The viceroy of Sicily to Ferdinand, Messina, 27 April 1503 (Espagnol 318 no. 94)

At a glanceCiphertext-only break · none (key obtained, text not read)

The letter: The viceroy of Sicily to Ferdinand of Aragon, Messina, 27 April 1503. Clear Spanish and cipher alternate over four pages; the endorsement reads “Del virrey de Siçilia en çifra”.
Where: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Espagnol 318 no. 94, ff. 120r–121v (Gallica, canvases 452–455). Part of catalogue item 9.
The cipher: A homophonic alphabet of invented signs, 39 classes for 21 letters, with code groups of two to four Latin letters (113 distinct). The code is two-part: its groups are not in the alphabetical order of their meanings.
How the key was found: Michael Brackx transcribed the letter, annealed the single signs against a Spanish letter model with no crib, split the doubtful sign classes on the scans and read code groups from context. Here the transcription was compared with the scans, and the alphabet was found again from random starts; on shuffled text the same search fails.
What it says: The night after Seminara, the looting and an inquiry into who profited, three principal prisoners in the castle, the dispute over Portocarrero’s post after his death, Hugo de Cardona’s following, and a proposed election among the captains.
Still open: About 90 code groups (143 tokens), 14 tentative readings, and spelled-out stretches that do not yet parse. Single words stay provisional. With these open, most sentences of the decryption have holes (13 of 83 sentences clean in the partial reading copied into the folder on 23 October 2026): the letter is decoded, not read.
Credit: The transcription, the key and the readings are Michael Brackx’s (GitHub issue #62, October 2026, with Claude). This page records them and the checks made on them.
Other letters: The letter shared an entry with no. 93 (Lorenzo Suárez, Venice 1504) until 21 October 2026: a different cipher, with its own page. The volume’s other ciphers: no. 92, no. 5, no. 95.

01 The letter and the split

No. 94 is four pages in a secretary’s hand, dated at Messina on 27 April 1503: six days after Fernando de Andrada’s victory at Seminara in Calabria (21 April) and one day before Cerignola. The viceroy writes in clear Spanish and drops into cipher for the sensitive parts, so every ciphered stretch has clear text on both sides. F. 121v carries the superscription, the seal and a later endorsement, “Del virrey de Siçilia en çifra”. There is no decipherment anywhere in the volume.

Three lines of f. 120v: cipher signs and code groups, then the clear words dios and le aya el anyma — F. 120v. The cipher ends with the code group `pns` and the signs that spell *carero*, and the clear text goes on “dios / le aya el anyma”: *Puertocarrero, Dios le aya el ánima*. Then the code groups `qa` (que), `qek` and `nae` (los). Image: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Espagnol 318 f. 120v, via Gallica.

Until 21 October 2026 this page’s letter shared an entry with no. 93, Lorenzo Suárez’s letter from Venice of February 1504. Both were unread, and no shared key was claimed. Brackx found that the alphabet of no. 94 does not break no. 93 and that the two share only seven code groups. The check here agrees. No. 93’s commonest groups (gto 21 times, pie 19, heg 13, zoe, zoc, hug) never occur in no. 94. No. 94’s commonest (qa 65, rah 61, mny 47, qag 32) are absent from no. 93, except pif twice. The two letters use different keys, so no. 94 has its own entry.

02 The key

Brackx’s alphabet assigns 39 sign classes to 21 letters (his labels are ASCII stand-ins for the glyphs, defined in the issue). Vowels and the common consonants have two to seven signs each:

letter	signs (Brackx’s labels)	letter	signs
a	3, O, o, p, q	n	5 (small Ʀ), S (long ss)
c	F1 (crossed f), W (otto ligature)	o	A (alpha), X, e
d	2 (n with tail), T	p	D, d (delta)
e	4, b	q	V
g	G (tall Ꞩ)	r	= (dash), I (triple minim), M
h	8	s	7, 9, F2, L, Q, Z5, f
i	: (dots), P (curly thorn)	t	6, t
l	H, K	u	B (ß), a
m	E

