# Session 8: Phase 4: the chancery key; book v1.3

> Tranchedino-type mixed keys, the cipher family of fifteenth-century Italian chanceries, registered with four predictions, then simulated over 216…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/sessions/SES0D8DV4G06NE7/session-8-phase-4-the-chancery-key-book-v1-3  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

---

[Voynich Manuscript](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript)Research session

Research session · Voynich Manuscript

# Session 8: Phase 4: the chancery key; book v1.3

Tranchedino-type mixed keys, the cipher family of fifteenth-century Italian chanceries, registered with four predictions, then simulated over 216 configurations; collapse, choice and line-position tests; an element-vocabulary solver with a planted-key ladder; Simonetta's 1474 rules. Book v1.3 added Part VII.

Session **8** 22 Oct 2026Test0

## What it left open

- {'fate': 'Open (next step N-001).', 'text': 'The layout layer: model and normalise line-conditioned variants, then re-run'}
- {'fate': 'Still open.', 'text': 'A copying layer'}
- {'fate': 'Still open.', 'text': 'A solver that can find glyph-string signs'}
- {'fate': 'Still open.', 'text': 'A more topical plaintext for the locality bound'}

## Questions raised 2

[Can any of it be read?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/questions/QST08JGFGG00CY7/can-any-of-it-be-read)

Q-040

QST

[Does any reading survive held-out pages?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/questions/QST08JGFZ4R3FQM/does-any-reading-survive-held-out-pages)

Q-041

QST

## Answers proposed 1

[Latin or Italian under a chancery mixed key](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/answers/ANS0D8FZZM071JE/latin-or-italian-under-a-chancery-mixed-key)

H-CIPHER-MIXED

ANS

## Evidence found 7

[A mixed key whose signs are glyph strings cannot be recovered by the element solver even…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/evidence/EVD0D8GDS8T5T4G/a-mixed-key-whose-signs-are-glyph-strings-cannot-be)

F-034

EVD

[Endings are more concentrated than Italian's](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/evidence/EVD0D8GDS106H27/endings-are-more-concentrated-than-italians)

F-033

EVD

[Glyph order carries usable structure](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/evidence/EVD0D8GDSGM4QGA/glyph-order-carries-usable-structure)

F-035

EVD

[Merging context-alike spelling variants does not restore word order; the collapse and…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/evidence/EVD0D8GDSRE7RKC/merging-context-alike-spelling-variants-does-not-restore)

F-036

EVD

[No Tranchedino-type mixed key reproduces the text](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/evidence/EVD0D8GDRHC77HS/no-tranchedino-type-mixed-key-reproduces-the-text)

F-031

EVD

[No word of the running text has been rendered as a dictionary word of any language on…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/evidence/EVD0D8GDT080B34/no-word-of-the-running-text-has-been-rendered-as-a)

F-037

EVD

[Spelling variants depend on the word's place in the line](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/evidence/EVD0D8GDRS602CG/spelling-variants-depend-on-the-words-place-in-the-line)

F-032

EVD

## Runs 27

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: held-out element score, real minus spelling-permuted null…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ6Y062H7/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-081

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ4FW6NK5/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-071

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ6EC61Q3/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-079

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ66J2AYA/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-078

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ5YR7X4S/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-077

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ5PY28CR/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-076

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ5F46SBZ/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-075

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ57A02MV/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-074

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ4823NQD/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-070

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ3RE7E7N/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-068

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ3GM43D9/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-067

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ38T4V98/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-066

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ3104QRK/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-065

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ2S66W6P/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-064

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ1SY56QS/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-060

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ1J474SA/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-059

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ1AA2VTZ/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-058

RUN

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder: planted mixed key on Latin: held-out word accuracy / key accuracy by…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ12G1DDC/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

RUN-057

RUN

[Homophone-choice dynamics and layout-blindness of variant choice: conditional MI of variant and line position within frames vs…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ2HC0J5Y/homophone-choice-dynamics-and-layout-blindness-of-variant)

RUN-063

RUN

[Homophone-choice dynamics and layout-blindness of variant choice: conditional MI of variant and line position within frames, plaintext…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ40820AF/homophone-choice-dynamics-and-layout-blindness-of-variant)

RUN-069

RUN

[Homophone-choice dynamics and layout-blindness of variant choice: same-variant rate of successive family occurrences within page,…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ6P619B9/homophone-choice-dynamics-and-layout-blindness-of-variant)

RUN-080

RUN

[Homophone-choice dynamics and layout-blindness of variant choice: same-variant rate of successive family occurrences within page,…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ0TP2X9Z/homophone-choice-dynamics-and-layout-blindness-of-variant)

RUN-056

RUN

[Homophone-choice dynamics and layout-blindness of variant choice: variant choice vs line position and previous glyph, top alternation…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ29J1DKH/homophone-choice-dynamics-and-layout-blindness-of-variant)

