Codex of the Monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña

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n the eighth century, the greater part of the Iberian Peninsula was invaded and ruled by Arabs. Christian religious and lay people migrated north into the mountains and set up safe havens for their culture and religion. They took relics, books and other significant objects with them.

In the northern mountains of Spain, the migrants met with the Visigoths who ruled with severity. The Visigoths, like most other Christian kingdoms at the time, followed the calendar of the Consular Era. This calendar indicated that the end of the ninth century corresponded with the end of the millennium according to Christ. And, according to Saint John the Evangelist's Revelations, the end of the millennium would bring the Final Judgement and the coming of the Lamb. Fear and awe filled the minds of Christians as they began to contemplate the coming of the end of the world as they knew it.

As the monasteries in the north grew in size and power, they posed a threat to the already weakened See of Toledo on the Spanish meseta. This factor, along with the continuous Arabic incursions and the vision of an impending end of the world described by St. John, paints a picture of the historical milieu in which the monk, Beatus of Liébana, sat down and wrote his commentary on the Apocalypse. He contemplated the destiny of the Christian church on the Iberian Peninsula and the final salvation of his people in the event of the Apocalypse predicted by St. John the Evangelist. He affirms his faith in the authority of the Saints and the grace of God all Mighty.

Beatus wrote his commentaries in a monastery in the region called Liébana in the Cantabrian Mountains of northern Spain (circa 776 A.D.) In a sense, his original text became a best seller of the middle ages. Scribes, fascinated with the notion of the Apocalypse, copied the text and illuminated the pages over a period of 3 centuries (from the 10th to the 13th centuries.) These illuminated copies became known by the name and place of the monk who wrote the original text, "Beatus of Liébana."

The text is basically the same in most of the copies. However, the iconography has evolved over time. Today, 22 of the original illuminated copies exist and are dispersed throughout the libraries of the world. To study all of the Beatus is to study the transition of illumination during the Middle Ages on the Iberian Peninsula.

The Beatus of Liébana codex of the Monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña was copied in the 12th century (1175-1185). The style of lettering is Carolinian gothic.

In 1871, the manuscript was donated in poor condition to the National Museum of Archaeology in Madrid. Several pages had been removed and were eventually relocated in the Metropolitan Museum of New York and the private collection of Francisco de Zabálburu.

The text of the codex is a commentary on St. John the Evangelist's Revelations, written by the monk, Beatus, in the mountainous region in northern Spain called Liébana. St. John's Revelations predicted that the Saviour would come at the turn of the millennium bringing salvation to the pious and destruction by fire and floods to the unfaithful. Beatus wrote his commentaries on the Apocalypse to affirm his faith in the Christian Saints on the eve of what most Christians believe would be the coming of the end of the world as they knew it.

This codex was illuminated between 1175 and 1185 by two miniaturists from the scriptorium of the Monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña. The style of miniature is Romanesque. This is one of the most artistically elaborate Beatus from the second Family of Beatus, branch B. The iconographic cycle includes the Cross of Oviedo, the four Evangelists, the Genealogy of Christ, the St. John's Revelations and commentary, and the story of the Antichrist. The representation of the sacrifice of Isaac (f. 3) and the history of the witnesses and the Antichrist (Rev. XI, 3-8) have been conserved completely and are quite notable.

Experts consider this Beatus to be the model for the Beatus of Manchester due to the similarity in iconography present in both codices.

The original is bound in ivory coloured calf skin with clasps and metal details. It is 445 x 300mm and contains 366 pages.

The commentary volume will include essays written by experts in Medieval History and Art History. It will be written in Spanish

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