Provenance and history of the Voynich Manuscript

 
Alexander Amelkin (2023): "Provenance and history of the Voynich Manuscript (hypothesis)" (in English)

Sources: https://amelkin.de/a.pdf and http://panpsy.de


The Voynich manuscript was created by Dr. Johannes Hartlieb (1400 — 1468) in 1448/49. He was in the employment of Albrecht III of Bavaria-Munich from 1440, and of Albrecht's son Sigmund from 1456.

The husband of Anna von Braunschweig-Grubenhagen, Duke Albrecht III of Bavaria-Munich, married Anna out of necessity and continued to love Agnes Bernauer, who was executed in 1435. Anna was tormented by jealousy, especially strong after 1447. Then Albrecht asked his personal physician (Leibarzt) Johannes Hartlieb to direct Anna's attention to practices in the field of white magic, in which Anna was seriously interested.

At the request of Albrecht III Dr. Hartlieb on the basis of his drafts ordered to the scribes the "Chiromancy" and the "Voynich Manuscript" (the "Hartlieb Manuscript"), which were urgently created in the period from 1448 to 1449. Both books depicted a distorted reality, making them ideal divination tools.

"Chiromancy" was created by Dr. Hartlieb in 1448. However, Anna quickly became bored with hand fortune telling (palm reading). Anna needed something more mysterious.

Then started Dr. Hartlieb, in agreement with Albrecht, with the creation of the "Voynich Manuscript", which was based on various secret writing systems and old manuscripts from the early 15th century. There was a lack of time. Johannes Hartlieb had a team of trustworthy scribes and illustrators in the greater Munich area and in Augsburg. Based on secret writing systems such as "Kaldaisch", which Dr. Hartlieb perfectly mastered, since he was also a court diplomat, he created a special font "Voynichese" and a "Vocabulary", as well as drafts of various sections of the future "Voynich Manuscript".

90% of the "Voynich Manuscript" was just science fiction nonsense. The text didn't make any sense. Incidentally, Hartlieb has a manuscript on astrology (Johannes Hartlieb et al. (1448/56)), in which he gives various examples of secret writings, including "Kaldaisch". Only less than 10% of the astrological text of the "Voynich Manuscript" could be deciphered.

The scribes, who numbered not less than twelve, were given sketches of the various sections of the manuscript, as well as a large quantity of old parchment of various sizes. They were in a hurry and didn't keep the lines straight. They were also allowed to create their own text based on Hartlieb's rules. The fact that the text of the manuscript was created by several people at the same time is indicated by the presence of at least five parts of the manuscript with differences in handwriting, vocabulary and placement on the page. (Lisa Fagin Davis (2022, 2023))

Each scribe had to create at least 12 zodiac diagrams in a relatively free form, in addition to their own text, in collaboration with the illustrator. Some scribes were artists themselves. The zodiac diagrams in the Voynich manuscript were male and female. In total, there were 12 or more zodiac charts for each zodiac sign. Since some of the parchment was not cut into equal parts, some long sheets contained three zodiac diagrams or even more. Many zodiac diagrams differed from each other in drawings and inscriptions. Later this was interpreted as taking into account the characteristics of the customer category (guests of "Anna's Salon").

Dr. Hartlieb gave Anna the "Voynich Manuscript" in 1449. He presented the manuscript as the work of an early 15th-century magician, possibly Abraham von Worms. Anna was very happy and with the help of Dr. Hartlieb to conduct astrological sessions at parties in "Anna's Salon". The manuscript had not previously been stapled together and consisted of individual sheets. Anna conducted astrological sessions using these zodiac charts, so they were always in use and often kept in different places. Most of them were later lost or given away.

Dr. Hartlieb helped Anna to "decipher" the manuscript and made notes ("Michitonese") on the pages. It is also possible that the "Michitonese" inscriptions were the improvisation of one of the hired scribes.

During the sessions, Anna prophesied using zodiac charts. Anna predicted events in the life (fate) of the client (session guest) for a week, a month and a year and recommended various herbal mixtures and water treatments to solve possible problems. Dr. Hartlieb often attended meetings and wrote out recipes.

