Why create such a complex cipher?

[dashstofsk]

"What motivations would there be for creating it as a hoax with random gibberish?"

One possible reason falls into place if you consider what society was like at that time. The 15th century was a time of great change, was the start of the cultural movement that later became the Renaissance. It was a time of new ideas, new philosophies. The classical views of the universe were being challenged. The secrets of alchemy and chemistry were being probed. Belief in witchcraft was strong.

The manuscript could have been written to create a deception, to make people believe that there was some distant land where they used a strange alphabet and where their knowledge of herbal medicine, astrology, witchcraft and other secret magic was advanced. Any claim that the secrets had been discovered would have been of immense curiosity. A manuscript of these secrets would have been greatly prized, and the possessor of it might have been able to command a substantial profit.