Codex Gigas (Devils Book)

[JohnB445]

Never heard of such a thing, it is said a monk made an exchange with the devil to help create this book in a short period of time for his soul. The monk was going to face a slow death, but pleaded asking them if he can create this book for the monastery which will grant them knowledge and great power.

We can assume this monk was not a Christian, but why on Earth would someone give their soul to the devil? Why not accept Jesus as his Lord and savior before his death or did he think that wasn't going to be possible?

 

[JackRT]

According to Wikipedia:

The Codex Gigas (English: Giant Book) is the largest extant medieval illuminated manuscript in the world, at 92 cm (36 in) long.[1] It is also known as the Devil's Bible because of a very unusual full-page portrait of the devil, and the legend surrounding its creation.

It was created in the early 13th century in the Benedictine monastery of Podlažice in Bohemia (modern Czech Republic). It contains the complete Vulgate Bible as well as other popular works, all written in Latin. Between the Old and New Testaments are a selection of other popular medieval reference works: Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews and De bello iudaico, Isidore of Seville's encyclopedia Etymologiae, the chronicle of Cosmas of Prague,[2] and medical works; these are an early version of the Ars medicinae compilation of treatises, and two books by Constantine the African.[3]

Eventually finding its way to the imperial library of Rudolf II in Prague, the entire collection was taken as spoils of war by the Swedish in 1648 during the Thirty Years' War, and the manuscript is now preserved at the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm, although it is no longer on display for the general public.

and:

According to one version of a legend that was already recorded in the Middle Ages, the scribe was a monk who broke his monastic vows and was sentenced to be walled up alive. In order to avoid this harsh penalty he promised to create in one night a book to glorify the monastery forever, including all human knowledge. Near midnight, he became sure that he could not complete this task alone so he made a special prayer, not addressed to God but to the fallen angel Lucifer, asking him to help him finish the book in exchange for his soul. The devil completed the manuscript and the monk added the devil's picture out of gratitude for his aid. In tests to recreate the work, it is estimated that reproducing only the calligraphy, without the illustrations or embellishments, would have taken five years of non-stop writing.

It appears to be a magnificent example of scribal work but the legend is just another medieval legend. There was a lot of quite lurid fiction and artistry originating in medieval times particularly on the topic of hell and the devil.