Blaise de Vigenère (5 April 1523 – 19 February 1596) () was a French
diplomat
A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...
,
cryptographer
Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or '' -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior. More gen ...
,
translator
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...
and
alchemist
Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...
.
Biography
Vigenère was born into a respectable family in the village of
Saint-Pourçain in
Bourbonnais
The Bourbonnais (; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Borbonés'') was a Provinces of France, historic province in the centre of France that corresponds to the modern ''département in France, département'' of Allier, along with part of the ''dépar ...
. When he was 12, his father, Jehan (modern spelling
Jean
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* J ...
) de Vigenère, arranged for him to have a classical education in Paris. Registered at the university at 14, he quit after three years without a known degree.
[Sarazin 1997, p. 18.]
From 1539 to around 1545, he worked under Gilbert Bayard, a first secretary to
King Francis I
Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...
, who had fiefs in Bourbonnais.
[
In 1545, he accompanied the French envoy Louis Adhémar de Monteil, Count of Grignan, to the ]Diet of Worms
The Diet of Worms of 1521 ( ) was an Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire), imperial diet (a formal deliberative assembly) of the Holy Roman Empire called by Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V and conducted in the Imperial Free City o ...
as a junior secretary. After the diet's rupture, he traveled in Europe.[Moreri 1759]
vol. 10, p. 606 ("Vigenere, Blaise de")
In 1547, he quit the court and entered the service of the House of Nevers. He would remain associated with it until at least a year before his death in 1596. At first he was secretary to François I, Duke of Nevers, a position he held until the deaths of the duke and his son in 1562. A letter of July 1593 reveals he was also secretary to Louis de Gonzague (who became Duke of Nevers by his marriage to François I's daughter Henriette of Cleves
Henriette de La Marck (31 October 1542 – 24 June 1601), also known as Henriette of Cleves, was a French noblewoman and courtier. She was the 4th Duchess of Nevers, ''suo jure'' Countess of Rethel, and Princess of Mantua by her marriage with ...
in 1565) and tutored Louis' son (born 1580).
In 1549, he took his first trip to Italy, in particular to Rome. It is not known who his protector was on the trip, which lasted for three to four years,[McGowan 2000, p. 107.] but one of his biographers, Maurice Sarazin, has suggested it may have been Cardinal Tournon, a celebrated diplomat and friend of the arts. He would return to Rome again in 1566 for another three years. During his stays, he examined all the ancient buildings and expanded his knowledge of antiquity.[ In his 1586 book, ''Traicté des chiffres ou secretes manières d'escrire'', he wrote:
]
in Rome, I did all that was possible — talking to learned men versed in Roman antiquity, visiting and revisiting the marble reliefs, bronzes, medals and ancient cameos from which one might draw knowledge and instruction — but I couldn't restore anything.
After the death of François II, Duke of Nevers, in 1562, Vigenère resumed his studies. He received lessons from Adrianus Turnebus
Adrianus Turnebus ( or ''Tournebeuf''; 151212 June 1565) was a French classical scholar.
Life
Turnebus was born in Les Andelys in Normandy. At the age of twelve he was sent to Paris to study, and attracted great notice by his remarkable abilitie ...
and Jean Dorat and learned Greek and Hebrew.[
In 1566, the queen mother, ]Catherine de Médicis
Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King Henry II. She was the mother of French kings Franci ...
, sent Vigenère to Rome,[Sarazin 1997, p. 24.] where he was secretary under Juste de Tournon, the ambassador of her son King Charles IX.[ In December of that year she sent a letter to Tournon, requesting that Vigenère respond to an overture made by the secretary of the elderly king of Poland, Sigismond Auguste Jagellon, who had no children. Apparently the secretary had proposed the Polish king name her son Henri (the Duke of Anjou and future King Henry III of France), as his successor. She specified Vigenère should interview the Polish diplomat verbally, verifying the proposal's authenticity, then facilitate the idea, all without revealing he had been authorized to do so by her. Nine years later, Vigenère wrote in detail about this incident in his book ''La description du Royaume de Poloigne'', without naming himself or revealing that he could have held secrets.
