WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.399
The Codex Gigas has a full page devil in it,
2
00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:06.559
and all three hundred and ten leaves appeared to have
3
00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:10.320
been written by one hand. That sounds like the opening
4
00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:14.720
of a supernatural confession. It was made in Bohemia sometime
5
00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:18.519
between about twelve oh four and twelve thirty, probably for
6
00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:23.079
a Benedictine monastery, and it weighs roughly seventy five kilograms.
7
00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:26.839
A book that heavy doesn't belong on an ordinary shelf.
8
00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:31.239
It needs furniture. Some later versions tell a specific story,
9
00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:35.799
though its details require verification. A monk was condemned to
10
00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:39.560
be walled up alive. To save himself, he promised to
11
00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:42.479
create the largest book in the world in a single night.
12
00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:46.759
Midnight came, the pages were nowhere near finished, and he
13
00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:51.320
called on the devil. In that telling, Satan completed the manuscript,
14
00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:54.920
and the monk gave up his soul. It's a clean story,
15
00:00:55.439 --> 00:01:01.119
terrible employment conditions, one impossible deadline, one very of available consultant.
16
00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:04.519
But the physical object gives us a much slower beginning.
17
00:01:05.079 --> 00:01:08.760
Before anyone could write a single line, roughly one hundred
18
00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:13.079
sixty animal skins had to be cleaned, stretched, scraped, and
19
00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:16.439
turned into parchment. The sheets were cut to nearly a
20
00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:20.799
meter in height, folded into gatherings, and ruled into columns.
21
00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:24.120
Then the scribe had to fill them with tiny, even
22
00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:28.680
Gothic letters, leaving room for decoration and large painted initials.
23
00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:32.599
I've tried to picture that handwriting at full scale, and
24
00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:35.959
the seventy five kilograms keep getting in the way. A
25
00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.959
medieval monk didn't make one enormous sheet. He made hundreds
26
00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.079
of ordinary decisions, over and over, without a printer, without
27
00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:47.760
a shortcut, and without losing the plot. The handwriting stays
28
00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:51.879
remarkably consistent from beginning to end, which is why scholars
29
00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:56.120
think one person copied the entire manuscript, not one night.
30
00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:00.439
Estimates range from five years to thirty depending on whether
31
00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:04.359
you count only the writing or also the preparation and illumination.
32
00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:09.039
Imagine being that scribe halfway through the project, looking at
33
00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:12.400
the unfinished choirs, and realizing the book you began as
34
00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:15.840
a task has become the main physical fact of your life.
35
00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:19.280
What made people look at that and say the devil
36
00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:22.800
must have helped? Part of the answer is sitting near
37
00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:26.000
the back of the manuscript, one page shows the devil
38
00:02:26.039 --> 00:02:29.000
in a full page portrait. The image that helped give
39
00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:32.919
the manuscript its modern nickname. Opposite it is an image
40
00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:37.520
understood as heavenly Jerusalem. The two pages place salvation and
41
00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:41.240
punishment side by side, with a medieval warning that doesn't
42
00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:44.960
leave much room for ambiguity. Then the title starts to wobble.
43
00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:48.680
The Devil's Bible is not a medieval name for the book,
44
00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:52.879
and the contents are not a satanic program. The codex
45
00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:58.039
includes the complete Latin Bible, Jewish history by Josephus Isidore
46
00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:03.360
of Seville's Encyclopedia Cosmass of Prague's History of Bohemia, a
47
00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:08.319
medical textbook, a calendar, alphabets in Hebrew, Greek, and Slavic,
48
00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:13.479
plus formulas for magic and exorcism. Huh. The demonic page
49
00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:16.479
is one part of a volume that also tries to
50
00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:22.039
explain medicine, language, history, time, scripture, and ritual practice. The
51
00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:26.039
codex's size made that possible and made it awkward. It
52
00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.199
could hold a great deal, but it couldn't travel casually.
