29/11/2018

Two ciphers used in the first year of the reign of Philip II of Spain

I updated “Spanish Ciphers during the Reign of Philip II”. Specifically, I found examples of use of two ciphers before Cg.1. Both (“Suarez de Figueroa Cipher (1556)” and “Imperial Cipher of 1555”) turned out to be ones printed in Meister.
The earliest example I found of the Imperial Cipher of 1555 is from November 1555, after accession of Philip II. Since this is before Philip II expressed his resolution on 24 May 1556 to change the cipher of his father’s reign, I still think the Imperial Cipher of 1555 was inherited from Charles V’s reign. But there remains a possibility that this was created upon the new reign.
As for the Suarez de Figueroa Cipher (1556), both my reconstruction and the version printed in Meister are incomplete. Since there are undeciphered paragraphs in this cipher, further symbols may be identified by those versed in Spanish. (The struckout over the ciphertext shows it was deciphered by the recipient (or her clerk). A deciphered copy may be found somewhere in the archives.)

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