The code groups were given values from context, one at a time. About twenty are firm, each fixed by several contexts that agree: qa que, rah y, mny de, qag se, mys en, mnb la, pif no, nyb lo, nae los, lux como, pat por, nyl havía, gik su, reg yo, mnh gente, qe quando, qaz V. Al., pns Puerto- in Portocarrero, and malg/malh for the digraph ll. Fourteen more are tentative (mas el?, pad bien?, nag más?, neb hazer? …). The firm readings break alphabetical order, since gik su and nyl havía sort before mny de. So the code is two-part, and a group’s neighbours say nothing about its meaning.

mny = de matches Bergenroth’s muy = de in his reconstruction of the Gran Capitán’s Gran cifra of 1501–04 (n and u are the same two minims in this hand), and the group initials (m-, q-, n-, r-, p-, l-) fall in that cipher’s band, which suggested in October that no. 94 was in the Gran cifra. On 23 October 2026 Bergenroth’s list itself was found: Arturo Quirantes published a photocopy and transcription of BNE MSS 20.211/52 in February 2018, and about 75 groups were transcribed from it. Of the twelve firm readings of no. 94 that have a counterpart on the list, only mny/muy = de agrees; que, se, en, la, no, los, lo, como, por, su and gente all differ. No. 94 is in another code of the same shape, perhaps the “Cifra del visorrey” (BRAH 9/15 ff. 1–6, not online). The list does serve no. 93, where luq = capitán is on it.

03 What it says

Single words are still provisional; the sense of each passage is firmer than any word in it. In outline, following Brackx’s reading, now in the folder as texts/no94_partial_reading.md (in the letter’s own spelling since 23 October 2026, holes marked):

The crossing. The galley could not pass the Faro of Messina; Fernando de Andrada had arrived, and it turned back (clear text).
The night entry. The writer’s men moved off at nightfall; at midnight the infantry began to enter and looted; there were stabbings among them and men surrendering a merced; Cardona is named. Seminara itself is spelled out in cipher, semenaoa.
The spoil. A conservador, the camp at Rocca d’Angitola, a shortage holding up the fleet; the captains required to guard the ropa and the prisoners.
The inquiry. Suspicion against those who profited, and a pesquisa under oath “as is proper” to find the guilty. Three principal prisoners are held, well treated, in the castle until the king says what is to be done with them.
Portocarrero. Portocarrero is dead (“DIOS LE AYA EL ANYMA”, in clear), and there is a dispute over renouncing the post he had given.
Cardona’s faction. “estos de Cardona” show presumption and have “[?el] muy gran partido”; the troops are in disorder; 800 peones have been sent; the writer reports how many men don Hugo de Cardona has.
The command. Seniority “where so many principal captains” serve; an elección is proposed and the others object. On a man of Valencia the viceroy cannot judge, nor what credit the king can give him.

Words spelled out letter by letter in the cipher anchor these: puertocarero (three times), cardona, semenaoa, tienedonugo (“tiene don Hugo”), pesquisa, iuramento, presoneros principales, punsaladas.

04 How it was checked

Brackx’s transcription and readings were made with Claude and were not checked by a second person, so before anything was recorded here they were tested (the script is check94.py in the folder):

Transcription. F. 120r lines 1–3 and f. 121r lines 1–2 were compared sign by sign with the scans. The signs, the code groups and the classes are as he has them.
The score. His −2.61 nats per character against −1.91 for clean Spanish set a noisy decrypt against a clean corpus. With the project’s period model (Spanish 1490–1650, order 5), his key scores −2.59 on the cipher runs, and the letter’s own clear passages score −2.23. The best of 200 keys with the same values shuffled scores −4.48.
Overfitting. An independent anneal here, started from four random keys, reached his key twice (35 of the 40 sign labels agree, −2.58). On the same signs in shuffled order the search reaches only −3.63 to −3.77. The project’s validation test (docs/_validate.py) passes: the reading scores −2.35 with the firm code groups, and the best key fitted to shuffled text −3.12.
Words. Spanish words of four letters or more cover 63 % of the deciphered runs. They cover 77 % of the letter’s clear passages and 10–13 % of the runs under shuffled keys.

