972Cyphersolver
DRcTzSTxTwS xvxS · protestatus abbas · {Pontifex} · {Dux Bavariae}

Fulda → the Bavarian court · letter substitution with a nomenclator · 1576 · known key applied, partial

The Fulda protest of 1576

A short ciphered note on the deposition of the Abbot of Fulda, filed among the Bavarian keys, deciphered with the key filed a few leaves before it; it builds coherent sentences but reads at 93.5% of its words, under the 95% bar.

Daniel Bourdeau · posted · updated

Method: read with known key · Extent: partial (100% of the cipher)

Credits · Contemporary key or decipherment (key or decipherment used)

At a glanceKnown key applied · partial (100% of the cipher)

The note
An unsigned Latin note of 1576 on the case of Abbot Balthasar von Dernbach of Fulda, deposed by his chapter and knights with Julius Echter, Bishop of Würzburg. Sender and recipient are not named; the Duke of Bavaria is asked for help.
Where
Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Munich, Kurbayern Äußeres Archiv 4591 f. 129; DECODE R9325, part of catalogue entry 161, listed with no decipherment.
The cipher
One sign per letter, signs for doubled letters (bb, cc, ss …), six signs that mean nothing, and a nomenclator of the affair: the Pope, the nuncio, the abbot, chapter and dean of Fulda, the Emperor’s councillors, the Duke of Bavaria.
How it was deciphered
Key R9324 on ff. 124–127 of the same volume has exactly the same set of null signs, which is how the two were matched; applied unchanged, it gives Latin in every word.
What it says
The abbot protests that he accepted the papal inhibition under compulsion; the Pope should declare it against the canons; failing that the Emperor’s councillors will judge; the Duke of Bavaria and the nuncio are to help.
Still open
Nothing in the text. Who wrote the note and to whom is not stated.

Until 15 October 2026 this note was filed on one page with thirteen other ciphertexts of the same key volume. They are different ciphers, each with its own page; the largest group is System A′ of the dukes’ agents in Hungary.

01 The note

Protestatus [est] abbas secreto coactum [se] ad litem acceptare Pontificis inhibitionem. Rogatus Pontifex ut contradicendo se interponat, declaret sive sponte sive vi contra canones esse. Si id fiat, Abbas agere cessat et cum Pontifice litigabit; ad [quod] cum non possit, Consiliarii Caesaris iudicabunt, aut Pontifex tum facit quod iam voluit. Rogatus Dux Bavariae auxilio sit; Nuncius suadeat Pontifici ita ad protectionem via[m].

“The abbot has protested that he was secretly forced to accept the Pope’s inhibition for the lawsuit. The Pope is asked to intervene by contradicting it and to declare whether it was willing or forced, against the canons. If that is done, the abbot stops proceedings and will plead before the Pope; if he cannot, the Emperor’s councillors will judge, or the Pope then does what he already wished. The Duke of Bavaria is asked to help; the nuncio should persuade the Pope towards protection in this way.” The writer slipped three times: secreto is written without its second e, auxilio begins with the i-sign, and voluit ends with the d-sign.

02 The key, R9324

The key sheet (ff. 124–127) gives a letter alphabet (a = x-shape, b = t-shape, c = o, d = a barred p, e = a small 2 … s = Λ, t = a long-tailed Z, u = w), signs for doubled letters and for sch, st, sp and ch, six nulls (g, a ringed o, a stemmed square, a boxed bar, a W-like sign and an underlined 8), and a nomenclator that names the Fulda affair of 1576: Pontifex, the Cardinals of Como and Matutius(?), the Apostolic Nuncio, the ecclesiastical electors, the Bishop, Chapter and Dean of Würzburg, the Abbot, Chapter and Dean of Fulda, the Emperor, the Archdukes Matthias and Ernst, the Landsberg league, the Duke of Bavaria, Landgrave Wilhelm, the Elector of Saxony and the princes of the Augsburg Confession. The six nulls are the same set as on the note, which is how the key was found. A re-run of the key over the transcription (15 October 2026) matches the reading in 252 of 270 signs; the rest are the writer’s slips, the o/c look-alike written as o in the transcription, and one line where the transcription keeps a first pass. The reading was made on the image.

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.

