Hugo de Moncada to Charles V, Monaco, 6 October 1524

At a glanceKey from external plaintext · complete

The letter: Hugo de Moncada to Charles V, Monaco, 6 October 1524, as the imperial army falls back from Marseille.
Where: Biblioteca Nacional de España, MSS/20213/12 (BNE Digital “Carta 9”). On DECODE as R1191, filed without an author.
The cipher: A homophonic substitution of Spanish letters, with a few code groups.
Method: A pencil note points to volume XXIV of the Colección de documentos inéditos (1854), which prints the secretariat’s decipherment. The 442 signs were transcribed and aligned with the print; the key recovered from that alignment decrypts the one gap.
What it says: The gap: Bourbon, through Monsieur de la Mota, asked Moncada que le lleuase a España, to carry him to Spain in the galleys. Everywhere else the print agrees with the cipher.
Still open: Three short code groups that the print does not give, and two signs at the end of a line.
Credit: Tomokiyo’s Cryptiana (June 2026) noted the pencil note but could not find the decipherment; the 1854 print is its source.

Four lines of Moncada's letter: clear Spanish with runs of invented cipher signs — Cipher lines 1–4. Line 2 ends with the credence the 1854 print leaves out: after *es que*, the signs read *me rogaua que le lleuase a España*; line 3 continues *diziendome muchas razones para ello. Yo le he*… Image: Biblioteca Nacional de España, MSS/20213/12 f. 1r, via DECODE R1191.

01 The letter and the print

One leaf. The recto carries the letter, with about seventeen lines in which cipher runs alternate with clear Spanish; the verso carries the close in clear and the signature Don Hugo de Moncada. The folio stamp reads “20213/12-9” and a later hand has written “Monago 6 octubre 1524” at the head. Moncada was then captain-general of the galleys, at Monaco with the fleet that had supported Bourbon’s siege of Marseille; he became viceroy of Naples only in 1527. The catalogue’s “from the viceroy of Naples” followed Tomokiyo’s gloss.

DECODE has the letter as R1191, “NLS_MSS_20213_12”, dated 1524, with no sender or receiver, symbol set “Graphic signs” and status “Decrypted”, though no decipherment is attached. The BNE Digital viewer sits behind a Cloudflare check that a script cannot pass; the DECODE images (970 × 1395 px) were used.

The left margin of the letter with a faint pencil note beside the cipher lines — The pencil note beside cipher lines 3–5: “Descifrada en t.° 24 Col. Doc. inéd.” Image: Biblioteca Nacional de España, MSS/20213/12 f. 1r, via DECODE R1191.

The 1854 editors printed the letter under the heading “Carta de D. Hugo de Moncada á Carlos V, avisándole que el ejército había llegado á Niza… Monago 6 de octubre de 1524”, from the original then in the Salazar collection (“Salazar, C. V., 1524, p. 3”). Before the cipher passage they note that it “sigue en cifra, y descifrado después de letra de la secretaría de Carlos V”, on a following leaf headed CLARO, and they mark its end “Hasta aquí la cifra”. That leaf is no longer with the letter at the BNE.

02 The cipher

Each cipher run was transcribed sign by sign from the image, deskewed and enlarged three to eight times: 442 signs in seventeen runs, 54 distinct sign forms. Each run was then aligned with the printed text by an EM aligner that lets a sign stand for a letter, two letters or nothing, and lets the encipherer skip a letter; the result was checked by hand.

It is a homophonic substitution of Spanish letters: e is written with the angle ∟ (44 times) or an upright 8 (17); a with ɼ, ƶ, 9 or A; n with ꝑ or β; s with δ, -σ or ʃ‡; t with = or ∥; u/v with ʒ. There are no syllable signs.
A double cross written after a base sign makes a different sign: ʃ is q (in ʃʒ∟ que), ʃ‡ is s or z; ƶ is a, ƶ‡ is i or y.
A few code groups are written in Latin letters: lay = yo (twice), ne = duque in “el duque de Genoua”.

The full table, with counts and proof words, is KEY.md. Moncada’s key is not the one Lope de Soria used at Genoa in 1523–24 (three-letter code groups), nor any of Kolosova’s.

03 The text

The cipher runs are in bold; cleartext is roman. The text follows the 1854 print except the marked passage, which the print left as dots and which was decrypted with the recovered key. Spelling is the letter’s.

