The Codex Gigas has the meaning “The Giant Book”. The Codex Gigas is kept at The National Library in Stockholm. There are two aspects of the book which make him prominent. First, the book is the largest piece of art that remained intact and belongs to Europe. The book is also called as the book of the Devil or “Devil’s Bible”. This is because it has a large picture of the devil.
The codex Gigas is guessed to belong to 13th century. It was the time of Benedictine monastery of Podlazice in Czech Republic. In 17th century, it was robbed by the Swedish army which was at war with the monastery.
The contents of the book comprise shining text written in different colors. The capital letters are specially made prominent by a striking color. The book does not seem to be a compilation or “patch work” of differently-styled pieces of art or text rather its impression remains consistent from beginning to end showing uniformity throughout the book. As there are no variations in the mood of the writer due to which uniformity can be felt, it can be inferred about the author that any factor like age, illness, or temperamental variation did not intrude while writing this manuscript.
The uniformity implies that the book was not written in bits and pieces in different stages of life span of the writer and it was written in very short time. There is a legend about the author of the book that he was actually a monk who was sentenced by the monastery to be buried alive in the wall. But he promised to write a miraculously excellent book in favor of the monastery in one single night. During midnight, he reckoned that he will not be able to write such book in that night. So he prayed to Satan to help him save his life. The Satan wrote the book and the monk added his portrait in his appreciation.
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