24-06-2026, 01:15 PM
(This post was last modified: 24-06-2026, 05:12 PM by Mark Knowles.)
Hi Nick,
That was very helpful as always.
I didn't manage to read it myself, but I bet you are right about Cardinal Fieschi.
Your dating fits with my own, but on a somewhat different basis. So, that is very encouraging.
I read the following:
Comes Urbinatis = Count of Urbino (In 1443 he became the Duke of Urbino “Dux Urbinatis “)
Rex Ladislaus = Maybe Ladislaus the Posthumous (who became King in 1440)
Baptista Luxiardus = Maybe Baptista De Franchi Luxardus
Imperator Antiquus = Old Holy Roman Emperor(Albert II)
Imperator Novus = New Holy Roman Emperor(Frederick III)
Papa = Pope
Collegium Cardinalinis = College of Cardinals
Comes Papiae = Count of Pavia (Normally the male heir to the Duchy of Milan)
Rex Aragonum = King of Aragon (Who was a major player in Italian politics due to his control of Sardinia, Sicily and later Kingdom of Naples after 1442)
Legatus Bononie = Legate of Bologna
Marchio Monferratis = Marquis of Monferrat
Sigismondus Hungarica = Sigismund of Hungary
Rex Angliae = King of England
Rex Franciae = King of France
Rex Yspania = King of Spain (As distinct from the the King of Aragon)
Cardinalis Ariminei(Maybe)
As far as titles go we have:
Rex = King
Cardinalinus = Cardinal
Dux = Duke
Comes = Count
Imperator = Emperor
Roma = Rome
Neapolis = Naples
Venetie = Venice
Florentia = Florence
Mediolanum = Milan
Papiae = Pavia
Janua = Genoa
Tordona = Tortona
Aste = Asti
Padua = Padua
Ferrara = Ferrara
Occidentalis = West
Orientalis = East
Bononie = Bologna
Now one other title we is something like: “dns~”. I think this is “Dominus”.
The fact that Giovanni Barbavara was Bishop of Tortona from 1437 to 1460 and that the key is dated to the early 1440s and is in the Bishop’s Archive makes it very tempting to believe that it must have been used by Bishop Giovanni Barbavara, however that doesn’t yet prove beyond any doubt that it was his cipher key.
What is most interesting is the title and last line of the cipher key which I am having difficulty reading. This presumably is the correspondent with whom the cipher key is to be used. In fact this person occurs 3 times: once in the title of the cipher, once in the last line of the cipher key and once in the nomenclature.
That was very helpful as always.
I didn't manage to read it myself, but I bet you are right about Cardinal Fieschi.
Your dating fits with my own, but on a somewhat different basis. So, that is very encouraging.
I read the following:
Comes Urbinatis = Count of Urbino (In 1443 he became the Duke of Urbino “Dux Urbinatis “)
Rex Ladislaus = Maybe Ladislaus the Posthumous (who became King in 1440)
Baptista Luxiardus = Maybe Baptista De Franchi Luxardus
Imperator Antiquus = Old Holy Roman Emperor(Albert II)
Imperator Novus = New Holy Roman Emperor(Frederick III)
Papa = Pope
Collegium Cardinalinis = College of Cardinals
Comes Papiae = Count of Pavia (Normally the male heir to the Duchy of Milan)
Rex Aragonum = King of Aragon (Who was a major player in Italian politics due to his control of Sardinia, Sicily and later Kingdom of Naples after 1442)
Legatus Bononie = Legate of Bologna
Marchio Monferratis = Marquis of Monferrat
Sigismondus Hungarica = Sigismund of Hungary
Rex Angliae = King of England
Rex Franciae = King of France
Rex Yspania = King of Spain (As distinct from the the King of Aragon)
Cardinalis Ariminei(Maybe)
As far as titles go we have:
Rex = King
Cardinalinus = Cardinal
Dux = Duke
Comes = Count
Imperator = Emperor
Roma = Rome
Neapolis = Naples
Venetie = Venice
Florentia = Florence
Mediolanum = Milan
Papiae = Pavia
Janua = Genoa
Tordona = Tortona
Aste = Asti
Padua = Padua
Ferrara = Ferrara
Occidentalis = West
Orientalis = East
Bononie = Bologna
Now one other title we is something like: “dns~”. I think this is “Dominus”.
The fact that Giovanni Barbavara was Bishop of Tortona from 1437 to 1460 and that the key is dated to the early 1440s and is in the Bishop’s Archive makes it very tempting to believe that it must have been used by Bishop Giovanni Barbavara, however that doesn’t yet prove beyond any doubt that it was his cipher key.
What is most interesting is the title and last line of the cipher key which I am having difficulty reading. This presumably is the correspondent with whom the cipher key is to be used. In fact this person occurs 3 times: once in the title of the cipher, once in the last line of the cipher key and once in the nomenclature.