53
00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:32.680
A monk could consult it, but carrying it across a
54
00:03:32.759 --> 00:03:37.080
room was already a small logistical event. The manuscript's later
55
00:03:37.240 --> 00:03:41.400
history adds another kind of unease. It began in Bohemia,
56
00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:46.319
was associated with the monastery at Pudlajitse and eventually entered
57
00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:49.599
the collection of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph the Second
58
00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:53.639
in Prague in sixteen forty eight, during the final stages
59
00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:57.360
of the Thirty Years War. Swedish troops seized it during
60
00:03:57.400 --> 00:04:00.599
the sixteen forty eight Siege of Prague and carried it
61
00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:04.240
north as war booty. It was transferred to Stockholm in
62
00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:09.039
sixteen forty nine. That route made the manuscript an emperor's possession,
63
00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:12.639
then a trophy taken by an army, and eventually an
64
00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:16.839
object preserved in Sweden's national collection. And even the book
65
00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:20.160
we see now has been altered. Its current white leather
66
00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:24.079
binding dates from the early nineteenth century, not the Middle Ages,
67
00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:27.839
and the pages were trimmed during that rebinding. The parchment
68
00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:32.360
carries a question the book itself cannot answer. Parchment can,
69
00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:37.040
in principle, be radiocarbon dated, but testing requires taking a
70
00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:41.439
small sample, and no widely reported codex skigas result settles
71
00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:47.639
the matter directly, So its date rests mainly on the handwriting, layout, decoration, language,
72
00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:51.399
and the historical trail around it. That's why the single
73
00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:54.360
scribe fact matters so much to me, not because it
74
00:04:54.439 --> 00:04:57.839
proves a miracle failed, but because it replaces a dramatic
75
00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:00.439
answer with a person whose name we do I don't know,
76
00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:03.959
working for years on pages most of us would struggle
77
00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:06.920
to lift. The devil didn't make the book. He got
78
00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:08.399
credit for human patience.
1
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.399
The Codex Gigas has a full page devil in it,
2
00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:06.559
and all three hundred and ten leaves appeared to have
3
00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:10.320
been written by one hand. That sounds like the opening
4
00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:14.720
of a supernatural confession. It was made in Bohemia sometime
5
00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:18.519
between about twelve oh four and twelve thirty, probably for
6
00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:23.079
a Benedictine monastery, and it weighs roughly seventy five kilograms.
7
00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:26.839
A book that heavy doesn't belong on an ordinary shelf.
8
00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:31.239
It needs furniture. Some later versions tell a specific story,
9
00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:35.799
though its details require verification. A monk was condemned to
10
00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:39.560
be walled up alive. To save himself, he promised to
11
00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:42.479
create the largest book in the world in a single night.
12
00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:46.759
Midnight came, the pages were nowhere near finished, and he
13
00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:51.320
called on the devil. In that telling, Satan completed the manuscript,
14
00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:54.920
and the monk gave up his soul. It's a clean story,
15
00:00:55.439 --> 00:01:01.119
terrible employment conditions, one impossible deadline, one very of available consultant.
16
00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:04.519
But the physical object gives us a much slower beginning.
17
00:01:05.079 --> 00:01:08.760
Before anyone could write a single line, roughly one hundred
18
00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:13.079
sixty animal skins had to be cleaned, stretched, scraped, and
19
00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:16.439
turned into parchment. The sheets were cut to nearly a
20
00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:20.799
meter in height, folded into gatherings, and ruled into columns.
21
00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:24.120
Then the scribe had to fill them with tiny, even
22
00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:28.680
Gothic letters, leaving room for decoration and large painted initials.
23
00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:32.599
I've tried to picture that handwriting at full scale, and
24
00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:35.959
the seventy five kilograms keep getting in the way. A
25
00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.959
medieval monk didn't make one enormous sheet. He made hundreds
26
00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.079
of ordinary decisions, over and over, without a printer, without
27
00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:47.760
a shortcut, and without losing the plot. The handwriting stays
28
00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:51.879
remarkably consistent from beginning to end, which is why scholars
29
00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:56.120
think one person copied the entire manuscript, not one night.
