At a glanceExisting decipherment · complete
- The document
- An unsigned, undated slip of four lines of Italian with one run of 25 cipher signs in its first line.
- Where
- Archivio di Stato di Siena, Concistoro 2308, fasc. 2, no. 10; DECODE R4799, catalogued “1500–1599” with no status.
- The cipher
- A letter substitution on digits, letters and invented shapes, with two signs each for a and o and three signs that carry no letter.
- How it was deciphered
- At the time: a second hand wrote the letters over the signs. Transcribed here sign by sign; every repeated sign carries the same letter.
- What it says
- “Et riuscendo o no la presura di Montepulciano, in ogni modo …”: whether or not the taking of Montepulciano succeeds.
- Still open
- The date, the writer and the rest of the clear lines.
The Sienese cipher file Concistoro 2308 holds pieces in many different keys; this slip has a cipher of its own, with its own page. The other pieces are listed on the collection’s page. George Lasry’s report on the file (17 October 2026) lists it among the pieces with an interlinear plaintext.
01The slip and its decipherment
The run stands in the first line between the clear words Et riuscendo o no la and in ogni modo. Above it a smaller hand wrote one letter over each sign. Aligned sign by sign, the gloss gives sixteen values and is consistent wherever a sign repeats (the signs for p, r, e, u, i, n each occur twice with the same letter); a and o each have two signs. Three signs have no letter over them: one under a mark like φ between presur and a, one after mon, and the last; they are taken as nulls.
Et riuscendo o no la presura di Montepulciano, in ogni modo …
“And whether or not the taking of Montepulciano succeeds, in any case …” George Lasry’s contents list writes pressura; the gloss has a single s.
02What remains
- The date. Siena and Florence fought over Montepulciano more than once: Florentine from 1390, it went over to Siena in 1495 and back to Florence in 1511. Nothing on the slip fixes the campaign.
- The writer, the addressee, and lines 2–4 of the clear text, which are transcribed only in part.
- The three unglossed signs are read as nulls from the gloss alone (grade I).
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.
Siena, Concistoro 2308 fasc. 2 no. 10 (DECODE R4799)
A narrow undated slip: 'Et riuscendo o no la presura di Montepulciano, in ogni modo ragunato che sarà ...' ('whether or not the taking of Montepulciano succeeds ...'). The single cipher run of 25 signs was deciphered at the time letter by letter above the signs; no10.txt gives each sign with the letter written over it.
Transcription
No. 10 (ASSi Concistoro 2308, fasc. 2) - DECODE R4799 (Concistoro_2308_53), one image IMG_R4799_I27942_P.jpg (4000x2248)
Transcribed 18 Oct 2026 (agent S2) from the DECODE photograph, cipher run at 2x and 4x (crops x 1150-3150, y 800-1300).
WHAT IT IS
A narrow slip, four lines of Italian cursive (no address, no date, no signature, pencil "10" at the foot right).
One cipher run of 25 signs stands in line 1 after the clear words "Et riuscendo o no la"; a second hand wrote the
decipherment above it, one letter over each sign: "presura di Montepulciano" (the gloss has 22 letters and a
phi-like mark over one sign; two signs carry no letter).
CLEAR TEXT (tentative; only line 1 is read with confidence)
L1 [Et riuscendo o no la] <cipher run> [in ogni modo]
L2 [ragunato che sara tucte le gente(?) ... intende andare i(n) altri luoghi ... et p(er) ... fare(?)]
L3 [... a V. S. 24(?) ... fa pensiero d'obsidione(?) ... quanto ... ]
L4 [... ]
(not transcribed further; the clear lines are context only)
CIPHER RUN (sign labels as they look; gloss letter under each sign; "-" = no gloss letter)
pos sign gloss
1 S p
2 3 r
3 7 e
4 8 s
5 1 u
6 3 r
7 n phi-mark (no letter: null?)
8 y a
9 + d
10 9 i
11 e m
12 oo o
13 L n
14 m - (no gloss: null?)
15 b t
16 7 e
17 S p
18 1 u
19 g5 (5-shaped g) l
20 O. (arch over a dot) c
21 9 i
22 R a
23 L n
24 g (looped g) o
25 q - (no gloss: null or end mark)
COUNTS: 25 cipher signs; 22 glossed with a letter; 3 without (positions 7, 14, 25).
