Codex Caesareus

It was commissioned by Emperor Henry III and donated by him to Goslar Cathedral in Germany, where it remained until the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). It was then lost for about 100 years. Its previous richly decorated cover was also lost at this time at the latest. The book later appeared again in the possession of Swedish diplomat and civil servant Gustaf Celsing the Elder. At the death of his son, it was acquired by Uppsala University. The manuscript is richly decorated with miniatures, including full-page depictions of the Four Evangelists, illuminated canon tables and a depiction of the emperor donating the book to the patron saints of Goslar Cathedral. It is written in Carolingian minuscule and is overall well-preserved.

• Illustration — Detail from a miniature showing Henry III offering the book to Jude the Apostle and Simon the Zealot The Emperor's Bible was commissioned by Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor and donated by him to Goslar Cathedral. The book contains a miniature depicting the coronation of Henry and his wife Agnes of Poitou, and another miniature shows the emperor presenting the book to the patron saints of the cathedral, Jude the Apostle and Simon the Zealot. This indicates that the book was donated to the church before the death of the emperor in 1056, but after the church was consecrated in 1051. The book was made in the scriptorium of Echternach Abbey. The abbey had been producing illuminated manuscripts since the 8th century, but its production peaked at the time when the Emperor's Bible was made in the 11th century. It is one of four large gospel books made in Echternach which are still preserved, the others being the Codex Aureus of Echternach (today in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, Germany), the Golden Gospels of Henry III (today in El Escorial, Spain) and a third book which is only partially preserved (today in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, France). The Emperor's Bible is the youngest within this group. All are stylistically inspired by the Trier Gospels, made in Echternach sometime after 980. The book remained the property of Goslar Cathedral until the Thirty Years' War. Swedish troops occupied the city of Goslar between 1632 and 1634, and during this time the book vanished. While many valuable books were taken by the Swedish army as loot during the war, it is less likely that the book was taken by Swedish troops since the Protestant city of Goslar was allied to the equally Protestant Swedes. The whereabouts of the book for approximately the next 100 years are unknown, but in 1740 it is known to have been in the possession of the Swedish civil servant and diplomat Gustaf Celsing the Elder, who was an avid book collector and who also wrote his name in the book. The book eventually passed to his son, Ulric Celsing and upon his death in 1805 it was bequeathed to Uppsala University, where it is still kept.