• Options
• Login
• Desktop Style

Johannes von Gmünden

• Index

  • The Voynich Ninja
  • Voynich Research
  • Marginalia
  • Johannes von Gmünden
• Johannes von Gmünden

• Johannes von Gmünden

  JustAnotherTheory > 08-07-2026, 07:12 PM

  Hi! It's @JustAnotherTheory again. This time I submit to you the theory that Johannes von Gmünden was the writer of the VMS marginalia.
  
  Johannes von Gmünden (1380/1384 - 1442) was an astronomer in Austria (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.). Of particular note is that he was the student of Heinrich von Langenstein, who worked personally with Nicolas Oresme in Paris (link to You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.).
  
  Not many writings of his own hand survive, unfortunately. One of them that does, is Augsburg, Universitätsbibl., Cod. III.1.4° 1 (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.). 
  
  In this manuscript, we can see some startling things. Here are a few words that remind one of the VMS folio 17r:
  
     
  
  Others ressemble the VMS folio 116v:
  
     
  
     
  
     
  
  We also have an MS from him where he draws some kind of star map with the sun and the moon having human faces:
  
     

• RE: Johannes von Gmünden

  ololololo > 08-07-2026, 08:23 PM

  In VMS, luec has a line above it, which means that it's an abbreviation, so I think it would be more appropriate to focus on the abbreviation rather than the word itself. However, your example is quite interesting...
  
  By the way, the shape of the letter x on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is very similar to your examples

• RE: Johannes von Gmünden

  oshfdk > 08-07-2026, 08:50 PM

  (08-07-2026, 07:12 PM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Not many writings of his own hand survive, unfortunately. One of them that does, is Augsburg, Universitätsbibl., Cod. III.1.4° 1 (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.). 

  
  I think a similar MS has been discussed not a long time ago, there is some list of syllables on 67r-76v, I remember discussing ideas about what these could be for.
  
  Edit: found it You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
  
  Regarding "vix", etc, given this is a list of all possible syllables, as it seems, it's no surprise almost every syllable can be found there.

• RE: Johannes von Gmünden

  Jorge_Stolfi > 08-07-2026, 09:18 PM

  (08-07-2026, 07:12 PM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Others ressemble the VMS folio 116v:

  
  I find the first two examples rather remarkable.
  
  Currently my best guess for the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. text is that it is an attempt to restore text that was erased by the Big Spill by someone who had spent zero time studying the Voynichese script.  One problem with that theory is explaining why he restored the "six marix..." line as a text that looks like almost but not quite like a charm and does not look like Voynichese at all.  
  
  Well, maybe he thought he could see traces of some charm that either was somewhat popular at that time and place, or he found in some manuscript that he had at hand...
  
  All the best, --stolfi

• RE: Johannes von Gmünden

  eggyk > 08-07-2026, 09:28 PM

  (08-07-2026, 08:50 PM)oshfdk Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I think a similar MS has been discussed not a long time ago, there is some list of syllables on 67r-76v, I remember discussing ideas about what these could be for.
  
  Edit: found it You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

  
  The manuscript description You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. refers to the section as "Schreibübung für den Elementarunterricht" - "Writing exercise for elementary education/instruction" (google translated the german).
  
  Imagine if that's all the VMS is... writing/penmanship practice for young students..

• RE: Johannes von Gmünden

  bi3mw > 08-07-2026, 10:10 PM

  While searching for additional manuscripts by Johannes von Gmunden, I came across Cod. 2440 at the Austrian National Library (ÖNB). Gmunden is listed here as the scribe, not the author.
  
  Composite manuscript
  Various [authors] ; Johannes von Gmunden, 1380–1442 [scribe] ; Nicolaus Heybech [scribe] ; Georg Prunner de Ruspach [previous owner] ; University of Vienna, Faculty of Arts [previous owner] ;
  
  Vienna ; 1400–1499, Cod. 2440
  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
  
  You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
  
  edit: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

• RE: Johannes von Gmünden

  Bernd > 08-07-2026, 10:44 PM

  The marginalia writer could definitely have used such practice with his weird letters...
  
  I wanted to say the handwriting is not a particularly good match but look at the 'g'. No idea how common this horizontal bar is.
  
     

• RE: Johannes von Gmünden

  JustAnotherTheory > 09-07-2026, 07:16 AM

  I think the part of the book with the many syllables is... a syllabary. It is used to teach student scribes to write correctly. Unfortunately I cannot find other examples of medieval syllabaries of that time in open collections, so it's difficult to compare.

• RE: Johannes von Gmünden

  JustAnotherTheory > 09-07-2026, 07:22 AM

  There is a curious binary "code" on folio 1r:
  
     
  
  Karin Schneider, who reviewed the MS, describes it as:
  
  "1 Zeile in Geheimschrift (Striche und Kreise)"
  
  Which means a secret, or ciphered, writing.
  
  Link to her work: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

• RE: Johannes von Gmünden

  Aga Tentakulus > 09-07-2026, 08:37 AM

     
  Almost certainly a case grid
• Next Oldest Next Newest