A list of mediaeval cipher manuscripts
This list is extracted from Bernhard Bischoff, >i>Ubersicht uber die nichtdiplomatischen Geheimschriften des Mittelalters (Sonderdruck aus Mitteilungen des Instituts fur Osterreichische Geschichtsforschung Band LXII), Graz 1954.
Bernhard Bischoff (1906-1991) was an internationally renowned palaeographer and had an encyclopaedic knowledge of his subject. This monograph of 27 pages summarises examples of non-diplomatic mediaeval cipher writing known to him. It is clear that he did not know of any cipher system of the period which was not essentially a simple substitution cipher. Almost all of the manuscripts cited contain a few words and phrases of ciphertext inserted into normal manuscripts: he gives only one example of a manuscript written entirely in cipher.
| Manuscript | Content | Provenance | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal letters | ||||
| Plaintext letters retained | ||||
| Text written in vertical columns | ||||
| Paris BN Lat 1868 | f1r | Jerome, Epistles | s. 9 | |
| Frauenfeld Cod Y 38 a | f 5v | |||
| Reversal of sentences | ||||
| Milan Ambros A inf 220 | f. 56 | Josephus | s 9 | |
| Reversal of words | ||||
| Oxford St John’s Coll. 1736 (Thorney 1109/10) | f 5v | |||
| clm 14640 | f 68r | 1445 | ||
| Reversal of syllables | ||||
| Mirror writing | ||||
| Oxford Bodl Auct T II 28 (20629) | f. 42v | Solin, Fleury | s. 9/10 | |
| Heiligenkreuz 250 | f 168r | s 12 | ||
| Liege Univ Bibl 26c | f 1 | s 12 | ||
| Regular transposition of neighbouring letters | ||||
| Paris BN Lat 2196 | f 68r-69r | Cassiodorus In Psalmos | s 9 | |
| Anagramming | ||||
| clm 14614 | f 78r | s 9 | ||
| Eton Coll L 6.5 | s 11 | |||
| St Gall 270 | p 52 | s 9 | ||
| Insertion of null letters | ||||
| Wolfenbuttel 727 Helmst. | f 153 | s. 14/15 | ||
| Omission of letters | ||||
| Vatic Regin lat 314 | f 117rv | s9 | ||
| Substitution | ||||
| Of vowels | ||||
| By the following consonant | ||||
| By the preceding consonant | ||||
| Florence Bibl Naz, Conv Soppr I II 44 | f 51r | The Cathar work Liber de duobus principiis | s. 13 | |
| By some other consonant | ||||
| By the following vowel | ||||
| Oxford St John’s Coll. 1736 (1109/10) | f 5v | s 11 | ||
| By a neighbouring consonant | ||||
| Formerly Cheltenham 816 | f 32r | s 11 | ||
| Vatic Palat lat 216 | f 70v | s 8/9 | ||
| Reciprocal transposition | ||||
| Paris BN Lat 229 | s 12 | |||
| A Wolfenbuttel manuscript of 1433 | ||||
| Vienna 1674 | f 3v | |||
| Replacement of each letter by the following letter | ||||
| Vatic Palat lat 485 | f 14v | Lorsch | s 9 | |
| Laon 444 | f 310v | Martin of Laon | s 9 | |
| Oxford St John’s Coll. 17 | f 5v | 1109/10 | ||
| St Gall 186 | p 193 | s 9 | ||
| Rome Bibl Naz 278 (Farfa 27) | f 3v | s 11/12 | ||
| Replacement of each letter by the preceding | ||||
| Paris BN Allem 238 s 16 | f 1-3 | s 16 | ||
| Replacement of abc by zxy (atbash) | ||||
| clm 19550 | f 244 | A recipe | s 15 | |
| Substitution of letters by other keys | ||||
| clm 14367 | f 226v | s 14 | ||
| London BM Sloane 1754 | f 63r\n65r\n75r | Roger Bacon Tractatus Trium Verborum | s 14 | |
