The Forgotten Book of 16th-century Apocalyptic Visions

In 1552 a rather peculiar manuscript surfaced in the city of Augsburg, one that was full of strange but also rather lavish and outlandish illustrations. These images depicted all sorts of strange phenomena, from shooting stars and fatal floods to swarms of locusts and terrifying monsters, stories of ancient folklore, stories of the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation, visions that were spectacularly eerie, prophecies of unavoidable dread and disaster. And of course no book of medieval horrors is complete without mention of the apocalypse and the end of days that is coming for us all. But it's not all doom and gloom, some of these illustrations are certainly confusing but the vast majority are unique and creative, in a creepy nightmare fuel but still kind of interesting. So join me today as we take a look at the Book of Miracles and embark on what I can only imagine is the equivalent to a renaissance acid trip. The manuscript was originally known as the Augsburg Book of Miraculous Signs. This was shortened to the Book of Miracles in 2013 when it was translated and published in English, French and German. We don't know for certain who created this manuscript but we do know that they were an avid collector of some of the strangest art the middle ages had to offer. These illustrations give us an insight into 16th century Europe and it's growing obsession with extraordinary signs sent by God. Now these were by no means new and unique ideas. All throughout civilization we've always had traditions of omens and prophecy. We can go as far back as classical antiquity with the ancient Greeks and Romans, the bible itself is full of prophecy. In ancient Greece Homer discussed the behaviour of birds and changes in the weather. Rainbows and thunder for example were signs from the gods that could be interpreted as both negative and positive. The Romans called this prodigium or prodigy in English. It differs from the Greeks as to them it was mostly negative, foretelling some kind of calamity or catastrophic event. The book of prodigies was created in the 4th century AD by Julius Obsequens. This covered events from the years 249 BC all the way up to 11 BC. The book of prodigies resurfaced during the middle ages in Europe or what is referred to as the renaissance period. It's also important to note that this was at a time when the church had been divided into Roman Catholics and Protestants, this in itself is known as the reformation period. This split resulted in propaganda from both sides, each trying to use signs from God to bolster their views and beliefs. Due to the rising interest in the idea of prophecy and signs from God, the republishing of this work was a huge success. Another major influence came from the imagery of prophecy found in the bible. The Augsburg book of miracles attempted to mimic the structure of the bible, beginning with the old testament and ending with revelation. It wasn't until the 15th and 16th centuries that we began to see works similar to the book of prodigies resurface in parts of Europe. Sebastian Brandt was known for his articles in the broadsheets, the broadsheets being the earliest forms of newspapers. He wrote about monsters, astronomical events and various other wonders that could not be explained. This was followed by the publishing of multiple manuscripts which attempted to compile these miraculous signs together. Across central Europe there was a growing concern for these types of signs, mostly in part due to the interest in astrological prophecy. Authors began to try and predict world affairs by using the positioning of celestial bodies and the sightings of comets. With the rise of illustrated broadsheets, pamphlets and the early framework of news media, these images were able to circulate and spread further and faster than before. In July 1490 George Glockenden published a broadsheet that depicted what was described as a celestial phenomenon near Constantinople. The illustration depicts an armoured knight with three heads, a crowned sun, the moon and a star. The knight is holding a maiden before him which has wings instead of arms, the lower regions of a lion and a serpentine tail. The woman is standing on two shields bearing the letter W. It has been suggested that this vision is perhaps related to the northern lights and a meteorological phenomenon. However, this is merely an example of some of the oddities similar to those that appear in the Book of Miracles. It also follows the same format as the majority of broadsheets. There is an illustration followed by a brief description of the event, a vague attempt to interpret and explain the meaning, which ultimately circles back to uncertainty and the idea that only God can truly understand. Lastly, the faithful are reminded that they can be spared if they repent. That is a very simplified summary of what we see in the Book of Miracles, but given that context I believe we are more than ready to delve into the book itself. So what exactly was the purpose of this book? Why have all these images drawn and collected in the first place? The Book of Miracles contains accounts and descriptions of miraculous signs that have appeared throughout history. It starts with accounts from the Old Testament and continues through Antiquity and the Middle Ages. It eventually ends with signs from Heaven that were described in the Book of Revelation. The book's creator attempted to compile a record of all of the signs from God, going as far back as the start of civilization all the way until the end. It's essentially one big omen made up of many smaller signs that all lead to one thing, the apocalypse, a rapidly growing concern