12-04-2021, 04:53 PM
One issue with looking for rules is, I think, that there seems to be relatively little interest in understanding Voynichese in terms of its historical context. Looking for rules without a knowledge of broadly some of the kind of rules used at the time seems to limit oneself.
For one who believes that the Voynich is written in cipher understanding the cipher context of the time is crucial. Evidence clearly shows that the period from which the Voynich is carbon dated was a period of rapid development and innovation in the cipher techniques used in diplomacy, the area where the most advanced ciphers of the period are to be found and also where they were most commonly used. Comparing diplomatic ciphers used in 1404 with those used in 1445 the increase in complexity is profound. Whereas comparing the ciphers used in diplomacy between 1445 and 1495 the differences appear to be negligible. The cipher used by Giovanni Fontana is very very simple compared to diplomatic ciphers from 1424 in the State Archives of Florence, indicating that knowledge of these techniques were most likely confined to a small number of people in the chancelleries of the major Italy city states. This was a period of experimentation with different cipher techniques some which became obsolete and the standard techniques only really crystallised by the middle of the century. Unfortunately so much is lost from the historical record for this time that forming a more complete picture of the evolution of cipher techniques over this period is very hard.
For one who believes that the Voynich is written in cipher understanding the cipher context of the time is crucial. Evidence clearly shows that the period from which the Voynich is carbon dated was a period of rapid development and innovation in the cipher techniques used in diplomacy, the area where the most advanced ciphers of the period are to be found and also where they were most commonly used. Comparing diplomatic ciphers used in 1404 with those used in 1445 the increase in complexity is profound. Whereas comparing the ciphers used in diplomacy between 1445 and 1495 the differences appear to be negligible. The cipher used by Giovanni Fontana is very very simple compared to diplomatic ciphers from 1424 in the State Archives of Florence, indicating that knowledge of these techniques were most likely confined to a small number of people in the chancelleries of the major Italy city states. This was a period of experimentation with different cipher techniques some which became obsolete and the standard techniques only really crystallised by the middle of the century. Unfortunately so much is lost from the historical record for this time that forming a more complete picture of the evolution of cipher techniques over this period is very hard.