Archive Proximity

[Mark Knowles]

Pavia is a 3 hour drive from me, so yeah not really nearby, but it’s only a 45 minutes drive from Milan (which I do visit often, at least twice a year). Do you have anything specific you’d like to search in Padua? Which archives are worth looking into in your opinion?

There could be something of interest in->

Archivi e fondi | Biblioteche di Padova You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Although, it doesn't immediately seem promising to me.

There could be something of interest in the Archivio storico diocesano di Padova. In the 15th century religious figures were political figures and they did write letters in cipher. (I  tracked down an enciphered letter in the Archivio Diocesano di Genova from 1421) However, I have no particular reason to suspect there might be enciphered letters in the church archives in Padova.

I believe the Comune Archives in Padua only has material from the 16th century onwards.

Of course, the University of Padua being a great historic university could have ciphers in Library/Archive. I haven't yet investigated the inventories of the university to see if I can see references to anything interesting.

I don't know of anywhere else in Padua to look, but there maybe an archive/library that I haven’t thought of. Of course, there could be private family archives with something of interest, but who knows about them?

Nearby towns like Vicenza or Ferrara could have early 15th ciphers in their archives.