3 ms·

Am I dense, or is this article and https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/lost-and-found-code-breakers-decipher-50-letters-of-mary-queen-of-scots/ https://arst

Am I dense, or is this article and https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/lost-and-found-code-breakers-decipher-50-letters-of-mary-queen-of-scots/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/lost-and-found-code-... (mentioned by another commenter) almost completely void of details about the cipher? I'm most interested in how Mary was encrypting these letters, but apart from an image or two in the article mentioned above, and this quote "The documents contained only graphical symbols (more than 150,000 in total)", there's nothing.

Sniffnoy 4y ago
They do link to the paper at least? https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2022.2160677 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2022.2... But yeah, that's annoying.
- xeeeeeeeeeeenu 4y ago
  I think the submission link should be replaced with this. The paper is much more informative and it's surprisingly easy to understand.
- bambax 4y ago
  The paper is indeed surprisingly easy to follow. Section 4 about the deciphering process is a great read https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2022.2160677#_i10 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2022.2...
paulette449 4y ago
I had the same reaction The Guardian article just says: "The letters reveal Mary’s distrust of Walsingham and Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who was a favourite of Elizabeth’s. In the letters, many of which were sent to the French ambassador to England, Michel de Castelnau de Mauvissiere, Mary complained about her poor health, the conditions of her captivity, and spoke about her efforts to negotiate with Elizabeth for her release. The letters document her attempts to win over some of Elizabeth’s officials with presents. Mary also expresses her distress about her son, referred to as “mon fils” or my son, later King James VI of Scotland and James I of England, who was taken away from her at the age of one."
zoomablemind 4y ago
The ars article shows an image of an original encryption table used in some other letters by MQS. It's a quite detailed manual. The researchers apparently did consult that and other known tables in their analysis. Also mentioned, "... The authors noted that seven of the eight newly decoded letters turned out to have plaintext copies preserved in British archives, adding, "It would seem that the leak from the embassy was quite effective and comprehensive" ..." , as there were some spies at the time in the French embassy that were leaking the decoded texts. Btw, there's doi link at the end of the ars article.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
jfengel 4y ago
The cipher is relatively trivial. The remarkable part is that these are previously unknown letters, primary sources from an important historical event. It could have been broken long ago if anyone had thought it was interesting. So it's less like deciphering the Voynich Manuscript and more like finding a cache of letters at a yard sale.
- robertlagrant 4y ago
  The "finally" in the article title is a bit misleading; it implied to me that the cipher was hard to crack.

Sniffnoy 4y ago

They do link to the paper at least? https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2022.2160677 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2022.2... But yeah, that's annoying.

xeeeeeeeeeeenu 4y ago
I think the submission link should be replaced with this. The paper is much more informative and it's surprisingly easy to understand.
bambax 4y ago
The paper is indeed surprisingly easy to follow. Section 4 about the deciphering process is a great read https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2022.2160677#_i10 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2022.2...

paulette449 4y ago

I had the same reaction The Guardian article just says: "The letters reveal Mary’s distrust of Walsingham and Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who was a favourite of Elizabeth’s. In the letters, many of which were sent to the French ambassador to England, Michel de Castelnau de Mauvissiere, Mary complained about her poor health, the conditions of her captivity, and spoke about her efforts to negotiate with Elizabeth for her release. The letters document her attempts to win over some of Elizabeth’s officials with presents. Mary also expresses her distress about her son, referred to as “mon fils” or my son, later King James VI of Scotland and James I of England, who was taken away from her at the age of one."

zoomablemind 4y ago

The ars article shows an image of an original encryption table used in some other letters by MQS. It's a quite detailed manual. The researchers apparently did consult that and other known tables in their analysis. Also mentioned, "... The authors noted that seven of the eight newly decoded letters turned out to have plaintext copies preserved in British archives, adding, "It would seem that the leak from the embassy was quite effective and comprehensive" ..." , as there were some spies at the time in the French embassy that were leaking the decoded texts. Btw, there's doi link at the end of the ars article.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

jfengel 4y ago

The cipher is relatively trivial. The remarkable part is that these are previously unknown letters, primary sources from an important historical event. It could have been broken long ago if anyone had thought it was interesting. So it's less like deciphering the Voynich Manuscript and more like finding a cache of letters at a yard sale.

robertlagrant 4y ago
The "finally" in the article title is a bit misleading; it implied to me that the cipher was hard to crack.