At a glanceExisting decipherment · complete
- The letter
- The postscript (“P. S.”) of a letter to a “Most Reverend Father”, written by someone in the service of a “Celsissimus Princeps” after the death of Şerban Cantacuzino, Prince of Wallachia, on 29 October 1688. Three pages, unsigned and undated; the main letter is not with it.
- Where
- PAN Biblioteka Kórnicka, BK 1560 (a volume partly from the archive of Jan Szembek), item “List zaszyfrowany” (“encrypted letter”), Wielkopolska Digital Library edition 343124. Our catalogue had it as an early-18th-century letter from an unknown sender to the Szembek family.
- The cipher
- Single letters replaced by two-digit numbers from 12 to 51 in a mixed order, one number per letter, with a separate number for the ae diphthong. It is used for single words inside clear Latin, often with the ending left in clear. Two three-digit code groups occur.
- How it was deciphered
- A second hand wrote the plain word above every cipher run but one. The key was rebuilt from those glosses (22 numbers, no conflicts). Deciphering each run with the key alone reproduces the gloss, apart from the writer’s own slips.
- What it says
- The writer protests that his side has kept faith while “some Christians” broke their promises. He calls Dunod an “impostor and detractor” who led the late Prince Şerban astray, and reports that a certain Gegenbey was killed and his head sent as a gift.
- Still open
- One code group, 202, which has no gloss, and the clear word before it. The writer’s prince and the recipient are not named.
01 The document
BK 1560 is a 150-leaf miscellany of papers from 1694 to 1731, partly from the archive of Jan Szembek, Crown Chancellor of Poland. The Wielkopolska Digital Library has split it into about a hundred items. One of them, “List zaszyfrowany”, is three pages foliated 40–41 in an old hand. It sits among letters to Szembek of 1730–31, which is probably why it was taken for an 18th-century Szembek letter. The text begins “P. S.” and ends at the foot of the third page without a signature. The letter it belongs to is not in the item.
The postscript is in clear Latin, but about seventy words are written in numbers and struck through with a line. Above each run a second hand, in lighter brown ink, wrote what it means.
02 The cipher
Each letter has one two-digit number. The table is not in alphabetical order (a = 17, b = 29, c = 42, d = 43, e = 14), so it was mixed on purpose. There are no homophones and no nulls. The writer spells ae as a separate number, 15, and e as 14. He leaves y in clear and often writes the end of a word in clear letters, so “25 er 40 46 43 13” is perfido and “42 13 50 25 er 20 17” is comperta.
| a | b | c | d | e | ae | f | g | h | i | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u/v | x |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 29 | 42 | 43 | 14 | 15 | 40 | 41 | 44 | 46 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 13 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 21 | 20 | 12 | 19 |
Two groups have three digits. 203, followed by the clear ending -is, is glossed Literis, so the key had a short code list for words. 202 has no gloss.
In all there are 436 two-digit cipher numbers in 70 runs, plus the two code groups and one heavily struck single digit.
03 The reading
Words in cipher in the original are in italics. The reading is the contemporary gloss, confirmed number by number with the rebuilt key; where the two differ, the note under section 05 says which is right.
P. S. Ip[sis] Literis scripta grato animo, tam Celsissimus Princeps (qui R[everendi]ssimam D[omi]nationem debita veneratur salutatione) quam ego et alii, quibus convenit, amplexi sumus. Et sicut hactenus syncere in omnibus processimus, ita et nunc secundum rectam Christianam conscientiam procedimus et procedemus, quamvis aliqui Christiani non ita se gerant et nobiscum procedant, uti promiserant, et multis modis nos solicitaverant. Sed hoc remittimus ad divinam Justitiam et Providentiam, quae omnia scit et videt. Oh! D[omi]ne mi R[everendi]ssime Pater, si audiret quanta et qualia, ac quibus modis impostor et Detractor ille et sine conscientia Burgundus Antidius Dunod, importunitate et garrulitate in mundo nemini secundus, cum addicto suo socio, perfido ac proditore, Damis(?) sub [202], nobis et isti afflictae patriae causavit, ac illum piae memoriae defunctum Principem Serbanum seduxit: quorum mendaciis et deceptionibus, pulchris verbis obvolutis, credens, et consilia omnium aliorum respuens, in grandes nos et istam miseram patriam intricavit difficultates.
