Henrietta Maria’s household to “Sir”, Paris, 26 January 1646

At a glanceKnown key applied · complete

The letter: A writer in Henrietta Maria’s household at Paris to “Sir”, who sends weekly news of the King’s affairs, 26 January [1646]. Signed with the numbers 316 440.
Where: The National Archives, Kew, SP 106/10 f. 247; DECODE R929. It was part of catalogue item 59, which grouped six letters in four different keys.
The cipher: One- and two-digit numbers for letters, up to five for E, and a nomenclator written as a letter and a digit (n3 the, k1 of, a1 and). This is the key of the King’s own letters to the Queen.
How it was deciphered: George Lasry reconstructed the key (“TNA SP106-5”) and deciphered the letter on DECODE in 2020. His key was applied here to Sofia Pettersson’s transcription without his plaintext. All 293 groups it gives a value agree with his text. The reading audit of 22 October 2026 counted the letter as decoded, not read, because his plaintext was not in this repository. On 23 October the image was transcribed line by line at full size, ten groups of the transcription corrected, and the letter built from the figures with his key and checked against his plaintext (compared, not copied): it reads.
What it says: Thanks for the weekly news. The King’s affairs are bad, but the writer hopes they can hold out without further losses until help arrives. Then a word on the embassy and the marriage.
Still open: Three code groups (566, 554, 620) and the three-group signature (316 440 236), each seen once; 199 is give or send. The other nomenclator numbers were valued from context on 23 October 2026, and the figures 81–90 turn out to be word dividers. With the open and context-valued codes as holes, the reading builds coherent sentences but reads at 89.3% of its words (measured 24 October 2026), under the 95% a complete reading needs.
Other keys: The five other letters once filed with it are in different ciphers: R785, R790, R923 (TNA SP 106), R787 (SP106-2), R924 (SP106-8).

01 The letter and the key

Catalogue item 59 grouped six cipher letters of SP 106/10 written from Henrietta Maria’s household in France. George Lasry reconstructed four keys for the run, one for each period of the correspondence, and on 14 October 2026 the entry was split so that each page presents one key. This letter is the only one of the six in his “SP106-5” key, dated January 1646. The same key, in his files, also reads the long letter on ff. 245–246 (R928, Dr Stephen Goffe at The Hague), and it is the key of Charles I’s own letters to the Queen read on the Rupert 1645 page.

The key has one- and two-digit homophones (A 14, 15, 16, 17; E 1 to 5) and a nomenclator written as a letter and a digit: a1 and, a2 are, d5 his, e5 in, k1 of, n1 to, n3 the, n4 this, p5 with. A few three-digit numbers stand for names. Lasry’s key file says there are no nulls.

Five lines of numbers and letter-digit groups separated by colons — F. 247, the first five lines (written sideways on the leaf; shown turned). Line 1 reads `34:14:66:33:57` P-A-R-I-S; the groups `n3` *the* and `k1` of are the letter-and-digit nomenclator. Image: The National Archives, SP 106/10 f. 247, via DECODE R929.

02 The decipherment

The reading of 23 October 2026 (R929_reading.md, English R929_en.md), built from the figures, with code values read from context in {braces}, values from one context or sense as [?word], and open codes as [numbers]:

Paris, Ian 26. Sr, the [?Queen] has this weke received {your}s of the 26 of Decemb and of the 4 of Ianuary, and [?give]s {you} thankes in the continuation of {your} care in [?giv]ing {her} wekly aduertisements of [566] the estate of the {King}s affaires. How bad so euer it be, I hope it is not so desperate as not to be able to subsist withovt farether losses till our endeauours {her}e for his [?Majesty]s releif may be brovght to effect. For which, as likewise concerning the embassage and mareriage of [?Port]ugall, I refer {you} to the {King} his [?letter]s, and remain, Sr, {your} most [554] [620] hvmble seruant, [316] [440] [236].