05 What is still open

About 90 code groups (143 tokens), most of them occurring once or twice: nouns, names and verbs that context does not fix. Bergenroth’s Gran cifra sheet (BNE MSS 20.211/52), read from Quirantes’s photocopy on 23 October 2026, is a different code; the “Cifra del visorrey” that opens Galende Díaz’s file BRAH 9/15 is not online.
Fourteen tentative readings (93 tokens), each with one or two good contexts.
Spelled-out stretches that do not parse, about a fifth of the letter-sign text. These are single misread glyphs in a transcription made by eye: a third of the ß/thorn/B glyphs were not checked on crops, and the sign Brackx labels K wavers between l and s. A line-by-line pass over the scans with the final key is the next step.

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.

no. 94, ff. 120r-121r, the viceroy of Sicily to Ferdinand, Messina, 27 Apr 1503 decoded, not read

The viceroy of Sicily reports from Messina, the day before Cerignola and six days after Andrada's victory at Seminara: the galley could not cross the Faro, a night entry with the infantry looting, a pesquisa under oath into the spoil, three principal prisoners kept in the castle until the king orders, and the dispute over the post Portocarrero had given after his death. Michael Brackx's decipherment and normalised reading (provisional word by word, GitHub issue #62) are copied into texts/.

A mechanical decode with holes in most sentences: shown so that the transcription and the key can be checked and improved, not as a reading.

