Tomb relief of Johannes Trithemius by Tilman Riemenschneider

Johannes Trithemius

Johannes Trithemius (1 February 1462 – 13 December 1516), Born Johann Heidenberg, also known as Trithemius, was more than just a German Benedictine abbot. He was a polymath known for his involvement in the German Renaissance, where his expertise as a lexicographer, chronicler, cryptographer, and occultist thrived. Often credited as a founder of modern cryptography and steganography, he also pioneered bibliography and literary studies as recognized branches of knowledge. His teachings left an indelible mark on the evolution of early modern and modern occultism, counting Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and Paracelsus among his esteemed students.

The byname Trithemius is derived from his hometown Trittenheim on the Moselle River, which was part of the Electorate of Trier during his time. Following the untimely demise of his father, Johann von Heidenburg, when Johannes was still an infant, his education was hindered by his hostile stepfather, prompting him to pursue learning clandestinely. Despite numerous obstacles, he diligently acquired knowledge in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Escaping home at 17, he embarked on a quest for esteemed mentors, journeying to Trier, Cologne, the Netherlands, and Heidelberg, ultimately undertaking studies at the University of Heidelberg.

Travelling from the university to his home town in 1482, he was surprised by an unexpected snowstorm. Seeking shelter, he found refuge in the Benedictine abbey of Sponheim near Bad Kreuznach. The warm hospitality and sense of purpose within the abbey deeply resonated with him, causing him to make a life-changing decision. Consequently, he chose to stay and became an integral part of the community, eventually being elected as abbot in 1483, a remarkable accomplishment at the age of twenty-one. Notably, his eloquence and administrative acumen earned him the roles of a featured speaker and chapter secretary at the Bursfelde Congregation's annual chapter from 1492 to 1503, where he engaged with reform-minded abbots. Additionally, Trithemius assumed the crucial responsibility of supervising the visits of the Congregation's abbeys, further solidifying his status as a respected figure within the order.

Trithemius, known for his historical works, delved into chronicling Sponheim and crafting an extensive history of Hirsau Abbey. His eloquent use of Latin and literary mastery were lauded, yet it came to light that he interspersed fiction within his narratives. Critics, even during his lifetime, identified fabricated sources within his writings. Notably, Trithemius's creation of a connection between the Franks and Trojans aimed to tie Austria's ruling dynasty to ancient heroes. While his contemporaries like Jakob Mennel and Ladislaus Suntheim invented ancestors, Trithemius went a step further, fabricating entire sources like the Scythian historian, Hunibald. In his research on monasteries, he referenced "Meginfrid," an imaginary early chronicler of Fulda, and a non-existent treatise, De temporibus gratiae, to uphold his vision of monastic piety and erudition mirroring ninth-century values. Some argue that Meginfrid wasn't strictly forgery but a blend of wishful thinking and faulty memory.

In the process though, Trithemius became a famous builder of libraries, which he created in Sponheim and Würzburg. In Sponheim, he set out to transform the abbey from a neglected and undisciplined place into a centre of learning. Recognized for his dedication, Trithemius diligently expanded the abbey library during his tenure, enriching its collection from around fifty items to an impressive tally of more than two thousand volumes.

His efforts did not meet with praise, and his reputation as a magician did not further his acceptance. Moreover, increasing differences with the convent led to his resignation in 1506. At that time, he decided to take up the offer of the Bishop of Würzburg, Lorenz von Bibra (bishop from 1495 to 1519), to become the abbot of St. James's Abbey, also known as the Schottenkloster in Würzburg. This position became his home until the end of his life.

Trithemius and Maximilian appeared to have a falling out due to their differences over the emperor's plan to convene a distinct ecclesiastical council in 1511, which seemed to challenge Pope Julius II. However, their relationship seemed to mend following the passing of Julius.

Trithemius, the influential figure, found his final resting place in the church of St. James's Abbey, where a remarkable tombstone by the renowned Tilman Riemenschneider was installed to commemorate his legacy. Later, in 1825, the tombstone was relocated to the Neumünster church, situated beside the cathedral. Tragically, it suffered damage during the devastating firebombing of 1945 but was thankfully restored to its former glory by the skilled artisans at Theodor Spiegel's workshop.

Notably, the German polymath, physician, legal scholar, soldier, theologian, and occult writer Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535) and the Swiss physician, alchemist, and astrologer Paracelsus (1493–1541) were esteemed and influential mentors, imparting their profound wisdom and esoteric knowledge to a select group of devoted pupils who sought to unravel the mysteries of the occult arts and alchemical pursuits.

Trithemius cipher

Johannes Trithemius is credited with the invention of the Trithemius cipher, a progressive key polyalphabetic cipher, detailed in his posthumously published work Polygraphiae libri sex (Six books of polygraphia) in 1518. This method, distinct from Alberti's cipher, involved changing alphabets for each letter of the message. Unlike Alberti's random intervals, Trithemius employed a tabula recta, a square with 26 letters (though Trithemius, in Latin, used 24 letters). In this technique, each alphabet shifted one letter to the left from the one above it, wrapping back to A after reaching Z.

Trithemius's concept involved enciphering the initial letter of the message with the first shifted alphabet, transforming A to B and so forth. Subsequently, the second letter was encoded using the second shifted alphabet, and so on. This notion was mirrored in Alberti's cipher disk, which comprised two alphabets—one fixed on an outer ring and the other on a rotating disk. Encoding a letter entailed locating it on the outer ring and employing the letter beneath it on the disk. The disk's initial position featured A beneath B, with the user rotating it by one letter after encrypting each character.

The resulting ciphertext appears as a seemingly random, undecipherable string or block of data. Due to the variable shifting employed, the natural letter frequencies are cleverly concealed to thwart decryption attempts. However, if an astute codebreaker is cognizant that this specific method has been utilized, it remarkably becomes easier to decipher. The cipher's vulnerability to attack is primarily attributed to its notable absence of a key, thereby violating the fundamental principle of cryptology set forth by Kerckhoffs.

In 1553, Giovan Battista Bellaso made a significant advancement to Trithemius's method, resulting in the creation of the Vigenère cipher. Bellaso introduced the concept of a key, which dictates the rotation of cipher alphabets with each letter. Interestingly, this innovation was mistakenly attributed to Blaise de Vigenère, who actually published a related autokey cipher in 1586. The classic Trithemius cipher, characterized by a shift of one, is essentially a Vigenère cipher when employing the key ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ. Moreover, it can be likened to a Caesar cipher with a progressive shift increment of 1 for each letter, commencing at 0.

Ava Maria Cipher

The Ave Maria Cipher, a fascinating creation by Johannes Trithemius, a notable 16th-century monk and Renaissance figure, is a substitution cipher that adds a layer of intrigue to encoded messages. The cipher's method involves substituting each letter of the plaintext with a carefully selected word from a predefined table of words, resulting in a ciphertext that mimics the elegance of a poetic composition. Found within the pages of the enigmatic book Steganographia, this cipher is accompanied by a series of intricate tables, each containing a meticulously curated list of words, designed to correspond with individual letters. Using this elaborate system, the encoders bring forth a coded message, breathing life into a sequence of words that weave an intricate veil of secrecy.