O si intelligeretis promissiones quas ab illa aula defuncto Principi adducebant, et hinc ducebant, quae nunc propter illorum iniquas delationes plura falsa sunt comperta. Profecto quaedam ad risum moverent, quaedam admirationem causarent, quaedam vero prae pudore silentio obvolvi deberent. Deus iustissimus secundum opera et conscientiam illorum de ipsis vindictam sumat.
De Gegenbeio sciat, quod per fraudes unius sui falsi amici ab aliquo iam tempore occisus, eiusque caput in vim honorarii missum. Sed ipsius Gegenbeii socius, nomine Gityk, plus quam ille de facto in oriente operatur.
Translation. P.S. The letter written in your own hand was received with a grateful heart, both by His Highness the Prince (who salutes Your Most Reverend Lordship with due veneration) and by me and the others whom it concerned. As we have so far proceeded sincerely in everything, so now too we proceed, and will proceed, according to a right Christian conscience. Some Christians, however, do not behave so and do not proceed with us as they had promised and as they had urged us in many ways. But this we leave to divine Justice and Providence, which knows and sees all things. Oh, my Lord, Most Reverend Father, if you heard how great and what kind of things, and by what means, that impostor and detractor did to us and to this afflicted country: the Burgundian Antidius Dunod, without conscience, second to none in the world for importunity and chatter, with his devoted companion, a perfidious traitor […]. He led astray that Prince of pious memory, the late Şerban, who believed their lies and deceptions wrapped in fine words, rejected the counsel of all others, and entangled us and this wretched country in great difficulties.
O if you understood the promises they brought from that court to the late Prince and carried back from here! Through their wicked reports, most of them have now been found false. Truly, some would move one to laughter, some would cause wonder, and some ought to be wrapped in silence for shame. May God most just take vengeance on them according to their works and their conscience.
Of Gegenbey, know that some time ago he was killed through the treachery of a false friend of his, and his head was sent as a gift. But this Gegenbey’s companion, named Gityk, is in fact more active in the East than he was.
04 Who and when
“Burgundus Antidius Dunod” is Antide Dunod, a Jesuit from Franche-Comté (the County of Burgundy). With Count László Csáky he was Emperor Leopold I’s envoy to Bucharest in 1687–1688, pressing Şerban Cantacuzino to break with the Ottomans and join the Holy League. “Defunctum Principem Serbanum” is Şerban himself, who died on 29 October 1688, so the postscript was written after that date. “Illa aula”, the court whose promises proved false, is then Vienna.
The letter does not name the living “Celsissimus Princeps”. Speaking of “this wretched country” after Şerban’s death points to his successor in Wallachia, Constantin Brâncoveanu (1688–1714), but that is an inference, as is any date closer than “after October 1688”. Gegenbey, Gityk and the “Most Reverend Father” were not identified. How the paper reached the Szembek archive in Poland is not known.
05 Method, and where cipher and gloss differ
The item was found in the WBC structure of BK 1560. Its three DjVu pages were downloaded and decoded with the DjVu.js library. Every run and its gloss was transcribed from full-resolution crops (runs.tsv). A script aligned each run with its gloss where the lengths agree and collected the number–letter pairs: 22 numbers, each with a single letter. It then deciphered every run with that key alone. 61 of the 70 runs match their gloss letter for letter. The nine others:
- 203is: the code group, glossed Literis.
- gerant, solicitaverant, Gegenbeio, Gegenbeii: the numbers spell these; the glosser wrote gerent, sollicitaverant, Gergenbeio, Gergenbeii.
- de-functsm: the writer put 21 (s) for 12 (u).
- pricipem: the writer left out 51 (n) in Principem.
- defunct: the final o of defuncto is not written.
- audi?et: a heavily struck digit (20 or 23) stands where the gloss has the r of audiret.
None of these is a key conflict: the key and the contemporary gloss give the same text.