Transcription

ct94_brackx.txt

# BnF Espagnol 318 no. 94 (ff. 120r-121r): sign transcription by Michael Brackx (GitHub issue #62, 2026), C: lines only.
# Sign labels: ASCII stand-ins defined in the issue (see NOTES.md). Lowercase 2-4 letter words = code groups; {...} = clear text;
# Y, J, R = initials/paragraph marks. Folio headers start with ##.
## f120r
Y qo rag 7 W I b a : p re lux K A 4 G A 2 4 d a 4 7 mog b 7 o t 3 I p 6 b nyl b d o t P 4 F2 2 e p K T A 5
7 b I a o = 2 A I pat p p T = K 4 7 o b S 6 4 S 2 4 = mas P S 6 4 = p 4 F2 b mny re gek p 4 malg A 7 qag K 4 7
A S a : p o = a p rah pat mas qar {y no poder passar estava la galea dealla del faro donde llego don}
{ferrando de andrada y benavides y caravajal y bolviose dellos aqui} nyb qa p T o A 5 p 4 I 3 S T A
K E b nnh K 4 6 I o = q q T o = mor mas p q S q q A mny P A q q p rah mub M : o t 3 K p T b I P p q qa qag
K 4 nyl nob qa mon mal nnl V a 4 7 : T A F1 A 5 o o t 3 6 : I rah T q 2 A qag q E 4 = W b 2 rah
mos p 4 F2 b G a = p T A K b 7 rah D a 4 7 6 A 7 mys mnb p A I 6 p K b 3 o = p T A 5 D A p 5 mny
F1 o I T A 5 p rah p 5 6 A S q q A mny K 4 q q a p rah W p I p a o = a F2 p K : pet qag P S a 4 S
t p I P 4 F2 b que nyb qa mys mnb p A I 6 3 K 4 3 o = rah K a G p I nyl q D 4 S p e mny re qag
D a p : 4 F2 b mok lik W a 4 S 6 o = {y como esto passemos en anocheciendo} nap D I P E 4 =
e 7 qa b 5 o 6 I p = 4 S pol a K G a S e mny leg o S 6 4 7 mog P S B 4 5 o t 3 = P o I 8 3 malh =
3 = 4 S f o 3 o P o 3 nob W o a F2 p 7 mel W F2 E o I p mny E e F2 4 mny 3 B o t b S L {despues}
{a la media noche comenzaron dentrar} P S B 3 S 6 4 7 rah 7 p V a 4 p I e S mnb qet T e
S b mei nyl neg mny pnk rah qob mnb rah o t 4 7 6 : p 7 mny B 3 = T o G 4 mon p K G a
S e 7 lip mny P S B p 5 6 4 7 mel W e S 3 o = S q q a mny T o A 5 B G e b 5 6 I p S 2 X p p p o t
K o I lie T o A 5 P A p 5 qik 8 4 I E p 5 e T 4 d A W e mys X A F1 A B P S : 4 = e S 6 p S t
X 7 qa 8 : 3 : 4 = X S o = M A E p S G e b S 6 I 4 malg A 7 mny qag mok p W a W 8 : malh
o T p 7 rah 4 F2 P qag 7 p V a 4 A mnb p A I 6 p K 4 3 o = mny 6 X T A 7 nae nen mny lob rah
p I p 5 o F1 4 7 b 7 qa p malh P 7 6 p a o = 5 o rah le mei pat nag T b 7 p 2 4 W 8 p D a 7 P 4 = e S
p a 4 G e mys qur mas nee rah qa p 4 F2 P T pat E 4 7 : S D p P W t = mos pot B : b 4 F2 b nyb
qa qag D e T = : p d = e a b 4 = lux le pat mnb D A W p X o t b 2 X b 5 W 3 o rah o W q
6 o E : b S 6 X qa qag K 4 6 4 G D o = qag V a 4 I P p T 4 7 W p I G o = Y qo q q J {en lo}
{de la hazienda luego} D : e a b q q p a 4 4 F2 b S p malh o K A d 4 mny E a F2 P W p B 4 b 2 X =
rah mas F1 e S 6 3 F1 a = o K e S 7 e G a 4 = b I e lix mag W e S 9 4 b I a 3 T X M {quantos}
{desto enviava} rah t malh X G p I e S o P A q q o rah P 3 malh o I e S D o I 6 P 2 e mas
W 3 A d e {para la roqua de angito y por la falta q hazia para el despacho del armada} rab
qa mas F1 q 5 d A mor D o I t : T e qag o t e F2 f a : 4 = 4 S T malg A 7 rah D p 4 F2 e mag W
e S 8 b = a 3 T e = per neb gik M 4 V a 4 7 6 o = p 6 X T X 7 nae W p D : 6 p 5 o b 7 {paque}
5 a 3 I T o 4 F2 b 5 qas mnb M A d o p 4 : lob lux mnb rah D I b 7 e S 4 = e 9 qa mys D A q q o