The image, read line by line at full size, corrected ten groups of Pettersson’s transcription: 810 is o2 = WE (weke, wekly), 993 is g3 MAY, e5 106 is c5 p6 FOR WHICH. The figures 81–90 fall only between words: they are dividers. Code values from context: 425 your, 429 you, e3 her and 241 King (two or more contexts each); 334 Queen, 208 Majesty, 319 Port(ugall) and 259 letter (one context or sense). Lasry’s plaintext, in his spelling, with the nomenclator numbers he left open:

PARIS JAN 26 SR. THE <334> HAS THIS WEKE RECEIVED <425>S OF THE 26 OF DECEMB AND OF THE 4 OF JANUARY AND <199>S <429> THANKES IN THE CONTINUATION OF <425> CARE IN <199>ING <e3> WEKLY ADVERTISEMENTS OF <566> THEE STATE OF THE <241>S AFFAIRES. HOW BAD SO EVER IT BE I HOPE IT IS NOT SO DESPERATE AS NOT TO BE ABLE TO SUBSIST WITHOUT FARETHER LOSSES TILL OUR ENDEAVOURS <e3>E IN HIS <208>S RELEIF MAY BE BROUGHT TO EFFECT … AS LIKEWISE CONCERNING THE EMBASSAGE AND MARRIAGE

The margin closes the letter: “of <319>ug all I refer <429> to the <241> his <259>s and remain, Sr, <425> most <554> <620> humble servant <316> <440> <236>”. The “embassage and marriage” are the embassy and the treaty for the Prince of Wales’s marriage, which also appear in Charles’s letter to the Queen of 22 January 1646. Lasry uses that letter to date this one to 1646.

03 How the key was applied

On 19 September 2026 Lasry’s alphabet was applied by hand to Pettersson’s raw transcription, without his plaintext file. It gave “…ARIS … IAN … SR … RECEIVED <425>S … DECEMB … IANVARY … THANKES … WEKLY ADVERTISEMENTS … AFFAIRES HOW BAD … EVER … DESPERATE … LIKEWISE CONCERNING THE EMBASSAGE AND MARRIAGE”.

On 14 October 2026 the whole letter was run through the key group by group. Of 348 groups, 293 (84.2%) get a value, and every one of them equals Lasry’s plaintext. The other 55 are 17 three-digit numbers (23 occurrences), the group e3 twice, and the figures 81–90 (30 occurrences). The replay in section 02 shows the first 120 groups of that run.

04 What stays open

The three-digit nomenclator numbers: <425> (three times), <199>, <429>, <810>, <241> and others. 241 is probably the King (“the <241>s affaires”). Most of the rest look like persons.
The figures 81–90 have no value in the key. They fall between words (“HOW _ BAD _ SO EUER”), so they look like word dividers or nulls, although Lasry’s key file says there are none. This is not settled here.
Who 316 440 is, and who “Sir” is. DECODE gives the Queen and the King as receivers, but the letter is written from Paris, where the Queen was, to someone who sends news of the King’s affairs.

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.

R929, Paris, 26 Jan 1646 read in part

Henrietta Maria's household at Paris to 'Sir', 26 Jan [1646]: the Queen has his letters of 26 Dec and 4 Jan and thanks him for his weekly reports of the King's affairs; however bad they are, the writer hopes they can hold out without further losses until the efforts at Paris for the King's relief take effect; for that, and for the embassy and the Portuguese marriage, he refers him to the King's letters.

Builds coherent sentences, but under the read bar of 95% of words read as sense (89% here); the holes are marked in the reading.

Transcription

R929_signs.txt

# R929 sign transcription: Pettersson (DECODE D1821, cipher rows of Lasry's D3084) with R929_corrections.tsv applied (checked on the full-size image); one manuscript line per row, the last three rows are the margin; =n is a numeral written in clear
34 14 66 33 57 82 31 15 49 86 =26 88 58 64 90 n3 334
e2 n4 o2 42 2 90 64 3 13 2 32 76 4 6 425 59 k1 n3
=26 k1 7 3 13 4 24 22 85 a1 k1 n3 =4 k1 33 14 48
74 15 66 70 a1 199 58 84 429 80 40 14 49 42 2 59
e5 n3 12 k2 80 32 49 74 14 80 33 k2 k1 425 12
16 66 3 e5 199 e5 20 e3 o2 41 27 70 85 16 6 74 2 64
80 f1 3 24 3 50 79 59 83 k1 566 n3 2 59 80 14 79
4 83 k1 n3 241 59 90 14 10 9 17 32 64 3 59 83 40 44
54 86 22 15 6 82 m2 4 74 3 64 f2 a4 30 86 40 45
34 2 f2 f1 h1 78 90 m2 6 3 59 36 3 66 14 80 2
15 59 h1 78 n1 a4 15 22 27 2 n1 58 74 22 59 f1 80
p5 45 76 80 87 10 a2 n3 66 83 27 46 60 58 3 59 81
80 33 27 28 83 44 74 66 82 3 50 6 1 15 76 46 74 64
59 e3 3 c5 d5 208 60 90 64 4 28 3 33 10 g3 a4 22
66 46 76 19 40 80 n1 2 10 9 4 12 80 86 c5 p6 17
59 84 27 30 42 3 54 f1 3 85 13 k2 12 2 64 49 e5 19
n3 2 24 22 15 59 58 14 18 2 a1 26 a2 66 33 15 20 3
k1 319 74 19 14 27 28 85 33 86 66 1 10 3 64 429 n1 n3 241 d5 259 59 a1 90 66 3 24 14
e5 86 59 66 425 26 46 59 80 554 620 40 76 26 22 27 3 84 58 2 64 74 14 50 80 316 440
236