06 What remains uncertain
- 202: a code group with no gloss. It follows a clear word read here as “Damis” (the first letter is D or P), which is itself uncertain; the phrase probably names Dunod’s companion or the damage he did. A cross in the margin marks the line. Open.
- The struck digit in audi?et: its value is r by the gloss and the sense (H). The final letter of the blotted run in intricavit (12 or 27) reads v by the key and the gloss (H).
- The identification of the writer’s prince as Brâncoveanu (M), and the persons Gegenbey and Gityk (unidentified).
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.
BK 1560 'List zaszyfrowany', Latin cipher postscript, after Oct 1688
A writer in the service of a 'Celsissimus Princeps' (most likely Constantin Brâncoveanu) thanks a 'Reverendissimus Pater', protests the Wallachian side's sincerity against imperial broken promises, and denounces Antide Dunod as an impostor who misled the late Prince Şerban Cantacuzino; he adds that Gegenbey was killed by a false friend's treachery.
Transcription
# Cipher runs of "List zaszyfrowany", Biblioteka Kórnicka BK 1560 (WBC edition 343124), DjVu pages 065-067. # Transcribed here from the scans, 28 Sept 2026. One row per cipher run. # Columns: folio tokens interlinear gloss (contemporary hand, brown ink; "-" = none) note # Tokens: two-digit numbers are cipher; lower-case letters and "us", "ens" etc. are clear endings the writer left # uncoded; a three-digit number is a code group. "?" marks a doubtful digit. 65 203 is Literis 3-digit code group + clear ending 65 42 14 49 21 46 21 21 46 50 12 21 Celsissimus 65 25 23 46 51 42 14 25 21 Princeps line break after 51 65 24 ui qui 65 14 41 13 ego 65 17 49 46 46 alii 65 42 13 51 12 e 51 46 20 convenit 65 17 m 25 49 e 19 46 amplexi 65 21 y 51 42 e 23 e syncere 65 25 23 13 42 e 21 21 46 50 us processimus line break after 21 65 23 14 42 20 17 50 rectam line break after 14 65 42 44 23 46 21 20 46 17 51 17 50 Christianam 65 42 13 51 21 42 46 en 20 46 17 50 conscientiam 65 25 23 13 42 e 43 46 50 12 21 procedimus line break after e 65 25 23 13 42 14 43 14 mus procedemus gloss written "et procedemus"; "et" is clear 65 42 44 23 46 21 20 46 17 ni Christiani 65 41 14 23 17 51 20 gerent cipher spells gerant 65 51 13 29 46 21 42 u 50 nobiscum line break after 46 65 25 23 13 42 14 43 ant procedant 65 50 46 21 14 23 17 51 20 miserant after clear "uti ꝓ" (pro-): promiserant 65 51 13 21 nos 65 21 13 49 46 42 46 20 17 12 14 rant sollicitaverant cipher spells solicitaverant 65 50 12 21 mus remitti-mus 65 13 44 Oh 65 17 12 43 46 2? et audiret the digit after the line break is 20 or 23, heavily struck 66 43 14 20 23 17 42 20 13 23 Detractor 66 29 12 23 41 12 51 43 us Burgundus 66 17 51 20 46 43 46 12 21 Antidius 66 43 12 51 13 43 Dunod 66 25 er 40 46 43 13 perfido line break after er 66 25 23 13 43 46 20 13 23 14 proditore 66 202 - code group, no gloss; a "+" stands in the margin of this line 66 51 13 29 46 21 nobis 66 46 21 20 46 isti line break after 21 66 25 17 20 23 46 15 patriae gloss written "patria" 66 25 46 15 piae gloss written "pie" 66 m 14 m 13 23 46 15 memoriae gloss written "memorie" 66 40 12 51 42 20 21 m functum de- is clear at line end; 21 (s) written for 12 (u) 66 25 23 46 42 46 25 14 m Principem line break after 46; no 51 (n) written 66 21 14 23 29 17 51 12 m Serbanum 66 21 14 43 12 19 46 20 seduxit line break after 14 66 43 