During this later stay in Italy, Vigenère also visited other Italian cities, notably ]Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
and Florence
Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025.
Florence ...
.[
In 1570, at age 47, Vigenère retired from traveling and settled in Paris to devote himself to writing.][ He donated his 1,000 livres a year income to the poor in ]Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. He married Marie Varé on 24 July 1570.
Vigenère was a Christian Kabbalist who studied Hebrew. He was a student of well-known Christian Hebraists
A Christian Hebraist is a scholar of Hebrew texts who approaches the works from a Christian perspective. The main area of study is the Hebrew text of the Bible (known as the Old Testament to Christians and as the Tanakh to Jews), but Christians ha ...
Gilbert Génébrard and Guy Le Fèvre de la Boderie.
He died of throat cancer in 1596 and is buried in the Saint-Étienne-du-Mont
Saint-Étienne-du-Mont () is a church in Paris, France, on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève in the 5th arrondissement, near the Panthéon. It contains the shrine of St. Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris. The church also contains the tombs of ...
church.
Vigenère cipher
On Vigenère's trips to Italy he read books about cryptography and came in contact with cryptologists. Giovan Battista Bellaso
Giovan Battista Bellaso (Brescia 1505–...) was an Italian cryptologist.
The Vigenère cipher is named after Blaise de Vigenère, although Giovan Battista Bellaso had invented it before Vigenère described his autokey cipher.
Biography
Bell ...
described a method of encryption in his 1553 book ''La cifra del. Sig. Giovan Battista Belaso'', published in Venice in 1553, which in the 19th century was misattributed to Vigenère and became widely known as the "Vigenère cipher". In 1567 and 1568, Vigenère created a different, stronger autokey cipher
An autokey cipher (also known as the autoclave cipher) is a cipher that incorporates the message (the plaintext) into the key. The key is generated from the message in some automated fashion, sometimes by selecting certain letters from the text o ...
, which he published in 1586 in his book ''Traicté des chiffres ou secrètes manières d'escrire'' (''Treatise on Ciphers or Secret Ways of Writing''). It differs from Bellaso's in several ways:
* Bellaso used a "reciprocal table" of five alphabets; Vigenère used ten;
* Bellaso's cipher was based on the first letter of the word; Vigenère used a letter agreed upon before communication.
Works
After his retirement, Vigenère composed and translated over 20 books, including:
* 1573: ''Les Chroniques et annales de Poloigne''. Paris: Jean Richer. Available on Gallica.
* 1573: ''La description du royaume de Poloigne, & pays adjacens : avec les statuts, constitutions, mœurs, & façon de faire d'iceux''. Paris: Jean Richer
Digital copy
available at Utrecht University
Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...
.
* 1576:
La somptueuse et magnifique entrée du roi Henri III en la cité de Mantoue
'. Paris: Nicolas Chesneau. (Includes a description of contemporary Mantua
Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...
.)
* 1578: ''Traicté des Cometes ou estoilles chevelues, apparoissantes extraordinairement au ciel, avec leurs causes et effects, par Bl. de Vigere''. Available on Gallica.
* 1582: ''Les Commentaires de César, des guerres de la Gaule. Mis en françois par Blaise de Vigenère, Secretaire de la Chambre du Roy. Avec quelques annotations dessus''.
* 1583: ''Les Décades qui se trouvent de Tite-Live, mises en langue francoise avec des annotations & figures pour l'intelligence de l'antiquité romaine, plus une description particulière des lieux : & une chronologie generale des principaux potentats de la terre''. Paris: Abel L'Angelier, 1583 and 1606.
* 1584: ''Les commentaires de Cesar, des Guerres de la Gaule. Mise en francois par Blaise de Vigenere. Bourbonnois : revues et corrigez par luy-mesme en cette derniere edition. Avec quelques annotations dessus''. 1584.