Transcription

R929_corrections.tsv

row	index	op	old	value	note
0	10	sub	26	=26	the date "Ian 26" in clear figures, followed by a point and 88 (Lasry <DATE 26>); as a key group it would be M
1	2	sub	810	o2	image line 2: "o2" (letter o and 2), not 810; o2 = WE (weke), as o0 = WE in the key
2	0	sub	26	=26	the date "26 of Decemb" in clear figures (Lasry <DATE 26>)
2	12	sub	4	=4	the date "the 4 of Ianuary" in clear figures (Lasry <DATE 4>)
5	8	sub	810	o2	image line 6: "o2", not 810; WE (wekly)
11	0	sub	105	p5	image line 12 has p5; same value WITH (105|p5 in the key)
13	3	sub	e5	c5	image line 14: c5 (FOR), not e5 (IN): "our endeavours here for his [Majesty]s releif"
13	14	sub	993	g3	image line 14: g3 (MAY), not 993: "releif may be brought"
14	14	sub	e5	c5	image line 15: c5 (FOR), not e5
14	15	sub	106	p6	image line 15: p6 (WHICH), not 106: "for which, as likewise"

Transcription: 929

Decryption

R929_reading.md

<!-- Reading of R929 built 23 Oct 2026 by Claude Opus 5.5 (REREAD_BRIEF, batch b36). It rests on Sofia Pettersson's figure transcription (DECODE DOC_R929_D1821, the cipher rows of George Lasry's interlinear file D3084), corrected in ten places on the full-size DECODE image (R929_corrections.tsv; the corrected transcription is R929_signs.txt), decoded group by group with Lasry's reconstructed key "TNA SP106-5" (D3085) plus one value added here (o2 = WE), by research/reading_audit/b36_sp106.py. Lasry's plaintext (D3083/D3084) was compared row by row. Spelling as the figures give it (the key keeps U and V apart; a2 "are" is used as the syllable "ar" in farether, mareriage). The figures 81-90 fall only between words: word dividers, not read. {word} = a code value that holds in two or more contexts; [?word] = a code read from one context or from sense only; [word] = supplied; [nnn] = unidentified code. Modern spelling, holes kept: R929_en.md. -->

# R929, SP 106/10 f. 247: Paris, 26 January [1646], to "Sir"

Credit: George Lasry (decryption on DECODE, used with his permission, 24 Oct 2026)

Header: one letter, eighteen lines written sideways across the lower part of the leaf and three lines in the margin; a
seal on the outer fold.

## Reading

Paris, Ian 26. Sr, the [?Queen] has this weke received {your}s of the 26 of Decemb and of the 4 of Ianuary, and
[?give]s {you} thankes in the continuation of {your} care in [?giv]ing {her} wekly aduertisements of [566] the estate of
the {King}s affaires. How bad so euer it be, I hope it is not so desperate as not to be able to subsist withovt
farether losses till our endeauours {her}e for his [?Majesty]s releif may be brovght to effect. For which, as likewise
concerning the embassage and mareriage of [?Port]ugall, I refer {you} to the {King} his [?letter]s, and remain, Sr,
{your} most [554] [620] hvmble seruant, [316] [440] [236].

## Notes

- Code values (none is in Lasry's key; all read here): 425 {your} (three contexts: "received yours", "your care",
  "Sr your most ... servant"); 429 {you} (two: "gives you thanks", "I refer you"); e3 {her} (two: "giving her weekly
  advertisements", "our endeavours her-e"); 241 {King} (two: "the King's affairs", "the King his letters"). From one
  context or sense only: 334 [?Queen] (the writer's principal, at Paris, who receives "Sir"'s letters), 199 [?give]
  (two contexts, "199s you thanks" and "in 199-ing her weekly advertisements"; "send" fits both equally), 208
  [?Majesty] ("his 208s relief"), 319 [?Port] (319 + u-g-a-l-l; the Portuguese match for Prince Charles discussed in
  1645-46), 259 [?letter].
- Open: 566 (between "advertisements of" and "the estate"), 554 620 (between "most" and "humble"), the signature
  316 440 236.
- "for his [?Majesty]s releif may be": the image has c5 (for) and g3 (may), where the transcription had e5 (in) and
  993; "for which" is c5 p6 on the image (transcription e5 106). See R929_corrections.tsv.
- "the [?Queen] has": the writer speaks of her in the third person and signs for himself; DECODE's sender
  "Assistant of Henrietta-Maria" fits.

