Look at *differences* between words rather than at the words themselves?

[DONJCH]

Wouldn't the proposed method be very difficult to carry out over 200 or so pages of text?

[Koen G]

Wouldn't the proposed method be very difficult to carry out over 200 or so pages of text?

That's what I was thinking as well; this is often the problem with more complex ciphers. It depends on whether or not one can become fluent in writing and reading the code.

[radapox]

Wouldn't the proposed method be very difficult to carry out over 200 or so pages of text?

Well, you could start over at any given point; say, once a page.

[Helmut Winkler]

@Anton,

syllable is a term in medieval grammar, cp. Is. Et. I 14,  every medieval Magister Artium should know it, and I feel quite sure our author was an M.A.

[bi3mw]

Hello radapox,
I like your approach because basically it's easy. Something like this is feasible for a writer of the early 15th century. I myself tend to make things too complicated and end up mostly in dead ends

[radapox]

Hello radapox,
I like your approach because basically it's easy. Something like this is feasible for a writer of the early 15th century. I myself tend to make things too complicated and end up mostly in dead ends

Thanks! I'm not suggesting that I'm on the right track or that this would be the only underlying principle to the cipher, but I thought it's an interesting idea to consider.

[davidjackson]

What I one is that you're a Dutch linguist. A perfect backup in case Koen gets hit by a bus 

[radapox]

...you're a Dutch linguist. A perfect backup in case Koen gets hit by a bus 

Wait till I launch my pet theory that the VM is clearly written in Old Dutch. I mean, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.! Ink, letters, parchment, what more do you want?

[Linda]

Don't laugh but that was my first thought when i first saw the text, i had been looking at old genealogical records and some of the writing seemed similar.

I went looking for a quick example, didn't find what i was looking for, but found this, maybe handwriting analysis like this (see the graphs re direction of slant etc) could point to similarities in writings of various places? 
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[radapox]

found this, maybe handwriting analysis like this (see the graphs re direction of slant etc) could point to similarities in writings of various places? 
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Hah! I can see how you'd think that.