qag nyl 7 p V a 4 p T e lux le qua nyb X 6 I e mog W p 5 T e {el esta alla de lo q avra fecho}
{dare aviso a v al} lex mas mei qa mnb pob mny T e S B G 4 mys gik D e 9 p T p 7 6 o =
## f120v
B o qe 3 K G e mny lif qag b 5 W e d o 4 5 o W e pnb lif K T W e S B P I E a nag mys
mno 9 e 9 d 4 W 8 p pit nae p d I e a b W 8 p T e 7 mog 5 X o t e rah 7 p F1 e d 3 G e
naf nae D I P S F1 : d p K 4 7 mny gik F1 e S d p 5 q q p L 6 : E p 5 o mnb pad rah myr
M p 3 e S qa qaz 9 A W I b b malg e 6 p 5 T b neb a K G a 5 o p d 4 7 V a : 7 p pit F1 A 7
6 I b 5 q q T e 7 mny P a = p E 4 S 6 X rah lux W e S B : t 5 b nae mib 7 mal pnk 7
p : I p 5 rah qag 7 pot I p mnb B 4 = T p 2 rah qe pet X 6 I e pif 3 d I e a b W 8 o
F2 b qek pif pet nae qa qag B 3 malg p I b 5 mys W a K d p rah qag P 3 malg o 5 o 2 b a
2 e I b 7 lux D : b G 4 F2 p S qa qaz K 4 7 T b a 4 Y qo P q q J E lux E a a F2 P W 3 K a b G e
b 5 o t P e T e S p 4 I o = 5 o 2 e mny 3 A T = 3 T p 6 I 4 7 d I b 9 e S 4 = e 7 d I P S W P d o =
K 4 q 3 V a P mas 8 b = E p 5 e mny d A 4 p 4 mny G I p 5 o P rah pnk 7 mae nor D I P
S W P d o H 4 7 qa mas T 4 qik W e S d p 5 q q o nyl nob nnl npn S qag a d e 7 b
5 o 6 p 2 e mys mas W 3 7 6 : malg e {donde estava muy bien tratados asta ver lo q dellos}
{y de los otros se enviare mandara quiere v al} mys nyb mog M b 5 a S W P o I mas F1 o
3 5 e qa {puerto carrero} le nyl T p T e mys qik e P p F2 {yo despues siguiendo aquello les havia}
{...los cavalleros ... de v al y lo havia acceptado q no le podia ser honrra el de pallo y aun q traya provision otra quisso que se hiziesse de haz q pues el en viana persona q es hermano del de valencia la provision tampoco spana de v al con ellos llegado y fortificadose de el duq}
T e S 5 e S f o = H e qa pat 6 p 5 d A W e 6 = b 5 o d e pif T b
a : p mny M 4 8 a 7 p I mas 6 I p o t o = 4 F2 e mys mos mog T b 7 o W p 6 p E = 4 S 6 X
S e S o t = p o = H G a S A 7 pnb 7 b S q q o = H p T o = E 4 S 6 4 p T e f S P d e pit rag mys
B : T p mny D a 4 = 6 X W p I b = e qag 7 P S 6 : e mny P = T b o t o = F2 f e mny S p 2 P
rah pad neg mon mny gik E a 4 = 6 4 pit pif qag b 5 W e E 4 S 2 A 3 mas 3 V a 4 H
f o I G e rah D a o t H : W p E b S 6 b nnl 2 P W 8 e D e I 6 o 7 M p Z5 d S 4 7 rah qa pif
V a 4 T o I P p F1 I b p qaz qa 7 6 X 7 mny W p I T e S o = qa 3 V a p 7 6 p S H 4 7 7 e
o t I A mag mnb D I b 7 a S T P A 5 qa mas 8 3 Z5 d P 4 S T e S : qio D a 4 7 mns
H 4 7 f : 4 5 o = rah npm que p T 4 L P I qa mas E a q q G I p S D o I 6 P T e 6 4 S : o
mys qof rah qa re rah pat leg mny leg nyb nyl T 4 a F2 p p T e rah nae qa mny 3 malg p
B : b 5 4 S nnj qa 3 mns W 3 a 7 p mel qa A q q p S rah P 4 q q o = S pat mas T b 7 A =
T b S mal B 4 e S 4 7 pif qa mas qag p p malg o 4 F2 b qa 7 6 p a o = mys L b E 4 S o = A p pnb
qa lux nyb qa H 4 7 A q q o rah H 4 7 L a p I b 5 o W P A q V a 4 H T b 7 e I T b 5 o mas
qag V a 4 5 e : a p qe D a 4 I 6 X W p I b = e B : S e rah qa pif pos 9 o W p I mnb mnh q
{han enviados asta ochocientos peones} mys L p S D e I D b rah X 6 I e 7 nye qa nol 7 6 p T e
