Introduksjon til et fryktinngytende manuskript
The Devil's Bible is a giant manuscript that has evoked fear in those who witness its power. It is one of the most striking, unusual, and memorable books in existence. Written in the medieval Czech Republic during a time of plague, darkness, and despair, it features a wczaloc fujladlzs of evil incarnate. But the truth behind who wrote this book and why has confounded experts for centuries.
A hole to hell, they call it. Winged creatures, the smell of sulfur, and noxious gases—animals grew sick, and farmland died. Terrible tragedy has followed this book wherever it has been, leading many to believe that the Bible itself is cursed. There is always going to be this sense that there are just some things too terrible to contemplate having emerged from a human soul. So, is there any truth behind the stories of its malevolent power?
Codex Gigas: The Treasure in Stockholm
Hidden in Northern Europe sits one of the world's most mysterious artifacts. In Stockholm, Sweden, the National Library houses many chronicles from the country's history. But within its treasury room sits its most prized tome: the Codex Gigas, also known as the Devil's Bible.
Elin Andersson, a specialist in ancient manuscripts and an expert on this unique book, explains: "This is definitely one of the strangest books in our collection here. Its origins are shrouded in mystery. For whom was it made? Who paid for this? Why would they make such an enormous manuscript?" Already in the Middle Ages, this book was known as one of the seven wonders of the world.
Although it now resides in Sweden, this mammoth manuscript originated in a region of the Czech Republic formerly known as Bohemia. It was plundered from Prague by the victorious Swedes in the 1600s during the Thirty Years' War.
Size, scope, and content
Technically, the Codex Gigas is considered the largest illuminated manuscript on record. An illuminated manuscript of this scale would typically have been worked on for decades by a series of illustrators and monks. In terms of size, it measures three feet long and weighs 175 pounds. It contains 310 sheets of vellum—a massive amount given the size of each page—allowing for an immense volume of text.
It was also an exceptionally expensive book to produce, containing five full-page pictures and 77 beautifully illustrated capital letters. In addition to containing a complete Latin Bible, the book holds medical texts, historical writings, and encyclopedias.
The Devil's Portrait and the Dark Texts
On page 290, there appears the image that gives this book its terrible nickname: a full-page illustration of the Devil and Hell meant to terrify the viewer. This devil is portrayed as a monster with two arms and two legs, but with four fingers and four toes on each limb. He features red horns and two red tongues protruding from either side of his mouth, symbolizing his duplicity as the "father of lies."
The placement of this image comes at a critical turning point in the manuscript. Everything up until that point is biblical, dealing with ideas of hope, salvation, and divine order. Immediately following the Devil's image, the texts take a noticeably darker turn, dealing with exorcisms, sins, prayers of protection, and necromancy.
The depiction itself is highly unusual for the 13th century. Most medieval depictions show the Devil with a tail, scales, or fur. In the Devil's Bible, however, he has a surprisingly human torso combined with long, sharp talons extending from his hands and feet. Beside him are his extraordinarily nasty, beady eyes. Interestingly, there is no direct biblical basis for this specific depiction; it stems primarily from medieval legends, folklore, and popular ideas of ghouls and goblins.
Magic formulas and protection
The library rarely removes the Devil's Bible from its protective glass case. Many have wondered whether the book possesses supernatural or magical powers, particularly because directly following the full-page portrait of Satan, there is a set of spells and magical formulas. What are such formulas doing inside a Holy Bible, if not to counteract or harness spiritual power? Given the grim history surrounding the manuscript, some even ask whether the glass case is there to protect the artifact—or to protect us from it.
The legend of the monk Herman Inclusus
Who could have created such an extraordinary work? Clues toward the end of the manuscript indicate it was written between 1204 and 1230. Most scholars believe the author was a monk named Herman Inclusus. The word "inclusus" translates to "shut in" or "immured," suggesting he was a recluse or anchorite.
Herman the Recluse was a Benedictine monk in the small Bohemian monastery of Podlažice. According to legend, he betrayed his monastic vows and was condemned to a horrific death: being walled up alive inside the monastery walls. Desperate to save his life, he begged for mercy and promised that if he were allowed to live, he would write a book containing all human knowledge that would glorify the monastery forever—and he would finish it in a single night.
As midnight approached, Herman realized it was humanly impossible to finish the monumental task. In desperation, he made a pact, calling upon the Devil himself. He asked Satan to complete the manuscript for him in exchange for his soul. Miraculously, by morning, the massive manuscript was finished. Legend says the famous portrait of the Devil was included by Herman as a note of thanks to his new master.
Forensic findings and enigmatic writing
This dark legend is fueled by several startling physical facts. Experts who have examined the manuscript found virtually no errors in the text—a phenomenon almost unheard of in medieval manuscripts, which typically feature blotted ink, scraped corrections, or misspelled words. Furthermore, the handwriting throughout the entire Codex Gigas is exceptionally uniform, proving it was written by a single individual.
Forensic handwriting experts who assessed the manuscript concluded that it would take one person, working continuously, up to 30 years to complete the text alone. Yet, surprisingly, the handwriting does not alter or age over time. Normally, if an author begins a writing project in their 20s and finishes in their 50s, natural changes in physical dexterity and style cause noticeable shifts in the script. In the Codex Gigas, the handwriting remains unnaturally constant from the first page to the last.