VALUES THE GLOSS GIVES (consistent wherever a sign repeats)
S=p (2x) 3=r (2x) 7=e (2x) 8=s 1=u (2x) y=a R=a +=d 9=i (2x) e=m oo=o g=o L=n (2x) b=t g5=l O.=c
unglossed: n (the gloss has a phi-like mark over it), m, q
READING: presura di Montepulciano ("the taking of Montepulciano"; George Lasry's report lists it as "pressura di Montepulciano")Transcription: no10.tok
Decryption
No. 10 (ASSi Concistoro 2308, fasc. 2) - DECODE R4799 (Concistoro_2308_53), one image IMG_R4799_I27942_P.jpg (4000x2248)
Transcribed 18 Oct 2026 (agent S2) from the DECODE photograph, cipher run at 2x and 4x (crops x 1150-3150, y 800-1300).
WHAT IT IS
A narrow slip, four lines of Italian cursive (no address, no date, no signature, pencil "10" at the foot right).
One cipher run of 25 signs stands in line 1 after the clear words "Et riuscendo o no la"; a second hand wrote the
decipherment above it, one letter over each sign: "presura di Montepulciano" (the gloss has 22 letters and a
phi-like mark over one sign; two signs carry no letter).
CLEAR TEXT (tentative; only line 1 is read with confidence)
L1 [Et riuscendo o no la] <cipher run> [in ogni modo]
L2 [ragunato che sara tucte le gente(?) ... intende andare i(n) altri luoghi ... et p(er) ... fare(?)]
L3 [... a V. S. 24(?) ... fa pensiero d'obsidione(?) ... quanto ... ]
L4 [... ]
(not transcribed further; the clear lines are context only)
CIPHER RUN (sign labels as they look; gloss letter under each sign; "-" = no gloss letter)
pos sign gloss
1 S p
2 3 r
3 7 e
4 8 s
5 1 u
6 3 r
7 n phi-mark (no letter: null?)
8 y a
9 + d
10 9 i
11 e m
12 oo o
13 L n
14 m - (no gloss: null?)
15 b t
16 7 e
17 S p
18 1 u
19 g5 (5-shaped g) l
20 O. (arch over a dot) c
21 9 i
22 R a
23 L n
24 g (looped g) o
25 q - (no gloss: null or end mark)
COUNTS: 25 cipher signs; 22 glossed with a letter; 3 without (positions 7, 14, 25).
VALUES THE GLOSS GIVES (consistent wherever a sign repeats)
S=p (2x) 3=r (2x) 7=e (2x) 8=s 1=u (2x) y=a R=a +=d 9=i (2x) e=m oo=o g=o L=n (2x) b=t g5=l O.=c
unglossed: n (the gloss has a phi-like mark over it), m, q
READING: presura di Montepulciano ("the taking of Montepulciano"; George Lasry's report lists it as "pressura di Montepulciano")Reading
# Siena, Concistoro 2308 fasc. 2 no. 10 (DECODE R4799): the reading Written 23 Oct 2026 (verification 3). The slip's only cipher run, 25 signs, reads *presura di Montepulciano* from the contemporary letter-by-letter decipherment written over it, every glossed sign consistent where it repeats (`no10.txt`); three unglossed signs are taken as nulls. The run stands inside the clear first line, which is given around it; the clear lines 2-4 are not transcribed (they are not cipher, and only line 1 is read with confidence). ## Reading Et riuscendo o no la presura di Montepulciano, in ogni modo.
Translation
<!-- English translation of transcripts/no10_reading.md (Claude Opus 5.5, 23 Oct 2026): the one cipher run of the slip (read from the contemporary letter-by-letter decipherment over it) in its clear first line. --> # Siena, Concistoro 2308 fasc. 2 no. 10 (DECODE R4799): English translation And whether or not the capture of Montepulciano succeeds, in any case.
03Sources
- Archivio di Stato di Siena, Concistoro 2308 fasc. 2 no. 10: DECODE R4799.
- George Lasry, “The cipher documents of Concistoro 2308, fasc. 2”, report sent to Daniel Bourdeau, 17 October 2026, contents list, section H.
Manuscript rights: Archivio di Stato di Siena.
Transcription with the gloss, sign by sign: targets/siena10/.