RUN-062

RUN

[Mixed-key simulator: family map and fitted fingerprint: held-out statistics failed by the fitted mixed key, per spacing…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ4ZG2259/mixed-key-simulator-family-map-and-fitted-fingerprint-held)

RUN-073

RUN

[Sign-level collapse at matched vocabulary: change in word-order gain after merging 300 context-similar edit-1…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ0JW5B4J/sign-level-collapse-at-matched-vocabulary-change-in-word)

RUN-055

RUN

[Sign-level collapse at matched vocabulary: mean excess of context-chosen over random merges at equal type count:…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ21R3FV6/sign-level-collapse-at-matched-vocabulary-mean-excess-of)

RUN-061

RUN

[Simonetta's 1474 rules: Simonetta 1474 diagnostics: word-final units above 1% / share of five…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/runs/RUN0D8EQ4QP1MZT/simonettas-1474-rules-simonetta-1474-diagnostics-word-final)

RUN-072

RUN

## Methods used 5

[Element-vocabulary solver for mixed keys, with unit discovery and planted-key ladder](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH08JFXCNA2PDJ/element-vocabulary-solver-for-mixed-keys-with-unit-discovery)

M-T22

MTH

[Homophone-choice dynamics and layout-blindness of variant choice](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH08JFXCDG22SA/homophone-choice-dynamics-and-layout-blindness-of-variant)

M-T21

MTH

[Mixed-key simulator: family map and fitted fingerprint](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH08JFXBXW5G7W/mixed-key-simulator-family-map-and-fitted-fingerprint)

M-T19

MTH

[Sign-level collapse at matched vocabulary](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH08JFXC5P4VPR/sign-level-collapse-at-matched-vocabulary)

M-T20

MTH

[Simonetta's 1474 rules](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH08JFXCX41G6C/simonettas-1474-rules)

M-T23

MTH

## Datasets used 1

[Zandbergen-Landini transliteration ZL3b (EVA, IVTFF 2.0, 13 May 2025)](https://mysteriesdept.com/datasets/DAT08JFZFSR41PZ/zandbergen-landini-transliteration-zl3b-eva-ivtff-2-0-13-may)

DAT

## Sources consulted 40

[A Florentine 'polyalphabetic' cipher in the 15th century](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MTEFW05SN/a-florentine-polyalphabetic-cipher-in-the-15th-century)

SRC

[A Glyph Is Not a Letter, a Token Is Not a Word, a Space Is Not a Space](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JJ6EA05YRN/a-glyph-is-not-a-letter-a-token-is-not-a-word-a-space-is-not)

SRC

[An Algorithmic Solution of Sequential Homophonic Ciphers](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JJDA185P3G/an-algorithmic-solution-of-sequential-homophonic-ciphers)

SRC

[Antonio Elio 'Cipher' and his Polyphonic-Syllabic Cipher](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MRS0Y1G8T/antonio-elio-cipher-and-his-polyphonic-syllabic-cipher)

SRC

[Archive Proximity](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MRJE05ET4/archive-proximity)

SRC

[Armand de Bourbon’s Poly-Homophonic Cipher – 1649](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MRR1P34RD/armand-de-bourbons-poly-homophonic-cipher-1649)

SRC

[Automatic Key Structure Extraction](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MTB2G0Q5D/automatic-key-structure-extraction)

SRC

[Ciphers of Mary, Queen of Scots](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MTAB21TPX/ciphers-of-mary-queen-of-scots)

SRC

[Cryptanalysis of Homophonic Substitution Ciphers Using Simulated Annealing with Fixed Temperature](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JJCVCG5E1F/cryptanalysis-of-homophonic-substitution-ciphers-using)

SRC

[DECODE: database of historical ciphers and keys](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MQP3R4S3D/decode-database-of-historical-ciphers-and-keys)

SRC

[Deciphering Historical Syllabic Ciphers](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JJBY3003EZ/deciphering-historical-syllabic-ciphers)

SRC

[Deciphering Mary Stuart's Lost Letters from 1578–1584](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JJCCQR5TWW/deciphering-mary-stuarts-lost-letters-from-15781584)

SRC

[Deciphering a Letter from the French Wars of Religion](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MRQJ27YCK/deciphering-a-letter-from-the-french-wars-of-religion)

SRC

[Die Geheimschrift im Dienste der päpstlichen Kurie von ihren Anfängen bis zum Ende des XVI. Jahrhunderts](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JJ9MV84J36/die-geheimschrift-im-dienste-der-papstlichen-kurie-von-ihren)

SRC

[Efficient Cryptanalysis of Homophonic Substitution Ciphers](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MQQ3067PE/efficient-cryptanalysis-of-homophonic-substitution-ciphers)

SRC

[Encryption (Sforza envoy ciphers)](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MS6PE5ZG9/encryption-sforza-envoy-ciphers)

