Ciphers of Elizabeth I

[Ben Laurie]

Peter Fairbrother wrote:
> 
> > Ben Laurie at ben@algroup.co.uk wrote:
> 
> > John Young wrote:
> >> My question is whether these documents have been examined
> >> by persons here and/or whether the Elizabethan era ciphers
> >> described in them have been written about in contemporary
> >> works.
> >
> > My son (aged 11) had Elizabeth's cipher for homework (I believe there
> > was only one). It was pretty simple minded - a symbolic substitution
> > cipher.
> >
> > It was cracked while she was using it, and used to incriminate her.
> 
> The Mary Queen of Scots cypher was cracked and used to incriminate Mary, not
> Elizabeth. Mary got her head chopped off because of it. It's a simple
> symbolic susbtitution cypher with a few tweaks (symbols to double a letter,
> ignore-this symbols, ignore-last-letter symbols).
> 
> Elizabeth (in reality Walsingham's codemasters) used and broke many
> different cyphers. There was a flourishing of crypto and double-dealing in
> those days. IIRC only a few of hers were broken (by the French), generally
> to little consequence.

You are right, I was confused.

Cheers,

Ben.

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