01 The three records
| DECODE | folio | what it is | state |
|---|---|---|---|
| R4155 | f. 27 | Guise(?) → Mercœur, same cipher | read by Lasry 2022 (Cryptiana GL.htm) |
| R4158 | f. 78 | the letter of 16 April 1587, one page in three overlapping images | read here |
| R4167 | f. 151 | “MR” slip of 26 June, a different cipher | closed, too short (mercoeur1586) |
02 The decrypted text
Cipher text in capitals, clear text in lower case. [?] marks an unresolved sign, (?) a doubtful reading, [code …] a nomenclator group left open.
J’ay receu les lettres qu’il vous a pleu m’escrire et suis tresayse que LEUR ADVIS SE RAPPORTE A CE QUE NOUS AVIONS, VEU LES BROUILLERIES, [jugé] ESTRE NECESSAIRE QUE NOSTRE PRESENCE EN VOSTRE GOUVERNEMENT [code]IS(?), PARCE QUE [?] LA PERTE, CEUX QUI(?) PENSEROIENT ESTRE ABANDONNEZ, VEU LA PEUR EN QUOY ILS SONT. Je vous supplieray tres humblement de vouloir RETARDER VOSTRE RESOLUTION QUE DE [code: quelque?] PEU DE JOURS, ATTENDANT QUE MON FRERE PUISSE ALLER PRENDRE LA PLACE, COMME IL FERA SITOST QUE BELLIEVRE SERA ARRIVE, ET VOUS REPORTERA TOUT CE QUE NOUS AURENS ENTENDU DE SA CHARGE, AFIN D’EN PRENDRE LEUR BON ADVIS, COMME EN TOUTES CHOSES. NOUS VOUS SUPPLIE DE CROIRE(?) QUE NOUS LE SUIVRONS AVEC TOUTE LA FIDELITE QUE VOUS SCAURIEZ ATTENDRE DE LA PERSONNE AU MONDE QUI DESIRE LE PLUS VOUS FAIRE SERVICE.
Je tiens tousjours certaine la levee de Reistres que l’on me mande estre [QUE/POUR LE?] 12 N(?), et qu’il y a quelque asseurance de la part de la Royne d’Angleterre qu’elle n’en tirera(?) de France. Mais je [voy?] le peu d’apparance qu’il y a que telles gens voulsissent arrester leur sejour en ung pays si sterile, duquel ilz ont tesmoigne les incommoditez, VEU MESMES QUE LA CAVALLERIE ET LES TROUPES AU [code: DUC] DE PARME NE PEUVENT VIVRE NI DEMEURER, ESTANS QUE CETTE OCCASION FORT DESBANDEES. JE(?) TIENS QUE CERTAIN POUR LEUR BUT ET RETRAICTE, ET PRESTS TOUSIOURS EN P[?] ET SUR NOUS; ET EST PLUS IMPORTANT QUE JAMAIS DE RESOUDRE L’ESTAT DE NOS AFFAIRES ET [??] EMPESCHER LE PASSAGE, ET REPOULSER CE[T ORAGE?] A QUOY NOUS AVONS TOUS PARTICULIER INTEREST, MONSIEUR.
Je trouve tres bon vostre advis que le faict de 23(?), et suis bien d’opinion qu’il seroit fort a propos de L’ACCOMMODER PAR LA DOUCEUR, en ayant escrit a MONSIEUR DE [code 8ı] que [..] massieur(?) de faire en cela ce que nous luy conseillerons. Mais il faut que je vous die librement qu’il A UNE DAME(?) QUI AVEC [PEU DE?] PRUDENCE S’EN EST LE TROP AVANT DES AFFAIRES, AYANT ESTE SI MAL ADVISEE DE VOULOIR PERSUADER A SON MARI QUE SON FRERE ET NOUS NE RECHERCHONS QUE SON CONTENTEMENT PARTICULIER [?] SON DESAVANTAGE, voulant tirer le payement de ses pensions et assignations PAR LA REDDITION DES PLACES. Je suis a la verité honteux(?) de vous parler de cette particularité, mais estans d’une mesme maison cette liberté nous doibt estre permise, d’estimant(?) qu’une(?) lettre de vous a MONSIEUR DE [code 8ı], AVEC CONSEIL DE CE QUE [code: VOUS?] JUGEREZ A PROPOS, QUE LE BIEN GENERAL EN SERVIRA DE BEAUCOUP. Et vous supplie tres humblement luy en vouloir escrire librement, et vous baise tres humblement les mains.
Ce xvj Avril 1587.
In English, in outline: the writer is glad that “their” advice agrees that the troubles make Mercœur’s presence in his government of Brittany necessary, since the people there fear being abandoned. He asks Mercœur to delay his decision a few days, until his brother can go and take the place once Bellièvre has arrived. The reiter levy is certain, and there is some assurance from the Queen of England. In cipher: the Duke of Parma’s cavalry and troops cannot stay, and it is more important than ever to settle “our affairs” and stop the passage. The matter of “23” should be settled “par la douceur”. A lady has meddled too far in affairs and has persuaded her husband that “his brother and we” seek only his own interest, to his cost. He wants his pensions paid “par la reddition des places”. A letter from Mercœur to “Monsieur de [8ı]” would serve the common good.
03 Method
- Cryptiana’s GL.htm (“Duke of Guise? in BnF fr.15564”) gives Lasry’s 2022 key table and his decipherment of f. 27, and says he solved ff. 27, 78, 119 and 142.
- The DECODE images of R4155, R4158, R4167 and neighbouring records were downloaded. The f. 27 overlay was used to calibrate the sign shapes against Lasry’s table.
- Every sign of f. 78 was labelled, one line per cipher run: 952 labels, with each nomenclator group as one label (998 signs when group members are counted singly).
- Where a label had more than one key value, a French letter model of about 1600 (5-grams) chose among them. A stricter solver (simulated annealing) that forced one value per label merged distinct homophones and gave worse text, so it was set aside.
- Three sign-by-sign passes against native-resolution crops added values missing from Lasry’s sheet or wider than it: ɋ/ƀ = M, ɛ = F, ≈ʃ = P, the R shape = B, :: = H, ∽ = G, ∩ = Y, and the groups ʃʃɤ = MON, ʃbn = NOUS, gb = MONSIEUR, g2 = DUC.
04 What stays open
- Three code groups that are not in the key, each used once: ʃʃ in run 3, ẜʃʃ in run 7, ≈ƀ in run 22. The guesses from context (MAIS, QUELQUE, PEU DE) are graded M.
- Twelve unresolved signs in runs 3, 17, 18 and 19 (“EN P[?]”, “[??] EMPESCHER”, “CE[T ORAGE?]”). They are legible, but no key value or French fits the letter count.
- Name codes in the clear text: 8ı (“Monsieur de …”), 23 and 12 N. Each occurs once or twice and is not on Lasry’s sheet.
- The sender is not named in the letter. Guise is the most likely writer (Tomokiyo: “probably from the Duke of Guise”), but that is an inference.
05 Sources
- BnF français 15564 f. 78; DECODE R4158 (images P2, P3, P5). Siblings R4155 and R4167.
- George Lasry, key for the Guise→Mercœur letters in fr. 15564 (2022), and his f. 27 decipherment, on Satoshi Tomokiyo’s Cryptiana, GL.htm.
The transcription labels, the decoding script, the pass logs and the full decrypted text are in the repository folder mercoeur1587/.