Decryption: 929

Decryption

R929_decryption.txt

# R929: George Lasry's decryption, verbatim from DECODE record R929 (attachment DOC_R929_D3083_3083.txt)
# Credit: George Lasry (decryption on DECODE, used with his permission, 24 Oct 2026).
# https://de-crypt.org/decrypt-web/RecordsView/929  The file holds R928 (ff. 245-246) and f. 247 (R929), same key.
# Everything below this header is his file, unchanged.

################ tna_sp106\0245-0246.txt
# First letter from The Hague, by Dr Goff, probably forwarded as is from Paris.
# Second (shorter) letter sent from Paris, maybe by Jermyn
# Goff was sent multiple times by the Queen to Holland.
# The messages are January. Theoretically, could either be 1645 or 1646. 
# Jan 1646 is more likely.
# 1) Looks like in advanced stages of preparations (as Goff mentioning delays) .
# 2) Wedding (not yet concluded) also mentioned in a message from Charles to the Queen on Jan 22, 1646
# "Concerning Prince Charles his marriage, I shall say nothing till the Prince of Orange gives his positive resolution"
# 3) (Admiral) Dorp is mentioned in Archives ou correspondance inédite de la maison d'Orange-Nassau, Vol 4, page 144, Set 1645.
#
# Mentions Job Forant https://www.academia.edu/6243765/Job_Forant_Quelques_pr%C3%A9cisions_sur_un_marin_m%C3%A9connu_

