Modern Mysteries

Mystery of 500-year-old secret code solved

By T.K. Randall
February 4, 2018 ·  2 comments

The letters were written by King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Image Credit: Michael Sittow The key to cracking the code, which had been used to write several secret letters dating back to the second French invasion of Naples, had remained a mystery for centuries.

Written by Spanish king Ferdinand II of Aragon to military commander Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba, the letters had been on display at the Army Museum in Toledo since 2015.

Now though, following a renewed effort by the Spanish National Intelligence Center (CNI), several of the letters have finally been decoded.They were found to contain military instructions, troop deployments and even a message chastising the commander for failing to consult with the king before launching diplomatic initiatives.

The code was so complex that it took intelligence experts six months to decipher it.

500-year-old Spain secret letter code cracked https://t.co/Pvc10mWtzX

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) February 3, 2018

Source: Independent | Comments (2)

Tags: Spain, Code