It is one of the oldest surviving codices in
Poland, where it first arrived during the Middle Ages, kept in Poland for almost 1,000 years. It was transcribed and decorated with illuminations in
Cologne, probably at the
Monastery of St Pantaleon around 1072–75. Shortly afterwards or in the 12th century it was offered to the Benedictine Abbey in
Tyniec near
Kraków. It was stolen during the
Swedish invasion in the 17th century. Repurchased in Kraków, it returned to Tyniec. In 1814 the manuscript was bought from the monks by
Stanisław Kostka Zamoyski and included in the library of the
Zamoyski family in the Blue Palace in Warsaw. During
World War II the
Nazis tried to take the manuscript to
Berlin, but thanks to the endeavours of librarians, scholars and diplomats, they left it in the Zamoyski Library. After the
Warsaw Uprising the manuscript was secretly evacuated and hidden in the
collegiate church at Łowicz. After the war in 1946, Jan Zamoyski, the final owner of the Zamoyski family fee tail, deposited the family library with the
National Library of Poland. Since May 2024, the manuscript has been exhibited at the
permanent exhibition in the Palace of the Commonwealth in Warsaw. ==Description==