Editing Codex Argenteus (section)

===Discovery===
187 leaves of the original 336 parchment folios were preserved at the former Benedictine [[Werden Abbey|abbey of Werden]] (near [[Essen]], [[Rhineland]]). The abbots at Werden were imperial princes and had a seat in the [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]]. While the precise date of the "Silver Bible" is unknown, it was discovered at Werden in the [[16th century]].{{Citation needed |date=March 2024}}

The remaining part of the codex came to rest in the library of [[Holy Roman Empire|Holy Roman emperor]] [[Rudolph II]] at his imperial seat in [[Prague]].<ref>[http://www.ub.uu.se/arv/codexeng.cfm Uppsala University Library] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041208110615/http://www.ub.uu.se/arv/codexeng.cfm/ |date=2004-12-08 }}</ref> In 1648, after the [[Battle of Prague (1648)|Battle of Prague]] from the end of the [[Thirty Years' War]], it was taken as war booty to [[Stockholm]], Sweden, to the library of Queen [[Christina of Sweden]]. In 1654, after her conversion to [[Catholicism]] and her abdication, the codex went to the [[Netherlands]] among the property of [[Isaac Vossius]], her former librarian. In the 1660s it was bought and taken to [[Uppsala University]] by Count [[Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie]], who also provided its present lavishly decorated binding.{{Citation needed |date=March 2024}}

The codex remains at the [[Uppsala University Library]] in the Carolina Rediviva building. On 5 April 1995, parts of the codex which were on public display in Carolina Rediviva were stolen. The stolen parts were recovered one month later, in a storage box at the [[Stockholm Central Station|Stockholm Central Railway Station]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Thomas |last=Totte |url=http://www.kb.se/dokument/Aktuellt/audiovisuellt/N%C3%A5gra%20hyll%28nings%29centimeter/473-484TottieKuppen.pdf |publisher=[[National Library of Sweden]] |title=Kuppen mot Silverbibeln |access-date=27 March 2017 |language=Swedish |archive-date=February 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219075506/http://www.kb.se/dokument/Aktuellt/audiovisuellt/N%C3%A5gra%20hyll%28nings%29centimeter/473-484TottieKuppen.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | first= Lena |last=Köster | url = http://www.unt.se/kultur/mysterier-kring-silverbibeln-1794931.aspx | title = Mysterier kring Silverbibeln | newspaper=[[Upsala Nya Tidning]] |date=2012-07-15 |access-date=27 March 2017 |language=Swedish}}</ref>

The details of the codex's wanderings for a thousand years remain a mystery; it is unknown whether the other half of the book may have survived.{{Citation needed |date=March 2024}}

In 1998 the codex was subjected to [[Radiocarbon dating|carbon-14 analysis]], and was dated to the 6th century.<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 April 1998 |title=Silverbibeln daterad med kol-14-metoden |trans-title=Codex argenteus carbon date determined |url=http://wwwc.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/9804/07/telegram/inrikes8.html |access-date=27 March 2017 |newspaper=[[Aftonbladet]] |location=Uppsala |language=Swedish |agency=TT}}</ref> It was also determined the codex had been bound at least once during the 16th century.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archive.ifla.org/IV/ifla64/050-132e.htm |title=Silver Bindings carbon dated |access-date=September 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319110406/http://archive.ifla.org/IV/ifla64/050-132e.htm |archive-date=March 19, 2015 |url-status = dead}}</ref>