Artcodex - Treatise on Chess

The Game of Chess - An Ancient Story: Derived from an Egyptian game, Chess conceals a salvific meaning: in the eternal battle between Good and Evil, between microcosm and macrocosm, the dualism of the human soul is revealed.
An ancient Persian game, its name derives from the Persian word for king, namely Scià (the Italian spelling of the more correct Shah), and the term Checkmate, which ends the game, comes from the equally Persian phrase "Shah Màt," meaning "the king is dead." The word Shah became "Escac" in Provençal, and from there entered the common tongue. The game remained in Persia until the Arab conquest, where it enjoyed considerable success among its warriors. From there, chess took two routes: to the Byzantine Empire, the Balkans, and Russia, through trade, and to Spain and Sicily through war. The Crusades were the final step in the Europeanization of the game.
It is certain that the Egyptians already knew a game extremely similar, at least in appearance: an exceptional game, based on a board of 30 or 33 squares, with black and white pieces, whose meaning was salvific even before being recreational. Senet, as the game was called, was played ritually by the Pharaoh, the priests, and the lower classes. There were chessboards made of ebony and ivory, extremely precious, and pieces of turquoise, lapis lazuli, and gold carved in the shape of a lion, jackal, ibis, and falcon, symbolizing the images of the principal gods. There were also simpler pieces, similar to modern pawns, and portable, pocket-sized versions of Senet, for example, to carry with them while working in the fields. The first depiction of Senet dates back to 2600 BC, with the Pharaoh Hesy, while Tutankhamun, in his tomb, had four chessboards to accompany him on his journey to the Duat. This is, in fact, the game's unique feature: the movement of the pieces on the board corresponds to the deceased's journey through the afterlife, and success guaranteed the victor rebirth after death. Winning the challenge to the Underworld, in a certain sense, represented the battle between Good and Evil, and it is this dualistic aspect that allows us to affirm the derivation of Chess from Senet. The Book of the Dead is explicit in stating that the deceased would have to win a game against an invisible opponent to gain access to the Realm of the Dead.
Winning at Senet represents an ethical victory, Order defeating Chaos. The same meaning can be given to Chess, which over the centuries has acquired even more evident salvific meanings and symbolism, to the point that traces of chessboards can be found on many Christian churches. Starting in 1100-1200, following the Crusades, Chess became a very popular game. The battle between Good and Evil, between Black and White, became tangible, and the tactical aspects of the battle were more evident than in Senet. The game became more varied thanks to the creation of new pawns, which increased to 16 compared to the Egyptian seven, and new movements, performed on a 64-square board: each figure took on an exoteric and esoteric meaning. Exoterically, Chess represented feudal society, with pawns serving as soldiers, the King and Queen serving as courtiers, knights as knights, bishops as priests, and finally, rooks as the fortress, the castle, in which the King defended himself. The ultimate goal of the game, exoterically, is to defend the King at all costs, sacrificing every pawn for this purpose. In Chess, there are no scoring points; the goal is victory, although a draw is possible under certain conditions. But this victory is only one aspect of the game: the esoteric meaning is far more complex and harks back to the Egyptian conception of the human soul. By analyzing the pieces, in fact, it is possible to discover a clear message of salvation, which leads us to affirm that Chess represents the internal battle between light and darkness. Derived from an Egyptian game, Chess conceals a salvific meaning: in the eternal battle between Good and Evil, between microcosm and macrocosm, the dualism of the human soul is revealed.
The history of the codex: The treatise became part of the Manuscripts Section of the National Library of Madrid in 1869, having come from the book collection of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Toledo. It had previously belonged to Cardinal Librarian Francisco Javier Zelada (1717-1801). On folio 47, the inscription "F Innocenzo Romano" is written, certainly the name of the codex's owner before Cardinal Zelada.
Current shelfmark: Vitr.25-6 (previous: Vitr. 8-13 and Res 8°-3). In the Toledo library, Cajon 87. Num..25. Zelada.
The elegant Gothic minuscule, some of its abbreviations, and the characteristics of its delicate miniatures suggest a provenance from the Bohemian Circle, centered in Prague under Wenceslas IV (1378-1419). This text clearly has a connection to a now-forgotten work that enjoyed immense popularity throughout Europe at the end of the Middle Ages: the late 13th-century moral treatise on chess, written by a Dominican friar about whose life we ​​know little, apparently named Jacobo de Cessolis. These similarities, however, should not lead one to consider the Treatise a synthesis of Cessolis's work, from which it differs in many respects while maintaining an originality that has also led to the hypothesis of a further source.
The volume consists of eight chapters and contains fifteen brightly colored miniatures, some full-page, divided into two or more scenes that illustrate the text: all of them with an allegorical meaning.
The miniature on sheet 2 describes the origin of the game of chess in Babylon; that on sheet 14 the symbolism of two enemy kingdoms, each with its own king and warriors.

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