George Lasry’s decipherment
George Lasry’s report on this item, as he sent it on 24 October 2026 (PDF), in its own order and wording. The decipherment, the translation and the reconstruction of the key are his, made with ChatGPT Astra 6 and Anthropic Opus 5.5. This project’s own checks follow under Verification.
Français 2933
Contents: Salviati discusses restoration of possession and imperial territory, defence and government of the state, nobles and people, captains and guards, the archbishop of Toledo, Modena, and correspondence sent by land and sea.
2/8 pages transcribed; 1 more in part; 3/8 pages deciphered in part
- Ciphertext-only:
- Yes
- Sender:
- Giovanni, cardinal Salviati
- Recipient:
- Not established
- Year:
- 16 October 1525
- Key:
- 78 symbols: 18 letters, 54 syllables, 3 doubled letters, 3 words
- Ciphertext:
- 838 elements, 704 identified; 2 further groups with unresolved boundaries; transcription incomplete

Excerpt and Translation
f54r — complete lines 13–15

Excerpt
e bisogniera trovare qualche modo [?] Pure a me pare che l’essere restituita la possessione basti [?] maxime. Stando ancora le cose [?] di Modena [?] come stanno hora, V.S.…
Translation
and it will be necessary to find some way [?] Yet it seems to me that having possession restored should suffice [?] especially with matters [?] of Modena [?] still as they now stand, Your Lordship…
Readable text
The full text, folio by folio, as in the report. Bold marks the passages deciphered from the cipher; the rest is the clear text of the letter. Question marks are the report’s: [?] or a bare ? for a sign or group left unread, a ? after a word for a doubtful reading.
Français 2933
f54r
[?]io[?]pa[?]io questo corriere per fare intendere al[?]la buona mente de lo[?]et la voluntà di adempire[?] tutto quello che Sua Santità desidera [?]et stabilire uno a[c]ordo et unione perpetua tra l’uno et l’altro et[?]
Più volte mi ha scritto et dice [?]una fede indissolubile[?]tra[?]e et fe[?]liuole et promettono la restitu[?]one di re[?]ione la quale pero el vicere voleva mettere scrupolo[?] Con la venuta di nuovo secondo messer [?][?]e contenta restituire la possessio[?]a[?]la[?]perio[?]rità chepretende per essere terra i[m]periale le[?]a[?]le[?]neel[?]ramento de lo[?]del[?]a la[?]nire terra d’imperioe bisogniera trovare qualche modo[?]
Pure a me pare che l’essere restituita la possessione basti[?]
Stando ancora le cose [?]di Modena[?] come stanno hora Vostra Signoria ricordi quello che gli parrà. È piaciuto a Sua Maestà el ricordo di Sua Santità [?]mancasse et la proposta[?]li[?]a[?] Contentasi pure [?]di[?]r[?]ni conforme a[?] la oppinione di Sua Santità et desidera in tal caso che Nostro Signore [?]prometta la de
f54v
fensione del suo stato[?]a promess[?]per il duca pre[?]nte[?]se e ni[?]manderà presto et il[?]cere[?]a ricordi[?]di fare uno stato di che partecipino e nobili etil populo et tu[t]ti e monti et che per la stabilità de[?]so[?]metta el capitano de la pia[?]con la guardia et unocapitano di gente d’arme confidente che dependi di[?][?]
Et no gli piac[?] metter[?] el[?]vernitore[?] costoro [?]
[?]
f55r
[?]
f55v
[?]
Sua Maestà è restata satisfatta per quello che li ho fatto intendere per parte di Sua Santità.
[?]
f56r
[?]
f56v
[?]
Vostra Signoria mi risponda la oppinione di Sua Santità. La prima parte mi piace [?]. Questa mattina è stato con me molto a lungo el gran Cancelliere et habbiamo [?].
f57r
[?]
f57v
lui Et prometto a Vostra Signoria [?]saremo mai più a[?][?]a[?]re queste[?]e[?]e et[?]spett[?]i[?] [?]tutto quelo che di sopra[?]o detto de lo arcivescovo di Toledo fu scripto avanti la venuta dele[?]devontiche[?]rlane dela le[?]otimatione di rolli che bisogna che pense a[?]fare[?]lli altru[?]i[?]
