The Deciphering of Mary Queen of Scots’ Secret Letters
For centuries, the secrets of Mary Queen of Scots remained hidden in the depths of a French library. However, recent breakthroughs have finally revealed the contents of her coded messages after more than four centuries. This remarkable achievement was made possible by a group of amateur codebreakers from Germany, Israel, and Japan.
The letters, which were sent to the French ambassador, have now been deciphered using advanced cryptoanalysis software. These documents provide insight into Mary’s personal life during her years of captivity. In the notes, she expressed complaints about headaches, weight gain, and her dissatisfaction with being confined to her living quarters by guards. Additionally, the letters reveal her concerns about her son, the future James VI and I, whom she described as “an unnatural, ungrateful treacherous and disobedient son.”
The letters contained complex cryptograms written on tiny pieces of paper, using a system of symbols and dots developed during her long period of imprisonment. A new BBC documentary, The Secret Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots, explores how George Lasry and Satoshi Tomokiyo discovered and decoded these personal letters.
Mr. Tomokiyo came across a batch of 26 letters, initially thought to be of Italian origin, stored at the National Library of France. He described the process of decoding as akin to solving a puzzle, where an incomprehensible text gradually makes sense. “Everything was in code,” he said.
In Tel Aviv, computer scientist George Lasry found the letters online and decided to use a new algorithm he had developed to analyze and crack the codes. He explained that his software was designed specifically for decrypting historical codes and allowed for both numerical entry and cryptanalysis. At the time, there were no such tools available, so he had to create them himself.
The code featured approximately 200 distinct types of symbols, most of which were meaningless. Mr. Lasry collaborated with Norbert Biermann from the University of the Arts in Berlin, and together they uncovered that some of the symbols formed a complex system meant to obscure the meaning of previous words or phrases.
Over the past few years, the trio has discovered more of Mary’s writings. They have now identified 50 previously unknown letters from her, totaling nearly 50,000 words.
Mary was held captive by her cousin, Elizabeth I, after fleeing Scotland. Her son, James VI, who she had last seen as an infant, was approaching adolescence. She hoped to secure her freedom through what became known as “the association” proposal, in which she would renounce her claim to the English throne to rule alongside her son.
Despite her careful coding and secret letter drops, almost nothing Mary wrote escaped interception. Her messages were read by spymasters and then forwarded to the French ambassador. When this was revealed at her trial, Mary was devastated, as her words were used against her and contributed to the case that led to her execution.
The Secret Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots is available on BBC Scotland at 9pm on October 18 and on BBC iPlayer.
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