Mossior de la Mota me es venido esta noche, que es tres oras de noche, con vna letra de crehenna, la qual sera con esta, del ‹=D·› duque de Borbon; la crehenna es que ‹P‡D› me rogaua que le lleuase a España, diziendome muchas razones para ello. Yo le he respondido que vna vez ponga el exercito de V. Md. en seguro, y que estas galeras no tienen pan para dos dias, como lo tengo escrito a V. Md., y es forçado yr a Genoua a vituallarlas, y que despues de vitualladas se ha de veer si el duque de Genoua querra dexar yr las galeras, y el visorey de Napoles las de aquel reyno, que solo quedan las de España mal en orden; y que en caso que su persona ouiese de yr, que querria que fuese fuerte, lo que siendo en Genoua yo sere con el, y que alli se entendera mas largamente sobre esto. Yo deterne esta yda por no saber en que V. Md. sera mas seruido. V. Mag. con presteza enbie a mandar lo que se ha de hazer por el. Tornando a este negocio viene muy mal contento, segun el dicho mossior de la Mota me ha significado ‹=P‡D·f›.

Translation. Monsieur de la Mota came to me tonight, at three hours of night, with a letter of credence, which goes with this, from the Duke of Bourbon. The credence is that he asked me to carry him to Spain, giving me many reasons for it. I answered that once he puts Your Majesty’s army in safety — and these galleys have no bread for two days, as I have written to Your Majesty, and must go to Genoa to be victualled, and after that it remains to be seen whether the Duke of Genoa will let his galleys go, and the viceroy of Naples those of that kingdom, since only the Spanish ones are left, in poor order — if his person is to go, I would want it to go in strength; when he is at Genoa I will be with him, and there we will discuss it at more length. I will hold back this voyage, not knowing how Your Majesty will be best served. May Your Majesty quickly send orders what is to be done for him. He comes back from this business very discontented, as the said Monsieur de la Mota has told me.

The clear parts of the letter, before and after, report that the imperial army reached Nice on 6 October, having crossed the mountain by the Genoese riviera with its artillery broken up and carried on mules; that the brigantine carrying Bourbon’s man was taken by the French at Toulon; and that Francis I was said to be at Saint-Maximin. The full text is in reading.txt.

The gap is the only content missing from the 1854 print. After the failure before Marseille, Bourbon wanted to go to Spain, to the Emperor, in Moncada’s galleys, and Moncada stalled for want of bread and orders.

The last cipher lines of the letter, ending with me ha significado and a code group — Cipher lines 13–17, from *largamente sobre esto* to *de la Mota me ha significado* and the code group *=P‡D·f*, which has no value. Image: Biblioteca Nacional de España, MSS/20213/12 f. 1r, via DECODE R1191.

04 What remains open

Three code groups, 12 signs, each once: =D· after “del” and before the ciphered “duque de Borbon”, P‡D opening the credence, and =P‡D·f after “me ha significado”. The print has no counterpart for them; they are titles or names (the Duke, the Emperor), but nothing in the letter fixes which. Graded I. Re-examined 30 Sept 2026: two of them share the element P‡D and all three contain D; P‡D stands where the subject of me rogaua would be (the Duke of Bourbon, I), but none of the three is in the key or recurs, so they stay unread.
99 at the end of cipher line 2, set apart at the margin between a España and diziendome. Re-examined on the image (30 Sept 2026): the sentence is complete without them (que le lleuase a España, diziendome muchas razones), a a makes no Spanish there, and the two signs stand apart at the right edge after the last letter of España, so they are read as line-end nulls and left out of the text above. Graded M.
Readings graded C rather than H because the scan is small: diziendome (the second sign, ʒ, is u everywhere else), para ello (six signs for eight letters) and galeras in line 8 (five signs).

Measured on the transcription: 428 of 442 cipher signs have a value (96.8%).

Full texts

The transcription and the decryption of every document on this page, so that the reading can be used and checked. Short files are shown here; all are in the repository.

R1191, BNE MSS/20213/12, Monaco, 6 Oct 1524

Hugo de Moncada, captain-general of the galleys, to Charles V from Monaco: the army has reached Nice; the state of the galleys, which have no bread; Bourbon, after the failed siege of Marseille, asks Moncada to carry him to Spain in the galleys, a passage the 1854 print (CODOIN XXIV pp. 417-419) left as a gap and that was read here with the rebuilt key.

