(01-04-2026, 05:31 PM)Mark Knowles Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I know a lot about the Barbavara family. In fact I have met the surviving members of this family. There are two different Francesco Barbavaras from the 15th century. The first ran the government of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan. There is a cipher key in the Cipher Ledger of Francesco Gonzaga in Mantova headed "Francesco Barbavara" from around 1400(I forgot to mention this). The second and the person I am more interested in was Ducal Secretary and Head of the Chancellery to Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, from 1425 to 1433. One can also find enciphered letters written by his brother Marcolino Barbavara from the 1440s in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in the Library in Paris. Of course, the ciphers I refer to here can be found in my archive. I particularly associate the Voynich manuscript with another brother Abbot Antonio Barbavara who collected rare plants and had an interest in medical and scientific matters.(The first Francesco Barbavara was the uncle of the second Francesco Barbavara.)
I really appreciate your assistance. I think the most useful things you could do, in my opinion, would be to study the inventories available online for the Turin archives and/or any other archives in towns/cities you might be able to visit nearby. You might then be able to determine if they have early 15th century documents than might include ciphers.
Alternatively, I increasingly think a useful exercise would be to go through the cipher ledgers for Lucca and Mantova in my archive and identify who all the correspondents were and who those correspondents worked for. These involves the difficult, but not impossible task of, trying to read the handwriting and then researching who that person was. For example, as I said, one of the cipher keys in the Mantova Ledger is headed "Francesco Barbavara" if I didn't know who that was I could research him with Google and discover that he worked for the Duke of Milan.
Anyway, anything you can do to advance our knowledge of early 15th century cryptography would be of value. However, I daresay you have other responsibilities to take your time, so you must not do more than is feasible for you.
Thanks for providing the family connection. May I ask was Antonio Barbavera a brother of the first Francesco, or of the nephew? Or a cousin of either in the family?
I recall a Google Drive mentioned, and am unsure if this is where the cipher archive is that you possess, but if you'd like to provide it here or a link to private message, feel free to send it through the forum inbox.
Also, I found this thread from You are not allowed to view links.
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Login to view. that mentioned a Marcolino Barbavera. If there isn't already one, a family tree might help visualize the connections because juggling more than 2 involved figures can definitely complicate the search. I'd be happy to draw one.
The nephew Francesco Barbavera had a brother named Marcolino, who both used ciphers. According to this You are not allowed to view links.
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Login to view., Giovanni Michele Barbavera was also brother to Marcolino. Whether or not they were half brothers isn't mentioned, but it doesn't mention if he was also a brother to Francesco. But the page does mention Francesco Barbarvara II, which could be an easier way to refer to the nephew. It also mentions that Antonio was related, but not how.
Yes, Milanese Ambassador to the Pope, Marcolino Barbavara, Ducal Secretary, Francesco Barbavara, Bishop of Como and later Tortona, Giovanni Barbavara and Abbot Antonio Barbavara of the Abbey of Saints Nazzaro and Celso by the Sesia river were all brother to the best of my knowledge. In fact there were two more brothers Apostolic Protonotary Pietro Barbavara and Mayor Nicolino Barbavara.
There is a cipher key headed Scipione Barbavara in the Tranchedino Cipher Ledger, Scipione Barbavara was the son of Marcolino Barbavara.
However, I have still not had the opportunity to study the Barbavara family archive. The person who currently has possession of the archive is not very helpful to say the least. I am on very good terms with his sister Anna Barbavara, so maybe one day I will be able to see that archive.
To be honest the most important thing for my research at the moment is to locate Milanese ciphers from the time when Francesco Barbavara was Ducal Secretary, 1425 to 1433. The best lines of enquiry that I have relate to the archives of the Biblioteca Bonetta in Pavia and the Vatican Apostolic Archives(the intercepted letters of Milanese Ambassador Guarniero Castiglioni). I will visit the Biblioteca Bonetta or a friend may do it for me. I don't know when I will visit the Vatican. However there may be other archives where Milanese ciphers from the period I am interested in may be found.
I randomly stumbled upon this while searching for some places in Piemonte: You are not allowed to view links.
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"The castle's existence is documented as far back as 1070. Its original owner was the Valperga dynasty, which, legend has it, were descended from Arduino, the first king of Italy. Due to its strategic location, the castle was besieged and damaged several times throughout its existence, including by the House of Savoy in the 15th century, by the French in the 16th century, and by the Spanish in the 17th century.You are not allowed to view links.
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In 1988, the property was acquired by the You are not allowed to view links.
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They have some books, but I'm not sure how old: You are not allowed to view links.
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(26-04-2026, 04:25 AM)hatoncat Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I randomly stumbled upon this while searching for some places in Piemonte: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
"The castle's existence is documented as far back as 1070. Its original owner was the Valperga dynasty, which, legend has it, were descended from Arduino, the first king of Italy. Due to its strategic location, the castle was besieged and damaged several times throughout its existence, including by the House of Savoy in the 15th century, by the French in the 16th century, and by the Spanish in the 17th century.You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. The castle was later converted into an aristocratic residence.You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
In 1988, the property was acquired by the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
They have some books, but I'm not sure how old: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. The ones at the lower bottom seem slightly older.
I will make enquires with them. There are so many libraries and archives, small and large, over Northern Italy that it is very easy to miss many of the smaller ones.
I will have a look for the Castello di Masino. Catalogo della Biblioteca dello Scalone. If it hasn't been digitised then I may well be able to find it in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, where I live, which has impressive holdings from my experience looking for texts like this.
(01-04-2026, 06:17 PM)Mark Knowles Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I will make enquires with them. There are so many libraries and archives, small and large, over Northern Italy that it is very easy to miss many of the smaller ones.
I will have a look for the Castello di Masino. Catalogo della Biblioteca dello Scalone. If it hasn't been digitised then I may well be able to find it in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, where I live, which has impressive holdings from my experience looking for texts like this.
I visited Turin, but only had a day to walk around. Travel isn't tiring but it can take a while to get settled before being ready to ask what's in their catalog.