at the time this work was published. The first few stories from the Old Testament are familiar ones. The book begins with the Great Flood. We see several images of Noah's Ark along with humans and animals fighting to survive. Following the flood came the double rainbow symbolic of God's covenant with humanity. We also see the signs of the Zodiac, symbolic of the 12 months of the year. This momentary peace is followed by the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, cities which humanity saw burnt to the ground by God because of their sins and wickedness. Many of the illustrations from the Old Testament are visions from prophets. We see Elijah being taken up to heaven in a chariot. In Daniel's vision which is symbolic of the end times, four beasts emerge from the sea that represent the four kingdoms that will be vanquished and replaced by the rule of God. Ezekiel's vision concludes the Old Testament section in the Book of Miracles. Now onto the antiquity portion of the book which is where things start to get very weird. The Golden Ball or the Roman Fireball of 76 BC depicts a golden ball that was seen in the sky over a Roman kingdom. The ball came down to earth, landed and rolled around before eventually flying back up in the air to block the rising sun. This was then followed by a great Roman civil war. Scholars at the time disagreed with their description of the event. Some believed it must have been a shooting star, others described it as balls of fire as well as night suns and torches. An article written by NASA over 30 years ago tried to explain this phenomenon but could never confirm what exactly the unidentified flying object was. Scholars were in agreement that it must have been a meteoric fireball although they couldn't offer an explanation for it landing and flying back up in the sky. There are rare occasions of meteorites falling and burning so bright that they resemble a glowing orb. Illustrations that involve the sun were quite common in the Book of Miracles and we can take a look at a few more of these. The Golden Circle around the sun 1 BC depicts a scene in Rome where on the day of the nativity a golden circle appeared around the sun for the entire day. We also see the Temple of Peace and the statue of Romulus collapsing, a potential sign of turbulent times ahead. In 938 AD there was a spree of sudden deaths in the city of Venice. Several days before the deaths occurred those in Venice claimed that the sun was sweating blood, a bad omen that could only result in bloodshed. If you're someone who prefers their sun with a creepy face then the Book of Miracles also has you covered. For example we have the Five Suns of Leipzig where I quote, On the 21st of March of this 51st year, five suns were seen in Leipzig by many trustworthy persons. Now outside of the sun, the moon, the stars, comets and adverse weather, they're all things we'd understand or expect to see in the sky. Some of them may have been embellished and reimagined, but there is also a plethora of visions and things that just do not belong in the sky, illustrations whose meanings are very hard to comprehend or explain. 1553 saw a vision over the city of Strasbourg, a bloody swordsman defending a fiery citadel from an opposing army on horseback. In 1536 in the skies of Medina, Spain we see another battle in the sky, but one of a far less epic proportion. The Celestial Battle of Three Children is certainly one of the stranger and more comical pieces in the book, personally I find the children's appearance to be slightly disturbing. On the 17th of May 1552 the city of Dordrecht experienced a storm so severe that people were convinced the day of judgement was upon them. Hailstones weighing several pounds fell from the sky for half an hour and the locals recalled a frightening stench from these stones. Remaining in the Netherlands, the town of Mechelen suffered from what is described as a special sign from God. In August of 1546 fire fell from the sky onto a building that was housing 400 tons of gunpowder. This caused an explosion so big that half of the city was burnt down. Four years prior the city of Augsburg also experienced a fire in the sky, but luckily for them it remained in the sky. The fire was described as a celestial fire that burned like a great brazier in the clouds at midnight. This burning torch that appears as the front cover of the Book of Miracles tells of an event in the year 1009 AD. The sun is described as going dark, what we can assume was an eclipse. The moon turned blood red and a great earthquake was then followed by a huge burning torch falling from the sky. This was then followed by a great famine across Germany and Italy, one where more people died than survived. What's interesting about this is that blood moons and eclipses are seen multiple times throughout the Book of Miracles and are also followed by earthquakes. This idea in itself isn't as outlandish as some of the other images. We know that during a total lunar eclipse the moon can appear with an orange or reddish tint. Research between the correlation of earthquakes and the lunar eclipse is still ongoing, but if we imagine we were someone living thousands of years ago and all of a sudden the sun goes dark and the moon turns red, it's not really that unreasonable to panic and assume the world is ending. Earlier I did mention that the book contains illustrations of monsters from various myths and folklore. In 1533 dragons wearing crowns were seen flying through the sky over Bohemia and in the same year we see dragons flying through the sky this time in the evening. The Wondrous Hen and Wondrous Fish depicts some rather strange monsters. The left shows a four legged hen that died shortly after it