#IMAGE NAME: 2.png
 <722> FROM <190> DR <254> GOFFE <316> AT THE HAGE JANUARY <190> <342> THE <DATE 21>ST
NOVO SIR THOUGH <190> I <255> DO NOT DOUBT BUT THAT WITHOUT ANY ADVERTISMENT <c6> 
HENCE <429> HAVE JUDGED IT IMPOSSIBLE AND USELES FOR A <180> TO GET INTO THESE A DURING 
THIS STRANGE FROST WHICH BEGAN IN THESE COUNTRIES ABOUT <723> DECEMBRE THE <DATE 4?>ST NO AND
PERSISTS IN  TO A MANNER THAT IT THREATENS ALONG <678>  <822>  <430>  I THOUGHT IT
MY DUTY TO <199> HIS <280> THIS ACCOUNT OF THAT <114>  <340>  <191>  <255>  <842> THAT
THE <369>S ARE ALL FOUND <254> <832> THE PRICE OF THEIR HIRING AND EQUIPAGE AGREED UPON 
<837> THE <278>E WITH ALL TO DO IT LIES READY <256> <190> BUT THE CONTRACTS ARE NOT MADE
BECAUSE IT IS NEEDLES TO BE ENGAGED TIL THE WATERS BE OPEN AND ALLOW LIBERTY
OF CLEANING THE VESSELS <255> LAYING IN THE VICTUALN AND RAISING THE MEN 
ALL WHICH IS THOUGHT BY THEM WHO ARE MOST DIFFIDENT TO BE THE WORKE OF
 <734> E <254> WEEKES <190> <735> SO THAT BY THE BLESSING OF GOD AFTER THE ICE BREAKES IF
THE WIND PROVE FAVORABLE WITHIN A VERY SHORTE SPACE OF TIME MUCH SOONER THEN THE <357>S
CAN PREPARE THEIR SHI(P)S <280> MAY HEARE OF HIS ROYAL <180> OF
 <d2> G <872> <198> <369> S <254> FUL OF MEN <343> <a5> THE EFFECTS OF SOME HAPPY 
ENTERPRISE OF THERE BE SEVERAL OF <198> IMPORTANCE THE IN <148> <h3> <190> BUT <429> MAY
PLEASE TO TAKE NOTICE THAT SINCE MR CARTERET S <190> DISPATCH THIS <114> HAS BENE <255> 
TRAVERSED WITH MANY UNREASONABLE DELAYES AND DIFFICULTIES 
IN SO MUCH THAT <h3> <a3> LASTOUR <103> <190> DORP <191> HAS FORSAKEN IT MOST 
FORTUNATELY FOR THE <241>S AFFAIRES <252> WITHOUT ANY LOSSE OF TIME AS IT HAPPENS BY THE FROST
<256> AND WITHOUT INCONVENIENCE ANYOTHER WAY IF HEE PRESERVE THE <368> AS THERE IS LITLE DOUBT
TO BE MADE CONSIDERING THE <198> ENGAGEMENTS WHICH LY UPON HIM FOR IT <690> I SAY NO MORE BY
THIS WAY OF CYPHER BUT THAT THIS IS A MOST HAPPY DELIVERANCE <255> <343> <190> AND IN HIS 
ROOME THERE IS PLACED <256> <825> CAPTAINE FORANT <190> <208> WHO BEING A FRENCH MASSUIIES
BETTER WITH THE PRETEXT OF <177> EMPLOYMENT AND BEING OF THE <350> <d3> OF LONG EXPERIENCE
AND CREDIT IN THIS STATE S SERVICE <252> OF UNDOUBTED <191> COURAGE DILLIGENCE AND FIDELITY 
AN DONE <112> HAS PARTICULARLY SET HIS HARTLONG SINCE TO SERVE HIS <280> AGAINST THE <357>S
IS THE FITTEST PERSON IN THE WORLD TO BE ENGAGED IN IT <254> AND FOR THIS CAUSE IT IS DESIRED
THAT THE COMMISSIONS UNDER THE <198> SEALE IF ANY BE ALREADY WRITTEN WITH <190> DORP S NAME
#IMAGENAME:1.png
BE CONCEALED AND THE REST SUSPENDED TIL THE <369>S BE ABROAD BECAUSE ACCORDING TO THE NEW 
AND BETTER <148>S OF THIS <103> THERE MAY BE REQUIRED SOME CONSIDERABLE ALTERATIONS AND 
THOSE <232>IONS AND COMMISSIONS HIS <280> HAS BEENE PLEASED TO SEND ALREADY WILL SUFFICIENTLY
SERVE TO BRING THEM FOR THAND BEGIN THE WORKE <190> <208> THOUGH AL THIS BE WRITTEN WITH GOOD
ASSURANCE <430> NOT WITH THAT CONFIDENCE AS IF NO DIFFICULTIES WERE <430> REMAINING <208> AMONGST
OTHERS THERE IS <198> CAUSE TO APPREHEND THE <307>ITION OF THE STATE OF <209> WHO <814> ALL THINGS
ARE READY PROBABLY OUT OF JEALOUSIES IF THEY HAVE NO CLEARE DISCOVERY OF THE <368> ATTEMPT TO
HINDER THIS <180> BUT HIS <280> MAY RELY ON THIS THAT THERE ARE MUCH STRONGER AND HIGHER RESOLUTIONS
TO GET IT FORTH WHICH I PRAY GOD OF HIS MERCY TO PROSPER AND TO PRESERVE THE SACRED PERSON OF THE 
<241> OUT OF THE <357>S HANDS <208> <316>  <341> <190>

################tna sp106\0247.txt
#IMAGENAME:1.png

PARIS JAN <DATE 26> SR 
THE <334> HAS THIS WEKE RECEIVED <425>S OF THE <DATE 26> OF DECEMB AND OF THE <DATE 4> OF JANUARY
AND <199>S <429> THANKES IN THE CONTINUATION OF <425> CARE IN <199>ING <e3> WEKLY 
ADVERTISEMENTS OF <566> THEE STATE OF THE <241>S AFFAIRES HOW BAD SO EVER IT BE I HOPE IT IS
NOT SO DESPERATE AS NOT TO BE ABLE TO SUBSIST WITHOUT FARETHER LOSSES TILL OUR ENDEAVOURS <e3>E
IN HIS <208>S RELEIF MAY BE BROUGHT TO EFFECT IN <106> AS LIKEWISE CONCERNING THE EMBASSAGE AND
MARRIAGE
#COMMENTS:margin.
OF <319>UG ALL I REFER <429> TO THE <241> HIS <259>S AND REMAIN 
SR <425> MOST <554> <620> HUMBLE SERVANT <316> <440> 
 <236>

