The History of the Devil’s Bible
The manuscript has a long history worthy of its sinister beginnings. Soon after its completion sometime between 1224 and 1230, it was purchased by monks at the Monastery of Břevnov, home to the Benedictine order’s most important monastic library. There it stayed until shortly after the outbreak of the Hussite Wars in 1420 when, with pro-papal enemy troops rampaging the area, it was moved to safety within the Monastery of Broumov. Broumov was its home throughout much of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, where it served as a kind of glorified guestbook for distinguished visitors to write their names in
The fact that the Devil’s Bible was still technically the property of Břevnov created some technical difficulties after it attracted the attention of the King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II. A renowned bibliophile, Rudolph first became interested in the manuscript when two of his emissaries passed by Broumov Monastery in 1590, on their way back from a diplomatic mission in Poland. Despite being one of the most powerful men in Europe, Rudolph was forced to ask permission for the manuscript to be loaned to him in Prague. It would turn out to be a distinctly royal type of loan, however, for the manuscript was never returned to its rightful owner.
On March 4, 1594, the Devil’s Bible was dispatched to Prague. Upon its arrival it became the subject of intense academic interest; listed in the inventory of the emperor’s Chamber of Treasures and Arts, and assiduously studied and recopied by his secretary and court historian. For just over 50 years the Devil’s Bible would remain in Bohemia’s capital. But in the final days of the Thirty Years’ War, one of Europe’s bloodiest religious conflicts (1618 – 1648), it fell into enemy hands when Swedish forces sacked Prague.
The Devil’s Bible has been in the Swedish capital of Stockholm ever since. Its time has been anything but uneventful. Troops returning from the Thirty Years’ War brought it to the royal castle of Queen Christina. Yet the manuscript failed to capture her imagination as it had Rudolph’s, failing to feature among the great books and artworks she took with her to Rome upon her abdication. Fortunately for the manuscript’s survival, however, those who stayed behind in Stockholm took more interest.
On May 7, 1697, a fire ravaged Stockholm castle, gutting the royal library and incinerating many items in its collection. The leather cover of the Devil’s Bible was badly damaged and several of its pages burnt out. Ultimately it was only saved because someone threw it out of the library window, apparently (and indeed understandably) seriously injuring an unfortunate passer-by below. Since the late eighteenth century, the manuscript has been the subject of non-stop academic interest, with scholars researching it from all angles: its content, its composition, and, of course, its history.
According to legend, whoever possesses the codex gigas is cursed to experience disaster and misfortune. But considering that the entirety of medieval history was written either by religious clerics or heavily pious aristocrats, it’s little wonder they spread this message. After all, a large manuscript with an illustration of the devil that failed to bring about harmful consequences wouldn’t fit well with their Christian message. Having said that, so far history has not been kind to those in possession of the Devil’s Bible. Let’s just hope that the vaults of Stockholm’s National Library, the current resting place of the Devil’s Bible, prove to be the exception to its exceptional bad luck.
Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
Devil’s Bible Darkest Secrets Explained. David Max Braun. National Geographic. December 17, 2008
What You Should Know About the Codex Gigas. Alicia. Ancient Origins. APRIL 5, 2019