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Codebreakers Have Deciphered The Lost Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots
Science Alert ^ | 08 February 2023 | CARLY CASSELLA

Posted on 02/08/2023 12:53:46 PM PST by Red Badger

An encrypted letter from a correspondence with Mary, Queen of Scots. (BnF)

A trio of codebreakers has accidentally stumbled upon a lost series of secret letters written by Mary, Queen of Scots in the years before her execution in 1587.

The incredible, seven-year-long correspondence was encrypted so successfully, the documents were archived in an unmarked file and mistakenly placed in a part of France's national library involved with Italian affairs.

When researchers randomly stumbled upon the 57 letters, however, it was clear none of them had anything to do with Italy. They were written in French and appeared to contain a sophisticated cipher system based on mysterious symbols.

A previously found coded message between Mary and Chateauneuf, the French ambassador in London after Castelnau. (British National Archives)

When cryptographer and computer scientist George Lasry, music professor Norbert Biermann, and physicist Satoshi Tomokiyo finally broke the code, they were shocked to find out whose words they were reading.

Mary Stuart was born Queen of Scotland in 1542, and yet she spent much of her life imprisoned; first in Scotland by Protestant revolutionaries and then in England by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I, who saw her as a threat to the throne. Mary was Catholic, and those of her religion in England felt she should be the nation's leader.

Over the course of her life, Mary was involved in several attempted Catholic rebellions, which she supported through heavily encoded letters.

This particular correspondence was revealed to be her long-lost letters to Michel de Castelnau de Mauvissière, the French diplomat to England in the mid 16th century and a known Catholic ally. Historians have long suspected these two were in cahoots, but until now, their letters never surfaced.

John Guy, an expert and biographer of Mary, Queen of Scots calls the discovery "fabulous" and "a literary and historical sensation".

"This is the most important new find on Mary Queen of Scots for 100 years," Guy exclaims.

"I'd always wondered if de Castelnau's originals could turn up one day, buried in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France (BNF) or perhaps somewhere else, unidentified because of the ciphering.

"And now they have."

Castelnau Codes

An example of a recently found coded message between Mary and Castelnau. (BNF)

Mary's communication with the outside world was practically an open secret of the time. Even English officials knew what she was up to, and yet for many years, her channels with the outside world were apparently so secure that many of her letters have simply disappeared.

Altogether, the letters with de Castelnau contain more than 50,000 words of primary material, revealing new insights into the forcefully abdicated Scottish queen's personal views, health, allegiances, and plots.

On April 16, 1583, for instance, Mary wrote an encrypted letter in which she thanked de Castelnau for his continued support.

A translation reads, "I cannot thank you enough for the care, vigilance and entirely good affection with which I see that you embrace everything that concerns me and I beg you to continue to do so more strongly than ever, especially for my said release to which I see the queen of England quite inclined. If it brings any success, be assured that I will acknowledge as much as I can your good services with her, and the obligation I have for you from the past."

But Mary's letters were not always so secretly kept. Many times they were intercepted or simply sent back to her.

In 1585, Mary's jailor was replaced with a much stricter fellow, who attempted to end all her private communications.

When Mary tried to support a 1586 plot to get her back on the throne, a spy in her communication channel proved to be her end.

The next year she was executed for treason.

The discovery of these long-lost messages to de Castelnau may be some of the last letters Mary ever wrote, although an analysis of the handwriting suggests various people were involved in actually scripting the ciphered words.

"Due to the sheer amount of deciphered material, about 50,000 words in total and enough to fill a book, we have only provided preliminary summaries of the letters, as well as the full reproduction of a few of them, hoping to provide enough incentive to historians with the relevant expertise to engage in in-depth analysis of their contents, to extract insights that would enrich our perspective on Mary's captivity," the codebreakers write.

The study was published in Cryptologia.


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; maryqueenofscots; queenmary; tudors
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1 posted on 02/08/2023 12:53:46 PM PST by Red Badger
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To: SunkenCiv

.................................!!!GGGniP


2 posted on 02/08/2023 12:54:25 PM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger

“You are, Mary Queen of Scots?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLyB08xXoBs


3 posted on 02/08/2023 12:54:37 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: dfwgator

let’s not lose our heads.....................


4 posted on 02/08/2023 12:56:34 PM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger

5 posted on 02/08/2023 12:56:47 PM PST by PGR88 (, )
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To: SunkenCiv

Ping for a candidate for your Gods, Glyphs, Graves ping list.


6 posted on 02/08/2023 12:57:49 PM PST by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)
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To: Red Badger

“Drink more Ovaltine”

It is amazing how well-written the example sentence is.


7 posted on 02/08/2023 12:58:40 PM PST by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant. Never Fearful.)
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To: Red Badger

8 posted on 02/08/2023 12:59:04 PM PST by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)
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To: Yo-Yo

A crummy commercial? Son of a bitch.


9 posted on 02/08/2023 12:59:37 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Red Badger

The movie portrayed her as an innocent victim but not so fast, my friend...


10 posted on 02/08/2023 1:15:00 PM PST by AppyPappy (Biden told Al Roker "America is back". Unfortunately, he meant back to the 1970's)
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To: AppyPappy

She was complicit in a plot to overthrow Elizabeth, she knew the cost, she paid the price.....................


11 posted on 02/08/2023 1:16:53 PM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: dfwgator
Youuu a'lr Mahreh, Quehn of Sckotts? Ahy Ahm.
12 posted on 02/08/2023 1:20:10 PM PST by struggle
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To: Red Badger

“My dear de Castelnau

What is an Extended Automobile Warranty and why do I need one?”


13 posted on 02/08/2023 1:20:18 PM PST by freedumb2003 (Difference between a cow and the US Capitol 1/6 "riot:" you can only milk a cow 3 times a day)
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To: struggle

“Oh, Intercourse the Penguin!”


14 posted on 02/08/2023 1:21:05 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Red Badger

I heard a radio drama about her death once.

https://youtu.be/4FvWWlDdy9s


15 posted on 02/08/2023 1:26:36 PM PST by ifinnegan (Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: Red Badger

It might seem better to argue that Elizabeth II had been successful in a plot to dethrone Mary.


16 posted on 02/08/2023 1:26:38 PM PST by Hieronymus
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To: 21twelve

“Who but the hardy Swiss can hurl the huge 180 pound unspunnen stone 10 feet at one toss, and who but the hardy Swiss drink Ovaltine?”


17 posted on 02/08/2023 1:29:30 PM PST by TChad (Progressives are in favor of removing healthy sex organs from children. Conservatives oppose this.)
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To: struggle
Youuu a'lr Mahreh, Quehn of Sckotts? Ahy Ahm.

I've been back into Scots Gaelic on Duolingo the last 6 weeks. Getting better. The Gaelic course mixes present, past, future and conditional tenses from the start. Most of the other languages start with present tense in Duolingo. The Gaelic speech is a cut and paste from multiple speakers. No way to alter delivery speed. Last time I checked, there were around 5200 Gaelic speakers worldwide. I'm aiming to be part of that group.

18 posted on 02/08/2023 1:35:46 PM PST by Myrddin
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To: Red Badger
You are Mary Queen of Scots?


19 posted on 02/08/2023 1:45:24 PM PST by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: Red Badger

Had they only taught cursive back then.....


20 posted on 02/08/2023 1:49:32 PM PST by llevrok (Pronouns: Me/myself/& I)
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