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Codex Gigas – the Devil’s Bible- exhibited in Prague

Codex Gigas - Devil's Bible

Codex Gigas - Devil's Bible

The “Codex Gigas” -known as the “Devil’s Bible”- is exhibited in Prague 360 years after being plundered by Swedish troops.

World’s largest medieval illuminated manuscript.

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September 24 th 2007 – According to the legend, a 13 th century monk from the Czech monastery of Podlazine accused of committing a mortal sin was sentenced to be walled up alive. In order to avoid this terrible death, the monk promised to create in a single night a manuscript that became the pride of the monastery. But then he became sure that this mission was completely impossible, so he sold his soul to the devil, who helped him to finalize the work. The demonic help was reflected in the book in a sinister picture of the demon, which is nowadays one of the most famous miniatures from Middle Age.

This is the legend of the “codex gigas”, also known as the “Devil’s Bible”, also formerly known as “the eighth wonder of the world” for its incredible dimensions (92x50x22 cm with 624 pages, weighting almost 75 kg -165 lbs-) and for the high quality of its illustrations. The work was plundered by the Swedish troops at the end of the Thirty Year’s War, and it had been exhibited outside Sweden on just two occasions, last one about 8 years ago. For the exhibition in the Czech Republic, the work has been guaranteed in almost $15 million

A digital version of the work is shown at the National Library of Sweden website: www.kb.se/codex-gigas

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Codex Gigas - the Devil's Bible- exhibited in Prague