Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, a trusted secretary of state of Emperor Charles V, and Simon Renard, ambassador to England, used three ciphers, according to Eva Pich-Ponce (2023a), "Les messages secrets d'Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle à Simon Renard : la question du mariage de Marie Tudor", Thélème 38(2) (DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/thel.90555 ), a study of volumes of "Collection Granvelle" in the Besançon Municipal Library (esp. ms. 73). (Their letters per se are familiar to historians (e.g., CSP Spain). They are in French because both were from Burgundian families.)
The first cipher is the one used by Jean de Saint-Mauris as early as 1544, reported separately in Eva Pich-Ponce (2023b), "La cifra secreta de Carlos V y la subida al trono de María Tudor", C&eacyte;dille (DOI: ttps://doi.org/10.25145/j.cedille.2023.24.22 ). This particular cipher attracted attention by a discovery by Pierrot, Gaudry, Zimmermann, and Desenclos in 2022 and had also been reported in my article, "Ciphers during the Reign of Emperor Charles V".
It was used in more than 100 letters until 1554 by the Emperor, Saint Mauris, Simon Renard, the Bishop of Arras (Granvelle), Mary of Austria, the Bishop of Luxeuil, Francisco de los Cobos, and Ferdinand (brother of the Emperor). In particular, the Emperor used this in 1553 in his letters to ambassadors in England about the succession (Jane Grey, "Nine Days Queen", was on the throne in July 1553) and the marriage of Mary Tudor with his son Philip. Between Granvelle and Renard, this cipher was used from December 1553 to May 1554.
The second cipher was only used between Granvelle and Renard, in contrast with the wide usage of the first cipher. It was used in Granvelle's five letters from August to November 1553. This cipher is the focus of Pich-Ponce (2023a).
The third cipher was used from 1549 to 1554 by the Emperor, Mary of Austria, Nicolas Perrenot and Antoine Perrenot, and Renard (with a less wide distribution than the first cipher).
The second cipher is much simpler than the first. In particular, it lacks syllables as found in the first cipher. Moreover, the second cipher was only used sparingly. The longest passage in this cipher I spotted is "s-o-n i-n-c-l-i-n-a-c-i-o-n e-t c-o-n-t-e-n-t-e-m-e-n-t" (f.40). This is in contrast to the first cipher, wihch was used to encipher the substantial portion of the whole letters, apparently by a professional secretary. The third cipher (to be treated in Pich-Ponce's coming paper) seems to be closer to the first cipher both in structure and use.
Why did this second cipher have to be introduced, when the first and third ciphers were already available? It was not that the latter ciphers were obsolete or compromised, given that they continued in use after the span of the second cipher. Pich-Ponce considers it was because of the Emperor's desire for strict secrecy, without even letting his closest circle know the content (p.116-117). Her explanation of the historical situation (the Emperor had to be sure of Mary Tudor's inclination before formally broaching the subject of her marriage to Philip) is very interesting. But given the weak nature of the second cipher (both in structure and use), there might have been other factors. (I'd like to know in what situation the Emperor (or Mary of Austria on his behalf) directly wrote to Renard (by a secretary) and in what situation Granvelle wrote to him (personally?).)
Her study revealed 1553 was a year when the lifespans of the three ciphers overlap. I look forward to her coming paper about the third cipher.
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