Venetian Cryptanalysis Treatises of the Renaissance

Abstract

Cryptanalysis in Europe was born shortly after cryptography, during the age of the Renaissance; unlike the latter little is known about its early history; we know a few names of codebreakers, people practicing this art or writing about it: Soro, Marin, Argenti, Vi`ete, but little about their methods and their achievements. This research is focused on the content of a few XVI century Venetian treatises on ciphers, particularly the collection of Zuan Francesco Marin.