After Albrecht's death, Anna continued to conduct magical sessions at Nannhofen Castle.

The "Voynich Manuscript" possibly shows either Nannhofen Castle or Blutenburg Castle. Nannhofen moated castle was built a little earlier (from 1423) than Blutenburg moated castle (from 1424), and Albrecht von Wittelsbach and Augsburg bather's daughter Agnes Bernauer sometimes met there secretly.

Externally both castles were very similar and had a similar history. Since Blutenburg Castle was built about five years earlier than originally assumed, some events (for example the birth of Agnes Bernauer (1405 instead of 1410) and her daughter Sibylla (1424 instead of 1430), the meeting of Agnes and Albrecht (1423 instead of 1428) could have occurred, and the construction of Blutenburg Castle ("Blytenburg", "Pluedenberg", from 1424 instead of from 1429)) also took place about five years earlier. (Jutta Czeguhn (2017))

The author of the "Voynich Manuscript", Doctor Hartlieb, often visited both castles. With the creation of the Voynich manuscript, Duchess Anna von Braunschweig-Grubenhagen developed a passion for fortune telling using astrological zodiac cards. She did this in both castles until her death in 1474. In the 16th century, Nannhofen Castle and its library came into the possession of the Court Chancellor of the House of Wittelsbach. Later, the Court Chancellor handed over the "Voynich Manuscript" to Emperor Rudolf II.


Generalization:

 
The Voynich Manuscript

1. Центры событий - Аугсбург, Мюнхен, Прага - ближайшее окружение герцога Альбрехта III и императора Сигизмунда I Люксембурга.
2. Группа главных героев: Каспар Бернауэр, Йоханнес Хартлиб, Якоб Пютерих фон Райхертсхаузен, Абрахам фон Вормс и ещё от трёх до семи специалистов в области бальнеологии, фитотерапии, фармакологии, гинекологии, астрологии, тайнописи, космологии и белой магии.
3. Якоб Пютерих фон Райхертсхаузен (1400–1469) был одним из самых доверенных советников герцога Альбрехта III, которому он также служил как опытный дипломат, и, скорее всего, именно он написал Рукопись Войнича вместе с доктором Хартлибом и компанией.
4. Группа разработала имитацию шрифта и создала Манускрипт Войнича для сеансов белой магии с целью привлечения клиентов в аптеки, сауны, клиники и т.п.
5. Есть три кандидата на прототип замка из Рукописи Войнича: Замок Блютенбург, Замок Наннхофен и Замок Пазинг.
6. Возможно манускриптов было несколько.
7. Один из экземпляров был подарен Анне Брауншвейгской и потом попал к императору Рудольфу Второму. А может император Рудольф Второй владел другим экземпляром рукописи из библиотеки его предшественника императора Сигизмунда I Люксембурга?


Jakob Pueterich von Reichertshausen and Co.

1. Centers of events - Augsburg, Munich, Prague - the inner circle of Duke Albrecht III and Emperor Sigismund I of Luxembourg.
2. Group of putative collective authors: Kaspar Bernauer, Johannes Hartlieb, Jacob Pueterich von Reichertshausen, Abraham von Worms and from three to seven more specialists in the field of balneology, herbal medicine, pharmacology, gynecology, astrology, cryptography, cosmology and white magic.
3. Jakob Pueterich von Reichertshausen (1400–1469) was one of the most trusted advisors of Duke Albrecht III, whom Albrecht III also served as an accomplished diplomat, and it was most likely he who wrote the Voynich Manuscript along with Dr. Hartlieb and company.
4. The group developed an imitation font and created the Voynich Manuscript for white magic sessions in order to attract clients to pharmacies, medicinal baths, clinics, etc.
5. There are three candidates for the prototype castle from the Voynich Manuscript: Blutenburg Castle, Nannhofen Castle and Pasing Castle.
6. Perhaps there were several manuscripts.
7. One of the copies was presented to Anna of Brunswick and then went to Emperor Rudolph II. Or maybe Emperor Rudolf II owned another copy of the manuscript from the library of his predecessors - Emperor Sigismund I of Luxembourg and intermediate successors?