Reading

R929_reading.md

<!-- Reading of R929 built 23 Oct 2026 by Claude Opus 5.5 (REREAD_BRIEF, batch b36). It rests on Sofia Pettersson's figure transcription (DECODE DOC_R929_D1821, the cipher rows of George Lasry's interlinear file D3084), corrected in ten places on the full-size DECODE image (R929_corrections.tsv; the corrected transcription is R929_signs.txt), decoded group by group with Lasry's reconstructed key "TNA SP106-5" (D3085) plus one value added here (o2 = WE), by research/reading_audit/b36_sp106.py. Lasry's plaintext (D3083/D3084) was compared row by row. Spelling as the figures give it (the key keeps U and V apart; a2 "are" is used as the syllable "ar" in farether, mareriage). The figures 81-90 fall only between words: word dividers, not read. {word} = a code value that holds in two or more contexts; [?word] = a code read from one context or from sense only; [word] = supplied; [nnn] = unidentified code. Modern spelling, holes kept: R929_en.md. -->

# R929, SP 106/10 f. 247: Paris, 26 January [1646], to "Sir"

Credit: George Lasry (decryption on DECODE, used with his permission, 24 Oct 2026)

Header: one letter, eighteen lines written sideways across the lower part of the leaf and three lines in the margin; a
seal on the outer fold.

## Reading

Paris, Ian 26. Sr, the [?Queen] has this weke received {your}s of the 26 of Decemb and of the 4 of Ianuary, and
[?give]s {you} thankes in the continuation of {your} care in [?giv]ing {her} wekly aduertisements of [566] the estate of
the {King}s affaires. How bad so euer it be, I hope it is not so desperate as not to be able to subsist withovt
farether losses till our endeauours {her}e for his [?Majesty]s releif may be brovght to effect. For which, as likewise
concerning the embassage and mareriage of [?Port]ugall, I refer {you} to the {King} his [?letter]s, and remain, Sr,
{your} most [554] [620] hvmble seruant, [316] [440] [236].

## Notes

- Code values (none is in Lasry's key; all read here): 425 {your} (three contexts: "received yours", "your care",
  "Sr your most ... servant"); 429 {you} (two: "gives you thanks", "I refer you"); e3 {her} (two: "giving her weekly
  advertisements", "our endeavours her-e"); 241 {King} (two: "the King's affairs", "the King his letters"). From one
  context or sense only: 334 [?Queen] (the writer's principal, at Paris, who receives "Sir"'s letters), 199 [?give]
  (two contexts, "199s you thanks" and "in 199-ing her weekly advertisements"; "send" fits both equally), 208
  [?Majesty] ("his 208s relief"), 319 [?Port] (319 + u-g-a-l-l; the Portuguese match for Prince Charles discussed in
  1645-46), 259 [?letter].
- Open: 566 (between "advertisements of" and "the estate"), 554 620 (between "most" and "humble"), the signature
  316 440 236.
- "for his [?Majesty]s releif may be": the image has c5 (for) and g3 (may), where the transcription had e5 (in) and
  993; "for which" is c5 p6 on the image (transcription e5 106). See R929_corrections.tsv.
- "the [?Queen] has": the writer speaks of her in the third person and signs for himself; DECODE's sender
  "Assistant of Henrietta-Maria" fits.

Translation

R929_en.md

<!-- English (modern spelling) of R929_reading.md, 23 Oct 2026, Claude Opus 5.5 (batch b36). Same holes and brackets. -->

# R929, SP 106/10 f. 247: Paris, 26 January [1646], to "Sir"

Credit: George Lasry (decryption on DECODE, used with his permission, 24 Oct 2026)

## Reading

Paris, January 26. Sir, the [?Queen] has this week received your letters of the 26th of December and of the 4th of
January, and [?gives] you thanks for the continuation of your care in [?giving] her weekly reports of [566] the state of
the King's affairs. However bad it may be, I hope it is not so desperate as not to be able to hold out without further
losses until our efforts here for his [?Majesty]'s relief can be brought to effect. For that, as also concerning the
embassy and the marriage of [?Port]ugal, I refer you to the King's [?letter]s, and remain, Sir, your most [554] [620]
humble servant, [316] [440] [236].

05 Sources

The National Archives, Kew, SP 106/10 f. 247, via DECODE R929 (image and files need a login).
George Lasry, reconstructed key “TNA SP106-5” (dated 1646-01), interlinear plaintext of ff. 245–247 and dating notes, DECODE, 23 Oct 2020.
Sofia Pettersson, manual transcription of f. 247, DECODE, 29 Oct 2019.
Satoshi Tomokiyo, Unsolved historical ciphers (Henrietta Maria, 1645–46).

Notes, profile and the checking script in targets/sp106r929/. The DECODE files are not redistributed.