SRC

[Fifteenth Century Cryptography](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JJ966G0ZFQ/fifteenth-century-cryptography)

SRC

[Francesco Tranchedino: Diplomatische Geheimschriften (facsimile of Vienna, ÖNB Cod. 2398)](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MR9CY67V4/francesco-tranchedino-diplomatische-geheimschriften)

SRC

[How multi-character substitution might explain the voynich’s strange entropy](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MTF7A14FR/how-multi-character-substitution-might-explain-the-voynichs)

SRC

[Key Design in the Early Modern Era in Europe](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JJB0SG40AN/key-design-in-the-early-modern-era-in-europe)

SRC

[La diplomazia sforzesca nella seconda metà del Quattrocento e i suoi cifrari segreti](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MQCB86492/la-diplomazia-sforzesca-nella-seconda-meta-del-quattrocento)

SRC

[Mark Knowles' theories of pharma and other labels](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MRJNT36RY/mark-knowles-theories-of-pharma-and-other-labels)

SRC

[Milanese enciphered letters, call for help…](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MSF7W0047/milanese-enciphered-letters-call-for-help)

SRC

[New paper: Fifteenth Century Cryptography Revisited](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MSG7458A3/new-paper-fifteenth-century-cryptography-revisited)

SRC

[Regule ad extrahendum litteras zifferatas sine exemplo](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JJAJ4R2FW9/regule-ad-extrahendum-litteras-zifferatas-sine-exemplo)

SRC

[Segmenting Numerical Substitution Ciphers](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JJDRP052CH/segmenting-numerical-substitution-ciphers)

SRC

[Solving Historical Dictionary Codes with a Neural Language Model](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MQESC2GE6/solving-historical-dictionary-codes-with-a-neural-language)

SRC

[Substitution Cipher Based on The Voynich Manuscript](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MSX567NRN/substitution-cipher-based-on-the-voynich-manuscript)

SRC

[Supporting Historical Cryptology: The Decrypt Pipeline](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MR6YT5AKT/supporting-historical-cryptology-the-decrypt-pipeline)

SRC

[The Curse of the Voynich: The Secret History of the World's Most Mysterious Manuscript](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JJ0YH014AS/the-curse-of-the-voynich-the-secret-history-of-the-worlds)

SRC

[The Naibbe cipher: a substitution cipher that encrypts Latin and Italian as Voynich manuscript-like ciphertext](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JHZJJR0Z8T/the-naibbe-cipher-a-substitution-cipher-that-encrypts-latin)

SRC

[The Solution of the Zodiac Killer's 340-Character Cipher](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JJ5ZN87Z8V/the-solution-of-the-zodiac-killers-340-character-cipher)

SRC

[Un'ottima applicazione quattrocentesca del sistema cifrante monoalfabetico](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JJA3G053MJ/unottima-applicazione-quattrocentesca-del-sistema-cifrante)

SRC

[Venetian Cryptanalysis Treatises of the Renaissance](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MQ7PT1ACG/venetian-cryptanalysis-treatises-of-the-renaissance)

SRC

[Voynich Averlino hypothesis summary](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MSF022S6M/voynich-averlino-hypothesis-summary)

SRC

[Voynich MS - what we learn from entropy](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MTQRR5VTR/voynich-ms-what-we-learn-from-entropy)

SRC

[What Encryption Errors Can Reveal: Cross-Cipher Errors in Mary Queen of Scots’ Letters](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MRRS41ZRM/what-encryption-errors-can-reveal-cross-cipher-errors-in)

SRC

[What Was Encoded in Historical Cipher Keys in the Early Modern Era?](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC08JJBFE84ZAC/what-was-encoded-in-historical-cipher-keys-in-the-early)

SRC

[Wrong Design of Cipher Keys: Analysis of Historical Cipher Keys From the Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg Used in the Thirty Years’ War](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MPZD65MRD/wrong-design-of-cipher-keys-analysis-of-historical-cipher)

SRC

[€400 Reward](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8MRJ66268B/400-reward)

SRC

## What it produced 2

[Reading Without a Key](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8NJAWT22V4/reading-without-a-key)

SRC

[Survey: fifteenth-century Italian mixed keys and how they were broken](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D8NJCVA17PZ/survey-fifteenth-century-italian-mixed-keys-and-how-they)

SRC

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Session 8: Phase 4: the chancery key; book v1.3 [Research session SES0D8DV4G06NE7]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/SES0D8DV4G06NE7
```

Key

**SES** 0D8DV4G06NE7

Kind

Research session

Number

8

Date

22 Oct 2026

Researchers

apollo, Claude (Anthropic)

Version

2

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

Every record is open data. Take this one as JSON, with its links and its history.

[JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/api/v1/records/SES0D8DV4G06NE7)