The Bible of the Devil - A Unique Manuscript of Mankind?

This book has another name - Codex Gigas, It is under this name that the manuscript is known to most scientists. 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, with a height of 90 cm and weighing 75 kg. It contains the New and Old Testaments, along with recipes and magical spells, exorcism techniques, an unusual combination of texts that are nowhere else. This is one of the most amazing and inexplicable manuscript books. However, this is not just a book of enormous proportions. It has a supernatural appeal and a way of inspiring horror. Many famous historical figures wished to possess this book.

Even now, the Devil's interest in the Bible is not quenched. Although she is now in permanent storage in Sweden, in 2007 for the first time she went home - to the Czech Republic. Everyone who has ever seen this book felt its unusual nature. The manuscript, in addition to text and illustrations, contains a frightening portrait of the Devil himself, placed on the 290th page. The total number of pages in the Bible of the Devil is 640. Not all pages have been preserved in good condition, some are lost forever. But those that remained are of undoubted interest to scientists. No one until some time did not know who, when and why he placed in it a huge portrait of Satan.

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 Benedictines committed a crime. In expectation of punishment the monk descends divine inspiration. For the sake of redemption of guilt, he is ready to write a great treatise, unique in its content, in which the Old and New Testaments and all the knowledge of the time will be placed. The abbot of the monastery gives him a chance. Inspired by this opportunity to make amends, the monk takes to work, but by midnight he understands that it is impossible to create such a work in one night, and turns to Satan for help, which helps him to finish the work begun. But this is a legend, and scientists, through studying and various kinds of research, try to reveal all the secrets of this book and establish the identity of the creator of the Code. Or were there several scribes working on this manuscript?

Assuming that " Codex Gigas" is the fruit of the 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 the text of this format takes 1 hour, and it takes 5 years to complete the whole work. Given that the regime of the day in the monastery does not allow you to constantly work on a book, one author could spend on writing a book of this volume to 30 years. And this is a very long period.

The study of the composition of 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 and digital signature of those times, which confirms the hand of one scribe.

Experts of the manuscript are also inclined to 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 be attributed to a talented lover rather than a professional.

A bit of history

Possessing incomprehensible power for people, the Devil's Bible did not make its owners happy. In the monastery in which the Code was created, a financial collapse came, and this greatest treatise was sold to the fraternity of white monks. Soon a misfortune came. 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 people who left then.

The Austrian Emperor Rudolf ll and the only Christian woman in the history of Europe, Christina (Sweden), also consistently owned the Devil's Bible, but in their lives there were setbacks and misfortunes, and the Devil's Bible again and again survived in wars and fires.

Verdict of scientists

After completing the research, the scientists managed to discover a fact that changed the legend of the Devil's Bible. The centuries-old misinterpretation was based on a single Latin word found in the Code, which in Latin means "conclusion." For many centuries people understood this as a terrible punishment, zamorovyvanie alive, in fact, it is closer to the word "recluse." This is exactly what the monk of his brothers asked for. The monk retired in his cell, choosing the path of escape from the world.

For the monk himself, who wrote Codex Gigas, this, apparently, was a search for insight and an opportunity to create the work of a lifetime. It was a scribe inspired by a blessing, not an occult predilection. He portrayed both horror and bliss. Good and evil are fighting in the pages of the Devil's Book. Satan is located next to the heavenly kingdom, symbolizing the path that each person should choose for himself.