was born and on the right we have what appears to be a human fish hybrid that was caught in the Danish sea and taken back to Copenhagen. In 1534 fishermen in Venice captured a miraculous creature which was taken back to the city and painted. Judging by the illustration it is very much reminiscent of a hydra. The Monster of Salzburg depicts a creature that was caught by a bishops huntsman in a forest near Salzburg. This hairy four legged creature has sharp claws, grey fur and most disturbingly the face and beard of a man. Now if I had to guess given it's location in Austria I'd assume it was some kind of early iteration of Krampus. However much more sensible individuals have speculated this could have been a painting of a sloth given their natural habitats are the rainforests of Central and South America. The Tiber Monster depicts a creature that was found in the Tiber River near Rome days after a flood. This chimera like creature has the torso of a human, the head of a donkey, a face on its backside and a serpent's tail. Whoever drew this image certainly took inspiration from Lukas Cranach the Elder, one of if not the most famous artists to emerge from the Renaissance period. His sketch is almost identical, however Lukas Cranach certainly doesn't mention a monster that appears before or after a flood. Cranach's work appeared in a broadsheet titled The Papal Ass, a satirical take on the Pope and his monks. It was then labelled as protestant propaganda and during the reformation period this image was used as it depicted the Pope as some kind of demonic goat. On October in the year of 1527 a comet was spotted in Westridge Germany, however this was no ordinary comet. It was extremely long, it's colour was described as yellowish red similar to diluted blood. At the front, which was presumed to be the head, there was an arm holding a sword poised ready to strike. At the tip of the sword there were three stars and from those stars a stream longer than the comet itself. This same scene is depicted again on the very next page only with some subtle differences. This time there were dozens of tiny swords and long streaks thought to be javelins. We also saw some creepy faces, bearded men in the shape of grey clouds. This was described as so terrifying that anyone who saw it immediately died. So what do these two paintings mean? Well as for each individual element I'm afraid I have no idea. Comets are a recurring theme in the book of miracles as well as renaissance art in general. Almost every civilization as far back as we can go have depicted comets or meteors in some form. Today we are more than aware of what comets are, however hundreds and thousands of years ago seeing a fiery ball shoot across the sky understandably would have been a terrifying experience. This fear of the unknown is why they normally represent some kind of doomsday or cataclysmic event. It's why they are almost always seen as a bad omen. Of course throughout the book of miracles we see the standard doomsday scenes, with great floods, earthquakes, swarms of locusts and all sorts of natural disasters. The book of miracles concludes its visions of the apocalypse with accounts from the book of revelation. The arrival of the four horsemen is followed by the openings of seals five and six. Seven trumpets were given to the angels. When the first angel blew his trumpet it was followed by a hail of blood and fire. A third of the earth was scorched in flame. When the third angel blew his trumpet a star known as Wormwood fell from the sky and onto a third of the earth's rivers. The waters became bitter and many who drank from them died. When the fourth angel blew his trumpet a third of the sun, the moon and the stars were struck. A third of the light they provided was gone and the world darkened. When the fifth angel blew his trumpet the earth was infested with a plague of locusts. When angel number six blew his trumpet four angels were released whose job it was to kill a third of mankind. From the sea emerged a seven headed monster accompanied by the antichrist. Amongst those praying and worshipping it's arrival in this image we see the pope and his bishops along with others dressed in catholic garb. Considering the inspiration from the Tiber monster, for many this scene cements the idea that the person behind the creation of this book must have been protestant. The book ends with one final piece titled The Fall of Babylon, Babylon being a city symbolic of sin, demons and evil spirits. An angel calls out announcing to all those that Babylon has fallen. Overall the Book of Miracles provides us an interesting and rather strange look at the attitudes and fears that many had hundreds of years ago. The recurring theme in the Book of Miracles is the fear of the unknown. Today we have the luxury of simply knowing much more about the world we live in, with scientific advancements we now know when an eclipse is going to happen, witnessing a shooting star or meteor shower is an event that people look forward to, as terrifying and destructive as natural disasters can be we know what causes them. Remove all of this knowledge and we're left with events that can't be explained. The Book of Miracles and other Christian art of the time took these fears and rationalised them in a way that civilisations had been doing for thousands of years. They became signs from God, they told stories of the impending judgement and doom that humanity would have to face. One could certainly make the argument that being told these events were signs of the end of the world may have been slightly more frightening than simply not knowing. Although as someone who does enjoy some cosmic horror, fear of the unknown can also be just as terrifying.