R9325, BayHStA KAA 4591 f. 129 (1576) read in part

A short Latin note on the 1576 deposition of Abbot Balthasar von Dernbach of Fulda by his chapter and knights with Julius Echter of Würzburg: the abbot protested in secret that he was forced to accept the Pope's inhibition; the Pope is asked to declare it against the canons, the Duke of Bavaria to help, and the nuncio to persuade the Pope to protect him. Read with the key R9324 filed in the same volume.

Builds coherent sentences, but under the read bar of 95% of words read as sense (94% here); the holes are marked in the reading.

Transcription

reading.txt

R9325 = BayHStA KAA 4591 f.129, key = R9324 (f.124-127, same volume). Latin. {} = code sign from R9324 nomenclator, [n] = null.
Transcription (ASCII: x=a t=b o=c p=d z=e(small 2) T=t(long-tail Z) R=r(b-hook/8) D=p(delta) Q=q(looped delta) S=s(Lambda) L=l(barred b)
 C=cc  Y=ss(m with tail) g,[o],[sq],[H],[W],[8] nulls; 7 = Tironian et in clear)

1 DRcTzSTxTwS xvxS [sq] SzoRTc ocxoTwd [o]      protestatus abbas . secreto coactum .
2 xp LaTzd [H] xCzDTxRz {Pontifex} [8] ainataTacizd   ad litem . acceptare Pontificis . inhibitionem
3 RcyxTwS {Pontifex} [W] wT ociTRxpaczipc Sz      Rogatus Pontifex . ut contradicendo se
4 aiTzRDcixT pzcLxRzT g Saz Dciz? -> siwz Sdcize  interponat declaret . siue sponte
5 Saws wa ociTRx ocicizS zYz [sq]                siue ui contra canones esse .
6 Sa ap kaxT {Abbas Fuld.} xyzRz ozYxT 7 owd {Pontifex}   si id fiat Abbas agere cessat et cum Pontifice
7 LaTayxtaT xp [o] owd ici DcYaT {Consiliarii Caes.}      litigabit ad . cum non possit Consiliarii Caesaris
8 awpaoxtwiT xwT {Pontifex} Twd g kxoaT          iudicabunt aut Pontifex tum . facit
9 Qcp axd wcLwap                                 quod iam uoluit(uoluid)
10 RcyxTwS {Dux Bavariae} awXaLac SaT {Nuncius Ap.} SwxpzxT {Pontifex}   Rogatus Dux Bavariae auxilio(iuxilio) sit Nuncius suadeat Pontifici
11 aTx xp DRcTzoTacizd wax                       ita ad protectionem uia(?)

Plain (normalised):
Protestatus [est] abbas secreto coactum [se] ad litem acceptare Pontificis inhibitionem. Rogatus Pontifex ut contradicendo se
interponat, declaret sive sponte sive vi contra canones esse. Si id fiat, Abbas agere cessat et cum Pontifice litigabit; ad
[quod] cum non possit, Consiliarii Caesaris iudicabunt, aut Pontifex tum facit quod iam voluit. Rogatus Dux Bavariae auxilio sit;
Nuncius suadeat Pontifici ita ad protectionem via[m].
Transcription

signs.txt

D R c T z S T x T w S x v x S sq S z o R T c o c x o T w d o x p L a T z d H x C z D T x R z #Pontifex 8 a i n a t a T a c i z d R c y x T w S #Pontifex W w T o c i T R x p a c z i p c S z a i T z R D c i x T p z c L x R z T g S a z s i w z S d c i z e S a w s w a o c i T R x o c i c i z S z Y z sq S a a p k a x T #Abbas_Fuld. x y z R z o z Y x T o w d #Pontifex L a T a y x t a T x p o o w d i c i D c Y a T #Consiliarii_Caes. a w p a o x t w i T x w T #Pontifex T w d g k x o a T Q c p a x d w c L w a p R c y x T w S #Dux_Bavariae a w X a L a c S a T #Nuncius_Ap. S w x p z x T #Pontifex a T x x p D R c T z o T a c i z d w a x
Decryption

reading.txt

R9325 = BayHStA KAA 4591 f.129, key = R9324 (f.124-127, same volume). Latin. {} = code sign from R9324 nomenclator, [n] = null.
Transcription (ASCII: x=a t=b o=c p=d z=e(small 2) T=t(long-tail Z) R=r(b-hook/8) D=p(delta) Q=q(looped delta) S=s(Lambda) L=l(barred b)
 C=cc  Y=ss(m with tail) g,[o],[sq],[H],[W],[8] nulls; 7 = Tironian et in clear)