7 E S W e S d H : E 2 b S 6 X mog e qa qag H 4 7 T b a P p T : Z5 P p pns W p I b = e {dios}
{le aya el anyma} qa qek nae D A W e 7 pif qag pir 7 P S nyd o = W I b F1 b S 6 p a o = mnh
qa mos pif pos qin gik pif pet nag p a = 6 p I rah p e I p P 3 malg o 4 F2 b lix pu rah A W
8 e W B 4 S 6 X 7 pol mae pu D 4 A S 4 7 qa nyb qa qag H b 7 L a p I b qa 8 p G o = 5 rah T P
3 S pif nyb V a 4 I P p pat 6 X T p F1 H H p o t I P p reg lex 3 V a P H b B B qe B : S e
## f121r
d e a 4 = qag lux lik B e H B S t p 2 rah nyb p : Z5 e 7 D e I W p T p E 4 S T b rah lik B e
H a S t 3 2 H 4 6 b S P p pnb T b V a 4 B : S e pns W o I b I e pif nye W e S 2 P W P
e S mnb gaq q o = per gap I P = ga d 4 = D A = rah qag luy mog mys nyb D 4 F1 A qa H b
B : e qa H 4 S 4 a p I o = pat H o S 4 W b 4 F2 D A f P p o = 2 pnb D A W e H 4 D a p T P 4 I p 7 D p
= P I D a 4 7 6 X T e 9 nae T b 7 A = 2 b S t 7 nnns 5 o 7 b q q 2 e mon rah W 3 T p H 2 P p
7 e L d 4 W 8 p S nag pit nyr A o t I p mog P S p P 4 M S e nyb qa gap I b S o = gik
mnh qa pif W I b p qek pif lux o e I p qag B 4 4 6 4 S b = pad mnh nyb qa H e o t p 5 o
rah X 6 I e 7 E o H 4 7 qa p o = Z5 o 4 S qen nag qa 6 4 S b = b S 4 E : G e 7 mys mnb
qet rah H a 4 G e E X 7 6 I e pif D I P p S : T 4 o t o = S e mog E p q q A M P I p S T b mny
loo V a 4 I P 4 S T e mnb lep D o rah D I P S W P d o = H : T p 2 B b 3 qag qa F1 b H a 4
2 p 2 6 3 S G I o = S T b qa T A S T b 6 3 S 6 X 7 D = P S W 2 d o = H 4 7 W p d : 6 p S 4 7 B 4
S P p S mny 6 3 S H 4 A F2 e 7 mny re qa qag 8 e a : b 4 F2 b mny neb b H 4 W : e S
mny pnk qa 3 H G a S e mny leg li mas p a 4 4 F2 b mas W e S T b P A o = S mny B : S
6 4 E D malg o = rah mys mos li que 7 nae X 6 = e 7 E X 7 6 I e I e S A o t b T b F1 4 M pif
W I b 3 qaz qa 3 4 F2 P nyb 9 : b 5 o 6 4 S lux nyb E a 4 D 6 I p S rah 7 b S q q p H o = T p E
b S 6 4 o t 4 S A a P T b 7 qa E a q q luy nyb 8 p o t H o = nag nag nyb 7 : b S t b qa S P
5 o 5 a A e rah mys nob X Z5 t I p 7 R rah T e S T b o = 7 6 p o = V a P mys qur K 6 4 qar 8 4
6 a B : T e pad qa p 3 Z5 b I lux leq mny 6 4 S 4 I nae o e I p qag p o = malg p S P a S t e 7
rah lux nob 7 P p H 2 o = 7 mel 3 I p S W e S d o = 5 q q o = qa 6 : b S 4 T e S B G e mny
mnh mny D P 4 o = S T o = S nag F1 e S p e I E 4 7 qa lop rah W p a o = malg 4 I e 7 nym
nam qa d 4 nym T : W 8 e 7 6 a B : 4 I e S per mok H 4 mny D a S q q o = H p T o = 7
o = T e S b b 2 rah mos pif rub nag mae rah le qab rah pif T b 7 W I 4 e S o =
T o = pit nyr mys P = p S E p A 4 = o mnb D M b 7 B S W 2 e S qa 6 : b S 4 rah nyb
qa lag H 4 F1 : b G o = mys G I p S pnd pet pif qag H 4 D X T b : W b S F1 e d 4 S T o = I
S p T o = p T 4 I b W 8 o = 7 Y qo q q b D a 4 7 3 malg p P p p 4 I p S 2 e mny B p H 4 S
W B o = reg pif H 4 D a 4 T e pad F1 e S A W 4 M S : qag mas W M b T : 6 X qa qaz
H 4 D a 4 T 4 mok D a 4 7 lag F2 f 4 W e S A F1 4 pad qa reg d p S T b 4 F2 b luy P S p e =
d p I mny que nyb mny 3 V a o = rah nyb qa nym rab qa qor reg pif D a 4 T e nag 7
A p I D = A P 6 4 S 4 = o E P 7 6 p 2 lux A : S G a S W mny qir reb qa w g t = p rah mei
mas qop mny qaz Y qo J {de messina a xxvij de abril de dIII}

