The Voynich Ninja

Very pleased to announce the publication of Keagan Brewer's and my work below:

The Voynich Manuscript, Dr Johannes Hartlieb and the Encipherment of Women’s Secrets

Social History of Medicine, hkad099, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Published: 22 March 2024

Abstract
The Voynich manuscript is a famous European enciphered manuscript of the early fifteenth century featuring herbal, pharmaceutical, astrological and anatomical illustrations, including hundreds of naked women. Some hold objects adjacent to or unambiguously pointed towards their genitalia. This paper therefore investigates the culture of self-censorship, erasure and encipherment of women’s secrets, with a focus on Dr Johannes Hartlieb (c. 1410–68). Hartlieb had enduring apprehensions about the propagation of women’s secrets in vernacular Bavarian, which culminated in a call for ‘secret letters’ to hide recipes for abortifacients and contraceptives. Other cases of encipherment relating to sexual intercourse and genitalia will be described. On the basis of this evidence, we propose that the Rosettes, the largest and most complex illustration in the Voynich manuscript, represents coitus and conception. This hypothesis explains many of the illustration’s features and establishes a variety of future research possibilities.

Because of licensing fees, this is behind a paywall, but a broader summary is available You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. at The Conversation.

This work expands on what Keagan presented at the Malta Conference.

For those who do not know Keagan and his work, a summary can be found You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..

Keagan is scheduled to present on this at our upcoming Voynich Day celebration and we're happy to discuss on this thread.

The bigoted approach of various medieval authors to the subject of gynecology is quite remarkable. The (self-)censorship and secrecy, which I would interpret as anticipatory obedience to the church, makes a "coded" presentation in the VMS seem at least possible.

(16-04-2024, 04:06 PM)MichelleL11 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Keagan is scheduled to present on this at our upcoming Voynich Day celebration and we're happy to discuss on this thread.

What is your interpretation of the blue star-like image on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and the image to the left?

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

It's a shame the full article is still locked, a summary can only say so much. But luckily we'll get to discuss this on Voynich day.

(18-04-2024, 06:46 AM)Koen G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.It's a shame the full article is stil locked

After all, you can access the article via an institution (e.g. university). Then it costs nothing.

This new theory makes me wonder if all opinions are respectable. In matters of religion or politics, of course, but in matters of science, and the VM is an object of science, is anything that is said valid? Does the Rosettes page represent coitus and conception, really?

This theory reminds me of another one formulated by two respectable people that the VM plants come from ancient Mexico. People are always respectable, their scientific theories are not

In the VM nothing is certain, but there are things that are more probable than others. Speaking of the illustrations, some members of this forum know that well. In the case of the Rosettes, it is most likely that this page is some kind of cosmological representation or something similar.

Why is attention paid to any theory, like that of coitus? This forum has become a forum that only serves to hang out and have fun. I don't criticize that, but the VM is above all an object of science. And if the people who have dedicated years to the study of this codex do not reach a minimum consensus, we will never be doing science.

@MichelleL11: According to my research, Johannes Hartlieb also translated a balneological treatise into German. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any further information on this. Have you perhaps found anything about this in connection with your research on the article ?

Quote:( Translated from German into English )

His versatility is reflected in his works: in addition to three medical works - the herb book, a Secreta mulierum treatment and a balneological treatise - he translated several fortune-telling books, the Minnetraktat des Andreas Capellanus, the Alexanderroman and the Brandanlegende from Latin into German. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. Frauenheilkunde in volkssprachigen Arznei- und Kräuterbüchern des 12. bis 15.
Jahrhunderts. Eine empirische Untersuchung, Dorothée Leidig, Page 261


edit:

Quote:( Translated from German into English )

Most of it is still unedited, and we do not even reliably know the manuscript and printed distribution of it. Both of these are true of the "Bäderbuch", alongside the Secreta mulierum, the second medical writing in the narrower sense.
.....
Hartlieb's small balneology was never printed. Researchers know the work from two Munich manuscripts already recorded by K. Goedeke,1) cgm 732 and cgm 733; both contain only the "Bäderbuch". [2]

[2] FISCHER, HANNS. "ZU JOHANNES HARTLIEBS BÄDERBUCH" Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur, vol. 84, no. Jahresband, 1962, pp. 296-300. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Note: Hartlieb translated Felix Hemmerlin's "De balneis naturalibus sive termalibus" for Sigmund in 1467

(18-04-2024, 12:16 PM)Antonio García Jiménez Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.In the VM nothing is certain, but there are things that are more probable than others. Speaking of the illustrations, some members of this forum know that well. In the case of the Rosettes, it is most likely that this page is some kind of cosmological representation or something similar.

I guess it depends on what you included in the definition of "cosmological". I see God in the Rosettes page. Do you include God in "cosmological"?

I have already changed my mind twice regarding the Rosettes page. If someone makes a good case, I will entertain new ideas.

(16-04-2024, 06:49 PM)bi3mw Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The bigoted approach of various medieval authors to the subject of gynecology is quite remarkable. The (self-)censorship and secrecy, which I would interpret as anticipatory obedience to the church, makes a "coded" presentation in the VMS seem at least possible.

Medieval thought is still with us. As I have posted here before, it was the issue of abortion that brought me here to the world of the Voynich Manuscript. It was an on-line conversation with a Muslim about abortion and the soul and Ensoulment and the differences between Christian beliefs and Muslim beliefs that brought me here.

The issues of abortion and control of women's bodies are still very relevant. They may be major factors in who will be the next president of the United States. What will happen with the U.S. support (or lack of support) for Ukraine? Are we on the doorstep of World War 3? No, I don't think the Voynich Manuscript is going to answer these questions but Medieval thought is still with us when it comes to the control of women's bodies.

I had never even heard of the Voynich Manuscript until the pandemic shutdown and we were all forced to live our lives through computer screens. I first learned about the Voynich Manuscript from one of those countless clickbait videos on YouTube. I don't know when I first viewed the video but the upload date is Sep 4, 2020. As soon as I saw the image on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. of the blue star-like image leaving Heaven on the left and hovering over the body of the sleeping woman, I knew it was an illustration of Ensoulment.

I was disappointed when I learned, three years later, that people were still missing what was so obvious to me. To me, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. screams "insemination". I didn't want to get involved with a 15-century sex manual. That is why I didn't jump in 3 years ago. I just want this puzzle to be solved.

Thank you all for your interest in Keagan's and my publication.  We appreciate all of your patience as given our time difference, it is invariably at least a day before we can connect.  I am going to answer each question in a direct reply to the posting.