18-01-2025, 12:40 PM
(18-01-2025, 11:52 AM)dashstofsk wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.From what I can read online ( You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. ) the mediaeval inquisitions were primarily concerned with suppressing heretical belief. Catharism in the 14th century and before. Non-christian belief in Spain following the reconquest. ( The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1478. ) Then Protestantism in northern Europe. ( The protestant reformation began in 1517. ) But even so it seems that the most serious of sentences were given for only the most serious of offences. Softer sentences, something penitential 'for the salvation of the individual', were the norm. History doesn't seem to point to there being much heresy during the time of the manuscript, so it is difficult to understand what it is in the manuscript that had to be kept secret. From what I can see many manuscripts at that time had herbal illustrations, or had charts of the sky with astronomical text or illustrated the houses of the zodiac. Yet these manuscripts were written in a readable language. So why could it not have been so with the VMS? Secret writing could itself have raised suspicions. Could also have been labeled a heresy. At an extreme level it could have left the author open to the accusation of sorcery, that he was writing in the language of the devil.
I'm sure each age and place has its own taboo topics, in 1400s Europe depending on the country this could be mocking the Pope or the royal family(-ies), accusing the church (of stifling progress or worse), promoting other religions or discussing change in governance. Or praising current or past enemies of the state.
Your last point regarding the dangers of secret writing is exactly why having an invented script that is hard to match against known handwriting would be a good choice, if one plans on denying the authorship.
I understand that the themes I listed don't match the drawings, but this was by far not an exhaustive list. On the other hand, if the actual topic is taboo, it's quite plausible that the drawings shouldn't be taken literally. After all, not a single of the drawings having universally accepted interpretation is weird, but would be understandable if, say, the author while drawing plants or stars was actually referring to something else entirely.