Hrad Houska: Gate to Hell
The birthplace of the Devil's Bible is Bohemia, a region historically rich with dark folklore. Roughly 30 miles north of Prague stands Houska Castle (Hrad Houska), a remote fortress constructed in the same century as the Devil's Bible.
Houska Castle is an architectural anomaly. It lacks standard defensive features: it has no outer fortifications, no strategic military position, and surprisingly, most of its defenses and decorative structures face inward rather than outward. Rather than keeping invaders out, the castle appears designed to keep something trapped inside.
Local history reveals that a wooden structure stood on the site around 870 AD. When deep fissures opened in the limestone bedrock beneath, stories emerged of terrifying phenomena: winged creatures, sulfur gases, sick livestock, and dying farmland. Believing a portal to Hell had opened, builders constructed a stone castle around 1270, positioning the castle chapel directly over the primary fissure to act as a physical "plug."
The chapel walls feature unique, ominous frescoes reflecting this dark theme. One painting depicts a left-handed female centaur shooting an arrow at a human (left-handedness and female centaurs were both strongly associated with evil in medieval iconography). Another shows Archangel Michael weighing human souls, with a demon sneakily pulling down on the scales to drag souls into damnation.
A famous legend associated with Houska Castle involved offering condemned prisoners a reprieve from execution if they agreed to be lowered down into the dark abyss beneath the chapel floor. One prisoner who agreed was lowered into the pit; within seconds, he began screaming hysterically. When pulled back up, his hair had reportedly turned white, his eyes were wild with terror, and he had completely lost his sanity.
13th-century superstition and Nazi occultism
The presence of two prominent 13th-century Bohemian legends involving the Devil—the Codex Gigas and Houska Castle—reflects the medieval worldview. In 13th-century Europe, the Devil was an essential figure used by the Church to enforce moral behavior. Misfortune, disease, and bad crops were frequently attributed to demonic forces or divine punishment for sin. Fear of the Devil was inextricably linked with fear of God.
The dark reputation of Houska Castle persisted long after the Middle Ages. In 1938, following the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia, the SS under Heinrich Himmler took control of Houska Castle. Himmler, who possessed a deep obsession with the occult and esoteric power, believed such sites could be harnessed to aid the Nazi war effort. The SS utilized the castle's isolated subterranean spaces for secretive military research, torture, and human experiments. Rumors also suggest the site was linked to the Lebensborn program. When the Red Army advanced in 1945, the fleeing SS troops destroyed all records pertaining to their activities at the castle.
Devil's Heads in Želízy (Čertovy Hlavy)
Unlike the medieval origins of the Codex Gigas and Houska Castle, the Devil's Heads were sculpted in the 19th century (around 1846) by Václav Levý, a former cook turned sculptor. Art historians view these imposing faces as an artistic expression of Levý's inner turmoil and feeling of being trapped in his early profession, rather than an occult artifact. Nonetheless, they reinforce the long-standing cultural association of this landscape with demonic imagery.
Podlažice, Sedlec and Symbolism of Death (Memento Mori)
The inscription on the first page of the Devil's Bible identifies its creation at the Benedictine monastery in Podlažice. However, the monastery was destroyed during the Hussite Wars in the early 1400s, when Bohemia became a focal point for religious upheaval led by the reformer Jan Hus.
Before Podlažice was destroyed, the Codex Gigas was acquired by the wealthy Sedlec Monastery. In the Middle Ages, monasteries derived significant revenue from pilgrims and burial fees. Sedlec became an exceptionally prestigious burial site after Abbot Henry returned from Jerusalem in 1270 with holy soil from Golgotha, which he scattered across the monastery graveyard.When the Black Death (bubonic plague) struck Europe in the mid-14th century, the graveyard at Sedlec was overwhelmed. To make room for new burials, tens of thousands of older graves were exhumed, and the bones were stacked in a crypt. In later centuries, monks rearranged the skeletal remains of an estimated 40,000 to 70,000 individuals into elaborate decorations, pyramids, and a massive bone chandelier, creating the famous Sedlec Ossuary (Kostnice Sedlec).
In medieval Christianity, such displays served as a powerful memento mori ("remember that you must die")—a reminder to the living to repent and focus on the salvation of their souls before facing judgment. The dramatic image of Satan in the Devil's Bible likely served a similar educational purpose: a vivid warning of the consequences of sin.
Emperor Rudolf II and spoils of war in Stockholm
Rudolf II suffered from severe bouts of melancholia (clinical depression) and isolated himself among his vast collections of art, scientific instruments, early mechanical devices, and esoteric objects. Fascinated by alchemy, astrology, Jewish mysticism, and the occult, Rudolf was determined to possess the famous manuscript. Through political pressure, he convinced the monks at Břevnov to "lend" him the Devil's Bible for his private collection; it was never returned.
Rudolf's troubled reign ended in political strife, and he died in 1612, allegedly cursing the city of Prague. Decades later, the devastation of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) swept across Europe. In 1648, during the final days of the war, Swedish troops under Queen Christina looted Prague Castle and seized Emperor Rudolf’s extraordinary collection—including the Codex Gigas.
The manuscript was transported to Stockholm as a trophy of war, where it has remained in the National Library of Sweden ever since, enduring as one of history's most fascinating and mysterious artifacts.
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