Johannes Trithemius (1 February 1462 - 13 December 1516) was born Johann Heidenberg. The name by which he is more commonly known is derived from his native town of Trittenheim on the Mosel in Germany.

He studied at the University of Heidelberg. Travelling from university back to his home town in 1482, he was surprised by a snowstorm and took refuge in the Benedictine abbey of Sponheim near Bad Kreuznach. He decided to stay and was elected abbot in 1483, at the age of twenty-one. He set out to transform the abbey from a poor, undisciplined and ruinous place into a centre of learning. In his time, the abbey library increased from around fifty items to more than two thousand. However, his efforts did not only meet with praise, and his reputation as a magician did not further his acceptance. Increasing differences with the convent led to his resignation in 1506, when he decided to take up the offer of the Lord Bishop of Würzburg, Lorenz von Bibra (bishop from 1495 to 1519), to become abbot of the Schottenkloster ("Scottish monastery") in Würzburg. He remained there until the end of his life.

Among his pupils was Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535).

Steganographia

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His most famous work is Steganographia (written c.1499; published Frankfurt, 1606, placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1609). This book is in three volumes, and appears to be about black magic - specifically, about using spirits to communicate over long distances. Since the publication of the decryption key to the first two volumes in 1606, they have been known to be actually concerned with cryptography and steganography. Until recently, the third volume was widely still believed to be about magic - but recently the "magical" formulae were shown to be covertexts for yet more cryptography content. The work has lent its name to the modern field of steganography.

Other works

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Other works include De septum secundeis (The Seven Secondary Intelligences, 1508), a history of the world based on astrology; Annales Hirsaugiensis (1514); and Polygraphia (1518).

• Annales Hirsaugiensis. The full title is Annales hirsaugiensis...complectens historiam Franciae et Germaniae, gesta imperatorum, regum, principium, episcoporum, abbatum, et illustrium virorum, Latin for "The Annals of Hirsau...including the history of France and Germany, the exploits of the emperors, kings, princes, bishops, abbots, and illustrious men". Hirsau was a monastery near Württemberg, whose abbot commissioned the work in 1495, but it took Trithemius until 1514 to finish the two volume, 1400 page work. It was first printed in 1690. Some consider this work to be one of the first humanist history books.

References

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• David Kahn, The Codebreakers - The Story of Secret Writing, 1967, 2nd edition 1996, pp. 130–137 ISBN 0684831309

External links

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• Steganographia (Latin). Digital Edition, 1997
• Solved: The Ciphers in Book iii of Trithemius's Steganographia, PDF, 208 kB
• Hill Monastic Manuscript Library article on Trithemius (includes links to photographs of various Trithemius first editions.)
• The complete and solved Steganography books

1462 births | 1516 deaths | Benedictines | Inventors of writing systems | Occult writers | Pre-19th century cryptographers

Johannes Trithemius | Johannes Trithemius | Johannes Trithemius | Johannes Trithemius | Johannes Trithemius | Johan Tritheim | 约翰尼斯·特里特米乌斯