Decryption: no94_decryption.md

Reading

no94_partial_reading.md

# BnF Espagnol 318 no. 94: the viceroy of Sicily to Ferdinand, Messina, 27 April 1503: partial reading

Rests on: Michael Brackx's provisional reading (v3) in GitHub issue #62 (21 Oct 2026), made from his sign transcription
(`../ct94_brackx.txt`) with his ciphertext-only key and his context readings of the code groups; the interlinear
decipherment it is made from is `no94_decryption.md`. His word division is kept. Spelling (v6, 23 Oct 2026): his
normalised spelling was put back into the letter's: the clerk's clear text as written and the cipher's letters as his
key gives them (`no94_decryption.md` P: lines), aligned letter by letter (research/reading_audit/v6_charalign.py):
editorial accents off (havia, escrevi, ALLA, PROVISION), Puertocarero, canpo, elecion, Ugo, ANYMA, QUISSO; code words
keep his labels. No word was changed. Converted to this project's hole notation on 23 Oct 2026: his firm code readings (`[que]`)
are given as plain words (carried by his code table), his tentative ones (`[en?]`) as `[?en]`, his "…" (a stretch
that does not yet make sense) as `[…]`, an unread code group he names as `[…qor]`, his "word(?)" as `[?word]`.
CAPITALS are the letter's own clear text. Nothing was added here: no word is supplied.

## Reading

(f. 120r)
[…] escrevi […] como luego despues […] havia […] servidor, por […] entender [?el] interesse de [?esto] […] a
ellos se les […] envia, y por [?el] […qar] Y NO PODER PASSAR ESTAVA LA GALEA DE ALLA DEL FARO, DONDE LLEGO
DON FERNANDO DE ANDRADA Y BENAVIDES Y CARVAJAL, Y BOLVIOSE DELLOS AQUI.

Lo que […] que se le havia […nob] que […] y dadose a merced, y […] asegurados, y puestos
en la […] de Cardona y [?Antonio] de […] y […] se inventariase lo que en la […] y lugar
havia […] de [?esto] se […] [?dar] [?buena] cuenta.

Y COMO ESTO PASSEMOS EN ANOCHECIENDO, […nap] primeros que entraron […] alguno de [?ellos] antes […] DESPUES, A
LA MEDIA NOCHE, COMENZARON D'ENTRAR infantes y saquearon la […] havia […] de […] [?guardia] […] algunos […]
de infantes […] entrando […] hermano de poco […] hizieron […] entre ellos de se [?dar] acuchilladas, y
assi se saqueo la […] de todos los […nen] de […lob] y […] que alli estavan […] por […] desde que
pusieron [?fuego] […] lo que se podria proveer como […] por la poca […] y acatamiento que se le
tenia, se queria descargar.

EN LO DE LA HAZIENDA, LUEGO […] de […] y [?el] […] conservador. QUANTOS DESTO ENVIAVA […] hallaron partido [?el]
campo PARA LA ROQUA DE ANGITO, Y POR LA FALTA QUE HAZIA PARA EL DESPACHO DEL ARMADA […rab] que [?el] canpo
[…mor] partido se […] ellos […] conservador […] su requesta a todos los capitanes, PA QUE guardasen […qas]
la ropa […] y presoneros, que en la posada se havia saqueado […] lo otro […] EL ESTA ALLA; DE LO QUE
AVRA FECHO DARE AVISO A V. AL. […] que la […] de […] en su posada […]

(f. 120v)
[…] quando algo de […lif] se […] confirm[…] [?más] en […mno] sospecha [?contra] los aprovechados […] los
principales de su compañia […] razon que V. Al. sobre ello […] [?hize] alguna pesquisa [?contra] […] de
juramento, y como conviene, los […] y se […] la verdad; y quando […] otro no aprovecharse […] no […]
los que se hallaren en culpa y se […] deudores como bienes que V. Al. les deve […]

[…] luego […] de Andrada tres presoneros principales: aqui [?el] hermano de […] de […] y […] principales
que [?el] de […] compañia havia […] se […] la [?el] castillo, DONDE ESTAVAN MUY BIEN TRATADOS ASTA VER LO QUE
DELLOS Y DE LOS OTROS SE ENVIARE MANDAR, QUIERE V. AL.