Transcription

ct.txt

# Moncada to Charles V, Monaco 6 Oct 1524 (BNE MSS/20213/12, DECODE R1191) - cipher runs, first pass
# Transcribed from DECODE images IMG_R1191_I5941 (970 px wide; deskewed -2.7 deg). One run per line.
# Format: RUN <id> | <tokens, space separated> | <plaintext from CODOIN XXIV (1854) pp. 417-418, or ? if unprinted>
# Sign names (ASCII):
#  L  = angle (∟)            8  = upright eight         3  = z-tail (ʒ, u/v)       C  = ʒ with long tail
#  E  = sigma-like (Σ)        r  = hooked r (ɼ)          A  = A                     w  = m with o (ɱₒ)
#  s  = o with left stroke (-σ)   o = plain o / σ        n~ = -σ- (both strokes)    b  = b
#  t  = b with bar (ƀ)        6  = delta (δ)             N  = N                     g  = rho with curl (ϱ)
#  z  = 2 with stroke (ƶ)     z# = ƶ with double cross   4  = open four             H  = four with extra bar (Ɥ)
#  +  = cross                 #  = double cross (ǂ)      p  = p with bar (ꝑ)        P  = P with hash (₽)
#  D  = D-like                =  = equals                I  = double slash (∥)      T  = theta (θ)
#  x  = x with loop           X  = large x (✗)           y  = y-like                k  = ϗ
#  q  = q / 9 with descender  9  = nine                  d  = d with bar (đ)        m# = m with double cross
#  S  = ʃ (long-s hook)       S# = ʃ with double cross   g# = ϱ with double cross   f  = long f with bar
#  2  = two                   U  = U-like                h  = h-like                Y  = not-equal (≠)
#  Q# = delta-triangle with double cross                  V  = lambda-like (λ)       c  = c
RUN 1  | = D . 4 3 # x z 6 L + H E o q p | ?
RUN 2a | P # D | ?
RUN 2  | b 8 E q m# 9 k 4 S 3 f x L N g z c 6 8 L 4 8 s w A n~ r 9 9 f# 3 S# z# L p # H b L t 3 C q r S# E r g# o b L 6 w z# E 8 N H H 4 # L T g | me rogaua que le lleuase a españa .... diziendome muchas razones para ello yo le he
RUN 3  | E L s w 4 p # z# 6 b S 3 L k p r 3 L S# w 4 p m# z 8 x L Y 8 E z z# = 4 H L | respondido que una vez ponga el exercito de
RUN 4  | V u b d 9 m# L 6 I c o 8 b s L m# 3 # E H H # 3 L 8 6 = z S# o r # L o z S# b 4 | vra magestad en seguro y que estas galeras no
RUN 5  | I z# L p 8 # w 9 p | tienen pan
RUN 6  | 6 z# Q# ne # 8 m# L p 4 3 z # 3 L E z 6 L y r E H o 4 A 6 S# 3 H r s h L x | si el duque de genoua querra dexar yr las galeras y el
RUN 7  | k z# 6 H E L z# f L p 9 w 4 + L 6 # r s H L z # L x E L H p H S 3 L 6 H + H | visorey de napoles las de aquel reyno que solo
RUN 8  | q 3 L # r p X r s T 8 L 6 w z p A d r + L p m 3 H # 3 L 8 b C r 6 H S 3 L | quedan las de españa mal en orden y que en caso que
RUN 9  | s 3 w L o 6 q b r q 3 4 z# L 6 8 4 L H o # 3 8 S k E U r # 3 L 2 3 8 6 L m# 3 L E | su persona ouiese de yr que querria que fuese fuer
RUN 10 | = 8 | te
RUN 11 | lay s L E 8 f 4 p L x H # 3 L z N # | yo sere con el y que alli
RUN 12 | X z o s m# A d L p I L 6 H + E L 8 s = H lay H L I 8 E p L 8 6 I r | largamente sobre esto yo deterne esta
RUN 13 | H H z w 4 E p b s z 4 L o | yda por no saber
RUN 14 | w 4 E L x = q c z p e 9 z L 6 I 8 q L m# b C z# 9 3 H L p 8 b 3 z# t z # # o H p z L b I H | por el tornando a este negocio viene muy mal contento
RUN 15 | b 3 6 H H E H X z t q = z | monsiur de la mota
RUN 16 | = P # D . f | ?