Рукопись Войнича - задача почти решена

Этот Манускрипт (Войнича) - полный абсурд, написанный как минимум 6 людьми на дорогом пергаменте. Единственная цель его - произвести впечатление на несведущих людей с коммерческой целью - смотивировать их купить что-то в аптеке или обратиться в клинику. Доказано, что рукопись написана в южной Баварии в районе Мюнхена. Я определил круг придворных врачей, магов, астрологов и дипломатов, которые могли на непонятном искусственном языке создать такой Манускрипт. Этих людей всего 6 человек. Теперь надо в их окружении найти следы манускрипта: в упоминаниях, рецептах, рисунках, черновиках, дневниках, письмах... Это будет доказательством, и пазл сойдется.

This Voynich Manuscript is a complete absurdity, written by at least 6 people on expensive parchment. Its only purpose is to impress ignorant people for a commercial purpose - to motivate them to buy something at a pharmacy or go to a clinic. It has been proven that the manuscript was written in southern Bavaria (Oberbayern) in the Munich region. I identified a circle of court doctors, magicians, astrologers and diplomats who could create such a Manuscript in an incomprehensible artificial language. There are only 6 of these people. Now we need to find traces of the manuscript in their surroundings: in references, recipes, drawings, drafts, diaries, letters... This will be the evidence, and the puzzle will be solved.
 

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Copyright: © Dr Alexander Amelkin ( https://duo-amelkin.de https://amelkin.de http://feeria.de http://panpsy.de ) - Version 2023-231127X





On the Voynich Manuscript

The concept originated with the magician Johannes Hartlieb. In the 15th century, over five distinct copies of the Voynich Manuscript were produced by a workshop of scribes — involving at least five different copyists who were authorized to generate their own text and illustrations based on the original manuscript written by Dr. Hartlieb. It is a work of nonsense created for commercial purposes — a sort of fortune-telling book used during magical sessions. What has survived to the present day is a compilation of various copies, bound together later in the wrong order. Manuscripts were often left unbound in those days; instead, they were stored as loose sheets in special cases.

I would like to dwell briefly on the magical sessions involving these manuscripts. How did it all come about? Albrecht III of Bavaria was married to Duchess Anna. Anna spent almost all her time at the castle, occupied with childcare and a state of perpetual pregnancy. She was terribly bored and tormented herself with fits of jealousy. Her only serious pastime was white magic — a pursuit she shared with many neighboring duchesses. Witnessing his wife’s distress, Albrecht turned for help to Dr. Johannes Hartlieb — his court physician, diplomat, advisor, and author of numerous books, as well as his brother-in-law. Doctor Hartlieb was renowned as a leading expert in numerous fields — specifically white magic, alchemy, astrology, levitation, metamorphosology, phytobalneology, cryptography, pharmacology, phytotherapy, botany, physiology, and more. Johannes Hartlieb responded to Duke Albrecht’s request and proposed that Anna engage in sessions of white magic and fortune-telling. He wrote an illustrated book on palmistry — *Chiromancy* — specifically for Duchess Anna. Anna was overjoyed by the gift and immediately gathered the local high society at Blutenburg Castle for her first white magic session. However, palmistry soon bored her due to its monotony and lack of popularity. She declared, "Ich will mehr!" ("I want more!"). At that moment, Doctor Hartlieb had a brilliant idea: he could kill two birds with one stone. He would produce multiple copies of a secret fortune-telling book for simultaneous white magic sessions at various castles; during these sessions, clients would have their fortunes told regarding their health and be directed to Doctor Hartlieb’s pharmacies and clinics for treatment and preventive care. He gathered all his manuscripts and cryptographic methods and wrote the text known today as the Voynich Manuscript. Hartlieb intentionally created nonsense text, which allowed for any kind of forecast or prediction to be made during the sessions. He took the manuscript to a scribal workshop and ordered up to ten copies. Five scribes worked on the manuscripts simultaneously; to speed up the process, they were authorized to generate the "words" themselves. The rest of the story is well known.

