Behemoth Bible returns to England for first time in 1,300 years

The 34kg Codex Amiatinus forms centrepiece of British Library’s Anglo-Saxon show

In the early 8th century, three enormous Bibles were produced by monks at Wearmouth-Jarrow Abbey. Two were to remain in Northumbria, but in 716AD the other was sent, in the care of the then abbot, Ceolfrith, to Rome as a gift for Pope Gregory II.

Only a few fragments remain of the first two Bibles; the third, known as the Codex Amiatinus and described as one of the greatest works in Anglo-Saxon England, has remained in Italy until now.

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