14 42 14 25 20 46 13 51 46 29 us deceptionibus line break after 14 66 13 29 12 13 49 12 tis obvolutis 66 42 23 14 43 ens credens 66 42 13 51 21 46 49 46 17 consilia gloss written "et consilia"; "et" is clear 66 23 14 21 25 12 ens respuens 66 51 13 21 nos 66 50 46 21 14 23 17 50 miseram 66 25 17 20 23 46 17 50 patriam line break after 46 66 46 51 20 23 46 42 17 12? it intricavit last sign blotted: 12 or 27, then clear "it" 66 43 46 40 40 46 42 12 49 20 17 tes difficultates line break after 40 66 46 51 20 e 49 49 46 41 eretis intelligeretis line break after 49; f. 67 repeats "49 46 41 eretis" as catchword (counted once) 67 25 23 13 50 46 21 21 46 13 nes promissiones 67 17 12 49 17 aula 67 43 14 40 12 51 42 20 defuncto final o not enciphered (or 20 read as 10) 67 25 23 46 51 42 46 25 46 Principi 67 44 46 51 42 hinc 67 43 14 49 17 20 46 13 nes delationes 67 40 17 49 21 17 falsa 67 42 13 50 25 er 20 17 comperta line break after er 67 12 46 51 43 46 42 20 17 50 vindictam 67 21 12 50 17 20 sumat line break after 12 67 41 14 41 14 51 29 e 46 13 Gergenbeio cipher spells Gegenbeio 67 13 42 42 46 21 12 21 occisus 67 42 17 25 12 20 caput 67 44 13 51 13 23 17 23 46 46 honorarii line break after 13 67 41 14 41 14 n 29 14 46 46 Gergenbeii cipher spells Gegenbeii; line break after 14 67 41 46 20 y 48 Gityk line break after 46 67 13 23 46 en 20 14 oriente line break after 46 67 13 25 e 23 a 20 12 23 operatur
Transcription
# cipher runs of the Szembek-papers postscript, from runs.tsv (tokens only; clear endings kept) 203 is 42 14 49 21 46 21 21 46 50 12 21 25 23 46 51 42 14 25 21 24 ui 14 41 13 17 49 46 46 42 13 51 12 e 51 46 20 17 m 25 49 e 19 46 21 y 51 42 e 23 e 25 23 13 42 e 21 21 46 50 us 23 14 42 20 17 50 42 44 23 46 21 20 46 17 51 17 50 42 13 51 21 42 46 en 20 46 17 50 25 23 13 42 e 43 46 50 12 21 25 23 13 42 14 43 14 mus 42 44 23 46 21 20 46 17 ni 41 14 23 17 51 20 51 13 29 46 21 42 u 50 25 23 13 42 14 43 ant 50 46 21 14 23 17 51 20 51 13 21 21 13 49 46 42 46 20 17 12 14 rant 50 12 21 13 44 17 12 43 46 2 et 43 14 20 23 17 42 20 13 23 29 12 23 41 12 51 43 us 17 51 20 46 43 46 12 21 43 12 51 13 43 25 er 40 46 43 13 25 23 13 43 46 20 13 23 14 202 51 13 29 46 21 46 21 20 46 25 17 20 23 46 15 25 46 15 m 14 m 13 23 46 15 40 12 51 42 20 21 m 25 23 46 42 46 25 14 m 21 14 23 29 17 51 12 m 21 14 43 12 19 46 20 43 14 42 14 25 20 46 13 51 46 29 us 13 29 12 13 49 12 tis 42 23 14 43 ens 42 13 51 21 46 49 46 17 23 14 21 25 12 ens 51 13 21 50 46 21 14 23 17 50 25 17 20 23 46 17 50 46 51 20 23 46 42 17 12 it 43 46 40 40 46 42 12 49 20 17 tes 46 51 20 e 49 49 46 41 eretis 25 23 13 50 46 21 21 46 13 nes 17 12 49 17 43 14 40 12 51 42 20 25 23 46 51 42 46 25 46 44 46 51 42 43 14 49 17 20 46 13 nes 40 17 49 21 17 42 13 50 25 er 20 17 12 46 51 43 46 42 20 17 50 21 12 50 17 20 41 14 41 14 51 29 e 46 13 13 42 42 46 21 12 21 42 17 25 12 20 44 13 51 13 23 17 23 46 46 41 14 41 14 n 29 14 46 46 41 46 20 y 48 13 23 46 en 20 14 13 25 e 23 a 20 12 23
Decryption
# Reading: Latin cipher letter in the Szembek papers (Biblioteka Kórnicka BK 1560, WBC "List zaszyfrowany")
Clear text in roman; words that stand in cipher in the original are in *italics*. Every cipher run is deciphered
with the key in `key.tsv` (rebuilt from the contemporary interlinear glosses and checked run by run by
`decode.py`). Abbreviations are expanded in square brackets. `[202]` is the one code group that has no gloss.