30
00:01:56.719 --> 00:02:00.439
Estimates range from five years to thirty depending on whether
31
00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:04.359
you count only the writing or also the preparation and illumination.
32
00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:09.039
Imagine being that scribe halfway through the project, looking at
33
00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:12.400
the unfinished choirs, and realizing the book you began as
34
00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:15.840
a task has become the main physical fact of your life.
35
00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:19.280
What made people look at that and say the devil
36
00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:22.800
must have helped? Part of the answer is sitting near
37
00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:26.000
the back of the manuscript, one page shows the devil
38
00:02:26.039 --> 00:02:29.000
in a full page portrait. The image that helped give
39
00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:32.919
the manuscript its modern nickname. Opposite it is an image
40
00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:37.520
understood as heavenly Jerusalem. The two pages place salvation and
41
00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:41.240
punishment side by side, with a medieval warning that doesn't
42
00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:44.960
leave much room for ambiguity. Then the title starts to wobble.
43
00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:48.680
The Devil's Bible is not a medieval name for the book,
44
00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:52.879
and the contents are not a satanic program. The codex
45
00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:58.039
includes the complete Latin Bible, Jewish history by Josephus Isidore
46
00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:03.360
of Seville's Encyclopedia Cosmass of Prague's History of Bohemia, a
47
00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:08.319
medical textbook, a calendar, alphabets in Hebrew, Greek, and Slavic,
48
00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:13.479
plus formulas for magic and exorcism. Huh. The demonic page
49
00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:16.479
is one part of a volume that also tries to
50
00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:22.039
explain medicine, language, history, time, scripture, and ritual practice. The
51
00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:26.039
codex's size made that possible and made it awkward. It
52
00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.199
could hold a great deal, but it couldn't travel casually.
53
00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:32.680
A monk could consult it, but carrying it across a
54
00:03:32.759 --> 00:03:37.080
room was already a small logistical event. The manuscript's later
55
00:03:37.240 --> 00:03:41.400
history adds another kind of unease. It began in Bohemia,
56
00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:46.319
was associated with the monastery at Pudlajitse and eventually entered
57
00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:49.599
the collection of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph the Second
58
00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:53.639
in Prague in sixteen forty eight, during the final stages
59
00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:57.360
of the Thirty Years War. Swedish troops seized it during
60
00:03:57.400 --> 00:04:00.599
the sixteen forty eight Siege of Prague and carried it
61
00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:04.240
north as war booty. It was transferred to Stockholm in
62
00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:09.039
sixteen forty nine. That route made the manuscript an emperor's possession,
63
00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:12.639
then a trophy taken by an army, and eventually an
64
00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:16.839
object preserved in Sweden's national collection. And even the book
65
00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:20.160
we see now has been altered. Its current white leather
66
00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:24.079
binding dates from the early nineteenth century, not the Middle Ages,
67
00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:27.839
and the pages were trimmed during that rebinding. The parchment
68
00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:32.360
carries a question the book itself cannot answer. Parchment can,
69
00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:37.040
in principle, be radiocarbon dated, but testing requires taking a
70
00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:41.439
small sample, and no widely reported codex skigas result settles
71
00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:47.639
the matter directly, So its date rests mainly on the handwriting, layout, decoration, language,
72
00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:51.399
and the historical trail around it. That's why the single
73
00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:54.360
scribe fact matters so much to me, not because it
74
00:04:54.439 --> 00:04:57.839
proves a miracle failed, but because it replaces a dramatic
75
00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:00.439
answer with a person whose name we do I don't know,
76
00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:03.959
working for years on pages most of us would struggle
77
00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:06.920
to lift. The devil didn't make the book. He got
78
00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:08.399
credit for human patience.
