The head of the National Library of Romania, Adrian Coroianu, said during a conference held on Friday in Alba Iulia that he hopes to announce, “not too late this year,” the UNESCO World Heritage List of the most famous illuminated medieval Western manuscript found in collection in Romania, in Battianeum, Codex Aureus, which, he emphasized, never left the territory of the country.

“I ask you not to believe any deviations you may hear about the Codex Aureus. Code in your city, one hundred percent original. It is not too late this year, but it does not depend on us, I would also be happy to inform you of the good news related to the entry of this Codex Aureus into the UNESCO Heritage. Entry that does not require him to leave the country. The file was sent according to the rules of the 21st century, a high-performance digital copy that is available to everyone,” Adrian Choroianu told the audience on Friday evening at the esplanade of the National Museum of the Union of Alba Iulia at the conference “Dilemmas and problems of national heritage” organized during Alba-Transylvania Book Fair, reports Agerpres.

Adrian Choroianu added that he knows there are all kinds of concerns, including “very important people from the ministries of the country, from the government of the country” asking if “it is good or wise to send the Codex to Germany.”

The head of the National Library of Romania emphasized that only a virtual copy was sent for the file required for registration. “He (the Codex is not) in the country. (…). The idea that anyone would send the Codex Aureus anywhere in the world is nonsense, malicious or malicious. Its place is next to the Codex family on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and it will happen without even leaving the country’s territory. I hope to announce this news soon,” Adrian told Choroyan.

He also spoke about the need to renovate the Batthyaneum library in Alba Iulia, noting that he supports the partnership with the district and local administration.

What is Codex Aureus?

The Codex Aureus, a fragment of a Latin Gospel on parchment from 810, the most famous illuminated medieval Western manuscript in the library’s collection, is housed in a room called the Thesaur, effectively an armored room, kept under special conditions and inspected periodically. from the point of view of its preservation.

Commonly known as the Codex Aureus, written in gold ink, the manuscript appears in inventory under five or six different names over time, suggesting that it would not have been classified.

The Codex Aureus or Gospel of Lorchus is half of a Latin Tetragrammaton on parchment commissioned by Charlemagne, probably at the Palatine School in Aachen. The manuscript, written entirely in gold ink, is also famous for its exceptional quality of ornamentation: 202 pages decorated with polychrome friezes, 12 pages of illustrated biblical canons, 3 full-page paintings, two of which are portraits of the evangelists Matthew and Mark. , an illuminated frontispiece and two other pages with ornamental writing, as we learn from a presentation made on the website of the National Library of Romania. In addition, it can also be “viewed” digitally here.

It is not known when and how the Carolingian manuscript was opened in two. The second half, respectively the Gospel of Luke and John, are in the Vatican. One of the covers is also in Rome, the other is in a museum in London.

In the middle of the 18th century, the first part of the manuscript belonged to the library of the archbishop of Vienna, Christoforo Migazzi, from where it was purchased in 1782 and became the property of Bishop Batiani.

Subsequently, various information about the famous Codex Aureus spread in the public space, namely that it no longer exists in the country or that during the communist regime it was used as a guarantee for a loan of 10 billion US dollars. Library representatives dispelled these myths a few years ago. The experts explained that it is not about the fact that this manuscript was exported from 1999 (then it was exhibited in Germany – no) from here. In addition, there is no document to prove that the manuscript is a bank guarantee for foreign loans. Thus, serious archival documentation was made, and nowhere is there such a document that certifies, for example, the assessment of a foreign bank. If there was an evaluation, either the evaluators would have to come here or the manuscript would have to go for evaluation. In addition, if it were borrowed, the manuscript would have to be in the safe deposit box of the lending bank before the amount was returned, the library staff claimed.

Together with the Codex Battianeum, it houses the most valuable collection of Western medieval manuscripts in Romania, as well as the largest collection of ancient books.

Read also:

• Court of Appeal rejects demand of Roman Catholic archdiocese to return Battianeum library, which also houses Codex Aureus
• The return of the Battianeum library, where the Golden Codex is located, is rejected / The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Alba Iulia will appeal this decision to the ECHR