1 DRcTzSTxTwS xvxS [sq] SzoRTc ocxoTwd [o]      protestatus abbas . secreto coactum .
2 xp LaTzd [H] xCzDTxRz {Pontifex} [8] ainataTacizd   ad litem . acceptare Pontificis . inhibitionem
3 RcyxTwS {Pontifex} [W] wT ociTRxpaczipc Sz      Rogatus Pontifex . ut contradicendo se
4 aiTzRDcixT pzcLxRzT g Saz Dciz? -> siwz Sdcize  interponat declaret . siue sponte
5 Saws wa ociTRx ocicizS zYz [sq]                siue ui contra canones esse .
6 Sa ap kaxT {Abbas Fuld.} xyzRz ozYxT 7 owd {Pontifex}   si id fiat Abbas agere cessat et cum Pontifice
7 LaTayxtaT xp [o] owd ici DcYaT {Consiliarii Caes.}      litigabit ad . cum non possit Consiliarii Caesaris
8 awpaoxtwiT xwT {Pontifex} Twd g kxoaT          iudicabunt aut Pontifex tum . facit
9 Qcp axd wcLwap                                 quod iam uoluit(uoluid)
10 RcyxTwS {Dux Bavariae} awXaLac SaT {Nuncius Ap.} SwxpzxT {Pontifex}   Rogatus Dux Bavariae auxilio(iuxilio) sit Nuncius suadeat Pontifici
11 aTx xp DRcTzoTacizd wax                       ita ad protectionem uia(?)

Plain (normalised):
Protestatus [est] abbas secreto coactum [se] ad litem acceptare Pontificis inhibitionem. Rogatus Pontifex ut contradicendo se
interponat, declaret sive sponte sive vi contra canones esse. Si id fiat, Abbas agere cessat et cum Pontifice litigabit; ad
[quod] cum non possit, Consiliarii Caesaris iudicabunt, aut Pontifex tum facit quod iam voluit. Rogatus Dux Bavariae auxilio sit;
Nuncius suadeat Pontifici ita ad protectionem via[m].
Reading

R9325_reading.md

# R9325 = BayHStA KAA 4591 f. 129 (1576): reading

Rests on: the sign transcription and decode in `reading.txt` (key R9324, filed in the same volume, ff. 124-127; code
signs from its nomenclator in capitals: Pontifex, Abbas Fuld., Consiliarii Caes., Dux Bavariae, Nuncius Ap.). This is
its running text, written for the v3 verification (23 Oct 2026) in the figures' spelling (u for v as written, not the
normalised v of reading.txt); words the sense needs and no figure carries are bracketed: [est], [se], [quod], uia[m].
Nulls are left out; two encipherer slips are read as meant (uoluid = uoluit, iuxilio = auxilio, as reading.txt notes). Latin.

## Reading

Protestatus [est] abbas secreto coactum [se] ad litem acceptare Pontificis inhibitionem. Rogatus Pontifex ut
contradicendo se interponat, declaret siue sponte siue ui contra canones esse. Si id fiat, Abbas agere cessat et cum
Pontifice litigabit; ad [quod] cum non possit, Consiliarii Caesaris iudicabunt, aut Pontifex tum facit quod iam uoluit.
Rogatus Dux Bavariae auxilio sit; Nuncius suadeat Pontifici ita ad protectionem uia[m].
Translation

R9325_en.md

# R9325 = BayHStA KAA 4591 f. 129 (1576): English translation

Translation (Claude Opus 5.5, 23 Oct 2026) of the reading `R9325_reading.md` (the running text of the key decode in
`reading.txt`, key R9324). Same marks: a word in square brackets is one the sense needs and no figure carries.
Latin.

## Translation

The abbot [has] protested in secret that he was forced to accept the Pope's inhibition in the lawsuit. The Pope,
being asked to interpose himself by contradicting it, should declare that, whether done willingly or by force, it is
against the canons. If that is done, the Abbot ceases to act and will litigate with the Pope; [which] since he cannot
do, the Emperor's councillors will judge, or else the Pope then does what he already wanted. The Duke of Bavaria is
asked to be of help; let the Nuncio thus persuade the Pope toward the way [of] protection.

03 Sources

The transcription, reading and decoder are in the repository folder targets/fulda1576/.