers work on this manuscript?
Assuming " " - the fruit of a unique work of one author, the question arises: how long could it take to implement this project? As a result of the experiment, it was found that writing the first page of text of this format takes 1 hour, and it will take 5 years to complete all the work. Considering that the regime of the day in the monastery does not allow you to constantly work on a book, one author could spend up to 30 years writing a book of this volume, and this is a very long period.
A study of the composition of the ink led to the following results: their composition is the same from the first to the last page, the ink was made from insect hives. The uniformity of the composition is like a modern electronic-digital signature of those times, confirming the hand of one scribe.
Manuscript experts are inclined towards the theory of one author. They believe that even for that time, the Book looks old-fashioned and unprofessional. Professional scribes worked on similar things in groups, and the technique of execution was then at a higher level. The author of this work can most likely be attributed to a talented amateur than to a professional.
A bit of history
Having a power incomprehensible to people, the Devil’s Bible did not make its owners happy. A financial collapse came to the monastery in which the Codex was created, and this greatest treatise was sold to the brotherhood of white monks. Soon trouble came here too. The bubonic plague overtook this place, sparing no one. Today, on the site of this monastery there is a crypt-museum from the remains of the bones of the then departed people.
The Austrian emperor Rudolf ll and the only woman monarch Christine (Sweden) in the history of Europe also consistently owned the Devil’s Bible, but in their life there were setbacks and misfortunes, and the Devil’s Bible survived again and again in wars and fires.
The Verdict of Scientists
After completing the research, scientists were able to discover a fact that changed the legend of the Devil’s Bible. The centuries-old misinterpretation was based on one Latin word found in the Code, which in Latin means "conclusion". For many centuries, people have understood this as a terrible punishment, walled up alive, in fact, it is closer to the word "recluse." That is precisely what the monk asked his brothers. The monk secluded himself in his cell, choosing the path of withdrawal from the world.
For the monk himself, who wrote Codex Gigas, this was apparently a search for insight and an opportunity to create the work of a lifetime. He was a scribe, inspired by blessing, and not by occult addictions. He portrayed at the same time horror and bliss. Good and evil fight in the pages of the Book of the Devil. Satan is located next to the kingdom of heaven, symbolizing the path that everyone should choose for himself.