Et buona [?]. XVI ottobre 1525.
Jo. Cardinalis de Salviatis.
[?]canceliere poi che se è scriptoet se[?]iltto intendere dubitare che l[?]sb[?]a[?]potrà[?]are per terra sicuro[?]essendo[?]in[?]inteso la rottura di mada[?]di lanson et la pratica delo a[c]ordo tagliata però se manderà per mare[?]
Et non bisognava che Vostra Signoria li facci pagare li [?] più perchè l'habbiamo contentato qui ; ma faccelo già diligentia? Vostra Signoria gli dia el beveraggio [?]domani manderò per terrael duplicato di questa[?].
La prima è stata suggellata dua volte.
At a glanceCiphertext-only break · partial (76% of the cipher)
- The letter
- Giovanni, cardinal Salviati, 16 October 1525, in Italian; the recipient is not established, though the heading reads “Rdo Dno Lang. Ptri”.
- Where
- BnF Français 2933, f. 54r among others, via Gallica.
- The cipher
- A key of 78 symbols: 18 letters, 54 syllables, 3 doubled letters and 3 words.
- How it was read
- George Lasry recovered the key from the ciphertext alone. This project did not re-solve it: one sample on f. 54r was checked against the Gallica image and partly confirmed.
- What it says
- The excerpt discusses getting possession restored and the state of matters at Modena.
- Credit
- The result is George Lasry’s, from his BnF cipher research report of 10 October 2026 (p. 31).
- Still open
- The report has 2 of 8 pages transcribed and 3 of 8 deciphered in part, with 704 of 838 elements identified; the recipient is not established.
01 Verification
Spot-check against the manuscript
This result is George Lasry’s. This project did not re-solve the cipher: it checked one sample against the Gallica image and recorded what it found.
- Batch A. Image checked: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b90600674/f55.item
- Folio matches the report: yes; cipher present: yes
- What we checked: f54r: interleaved clear words "Pure a me pare ... maxime. Stando ancora le cose ... come stanno hora" match his L13-15 excerpt; cipher sign after "pare" = H-10 = "che" per his key, consistent with "che l essere"; longer cipher run not decoded
- Verdict: partly confirmed (method key recovered from ciphertext-only, extent partial). The check is a sample, not a re-solution.
- Notes: Opening reads "Rdo Dno Lang. Ptri" - recipient looks named (Langeac?/Langi?), though he says not established. 704/838 identified, 3/8 pages in part.
Notes and corrections
The recipient is in the heading: the letter opens "Rdo Dno Lang. Ptri". The report says the recipient is not established.
How much reads (24 October 2026). Lasry’s full readable text is now on this page. It measures 80.9% of words read as sense (75.8% in the deciphered passages alone): f54r–f54v build sentences with holes between the deciphered runs, and ff55r–57r are mostly unread (his report: 2/8 pages transcribed, 3/8 deciphered in part). Partial. His 704 of 838 elements identified is key coverage, not a reading figure.
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.
George Lasry's decipherment (report PDF, 24 Oct 2026) read in part
Cardinal Giovanni Salviati, 16 October 1525, to a recipient Lasry leaves not established. Salviati discusses restoration of possession and imperial territory, defence and government of the state, nobles and people, captains and guards, the archbishop of Toledo, Modena, and correspondence sent by land and sea.
Builds coherent sentences, but under the read bar of 95% of words read as sense (81% here); the holes are marked in the reading.
Decryption: in full above, in George Lasry’s decipherment (readable.md)
Reading: in full above, in George Lasry’s decipherment (readable.md)
Translation: in full above, in George Lasry’s decipherment (translation_excerpt.md)
02 Sources
- George Lasry, with ChatGPT Astra 6 and Anthropic Opus 5.5, BnF cipher research, 10 October 2026 (sent to Daniel Bourdeau on 13 October 2026 for publication here), p. 31; his other items are listed on his contributor card.
- The working folder:
targets/salviati1525/(his entry as extracted from the report, our spot-check,profile.json).