[…] [?en] renunciar [?el] cargo que Puerto Carrero le havia dado […] YO DESPUES, SIGUIENDO AQUELLO, LES
HAVIA […] LOS CAVALLEROS […] DE V. AL., Y LO HAVIA ACCEPTADO, QUE NO LE PODIA SER HONRRA […] Y AUNQUE TRAYA
PROVISION, OTRA QUISSO QUE SE HIZIESSE […] PUES EL EN […] PERSONA QUE ES HERMANO DEL DE VALENCIA. LA PROVISION
TAMPOCO […] DE V. AL., CON ELLOS LLEGADO Y FORTIFICADOSE DE EL DUQUE […]

[…] que por tampoco […] no devia de rehusar [?el] […] [?en] desacatamiento […] algunos [?antes]
señaladamente […] en vida de Puertocarero se sintio […] y [?bien] […] de su muerte, […] no
se encomendo a [?el] aquel cargo, y publicamente […] dicho […] y que no quedaria.

Crea V. Al. que estos de Cardona que […] la presuncion que [?el] haviendo […] pues […] a dezir que
[?el] muy gran partido tenia […] y que [?esto] y por [?ellos] de [?ellos] lo havia […] y
los que de alla vienen […] que a […] causa […] por [?el] desorden […] peones; no que [?el] se
hallasse […] que estava en Seminara […] y […] aquel desorden […] que no iva quando Puertocarero vino […] y que
no […] sacar la gente; HAN ENVIADOS ASTA OCHOCIENTOS PEONES […] y otros […] que […] estado […] cumplimiento […] que se les
devia a Puertocarero, DIOS LE AYA EL ANYMA, que […] los pocos no se […] acrecentava gente […] su […] no […]
hurtar y aora […] ochocientos peones que lo que se les […] que hagan […] no lo queria por
todas […] aqui […] quando vino

(f. 121r)
[…] poder se como [?buena] voluntad, y lo […] por cada […] y [?buena] voluntad le tenia [?antes] de que
vino Puertocarrero […] condicion […] que le llevara por la necesidad […] poco le pudiera […] todos los
desordenes […] y cada dia sospechan […] otra [?en] invierno lo que […] su […] que no crea […] no
como aora se ve tener [?bien] gente lo que […] y otros males que […] [?más] que tener enemigos en la […] y luego mostro no […] mayor […] queriendo […] principalidad […] tan grande, que donde tantos
principales capitanes venian de […] de [?esto] que se oviesse de [?hazer] elecion de […] que alguno
de [?ellos] […] [?el] oviesse [?el] condicion de […] y la […] los otros mostraron […] no.

Crea V. Al. que assi lo sienten como lo muestran, y señaladamente […] que muy […] lo hablan […]
lo siente, que ni […] y donde esta aqui la […] he tenido [?bien] que hazer […] de tener los aora se
[…] juntos […] que tiene don Ugo de gente de […] andan [?más] conformes […] y cavalleros […] dichos tuvieron [?para] [?dar] le de puñaladas […] y
[…] no […] y no […] en gran manera la presuncion que tiene, y lo que […] la gran […] no se
le podia suspender nada a derechas.

[…] de Valencia yo no le puedo [?bien] conocer, ni se [?el] credito que V. Al. le puede [?dar],
pues […] se conoce [?bien] que […] de lo […] y lo que […] yo no puedo [?más] […] amistad como […] de V. Al..
DE MESSINA, A XXVII DE ABRIL DE 1503.

06 Sources

BnF, Département des Manuscrits, Espagnol 318 no. 94, ff. 120r–121v, ark btv1b52503046q on Gallica (canvases 452–455).
Michael Brackx, “Solution: catalogue 9 (esp318no93) — no. 94”, GitHub issue #62, 21 October 2026: transcription, key, codebook and provisional reading.
G. A. Bergenroth’s reconstruction of the Gran cifra, BNE MSS 20.211/52, photocopy and transcription published by Arturo Quirantes (2018), read here 23 October 2026 (texts/bergenroth_gran_cifra_codes.tsv); J. C. Galende Díaz (1994), for BRAH 9/15.

Notes, profile, Brackx’s sign transcription (ct94_brackx.txt) and the checks in targets/esp318no94/; the scans in targets/esp318/.