| (The genuine Roger Bacon cipher discussed by Newbold and solved by Manly). | ||||
| Karlsruhe 399 | f 229 | s 15 | ||
| Substitution by letters and numerals | ||||
| London BM Sloane 416 | f 15r | Recipes and instructions on pigments. | English, Italian and Latin | s 15 |
| Substitution by letters and symbols | ||||
| Vatic Lat 3102 | f 27rv | Quaestiones Bernardi (an alchemical treatise) | s.14 | |
| Newbold plates XXVII and XXVIII. Solved by Manly. | ||||
| Substitution by letters and deceptive symbols | ||||
| London BM Sloane 351 | f 15v | s 15 | ||
| London Lambeth Palace 477 | f 120v\n142v | s 15 | ||
| Use of foreign alphabets | ||||
| Greek | ||||
| Covered by Bischoff in another paper, Byz. Zs 44 1951 34 ff. | ||||
| Hebrew | ||||
| Square character, left to right | ||||
| clm 641 | f 40r-42v | Compendium by Hermann Schedel | s. 15 | |
| BM Royal 12 E VII | f 221r | Recipes | s. 12/13 | |
| clm 4594 | f 29v | s 15 | ||
| Rabbinical characters, left to right | ||||
| clm 15613 | f 230v | s 15 | ||
| clm 18662 | f 241v | |||
| Wiesbaden 35 | f 137v | s 15 | ||
| Manufactured alphabets | ||||
| Mixed Greek and Hebrew letters | ||||
| Karlsruhe Karlsr. 340 | s 9 | |||
| Vienna 2223 | f 20r\n20v\n21r\n56r\n72r | s9 | ||
| Paris BN Lat 12048 | f 264r | s 8 | ||
| clm 6411 | f1r | Not deciphered | s. 9 | |
| London BM Royal 12 E VIII | f 221 | Superstitious recipe | s 12/13 | |
| Runes | ||||
| Bern 207 | f4r | Fleury | s8 | |
| Uber Valenciennes 59 | f 2r | Fleury (?) | 806 | |
| Douai 12 | c. 800 | |||
| Arras 1045 | f 15r | s 9 | ||
| clm 13067 | f17v | s11 | ||
| Prag NUB Lobk 491 | f 61r | Recipes | s 15 key s16 | |
| Ogham | ||||
| Bern 207 | f 3r | |||
| Oxford St John’s College 17 | f 7v | |||
| The alphabet of Aethicus Hister | ||||
| Bern 207 | f 2v | |||
| Avranches 152 (107) | s 11 | |||
| Oxford St John’s College 17 | f 5v | |||
| Vatic Rigin lat 294 | f 1v | s 11/12 | ||
| Valenciennes 59 | f 28r | |||
| Bern 85 | f 117r | Breton evangeliary | s 9 | |
| Oxford St. John’s College 194 | f 65r | Gospels | s 9 | |
| Paris BN lat 974 | f 25v | Augustine | s 9 | |
| clm 276 | f 96v | s14 | ||
| Glagolitic | ||||
| clm 14684 | f 100v | s 15 | ||
| Cyrillic | ||||
| clm 14684 | f 100v | s15 | ||
| Armenian | ||||
| Vienna 2674 | f 5r | Notizbuch of Frederick II | ||
| Invented alphabets | ||||
| A | ||||
| Wolfenbuttel Weiss 14 | f 40v | s 9 | ||
| B | ||||
| clm 14370 | f 42 | s10 | ||
| clm 642 | f 42r | Encyclopaedia | Pruhl | s 11 |
| clm 6242 | f 165r | Freising | ||
| Ghent 257 | f 1r | Trier | s 10/11 | |
| London BM Add 34248 | s11 | |||
| C | ||||
| clm 18628 | f 95r | Superstitious recipes | Tegernsee | s 10 |
| D1 | ||||
| clm 14386 | f 5r marg\nf 88v | St Emmeram | s10/11 | |
| D2 | ||||
| clm 18628 | f 95r | |||
| D1, D2 | ||||
| clm 6396 | f 99r | Freising | s 10 | |
| clm 18547 b | f 185v | Tegernsee | s 11 | |
| E | ||||
| La Cava 3 | f 255v | s 11 | ||
| F | ||||
| Vienna 1134 | Lectionary | Villiers, Brabant | s 12 | |
| G | ||||
| Cologne Histor Arch W schm. | f 149 | Astrology | 1480 | |
| H | ||||
| Prague Metrop.-Bibl M CXXV | f 1 | s 15 | ||
