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A match for the famous Armadillo? - Printable Version

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A match for the famous Armadillo? - JustAnotherTheory - 13-02-2026

So this is the alleged "Voynich armadillo":

   

To me, it kind of looks like the official insignia of the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (especially the legs and orientation, but without the tail):

   

This is interesting because the classical Voynich crown, i.e.,

   

is a match for that of Queen You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.,

   

who is the founder of the Order of the Dragon.

RE: A match for the famous Armadillo? - DONJCH - 14-02-2026

Could the tail on that right hand insignia have inspired the Nebuly Line beloved by R Sale.
Nice matches in any case.

RE: A match for the famous Armadillo? - JustAnotherTheory - 14-02-2026

(14-02-2026, 04:28 AM)DONJCH Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Could the tail on that right hand insignia have inspired the Nebuly Line beloved by R Sale.
Nice matches in any case.

Yes absolutely, I was thinking about that too.

In any case, Barbara of Cilli is becoming a very strong candidate for having at least owned the VMS. Here are some interesting facts:
  1. The castle where she was exiled is called the Melnik Castle. The same castle was later inhabited by Jacobus of Tepenecz, whoo we know DID own the VMS because he wrote his signature on it.
  2. Barbara was known as the "Black Queen" because she allegedly practised alchemy.
  3. She was known (allegedly) for holding large gatherings (orgies) with a lot of young naked women and performing rituals wit them. Which reminds one of the VMS, again.
  4. Her husband was the King Sigismund, who once employed Mariano Taccola, the man who wrote a 15th century book about water pipes, that resemble very closely some of the VMS illustrations.

There are many more parallels between Barbara and the VMS, and some interesting blog posts on this topic. I think we should investigate this line further.

RE: A match for the famous Armadillo? - DG97EEB - 14-02-2026

(14-02-2026, 07:16 AM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
(14-02-2026, 04:28 AM)DONJCH Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Could the tail on that right hand insignia have inspired the Nebuly Line beloved by R Sale.
Nice matches in any case.

Yes absolutely, I was thinking about that too.

In any case, Barbara of Cilli is becoming a very strong candidate for having at least owned the VMS. Here are some interesting facts:
  1. The castle where she was exiled is called the Melnik Castle. The same castle was later inhabited by Jacobus of Tepenecz, whoo we know DID own the VMS because he wrote his signature on it.
  2. Barbara was known as the "Black Queen" because she allegedly practised alchemy.
  3. She was known (allegedly) for holding large gatherings (orgies) with a lot of young naked women and performing rituals wit them. Which reminds one of the VMS, again.
  4. Her husband was the King Sigismund, who once employed Mariano Taccola, the man who wrote a 15th century book about water pipes, that resemble very closely some of the VMS illustrations.

There are many more parallels between Barbara and the VMS, and some interesting blog posts on this topic. I think we should investigate this line further.

These are quite extensive:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

This confirms the one "known" illustration of her in a Bellifortis 

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

RE: A match for the famous Armadillo? - DG97EEB - 14-02-2026

(14-02-2026, 08:34 AM)DG97EEB Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
(14-02-2026, 07:16 AM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
(14-02-2026, 04:28 AM)DONJCH Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Could the tail on that right hand insignia have inspired the Nebuly Line beloved by R Sale.
Nice matches in any case.

Yes absolutely, I was thinking about that too.

In any case, Barbara of Cilli is becoming a very strong candidate for having at least owned the VMS. Here are some interesting facts:
  1. The castle where she was exiled is called the Melnik Castle. The same castle was later inhabited by Jacobus of Tepenecz, whoo we know DID own the VMS because he wrote his signature on it.
  2. Barbara was known as the "Black Queen" because she allegedly practised alchemy.
  3. She was known (allegedly) for holding large gatherings (orgies) with a lot of young naked women and performing rituals wit them. Which reminds one of the VMS, again.
  4. Her husband was the King Sigismund, who once employed Mariano Taccola, the man who wrote a 15th century book about water pipes, that resemble very closely some of the VMS illustrations.

There are many more parallels between Barbara and the VMS, and some interesting blog posts on this topic. I think we should investigate this line further.

These are quite extensive:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

This confirms the one "known" illustration of her in a Bellifortis 

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

My research led me back to Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit which she was originally asked to sponsor. The folio with the black eagle has been discussed many times on these pages, but i can't see any discussion of this folio 

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

   

RE: A match for the famous Armadillo? - JustAnotherTheory - 21-02-2026

This is a fantastic find. How do you even come up with such examples?

RE: A match for the famous Armadillo? - DG97EEB - 21-02-2026

(21-02-2026, 06:57 PM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.This is a fantastic find. How do you even come up with such examples?

Honestly, I set a very clear research target and then send Gpt, Gemini and Claude off in their respective deep research modes, and they come back with wonderful examples. It's like Google on steroids.. way under used and under appreciated..

RE: A match for the famous Armadillo? - R. Sale - 22-02-2026

What's love got to do with it? The nebuly line is clearly a standard heraldic and artist element well before the VMs dates. If we accept the historical interpretation as potentially valid within the VMs, which there is some reason to believe, then in this example, where the 'critter' is ambiguous and the nebuly line is not, then the animal must match the line because it does not work the other way around.

Given the historical artistic use of nebuly lines as cloud bands and cosmic boundaries, the nature and identity of the 'critter' should be correspondent. The 'critter' is a "VMs" version of the Agnus Dei, and more specifically, tied by its particular three-part structural sequence [lamb-boundary-droplets] to the image in BNF Fr. 13096 f.18, once owned by the Dukes of Burgundy.

As far as the wings, that's an interesting comparison. There are similarities, but there are so many other things in that illustration that are not in the VMs. The heraldic term for a pair of wings is a 'vol'. If the VMs wings are to be given an allegorical interpretation, which allegory should it be?

The flowers of VMs You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. have been identified as costmary. In the "Mary's garden" naming tradition, costmary is the 'herb of the Virgin'. If the wings are those of Saint Michael, as psychopomp, then the allegorical interpretation of this image is a "disguised" representation of the Assumption of the Virgin.

Everyone is free to choose their preferred allegory. This one has the advantage of incorporating two different elements into a relevant 15th century interpretation.

RE: A match for the famous Armadillo? - DONJCH - 22-02-2026

Look, I wasn't making fun of you. I think your contributions have been valuable and you are a good guy.

RE: A match for the famous Armadillo? - JustAnotherTheory - 22-02-2026

(21-02-2026, 07:14 PM)DG97EEB Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
(21-02-2026, 06:57 PM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.This is a fantastic find. How do you even come up with such examples?

Honestly, I set a very clear research target and then send Gpt, Gemini and Claude off in their respective deep research modes, and they come back with wonderful examples. It's like Google on steroids.. way under used and under appreciated..

Can you give an example workflow? Asking for a friend Smile