[gothic-l] Ulfilas Source Material Lars Munkhammar One

[Bertil Häggman]

Terry,

For the benfit of you and the list here
is CA expert Lars Munkhammar on
the the Goths, the Wulfila's bible and
its history.

Gothically

Bertil

"Codex Argenteus
>From Ravenna to Uppsala
The wanderings of a Gothic manuscript from the early sixth century
Lars Munkhammar

Uppsala University Library
Uppsala, Sweden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paper

In April 1997, Uppsala University Library opened new and fortified 
doors to its exhibition hall in Carolina Rediviva, its main building. 
Through the new doors you enter quite another exhibition hall than 
the former one on the same premises. This is the result of two years 
planning and building. The security measures have guided the 
architects and the builders, and æsthetics has been adapted to 
these measures. But æsthetics has indeed not been neglected. 
The exhibition hall of today is a dark treasury, where the jewels 
of the library are exposed in an exciting chiaroscuro. 

The high altar in this hall of devotion is the show-case of the 
Silver Bible, the Codex argenteus. The ancient manuscript 
has its own crypt in the exhibition hall. And it is the Silver Bible, 
that has made it possible to rebuild the exhibition hall radically. 
In 1995 the Silver Bible was the subject of a violent robbery, 
where a double leaf and the silver covers of the manuscript were 
stolen. Very soon great demands were made upon higher 
security for the Silver Bible and the other treasures in the 
exhibition hall. And suddenly it was much easier to raise 
money for rebuilding the exhibition hall. When the stolen 
parts of the manuscript returned to the library one month 
later, the library was indemnified in regards to the Silver 
Bible, and moreover it was richer through the expectations 
of money for a new exhibition hall. 

The Silver Bible is perhaps the greatest highlight for tourists in 
Uppsala. Though it does not look very impressive today, about 
one hundred thousand persons a year come to look at it. Why is 
it so attractive? 

Let me first tell you a little about the Silver Bible, the Codex argenteus,
in general. This manuscript is the most valuable book treasure in 
Sweden, and one of the most famous manuscripts in the world. 
It is not a complete Bible, and never was. It is a record of the four 
Gospels, an evangeliarium, in the Gothic language. The translation 
of the Gospels from Greek to Gothic was made in the fourth century 
by the Gothic bishop Wulfila, who even constructed the Gothic alphabet. 
The manuscript, the Codex argenteus, is probably written in Ravenna 
during the Ostrogothic empire, and probably for the Ostrogothic king, 
Theodoric the Great, in the beginning of the sixth century. It is written 
on very thin purple-coloured vellum of high quality with gold and silver 
ink. The silver text is dominating, and therefor the manuscript is called 
the »silver book«, or » codex argenteus «. It was made to be an admirable 
book, which may be difficult to see today, when hastily looking at its 
roughly handled remnants in Carolina Rediviva in Uppsala. Probably 
it originally had a splendid binding with pearls and precious stones. 
The text of the Silver Bible is one of the oldest and most comprehensive 
documents in the Gothic language known today. Beside the Silver Bible, 
there are very few text lines in Gothic handed down to posterity. 

The Silver Bible was known in the sixteenth century, when it was kept in 
the Benedictine monastery in Werden upon the river Ruhr in Germany. It l
ater went to the emperor Rudolf II, and was in Prague when the Swedes 
forced the city in 1648. As a piece of Swedish war-booty it was brought 
to Stockholm, where it found its place in Queen Christina's library. After 
the queen's abdication, it went to Isaac Vossius, one of the royal librarians, 
who brought it to Holland. From Vossius in Holland it was bought by Magnus 
Gabriel De la Gardie, the Swedish Chancellor and Chancellor of Uppsala 
University. De la Gardie donated it to Uppsala University in 1669. 

Originally, the Silver Bible had at least 336 leaves. 187 of these are kept 
in Uppsala today. Another leaf is kept in Speyer in Germany. This leaf 
was sensationally found in 1970 in the cathedral of Speyer together with 
some hidden relics of an early saint. Judging from the size and other 
characteristics of this leaf, it has sometimes travelled on other ways 
than the leaves in Uppsala, before it came to light again in 1970. 

Between Ravenna in the sixth century and Werden in the sixteenth century 
the Silver Bible has a history of more than a thousand years, which mainly 
is covered by darkness. This does, of course, stimulate our fancy. There are, 
however, beside fancies some facts as well as qualified guesses and 
scientificly based theories about the fates of the Silver Bible during this 
millennium. 

The text of the Codex argenteus is edited several times. The latest and 
most importand edition was made in 1927. It is a photographic facsimile 
edition made by means of the most advanced technology and equipment 
of that time. One of the scientists behind this edition was the Swedish 
Nobel Prize winner The Svedberg. 

Some words about the Goths. The Goths were a Teutonic or Germanic 
people, which we think once emigrated from the southern parts of 
Scandinavia. At the time of the birth of Christ they lived as farmers in the 
north of Europe. At the end of the first century, they began to wander 
southwards and became a people of warriors. In the second century 
they operated around the Black Sea. They were often in war with the 
Romans. Sometimes they were victorious, sometimes not. At the end 
of the second century they were divided into two main groups: 
Visigoths and Ostrogoths, or Westgoths and Eastgoths. The Visigoths 
went into Dacia in today's Romania, where they stayed for about a 
hundred years. Later they became the rulers of what is now Southern 
France and Spain. When the Arabs came in the early eighth century, the 
Gothic hegemony was broken in these areas. The Ostrogoths went into 
today's Ukraina and became for a time dependents under the Huns. 
When they were free from the Huns, they went to Italy. They settled down 
in Pannonia under protec-to-rate of the Eastern Empire. Soon they were 
permitted by Constantinople to settle down in all Italy and rule the land."



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