codex
Book from before the invention of printing: in ancient times wax-coated wooden tablets; later, folded sheets of parchment were attached to the boards, then bound together. The name ‘codex’ was used for all large works, collections of history, philosophy, poetry, and during the Roman empire designated collections of laws. During the 2nd century AD codices began to replace the earlier rolls in the West. They were widely used by the medieval Christian church to keep records, from about 1200 onwards.
| Various codices record Mexican Indian civilizations just after the time of the Spanish Conquest about 1520. The Codex Juris Canonici/Code of Canon Law is the body of laws governing the Roman Catholic Church since 1918. |
