Secret diplomatic message deciphered after 350 years
a day ago
- #Cryptography
- #Historical Documents
- #Louis XIV
- A letter from Louis XIV's court, written by William Perwich in 1670, was successfully decrypted twice.
- Two teams of cryptographers, including Matthew Brown and a team led by Dr George Lasry, cracked the cipher using columnar transposition and identifying null letters.
- The decrypted letter revealed court gossip about Louis XIV's mistresses and his cooling relationship with soldiers, along with political maneuvers involving the Dutch and England.
- Some numerical codes in the letter remain unsolved due to the lack of the original cipher key, but historical context helps interpret them.
- The letter's content aligns with known historical events, such as the Secret Treaty of Dover and Louis XIV's diplomatic strategies.