19-06-2026, 09:39 AM
(This post was last modified: 19-06-2026, 02:02 PM by Mark Knowles.)
Why I am particularly interested in locating ciphers used by Francesco II Barbavara?
He was Ducal Secretary and ran the Visconti chancellery from 1425 to 1433. I am particularly interested in seeing Milanese ciphers from this period.
Where do I hope that I might find an example of these ciphers?
It is hard to know. Maybe in the Vatican Apostolic Archives as there were Milanese enciphered letters intercepted by the Papacy in 1431. Maybe in the Archivio di Stato di Firenze there may be more examples of early 15th-century Milanese intercepted ciphers. Maybe in the Biblioteca Bonetta in Pavia where there are many early 15th century Lettere Ducali. Maybe somewhere else? Como or Lucca or ....
How do I expect to find out more about Abbot Antonio Barbavara?
The main source that I have about him is the guide book about the Abbazia di Santi Nazzaro e Celso. However the authors did not provide sources for much of the information about him in the book. I have been in contact with the authors and they don’t remember which sources that they used. One of the sources is a earlier book written by Aina which I have a copy of. I have focused my research at the moment on collecting more early 15th century ciphers rather than tracking down information on the Abbot which I suspect would require considerable time on the ground in Piedmont and Lombardy as the Abbey had no archive of its own, so one would have to look in the archives of Borgomanero, Novara, Vercelli, Alessandria, Milan, Vatican and who knows which other archives.
He was Ducal Secretary and ran the Visconti chancellery from 1425 to 1433. I am particularly interested in seeing Milanese ciphers from this period.
Where do I hope that I might find an example of these ciphers?
It is hard to know. Maybe in the Vatican Apostolic Archives as there were Milanese enciphered letters intercepted by the Papacy in 1431. Maybe in the Archivio di Stato di Firenze there may be more examples of early 15th-century Milanese intercepted ciphers. Maybe in the Biblioteca Bonetta in Pavia where there are many early 15th century Lettere Ducali. Maybe somewhere else? Como or Lucca or ....
How do I expect to find out more about Abbot Antonio Barbavara?
The main source that I have about him is the guide book about the Abbazia di Santi Nazzaro e Celso. However the authors did not provide sources for much of the information about him in the book. I have been in contact with the authors and they don’t remember which sources that they used. One of the sources is a earlier book written by Aina which I have a copy of. I have focused my research at the moment on collecting more early 15th century ciphers rather than tracking down information on the Abbot which I suspect would require considerable time on the ground in Piedmont and Lombardy as the Abbey had no archive of its own, so one would have to look in the archives of Borgomanero, Novara, Vercelli, Alessandria, Milan, Vatican and who knows which other archives.
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