Line and page breaks follow the manuscript (f. 65 = WBC image 065, and so on; the leaf is foliated "1. 40" / "2." "41"
in the top corner).
## f. 65 (WBC 065)
P. S. Ip[sis] *Literis* scripta grato animo, tam *Celsissimus Princeps* (qui R[everendi]ssimam D[omi]nationem
debita veneratur salutatione) quam *ego* et *alii*, quibus *convenit*, *amplexi* sumus. Et sicut hactenus *syncere*
in omnibus *processimus*, ita et nunc secundum *rectam Christianam conscientiam procedimus* et *procedemus*,
quamvis aliqui *Christiani* non ita se *gerant* et *nobiscum procedant*, uti pro*miserant*, et multis modis *nos
solicitaverant*. Sed hoc remitti*mus* ad divinam Justitiam et Providentiam, quae omnia scit et videt. *Oh!* D[omi]ne
mi R[everendi]ssime Pater, si *audiret* quanta et qualia, ac quibus modis
## f. 66 (WBC 066)
impostor et *Detractor* ille et sine conscientia *Burgundus Antidius Dunod*, importunitate et garrulitate in mundo
nemini secundus, cum addicto suo socio, *perfido ac proditore*, Damis(?) sub [202], *nobis et isti* afflictae
*patriae* causavit, ac illum *piae memoriae* de*functum Principem Serbanum seduxit*: quorum mendaciis et
*deceptionibus*, pulchris verbis *obvolutis*, *credens*, et *consilia* omnium aliorum *respuens*, in grandes *nos* et
istam *miseram patriam intricavit difficultates*. O si *intelligeretis*
## f. 67 (WBC 067)
*promissiones* quas ab illa *aula defuncto Principi* adducebant, et *hinc* ducebant, quae nunc propter illorum
iniquas *delationes* plura *falsa* sunt *comperta*. Profecto quaedam ad risum moverent, quaedam admirationem
causarent, quaedam vero prae pudore silentio obvolvi deberent. Deus iustissimus secundum opera et conscientiam
illorum de ipsis *vindictam sumat*.
De *Gegenbeio* sciat, quod per fraudes unius sui falsi amici ab aliquo iam tempore *occisus*, eiusque *caput* in vim
*honorarii* missum. Sed ipsius *Gegenbeii* socius, nomine *Gityk*, plus quam ille de facto in *oriente operatur*.
(The text breaks off here: the leaf is the end of the item in the WBC edition; no signature, date or address.)
## Translation
P.S. The letter written in your own hand was received with a grateful heart, both by His Highness the Prince (who
salutes Your Most Reverend Lordship with due veneration) and by me and the others whom it concerned. And as we have
so far proceeded sincerely in everything, so now too we proceed, and will proceed, according to a right Christian
conscience, although some Christians do not behave so and do not proceed with us as they had promised and had urged
us in many ways. But this we leave to divine Justice and Providence, which knows and sees all things. Oh! my Lord,
Most Reverend Father, if you heard how great and what kind of things, and by what means, that impostor and detractor,
the Burgundian Antide Dunod, without conscience, second to none in the world for importunity and chatter, together
with his devoted companion, a perfidious traitor, [...] under [202], caused to us and to this afflicted country; and
how he led astray that Prince of pious memory, the late Şerban, who, believing their lies and deceptions wrapped in
fine words and rejecting the counsel of all others, entangled us and this wretched country in great difficulties. O
if you understood the promises that they brought from that court to the late Prince and carried back from here,
which now, through their wicked reports, have been found for the most part false! Truly, some would move one to
laughter, some would cause wonder, and some ought to be wrapped in silence for shame. May God most just take
vengeance on them according to their works and their conscience.
