Mark Knowles > 28-08-2022, 02:49 PM
Hermes777 ' Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I don't detect anything in the illustrations and diagrams that might require serious concealment, but who knows?I think the idea that you and others have explored to a connection between Ramon Llull and the Voynich cipher is an interesting one. I felt it important that I made some investigation into Ramon Llull a few years ago, in order to be thorough and investigate all options, though I had by that time developed my theory to the point where I believed that the connection was to diplomatic ciphers. I am very much of the opinion that the Voynich cipher or system comes from a pre-existing tradition and did not emerge out of a void, whether that tradition be a Llullian one or a diplomatic one or some other is a worthy topic of debate. Some researchers present theories of the system by which the Voynich was written without any contemporary historic context. It is possible there was no historical context and the Voynich system was invented once and only for that manuscript or that none of its influences survive, however I, personally, find that doubtful.
tavie > 28-08-2022, 03:32 PM
(28-08-2022, 09:17 AM)Mark Knowles Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.(28-08-2022, 07:46 AM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.- a top cipher developer would know very well that it is a very bad idea to encrypt a very long text with a single method/keyWhy would it be a very bad idea?
(28-08-2022, 09:17 AM)Mark Knowles Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.(Also it is possible that the Voynich uses more than one key, hence the appearance of different languages/dialects)
Mark Knowles > 28-08-2022, 04:52 PM
(28-08-2022, 03:32 PM)tavie Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.(28-08-2022, 09:17 AM)Mark Knowles Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.(28-08-2022, 07:46 AM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.- a top cipher developer would know very well that it is a very bad idea to encrypt a very long text with a single method/keyWhy would it be a very bad idea?
One reason is that generally in cryptanalysis, the more source material you have to work with, the better your chances are at cracking the cypher. The more sentences there are, the better your chances of finding repetitions or other patterns that lead to the breakthrough.
(28-08-2022, 03:32 PM)tavie Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The Voynich definitely violates this general principle!
(28-08-2022, 03:32 PM)tavie Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.If the mind(s) behind the Voynich knew enough about cyphers to design/adapt and use one but lacked practical experience or knowledge of how cyphers are attacked, that is one explanation of why this general principle wasn't followed.
(28-08-2022, 03:32 PM)tavie Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Alternatively, they may only have wanted to protect the text from cursory snooping and never expected it to be subject to lengthy cryptanalysis.
Mark Knowles > 01-09-2022, 12:05 PM
(27-08-2022, 12:21 AM)Hermes777 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.A while ago I compiled a list of structural obstacles and sources of frustration to be encountered in the study of the Voynich manuscript. Here are some:
*Compartmentalization
Occasionally you hear someone saying “Maybe we need an interdisciplinary approach to this?” Do you reckon?
(27-08-2022, 12:21 AM)Hermes777 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.*Careerism
Academics are career driven. They are not the paragons of objectivity they pretend to be. There are no careers in Voynich Studies and academics stay right away from it because it is perceived as a bad career move.
(The Dead Sea Scrolls are the classic case of this. Scandalously, for years after they were discovered academics were not interested because there were no careers in it. For several decades the whole thing was left to the Dominicans because monks don’t have careers and are not puffed up egotists.)
(27-08-2022, 12:21 AM)Hermes777 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.*Conceptual prisons
In general, the modern mind struggles to understand the medieval mind. This is endemic in Voynich Studies with many researchers entirely unaware of their own conceptual limitations, baggage and blindspots.
Mark Knowles > 07-09-2022, 08:37 PM
(28-08-2022, 07:46 AM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.while it may seem a logical step to consider that the author of the Voynich MS could be someone in the forefront of cipher develpment, this is actually speculation,
R. Sale > 14-09-2022, 07:18 PM
Mark Knowles > 14-09-2022, 08:34 PM
(14-09-2022, 07:18 PM)R. Sale Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.In the VMS Rosettes, the castle walls have swallowtail merlons, while in the Barbavara insignia above, the merlons are square.
Mark Knowles > 14-09-2022, 08:40 PM
(14-09-2022, 07:18 PM)R. Sale Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Francesco Barbavera was an advisor to Gian Galeazzo Visconti, as you know.
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Mark Knowles > 14-09-2022, 08:46 PM
(14-09-2022, 08:40 PM)Mark Knowles Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.(14-09-2022, 07:18 PM)R. Sale Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Francesco Barbavera was an advisor to Gian Galeazzo Visconti, as you know.
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It is important to note that they were 2 Francesco Barbavara's both very closely related.(Uncle and Nephew). The Francesco Barbavara who effectively ran the administration of Duke of Milan, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, is elder of the two. He died in 1415. The Francesco Barbavara that I refer to with respect to the authorship of the Voynich manuscript was Ducal Secretary to Duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, from 1425 and ran the Milanese Chancellery.
The most complete biographies that can be found easily online for each Francesco Barbavara and also for Marcolino Barbavara are on the Treccani website and are in Italian.
Mark Knowles > 03-11-2023, 03:20 PM