Transcription

ct_tokens.txt

= D . 4 3 # x z 6 L + H E o q p
P # D
b 8 E q m# 9 k 4 S 3 f x L N g z c 6 8 L 4 8 s w A n~ r 9 9 f# 3 S# z# L p # H b L t 3 C q r S# E r g# o b L 6 w z# E 8 N H H 4 # L T g
E L s w 4 p # z# 6 b S 3 L k p r 3 L S# w 4 p m# z 8 x L Y 8 E z z# = 4 H L
V u b d 9 m# L 6 I c o 8 b s L m# 3 # E H H # 3 L 8 6 = z S# o r # L o z S# b 4
I z# L p 8 # w 9 p
6 z# Q# ne # 8 m# L p 4 3 z # 3 L E z 6 L y r E H o 4 A 6 S# 3 H r s h L x
k z# 6 H E L z# f L p 9 w 4 + L 6 # r s H L z # L x E L H p H S 3 L 6 H + H
q 3 L # r p X r s T 8 L 6 w z p A d r + L p m 3 H # 3 L 8 b C r 6 H S 3 L
s 3 w L o 6 q b r q 3 4 z# L 6 8 4 L H o # 3 8 S k E U r # 3 L 2 3 8 6 L m# 3 L E
= 8
lay s L E 8 f 4 p L x H # 3 L z N #
X z o s m# A d L p I L 6 H + E L 8 s = H lay H L I 8 E p L 8 6 I r
H H z w 4 E p b s z 4 L o
w 4 E L x = q c z p e 9 z L 6 I 8 q L m# b C z# 9 3 H L p 8 b 3 z# t z # # o H p z L b I H
b 3 6 H H E H X z t q = z
= P # D . f

Decryption

reading.txt

Hugo de Moncada to Charles V, Monaco, 6 October 1524
BNE MSS/20213/12 (BNE Digital "Carta 9"; DECODE R1191), 1 leaf, 2 pages. Original, signed.

Clear text in plain type. Cipher runs between {braces}. Code groups left as signs in <angle brackets>.
Readings from the cipher follow CODOIN XXIV (1854) pp. 417-419 except where marked [here], which the 1854 print
left out (its "....") or never printed. Spelling of the cipher runs normalised lightly; u/v and i/y as in the letter.

S. C. C. Mt.

Despues de auer escrito la de 5 del presente y no auer hecho tiempo al bergantin para se partir, es llegado el campo
de V. Md. a Nica oy, que son seys del dicho mes, de donde me escriuen que pasara la montaña por la ribera de Genoua
el otro dia siguiente sin auer auido ningun ympedimiento. La artilleria que trayan la hizieron pedaços y la traen
encima de azemilas. El rey de Francia dize que ha estado en Sant Maxemin, pero no se sabe de cierto.

El bergantin que venia en compañia del que se tomo por franceses, en el qual venia el del duque de Borbon, que no se
hallaua, aporto en Tolon pensando que estaua por V. Md., de manera que amos a dos han aportado en manos de franceses;
y asi me ha sido referido.

Mossior de la Mota me es venido esta noche, que es tres oras de noche, con vna letra de crehenna, la qual sera con
esta, del <=D.> {duque de Borbon}; la crehenna es que <P#D> {me rogaua que le lleuase a España [here], <99 = line-end nulls, 30 Sept 2026>
diziendome [here] muchas razones para ello. Yo le he respondido que vna vez ponga el exercito de V. Md. en seguro,
y que estas galeras no tienen pan} para dos dias, como lo tengo escrito a V. Md., y es forçado yr a Genoua a
vituallarlas, y que despues de vitualladas se ha de veer {si el duque de Genoua querra dexar yr las galeras, y el
visorey de Napoles las de aquel reyno, que solo quedan las de España mal en orden; y que en caso que su persona
ouiese de yr, que querria que fuese fuerte}, lo que siendo en Genoua {yo sere con el, y que alli} se entendera mas
{largamente sobre esto. Yo deterne esta yda por no saber} en que V. Md. sera mas seruido. V. Mag. con presteza enbie
a mandar lo que se ha de hazer {por el. Tornando a este negocio viene muy mal contento}, segun el dicho {mossior de
la Mota} me ha significado <=P#D.f>.

