Wer kann diesen Brief von Ludwig XIII. dechiffrieren?

Kommentare (11)

1. #1 Paolo Bonavoglia

   VENEZIA

   21. November 2022

   Possibly a Cardan grid known to be the preferred by Richelieu?

2. #2 Thomas Ernst

   Versailles

   21. November 2022

   Louis XIII sponsored Chambonnières, and Fritz Kreisler found his name worthwhile to include it – and that of Couperin – in one of his catchy pseudo-transcriptions; so Louis could not have been a total sap. At first glance, the letter appears to refer to amorous matters rather than politics. Another polyglot, like Ferdinand III …

3. #3 Thomas Ernst

   Versailles

   22. November 2022

   Attempt at a transcript (give or take a few wrong initial “h”, “f”, “s”:

   Mon Cousin. bac raclé suro-ert brancher / gni gna nochér rip goelle harpe vol due / hagardement son bac bobe her rabo / en vol baratre her Spir, sinon pincér / her Lily ser, cest basco rideray son sol / flaih poignart son vol tigre Capitulo / fauche midot sinon ficher à vol Stellée / bac adarmé à son broche ramo sel trepont / los ridant son taf sol branchoit Lily ser / son vol inquiet her menin citro Capitulo / et fon sol abonast holta hillot, cest poursevoir / son pinson due Chatou, nono los racke ride a los somsom margot sol me pellera, cest [2] nen ay tor profétér pincér a Astolfe her gorion / her gorion her vol sotér, circo margot vol / Capitulo pousera verie, cest vol poudreray / fon sol ne bulte à son ferré, ny ne vol / mare son vol moins son sol armera / rip go con nono jouté con go Stercol vol / ne me roguette for, cest ne raboi vol / brancheray tor pinson inerne venant / sou tost her basco mar-rt midot / tarespant youie cest rodillor- {?} vol esto / exhalt tour basco brosse en sa croche / Louis / a St germain en Laye / ce 6me Auril 1633.

   Apparently not amorous, but concerning the Treaty of Bärwalde, 19. April 1633 (Astolfe = Gustav Adolph of Sweden, capitulo = Paris, pincer = isolate an enemy, etc.). Many words can be easily translated into modern French.

4. #4 Thomas Ernst

   nowhere

   22. November 2022

   Of course, the year is 1635, and not 1633. By then Gustav Adolf had been fodder for the worms for a few years. Which does not exclude the possibility of GA funding mention, but the letter reads Astol[ph]e, so GA is out. And who is « mon cousin »?

5. #5 Thomas Ernst

   Versailles

   22. November 2022

   Perhaps just letter transpositions: “à son ferré” = “à son frère“.

6. #6 Thomas Ernst

   Versailles

   22. November 2022

   Interspersed triplets like “vol” are probably ”nihil significantes”.

7. #7 Thomas Ernst

   versailles

   22. November 2022

   If the “o” in “margot” actually is an “e”, a partial Caesar-substitution can be added to the transpositions: “marget” = ”argent”. If “o” is an “o”, add free-wheeling vowel-substitutions: then “Capitulo” = “capitale” (adjective or noun), the capital “C” giving the word a misleading, pseudo-Latin touch.

8. #8 Thomas Ernst

   Versailles

   22. November 2022

   If some of the triplets with “o” are nulls, perhaps we can add false word divisions to this cipher: “nono jouté” = “non ojouté” = ajouté”. However, that looks a little too modern, which opens up the possibility that the letter – there is not yet enough to go by – is a fake.

9. #9 Thomas Ernst

   nowhere

   22. November 2022

   “son pinson due Chatou” = “s pins due Chatou” = “spins du eChatou” = “prise du chateau”? In this case, the “son” would equal a Caesar-r with two nulls, while the “u” of “due” would indicate that the following “e” belongs to the following word. Still – all a little bit “too much so” …

10. #10 Rizzie

    Montreal

    9. Dezember 2022

    Interesting comments @Thomas Ernst.

    I wonder if it’s a mish-mash of nulls, letter-swapping and/or letter skipping? That might be too hard to “control” — too much guesswork on the part of the receiver?

    However, my mind is playing tricks on me, and I wonder for example, if the first few lines could be read as something like:

    CIPHERTEXT: “Mon Cousin. bac raclé surovert brancher gni gna nochér rip goelle harpe vol due hagardement…”

    (Possible) INTERPRETATION of the above:
    “La clé ouvert (recher/brancher?) qui qu’à chèr/che pour qu’elle/guerre apres (vouloir/ville?) du hébérgement…”

    It’s sort of nonsense, but there might be potential there?

    Like I’m wondering if, in my (above) example of “hagardement” certain letters are flipped upside-down HagardEMENT =
    HɐƃɐɹqEMENT (“Hébergement”). gni = qui, gna = q’uà.

    Or perhaps words like “Hagardement” are just phonetic, ie, “regarder mon…/or/ à garder mon…”

    Gni gna “qui n’a”… etc.

11. #11 Thomas Ernst

    nowhere

    27. Januar 2023

    Have not posted anything else about this item because it is a fake. The few things I or anyone else could have found in this « letter » were supposed to be found. However, every element of a cipher, including mistakes made by the writer, needs to be systematic in some way or another. The ocurrences of the pseudo- « cryptological » features in this letter have absolutely no system to them. While it is more difficult to prove a non-cipher than do the opposite, it can done; see my « Anatomie einer Fälschung » (« Anatomy of a Forgery ») , 2002. – Alphabetically, you can range « Louis XIII, letter » in between « Dorabella » and « Voynich ». Good – nay: bad company.