The Devil's Bible
The largest medieval manuscript in the world holds a full-page portrait of the Devil, and a legend that a monk wrote it in one night.
What was reported
The Codex Gigas, 'giant book', was made in a Benedictine monastery at Podlažice in Bohemia in the early 13th century. It's nearly a metre tall and weighs about 75 kg, and contains the Bible and other texts. One page carries a striking full-page picture of the Devil.
Legend says a monk facing a terrible punishment promised to write the book in a single night, and finished it with the Devil's help. Swedish troops took it from Prague in 1648, at the end of the Thirty Years' War.
Explanations offered
Analysis of the handwriting suggests it's the work of one scribe, which would have taken perhaps 20 to 30 years, not one night. It's kept at the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm.
- When
- Made in the early 1200s
- Where
- National Library of Sweden, Stockholm, Sweden
- Witnesses
- Scholars, and the soldiers who took it
- Status
- Mostly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.