The Voynich Ninja

The outer ring of tubs on VMs Pisces not only contains a series of patterns that correspond to standard heraldic designs, but a few of them have potential historical connections. Papelonny - the butterfly's wing- and gurges - the whirlpool - are two examples.

Now something interesting has turned up in regard to the semy of roundels. In the VMs Pisces illustration, the example is seen as careless and colorless. There is no indication of tincture for either the shield or the roundels. So it seemed there was no way to a solution. Or to put it another way, just look - and whatever you find - that's it. And even though that suggestion was meant to be sarcastic, it might also be good advice.

There are only two criteria. Match the heraldic definition and try to stay historically prior to the VMs parchment dates - as much as possible.

I have found only one candidate with the correct heraldic pattern, and it also matches with good chronology, quite surprising actually. The blazon is 'gules, a semy of roundels, or'. Gold circles on a red background generally found in staggered rows - like the old French insignia that was a semy of fleur-de-lis. 

It turns out that this insignia, bezanty on red, is that of Alan la Zouche (1205-1270). He was a Norman Englishman and was a loyalist in England's historical Barons Revolt. 

And who was the papal legate to England at the resolution of those difficulties???  Indeed it was Ottobuono Fieschi!!

And this is nothing more and nothing less than another separate and independent connection to the history of the Genoese popes based on heraldry in the VMs. Can it really be another coincidence??


Given the general nature of the VMs illustration, other potential interpretations are certainly possible. If there are, let's see them.
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If any are interested in a brief history of the Second Baron's War in English history, the one that was led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, against King Henry III, Simon won the Battle of Lewes in May 1264 and lost the Battle of Evesham in August 1265, where he was killed. That's it.

Ottobuono Fieschi was sent as papal legate in England from October 1265 to July 1268. And he was recorded in the Statute of Marlborough.

The newly discovered Alan la Zouche, English loyalist, died in 1270.

The prior discovery of the whirlpool as an armorial insignia, gurges, in Latin, also on the VMs Pisces page, led to another Norman-English family named de Gorges.
Sir Ralph de Gorges died in 1271.
Sir Ralph had married Ellen Foliot, heiress and daughter of Robert Foliot, and Sir Ralph came into possession of Warleigh, Tamerton Foliot and Tavy Foliot in the area of Plymouth, England, in Devon.

And it happens that the new discovery for the semy of roundels, Alan la Zouche, was the son of Roger la Zouche who was the sheriff of Devonshire. A double shot of Devon, one might say. Another pair in the pairing paradigm. So is this yet another meaningless coincidence or a partial revelation of the author's depth of historical knowledge and subtle capabilities? The VMs author surely has the historical perspective to know the heraldic details of particular events, where many in the modern world know nothing of these persons or their actions.

In the relevant articles from Wikipedia for both cases, there is a clarification of earlier and later versions of either armorial insignia. In both cases the VMs author makes use of the earlier version of the insignia in the Pisces illustration. The VMs author uses the version of the armorial insignia valid at the time of events, rather than a version that would appear to have updated before the VMs parchment dates.

King Henry III died in 1272, and Edward I became king.

Ottobuono Fieschi was elected pope as Adrian V in 1276, but died before taking office.