* 1585: ''L'histoire de Geoffroy de Villehardouyn, mareschal de Champagne & de Romenie : de la conqueste de Constantinople par les barons Franc̦ois associez aux Venitiens, l'an 1204 d'vn costé en son vieil langage, & de l'autre en vn plus moderne & intelligible''. Paris: Abel Langelier, 1585. Translation of '' De la Conquête de Constantinople'' from the original old French.
* 1586: ''Traicté des chiffres ou secrètes manières d'escrire''. Available on Gallica.
* 1588:
Le psaultier de David torne en prose mesuree, ou vers libres. Par Blaise de Vigenère, Bourbonnois
''. Paris: Abel L'Angelier.
** Le psaultier de David: torné en prose mesurée ou vers libres, de Le psaultier de David: torne en prose mesurée ou vers libres, édition de 1588, Pascale Blum-Cuny, ed., Le Miroir volant, 1991.
* 1597: ''Les images, ou Tableaux de platte peinture de Philostrate Lemnien ,... mis en françois par Blaise de Vigénère,... avec des arguments et annotations sur chacun d'iceux... Edition nouvelle reveue corrigee et augmentee de beaucoup par le traslateur''. Paris: Abel Langelier, 1597; Tournon: Claude Michel, 1611. Translation of a work by Philostratus of Lemnos
Philostratus of Lemnos (; c. 190 – c. 230 AD), also known as Philostratus the Elder to distinguish him from Philostratus the Younger who was also from Lemnos, was a Greek sophist of the Roman imperial period. He was probably a nephew of the sophi ...
; available on Gallica.
* 1618: ''Traicté du Feu et du Sel. Excellent et rare opuscule du sieur Blaise de Vigenère Bourbonnois, trouvé parmy ses papiers après son decés''. First ed., 1608. Paris: Abel Langelier, 1618. Rouen: Jacques Calloué, 1642. A book on alchemy; available on Gallica.
See also
* Vigenère cipher
The Vigenère cipher () is a method of encryption, encrypting alphabetic text where each letter of the plaintext is encoded with a different Caesar cipher, whose increment is determined by the corresponding letter of another text, the key (crypt ...
* Wild Fields
References
Sources
* Bouchard, Ernst (1861)
"Notice biographique sur Blaise de Vigenère"
(available at Gallica), ''Bulletin de la Société d'émulation du département de l'Allier: sciences, arts et belles-lettres'', vol. 8, pp. 196–210.
* Fumaroli, Marc, editor (1994). ''Blaise de Vigenère poète & mythographe au temps de Henri III'', Cahiers V.L. Saulnier, no. 11, Paris: Éditions Rue d'Ulm.
* Holden, Joshua (2017). ''The Mathematics of Secrets: Cryptography from Caesar Ciphers to Digital Encryption''. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. .
* La Ferrière, Hector de, et al., editors (1880–1943). ''Lettres de Catherine de Médicis'', eleven volumes. Paris: Imprimerie nationale
Digital copies at the BnF
* McGowan, Margaret M. (2000). ''The Vision of Rome in Late Renaissance France''. New haven and London: Yale University Press. .
* Métral, Denyse (1939). ''Blaise de Vigenère archéologue et critique d'art''. Paris: E. Droz. .
* Moreri, Louis et al., editors (1759). ''Le grand dictionnaire historique'', ten volumes, new nd lastedition of 1759. Paris: Librairies associés
Digital copies of the 1995 Slatkine reprints are available at the BnF
* Sarazin, Maurice (1997). ''Blaise de Vigenère, Bourbonnais 1523-1596. Introduction à la vie et à l'œuvre d'un écrivain de la Renaissance'', preface by Marc Fumaroli. Charroux-en-Bourbonnais: Éditions des Cahiers Bourbonnais. .
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigenere, Blaise De
1523 births
1596 deaths
16th-century French diplomats
16th-century French translators
16th-century cryptographers
French alchemists
Deaths from esophageal cancer in France
French cryptographers
16th-century alchemists
People from the Bourbonnais
Christian Hebraists
Christian Kabbalists