Archive Proximity

[Mark Knowles]

Padua was part of the Republic of Venice in the early 15th century. We have very limited knowledge of Venetian State ciphers from this period, probably due to the 1483 fire in the Doge's Palace which destroyed a large number of documents including ciphers. The only definitive known cipher from that period is the 1411 enciphered letter of Doge of Venice, Michele Steno. Although, there are a couple of other ciphers that I suspect have Venetian origins, but I will leave that discussion to another time or place. Paolo Bonavoglia, who has a particular interest in Venetian ciphers, tells me that he has searched the archives in Venice and not found any early 15th century ciphers other than the Steno letter. However, it seems possible that there are Venetian ciphers surviving in the archives of other cities of the Republic of Venice. I would be inclined then to look in the correspondence of the Venetian Cancelleria or the Doge in those archives for the early 15th century. This can be very hit or missed, but finding just one enciphered letter would make a big difference to our understanding of Venetian ciphers of that period.

My own particular interest is Milanese ciphers from the early 15th century as I believe them to be the most advanced. Unfortunately, due to the 1447 fire in the Castello di Porta di Giovia most of the Milanese ciphers from before that time have been destroyed. I have searched the Milan State Archives and I am planning to search the archives in Pavia. Unless, I can find someone in Pavia willing to do the search.

More information to follow...