Johannes Trithemius
 |
Polygraphia (1518) — the first printed book on cryptography. |
Johannes Trithemius (
1 February 1462 -
13 December 1516) was born
Johann Heidenberg. The name by which he is more commonly known is derived from his native town of
Trittenheim on the
Mosel in
Germany.
He studied at the
University of Heidelberg. Travelling from university back to his home town in
1482, he was surprised by a
snowstorm and took refuge in the
Benedictine abbey of
Sponheim near
Bad Kreuznach. He decided to stay and was elected
abbot in 1483, at the age of twenty-one. He set out to transform the abbey from a poor, undisciplined and ruinous place into a centre of learning. In his time, the abbey
library increased from around fifty items to more than two thousand. However, his efforts did not meet with praise, and his reputation as a
magician did not further his acceptance. Increasing differences with the
convent led to his
resignation in
1506, when he decided to take up the offer of the
Lord Bishop of
Würzburg,
Lorenz von Bibra (bishop from
1495 to
1519), to become abbot of the
Schottenkloster ("Scottish monastery") in Würzburg. He remained there until the end of his life.
Among his pupils was
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (
1486-
1535).
His most famous work is
Steganographia (written
c.1499; published
Frankfurt,
1606, placed on the
Index Librorum Prohibitorum in
1609). This book is in three volumes, and appears to be about
black magic - specifically, about using
spirits to communicate over long distances. Since the publication of the decryption
key to the first two volumes in 1606, they have been known to be actually concerned with
cryptography and
steganography. Until recently, the third volume was widely still believed to be about magic - but recently the "magical" formulae were shown to be
covertexts for yet more cryptography content. The work has lent its name to the modern field of
steganography.
Other works include
De septum secundeis (
The Seven Secondary Intelligences,
1508), a history of the world based on
astrology;
Annales Hirsaugiensis (
1514); and
Polygraphia (
1518).
*
Annales Hirsaugiensis. The full title is
Annales hirsaugiensis...complectens historiam Franciae et Germaniae, gesta imperatorum, regum, principium, episcoporum, abbatum, et illustrium virorum,
Latin for "The Annals of Hirsau...including the history of France and Germany, the exploits of the emperors, kings, princes, bishops, abbots, and illustrious men". Hirsau was a monastery near
Württemberg, whose abbot commissioned the work in
1495, but it took Trithemius until 1514 to finish the two volume, 1400 page work. It was first printed in
1690. Some consider this work to be one of the first
humanist history books.
* David Kahn,
The Codebreakers - The Story of Secret Writing, 1967, 2nd edition 1996, pp. 130–137 ISBN 0684831309
*
Steganographia (Latin). Digital Edition, 1997*
Solved: The Ciphers in Book iii of Trithemius's Steganographia, PDF, 208 kB
*
Hill Monastic Manuscript Library article on Trithemius (includes links to photographs of various Trithemius
first editions.)
*
The complete and solved Steganography books
