Charles IX to Jean de Vulcob, 7 March 1573

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 3318

Contents: Instructions about the Polish royal election discuss Anjou, Archduke Ernest, rival candidates and reports from the Duke of Lorraine’s court.

Transcribed; Deciphered

Ciphertext-only:

No

Sender:

Charles IX

Recipient:

Jean de Vulcob

Year:

7 March 1573

Key:

43 identified symbols, 39 letter signs, 4 in nomenclature

Ciphertext:

754 elements, 746 identified; 4 groups with unresolved boundaries and 19 null-marked groups not included in these counts

Interlinear plaintext:

Interlinear plaintext on the same page, f32r. ·

Key elsewhere:

Comparison key in a different volume: Colbert 398; 14 shared letter forms.

Gallica

Excerpt and Translation

f32r, complete cipher lines 13–15

Excerpt

…election l'archiduc Erneste, sont semblables a ceu? que le sieur de Tanneberg a tenuz a la court de mon frere le duc de Lorraine sur ce fait et pourroit bien estre ?

Translation

…election, Archduke Ernest, resemble what the sieur de Tanneberg has said on this matter at the court of my brother, the Duke of Lorraine, and it could well be ?.

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 3318

f32r

Monsieur de Vulcob, je suis grandement satisfaict de ce que vous m'avez faict si particulierement rendre compte par vos deux depesches du dernier de Janvier passé et par celle du troisiesme de febvrier, que j'ay receues tout ensemble, de toutes les particularitez qui s'offrent par delà, et mesme de ce qui se disoit lors des nouvelles de Pologne, qui se conforme en la pluspart à ce que j'en ay entendu par une depesche de l'Evesque de Valence du vingt septiesme dudict Janvier. Car ayant ocasion d'auoir toute bonne esperance pour mon frere le duc d'Aniou à la quelle ie ne puis riens craindre qui y nuyze que la longueur [?] semble que l'on ueut tirer ceste election, ayant grande aparence que les sieurs du pays que l'on dit aspirer à la couronne ne seront pour y paruenir, ueu l'emulation qui [?] ordinairement en semblables choses entre parei[l] qui s'acordent mal aysement, outre ce que à grande peyne l[e?] noblesse uou[d?] a elle eslire pour roy celuy qui n'a point de plus grande q[u]alite que de gentilhomme, les pro[?]z qui uous ont [?] et enuz par lung des seruiteurs de l'Emp[ereur], monsieur mon beau pere, de la grande part que a maintenant à ceste election l'archiduc Erneste, sont semblables à ceu[x] que le sieur de Tanneberg a tenuz à la court de mon frere le duc de Lorraine sur ce fait et pourroit bien estre [?] locasion que uous escriue[z] de nous desesperer de faire plus ceste poursuicte si uiue de quoy toutefoys ie ne sui[s] pas delibere mais de l'afaire continuer iusques au bout.

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/btv1b9060207j/f33.item
• Folio matches the report: yes; cipher present: yes
• What we checked: f32r "Monsr de Vulcob", cipher block with contemporary interlinear; the interlinear over the excerpt lines reads "election larchiduc ernestes ont semblables a ceux que ...", matching his "election l archiduc Erneste, sont semblables a ceu? que"; symbols not re-decoded independently
• Verdict: confirmed (method key recovered based on adjacent plaintext, extent complete). The check is a sample, not a re-solution.
• Notes: Interlinear decipherment on the same page covers the cipher, so this largely restates an existing decipherment. Dorsal on facing page "du Roy ... May" docket.

02 Other contributions

The plaintext of the period beside the cipher, as George Lasry reports it:

Interlinear plaintext

Interlinear plaintext on the same page, f32r.

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 excerpt and translation (BnF cipher research, 10 Oct 2026)

Charles IX to Jean de Vulcob, 7 March 1573. Instructions about the Polish royal election discuss Anjou, Archduke Ernest, rival candidates and reports from the Duke of Lorraine’s court.

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)

03 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. 65; his other items are listed on his contributor card.
• The working folder: targets/vulcob1573/ (his entry as extracted from the report, our spot-check, profile.json).