Dr. Alexander Amelkin faces accusations that the arguments supporting his hypothesis regarding the origin of the Voynich Manuscript are unscientific. I present here some devastating counterarguments — irrefutable facts. Try to dispute them. (1) Dr. Hartlieb was born in 1400, not 1410; otherwise, he could not possibly have participated in the Hussite Wars in 1419. (2) Dr. Hartlieb was the only person at the time who possessed the full spectrum of knowledge covered in the Voynich Manuscript. His works and materials contain drawings and diagrams resembling the manuscript's graphic content. Hartlieb’s *Medico-Astrological Calendar* features various scripts and cipher systems incorporating up to 70% of the symbols found in the Voynich Manuscript, including the inscription "Michitonese." (3) Dr. Hartlieb did not write the Voynich Manuscript himself; instead, he commissioned five scribes to produce up to ten different versions based on his drafts, allowing them the freedom to generate words and drawings within certain parameters. This is evidenced by certain duplicated pages that differ in handwriting and detail. (4) Regarding the depiction of the castle in the manuscript, researchers note that the fortress's general layout — four towers connected by walls, a moat or river, and a central building (*Herrenhaus*) — mirrors the original structure of Blutenburg Castle from that era with remarkable accuracy. This has led to the hypothesis that Hartlieb sketched Blutenburg Castle in his draft, while the scribes added the characteristic crenellations to the walls.


   LITERATURE
 
   [1] Franz Kuerschner (1872): "Herzog Rudolph's IV. Schriftdenkmale." - In: Mittheilungen der K.K. Central-Commission zur Erforschung und Erhaltung der Baudenkmale, 17 (1872), 71-80
 
   [2] Marco Heiles (2021): "Johannes Hartlieb: Life and Work Before 1441: Also a Contribution to the Methodology of Writer Identification / Johannes Hartlieb: Leben und Werk vor 1441: Zugleich ein Beitrag zur Schreiberidentifizierung." - Zeitschrift fuer deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur, 2021, Vol.150 (3), p.337-379
 
   [3] Stefan Guzy (2022): "Book transactions of Emperor Rudolf II 1576-1612. New findings on the earliest ownership of the Voynich manuscript." - International Conference on the Voynich Manuscript 2022, The University of Malta.
 
   [4] Alexander Amelkin (2016): "Das Voynich-Manuskript", Munich, http://feeria.de.
 
   [5] Johannes Hartlieb (1440): "Kraeuterbuch", Kap. 31, 32, 88, 131, 150, 157 und 162
 
   [6] Johannes Hartlieb u.a. (1456): "Medizinischastrologischer Kalender." - BSB Cgm 7958, Muenchen, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Kurzaufnahme einer Handschrift, BSB-ID 991048728419707356, Digitalisiert von Bayerischer Staatsbibliothek am 20.10.2022, Seite 50
 
   [7] Bernhard Bischoff (1954): "Uebersicht ueber die nichtdiplomatischen Geheimschriften des Mittelalters." - In: Mitteilungen des Instituts fuer Oesterreichische Geschichtsforschung, vol. 62 (1954), 1-27
 
   [8] Keagan Brewer (2021): "The Voynich Manuscript, Dr Johannes Hartlieb, and the Emotions underpinning Gynaeco-sexual Encipherment." - SMRG Talk – The Voynich MS, Sydney Mediaeval & Renaissance Group, AEMA News.
 
   [9] Dr. Lisa Fagin Davis (2020): "How Many Glyphs and How Many Scribes? Digital Paleography and the Voynich Manuscript." - Manuscript Studies: A Journal of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2020.

   [10] Johannes Hartlieb (1448): "Encyclopedic Manuscript Containing Allegorical And Medical Drawings." - Library of Congress. - Ein Ordner mit einer Auswahl von Werken anderer Autoren, die zur Erstellung des Voynich-Manuskripts verwendet wurden