| I | ||||
| Karlsruhe Aug 152 | f 45v | s 15 | ||
| Predominantly invented alphabets | ||||
| A | ||||
| Vienna Cod 751 | Boniface, Letters | s. 9 | ||
| Leiden Voss. lat oct 41 | 65v | s 9 | ||
| B | ||||
| Leiden Voss. lat qu. 63 | f 3r | Gregory of Tours | Tours | s. 8 |
| C | ||||
| Cologne Dombibliothek 43 | f 56v | Job, Tobit | Italian | s 8 |
| D | ||||
| Paris B.N. Nouv. Acq. Lat. 1489 | f 1r | s9 | ||
| E | ||||
| Stuttgart Zwif 253 | The lingua ignota of Hildegard of Bingen | s. 12 | ||
| Only this manuscript of the lingua ignota is written in a secret script. | ||||
| F The secret writing of Duke Rudolph IV of Austria | ||||
| Klosterneuburg 1226 | s. 15 | |||
| clm 671 | f 109r | s. 15 | ||
| Munich Univ Bibl 4o 810 | f 41v\n56r | s. 15 | ||
| Formerly Vienna Gilhofer and Ranschburg Catal 265 nr 7 | f 22r | s. 15 | ||
| clm 641 | f 38r | s. 15 | ||
| clm 3131 | f 170r | s. 15 | ||
| Melk 931 (1086) | p 55 | s. 15 | ||
| clm 405 | f 175 | Recipes | s14 | |
| Leipzig Univ-bibl 1048 | f 278v | 1444 | ||
| Prague Metrop. A LIX 6 (94) | f 48v | |||
| G | ||||
| clm 24104 | f 79v | Johannes Regiomontanus | 1487 | |
| H | ||||
| clm 444 | f 140r | Cosmetic recipes | s. 15 | |
| I | ||||
| clm 276 | f 96v | s 14 | ||
| clm 641 | f 38r | s. 15 | ||
| J | ||||
| clm 716 | f 62v | Hartmann Schedel Liber antiquitatum | s. 15 | |
| K | ||||
| Paris BN Nouv Acq Lat 635 | Secretum de thesauro experimentorum jmaginationis hominum | Italian | s 15 | |
|
The entire manuscript is in cipher apart from the contents, title and concluding formula. Described in H. Omont Bibl de l’Ec. d, Chartes 58 (1897) 253-258 |
||||
| L | ||||
| Formerly Vienna Gilhofer and Raschburg Catal 265 nr 7 | ||||
| clm 570 | f 42v | s 15 | ||
| Prague Metrop-Bibl O LXXVIIII (1662) | f 295v | s 15 | ||
| M | ||||
| Heidelberg Pal. germ. 597 | Alchymey teuczsch | s 15 | ||
| N | ||||
| clm 641 | f 38r | s 15 | ||
| O | ||||
| clm 644 | f 51v-52r | s 15 | ||
| P | ||||
| Gottingen, Morbio 15 | Astronomical observations | Italian | s 14 | |
| Q | ||||
| Vatic Borghes 239 | f 16r | |||
| Symbols mixed with Arabic numerals | ||||
| A | ||||
| Naples Bibliotheca Nazionale MS XII A 23 (formerly 334. VI. 9. 36) | title page | Mare Vitreum, a canonistic compendium | s 12 | |
| B | ||||
| Madrid Bibl Nac 10007 (formerly Tol. 10, 25) | f 207r | West Gothic | 902 | |
| C | ||||
| Cambridge, Peterhouse 75 | f 14r\n30v\n63v | Astronomica | s 14 | |
| D | ||||
| Prague Metrop.-Bibl. M XVII (1370) | f 1rv\n4r\n9rvN10r | Chemical recipes | s. 14 | |
| E | ||||
| Paris Arsenal 940 | f 38v | Passio Mauritii et Sociorum | s. 15 | |
| F | ||||
| Frankfurt a.M. Barth. 91 | f 184r etc | s 15 | ||
| Wolfenbuttel 55 7 Aug 4o | Alchemical | s. 15 | ||
| G | ||||
| Prague Metrop.-Bibl. M CXXV | f 1 | s15 | ||
| H | ||||
| clm 14698 | f 307r | s15 | ||
| Neums | ||||
| Spanish neums mixed with letters | ||||
| Frankish neums, symbols and letters | ||||
| clm 18628 | f 95 | Tegernsee | s 10 | |
| Vienna 1761 | f 105 | s 10/11 | ||
| Augsburg Ordinariatsbibl 6 | f 88v 98r 90 r | Gospels | s 9 | |
| clm 3860 a | f 7v | Canons | Augsburg | s 9/10 |
