An international team of decoders has managed to decipher a series of secret letters written by Mary Queen of Scots a few years before her execution in 1587. The research was published in the journal cryptology.
The letters are from the time Mary Stuart was imprisoned in England. He was first in line to the throne after his Protestant cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. Mary was supported by Catholics, so Elizabeth imprisoned her cousin for 19 years to avoid the threat.
In captivity, Maria maintained regular correspondence with the allies and tried to hire messengers to hide her letters from her enemies. Scientists have deciphered 57 secret letters in complex cipher that Mary Stuart wrote to the French ambassador in England between 1578 and 1584. Historians have long suspected the two were collaborating, but so far their letters have not been identified.
“I can’t thank you enough for the care, attention, and perfect compassion you’ve shown me. I beg you to continue to fight for my and said evacuation, which I see the Queen of England is very prone to. If this happens, you can be sure that I will accept your good intentions as much as possible, ”writes one of the letters.
The finds were made on February 8, 1587, 436 years after Mary’s death by being executed. Most of the letters were kept in the National Library of France in Paris. Previously, scientists believed that they belonged to the history of Italy.