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Charles V’s secret code broken after five centuries. Who wanted to kill the King of Spain?
A group of researchers has broken a cipher from the 16th century. It was used by King Charles V of Spain in a letter to his ambassador to France. The letter contains references to plans for an assassination attempt on Charles’ life, which were allegedly forming on the Seine at the time.
Charles V Habsburg was one of the rulers of 16th-century Europe. He reigned for forty years. The territories he ruled covered much of the Old Continent. His empire extended, in addition to Spain, to Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and overseas colonies in South and Central America. In 1519. Charles was proclaimed ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. At the time, Spain’s only rival in Europe was France.
The son of Mary of Burgundy spoke several languages. His saying has gone down in history:
“I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse.”
Interestingly, it was Spanish that he had to learn, since his first language was French.
The king was thus a polyglot. However, the letter he wrote in 1547 to his ambassador in France was not written in any known language. The letter was written in a secret cipher that was not broken until…