| Numerical ciphers and related | ||||
| Vowels replaced with numerals | ||||
| Replacement with abbreviated ordinal numerals (pri, sec, ter…) | ||||
| clm 1086 | f 71v | Hugeburc Vitae SS Wynnebaldi et Willibaldi | s. 8-9 | |
| Replacement with the sequence x, xx, xxx, xl… | ||||
| Cordova, Albarus Codex | ||||
| Replacement with Arabic numerals | ||||
| A: 1 2 3 4 5 | ||||
| Vienna 2674 | f 7r | Frederick III | ||
| clm 671 | f 61 57r | s 15 | ||
| B: 5 4 3 2 1 | ||||
| clm 674 | f 27v | s 15 | ||
| C: 5 6 7 8 9 | ||||
| Bamberg Canon. 26 | f 305v | s 14 | ||
| D: 1 2 0 4 X | ||||
| Florence Bibl Naz, Conv Soppr I II 44 | f 51r | Liber de duobus principiis (a Cathar work) | s. 13 | |
| Substitution of dots (variations on . : :.) | ||||
| A | ||||
| Paris B N Bat 229 | s 12 | |||
| clm 14848 | f 144v | A nun’s prayerbook | s. 12 | |
| Berlin Lat fol 88 | f 59v | Recipes | s. 14/15 | |
| clm 13099 | f 187v | s. 12/13 | ||
| B | ||||
| Schlagl 454 a 61 | f 50v | |||
| Substitution of G GG GGG… | ||||
| Oxford St. John’s College 17 | f 5v | |||
| Substitution of vertical or diagonal lines | ||||
| A diagonal, similar to ogham | ||||
| clm 4115 | f 42r | Leges | s. 8/9 | |
| B vertical lines | ||||
| Vienna 2674 | f 7r | Frederick III | ||
| Substitution of p with one to five underlinings | ||||
| London BM Harl. 2277 | ||||
| Lubeck Stadtbibl Ms theol 76 | f 89r | s. 15 | ||
| clm 14412 | f 48v | s 15 | ||
| Rouen 1151 | 1471 | |||
| Corpus Christi Cambridge 96 | f 240r | Not deciphered | c 1425 | |
| Replacement of the entire alphabet with numerals and the like | ||||
| Replacement of the letters with their positional number | ||||
| A Roman numerals | ||||
| Laon 444 | f 310 | Martin of Laon | s 9 | |
| Vatic Palat lat 485 | f 14v | Lorsch | s. 9 | |
| Vatic Rigin lat 421 | f 26r | s 11 | ||
| Vienna 1761 | f 105v | s 10/11 | ||
| Paris BN Lat 7503 | f 92v | St Gall | s. 9 | |
| Vienna 795 | f 20r | s 9 | ||
| Oxford St John’s Coll. 17 | f 5v | 1109/10 | ||
| Arabic Numerals | ||||
| Vienna 2674 | f 7r | Frederick III | ||
| Clofruna, clophruna | ||||
| Paris BN Nouv Acq Lat 1443 | f 190v | Augustine Letters | s. 9 | |
| St Gall 176 | ||||
| Iisruna, lagoruna, hahalruna, stofruna | ||||
| Vienna 911 | f 21r | s 9 | ||
| A possible runic alphabet | ||||
| Vatic Regin lat 421 | f 26r | s 11 | ||
| Vienna 1761 | f 105r | s 10/11 | ||
| Greek numerals representing alphabetical position | ||||
| Discussed by Bischoff elsewhere: he notes that Trithemius revived this system. | ||||
| ‘Chaldaic’ or ‘Greek’ numeral representing alphabetical position | ||||
| Heidelberg Pal germ 368 | f 65r\n68r | Superstitious recipes | s. 15 | |
| Replacement by ‘Chaldaic’ or ‘Greek’ numerals in grammatical order (i.e. vowels, liquids, plosives) | ||||
| London BM Sloane 351 | f 14v | s. 15 | ||
| Other numerical keys | ||||
| clm 16226 | f 275v | s. 15 | ||
| Pigpen cipher | ||||
| Gottingen Luneb 2 | f 101r | s 15 | ||
| clm 16226 | f 275r | s 15 | ||
| clm 16488 | f 43v | s 15 | ||
| Paris BN Allem 238 | f 1 | s 16 | ||
| Musical notes | ||||
| London BM Sloane 351 | f 15r | s 15 | ||