Of Gegenbey, know that some time ago he was killed through the treachery of a false friend of his, and his head sent
as a gift. But the companion of this same Gegenbey, named Gityk, is in fact more active than he was, in the East.
## Notes on the reading
- *Antidius Dunod*: Antide Dunod SJ, a Jesuit from Franche-Comté ("Burgundus"), Emperor Leopold I's envoy who, with
Count László Csáky, pressed Şerban Cantacuzino of Wallachia (prince 1678-1688) in 1687-1688 to join the Holy League.
- *defunctum Principem Serbanum*: Şerban Cantacuzino, who died on 29 October 1688. The letter is therefore later than
that date. "Celsissimus Princeps", the writer's living master, is then most likely his successor Constantin
Brâncoveanu (1688-1714), and "illa aula" the imperial court in Vienna. This identification is inferred from the
text, not stated in it.
- *Gegenbeio / Gegenbeii*: the cipher spells Gegenbe(i)-, the glosser wrote "Gergenbeio" and "Gergenbeii". Not
identified (perhaps a "bey"). *Gityk*: not identified.
- "Damis(?)": the clear word before "sub 202" is a capital D or P + "amis"; not resolved. The marginal "+" on this
line in the same ink suggests a contemporary reader also stopped here.Translation
<!-- English translation of reading.md (Claude Opus 5.5, 23 Oct 2026): the Latin cipher postscript in the Szembek papers (BK 1560), cipher runs deciphered with key.tsv (rebuilt from the contemporary interlinear glosses). Taken from the translation section of reading.md, checked against the Latin; "Damis(?)" kept as [?Damis]; [202] = the one code group with no gloss. The text breaks off at the end of the leaf. --> # BK 1560 "List zaszyfrowany", Latin cipher postscript, after October 1688: English translation P.S. The letter written in your own hand was received with a grateful heart, both by His Highness the Prince (who salutes Your Most Reverend Lordship with due veneration) and by me and the others whom it concerned. And as we have so far proceeded sincerely in everything, so now too we proceed, and will proceed, according to a right Christian conscience, although some Christians do not behave so and do not proceed with us as they had promised and had urged us in many ways. But this we leave to divine Justice and Providence, which knows and sees all things. Oh! my Lord, Most Reverend Father, if you heard how great and what kind of things, and by what means, that impostor and detractor, the Burgundian Antide Dunod, without conscience, second to none in the world for importunity and chatter, together with his devoted companion, a perfidious traitor, [?Damis] under [202], caused to us and to this afflicted country; and how he led astray that Prince of pious memory, the late Şerban, who, believing their lies and deceptions wrapped in fine words and rejecting the counsel of all others, entangled us and this wretched country in great difficulties. O if you understood the promises that they brought from that court to the late Prince and carried back from here, which now, through their wicked reports, have been found for the most part false! Truly, some would move one to laughter, some would cause wonder, and some ought to be wrapped in silence for shame. May God most just take vengeance on them according to their works and their conscience. Of Gegenbey, know that some time ago he was killed through the treachery of a false friend of his, and his head sent as a gift. But the companion of this same Gegenbey, named Gityk, is in fact more active than he was, in the East.
Key: key.tsv
07 Sources
- PAN Biblioteka Kórnicka, BK 1560, “List zaszyfrowany”: Wielkopolska Digital Library, edition 343124 (DjVu images 065–067, free for all uses).
- On Antide Dunod and Count Csáky’s mission to Şerban Cantacuzino, 1687–1688: Şerban Cantacuzino and Constantin Brâncoveanu (Wikipedia), with the literature cited there.
Transcription (runs.tsv), key, check script, reading and profile: targets/szembek1689/ in the repository.