Siendo el tiempo bueno para el bergantin para que se parta, no he esperado letras del duque de Borbon ni marques de
Pescara, pues los onbres suyos que aqui quedan no han querido yr con el. S. C. C. Mt., Dios nuestro Señor guarde y
ensalçe la real persona y estado de V. Md. por muy largos tiempos como V. Md. lo dessea. De Monago, 6 de otubre 1524.

De V. S. C. C. Mt. esclauo y seruidor que sus reales pies y manos besa,
Don Hugo de Moncada

Open: the three code groups <=D.>, <P#D>, <=P#D.f> (12 signs; each occurs once in this letter, no key; the first
stands where CODOIN prints "duque", the others have no counterpart in the print) and <99> (2 signs at the end of
cipher line 2, set apart at the margin: either "a a" or nulls).

Decryption: codoin_1854b.txt

Translation

reading_en.md

# Hugo de Moncada to Charles V, Monaco, 6 October 1524 (BNE MSS/20213/12, DECODE R1191): English translation

Translation (Claude Opus 5.5, 23 Oct 2026) of `reading.txt`: the clear letter with the cipher runs (in {braces}, as
there), read after CODOIN XXIV (1854) except where marked [here], which the print left out. Same marks: `<…>` code
groups left as signs (each occurs once; no key), `<99>` two signs at a line end, probably nulls. Spanish.

## Translation

Sacred Caesarean Catholic Majesty.

After having written that of the 5th of this month, and the weather not having served for the brigantine to leave,
Your Majesty's army has arrived at Nice today, which is the sixth of the said month, from where they write to me that
it passed the mountain by the Riviera of Genoa the following day without having had any hindrance. The artillery they
were bringing they broke into pieces and are carrying on the backs of mules. The King of France is said to have been
at Saint-Maximin, but it is not known for certain.

The brigantine which was coming in company with the one taken by the French, in which the Duke of Bourbon's [man] was
coming, who could not be found, put in at Toulon thinking it was held for Your Majesty, so that both of them have
fallen into the hands of the French; and so it has been reported to me.

Monsieur de La Motte came to me tonight, at three hours of the night, with a letter of credence, which will be with
this, from the <=D.> {Duke of Bourbon}; the credence is that <P#D> {he begged me to carry him to Spain [here], <99>
giving me [here] many reasons for it. I have answered him that, once he puts Your Majesty's army in safety, and that
these galleys have no bread} for two days, as I have written to Your Majesty, and it is necessary to go to Genoa to
victual them, and that after they are victualled it must be seen {whether the Duke of Genoa will be willing to let the
galleys go, and the Viceroy of Naples those of that kingdom, for only those of Spain remain, in bad order; and that,
in case his person had to go, I would want it to be strong}; which being at Genoa, {I shall be with him, and there}
it will be dealt with more {at length. I shall hold back this journey because I do not know} in what Your Majesty will
be best served. Let Your Majesty send orders with speed of what is to be done {for him. Turning to this business, he
is coming very ill content}, as the said {Monsieur de La Motte} has given me to understand <=P#D.f>.

The weather being good for the brigantine to leave, I have not waited for letters from the Duke of Bourbon or the
Marquis of Pescara, since their men who stay here have not been willing to go with him. Sacred Caesarean Catholic
Majesty, may God our Lord keep and exalt Your Majesty's royal person and estate for very long times, as Your Majesty
desires. From Monaco, 6 October 1524.

Of Your Sacred Caesarean Catholic Majesty the slave and servant who kisses your royal feet and hands,
Don Hugo de Moncada

Key: KEY.md

05 Sources

Biblioteca Nacional de España, MSS/20213/12; BNE Digital viewer 8b55d967…; DECODE R1191 (images 1–2).
Colección de documentos inéditos para la historia de España, vol. XXIV (Madrid 1854), pp. 417–419, “Carta de D. Hugo de Moncada á Carlos V… Monago 6 de octubre de 1524”; Internet Archive.
S. Tomokiyo, Cryptiana, Spanish ciphers of Charles V’s time (entry of 8 June 2026).

Transcription, alignment, key, reading and profile are in targets/moncada1524/.

Hugo de Moncada to Charles V, Monaco 1524