Rossignols
Encyclopedia
The Rossignols, a family of French
cryptographer
s and cryptanalyst
s, included:
The family name meant "nightingale
" in French. As early as 1406 the word rossignol has served as the French term for "skeleton key
" or for any tool which opens that which is locked.
city of Réalmont
. The besiegers intercepted a coded letter leaving the city. Rossignol, then a 36-year-old mathematician, had a local reputation for his interest in cryptography. He quickly broke the Huguenot cipher, revealing a plea to their allies for ammunition to replenish the city's almost exhausted supplies. The next day, the besiegers presented the clear text of the message to the commander of Réalmont, along with a demand for surrender: the Huguenots surrendered immediately.
This brought Rossignol to the attention of Louis XIII
's chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu, who found secure ciphers and codes of immense use to his diplomatic and intelligence corps. Rossignol repeated his swift decipherment of Huguenot messages at the siege of La Rochelle
in 1628.
Rossignol improved the nomenclator
s (cipher tables) used by the French court for their own dispatches. A nomenclator comprises a hybrid of code and cipher. Notable important words go into code rather than getting spelled out, while the bulk of the message consists of simple cipher. Before, to make them compact, the alphabetical order of the clear words would correspond closely to the order of the code, so that the codes for the English words "Artois", "Bavaria", "cannon" and "castle", would appear in that order. Rossignol insisted on using out-of-order correspondences, necessitating the use of two tables, one for clear text to code, the other for code to clear text, organized to make finding the first element easy, without reference to the order of the second.
The Abbé de Boisrobert
wrote a poem in praise of Rossignol, Epistres en Vers.
(reigned 1643–1715), Antoine Rossignol and his son, worked either at their estate at Juvisy
near Paris or in a room next to the King's study at Versailles
. For him they developed the Great Cipher
(also called the Grand Cipher) of Louis XIV. They alone mastered it, encoding letters, memoranda, and records. The Rossignols ran the Cabinet noir
, the French Black Chamber (founded when Louvois
served as Minister of War), so notable that "black chamber" became an international term for any code bureau.
A generation later, when Bonaventure's son, Antoine-Bonaventure, died, the Grand Cipher fell out of use. Absent the key, and even the base concept, it remained uncrackable until the late 19th century, when Etienne Bazeries
deciphered it after three years of work. During this time, historians remained unable to read the coded diplomatic records of the time in the French archives.
Antoine Rossignol had the title of "King's counselor". Both Bonaventure and Antoine-Bonaventure Rossignol reached the position of "president of the Chamber of Accounts."
series by Neal Stephenson
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
cryptographer
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
s and cryptanalyst
Cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without access to the secret information that is normally required to do so. Typically, this involves knowing how the system works and finding a secret key...
s, included:
- Antoine Rossignol (1600–1682)
- Bonaventure Rossignol
- Antoine-Bonaventure Rossignol
The family name meant "nightingale
Nightingale
The Nightingale , also known as Rufous and Common Nightingale, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae...
" in French. As early as 1406 the word rossignol has served as the French term for "skeleton key
Skeleton Key
Skeleton Key is a rock band based in New York City. The band is the brainchild of bassist and singer Erik Sanko, who is the only constant member of the band...
" or for any tool which opens that which is locked.
Antoine Rossignol
In 1626, Henri II of Bourbon, Prince de Condé laid siege to the HuguenotHuguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
city of Réalmont
Réalmont
Réalmont is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.-References:*...
. The besiegers intercepted a coded letter leaving the city. Rossignol, then a 36-year-old mathematician, had a local reputation for his interest in cryptography. He quickly broke the Huguenot cipher, revealing a plea to their allies for ammunition to replenish the city's almost exhausted supplies. The next day, the besiegers presented the clear text of the message to the commander of Réalmont, along with a demand for surrender: the Huguenots surrendered immediately.
This brought Rossignol to the attention of Louis XIII
Louis XIII of France
Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...
's chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu, who found secure ciphers and codes of immense use to his diplomatic and intelligence corps. Rossignol repeated his swift decipherment of Huguenot messages at the siege of La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
in 1628.
Rossignol improved the nomenclator
Substitution cipher
In cryptography, a substitution cipher is a method of encryption by which units of plaintext are replaced with ciphertext according to a regular system; the "units" may be single letters , pairs of letters, triplets of letters, mixtures of the above, and so forth...
s (cipher tables) used by the French court for their own dispatches. A nomenclator comprises a hybrid of code and cipher. Notable important words go into code rather than getting spelled out, while the bulk of the message consists of simple cipher. Before, to make them compact, the alphabetical order of the clear words would correspond closely to the order of the code, so that the codes for the English words "Artois", "Bavaria", "cannon" and "castle", would appear in that order. Rossignol insisted on using out-of-order correspondences, necessitating the use of two tables, one for clear text to code, the other for code to clear text, organized to make finding the first element easy, without reference to the order of the second.
The Abbé de Boisrobert
François le Métel de Boisrobert
François le Métel de Boisrobert was a French poet.-Biography:He was born at Caen, and trained as a lawyer, practising for some time at the bar at Rouen. About 1622 he went to Paris, and by the next year had established a footing at court, for he had a share in the ballet of the Bacchanales...
wrote a poem in praise of Rossignol, Epistres en Vers.
Later generations
In the era of Louis XIV of FranceLouis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
(reigned 1643–1715), Antoine Rossignol and his son, worked either at their estate at Juvisy
Juvisy-sur-Orge
Juvisy-sur-Orge is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France.Inhabitants of Juvisy-sur-Orge are known as Juvisiens.-Geography:Neighboring communes:* Athis-Mons* Draveil* Savigny-sur-Orge* Viry-Châtillon...
near Paris or in a room next to the King's study at Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
. For him they developed the Great Cipher
Great Cipher
In the history of cryptography, the Great Cipher or Grand Chiffre was a nomenclator cipher developed by the Rossignols, several generations of whom served the French Crown as cryptographers. The Great Cipher was excellent of its class and so was given this name; it was reputed to be unbreakable...
(also called the Grand Cipher) of Louis XIV. They alone mastered it, encoding letters, memoranda, and records. The Rossignols ran the Cabinet noir
Cabinet noir
Cabinet noir was the name given in France to the office where the letters of suspected persons were opened and read by public officials before being forwarded to their destination...
, the French Black Chamber (founded when Louvois
François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois
François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois was the French Secretary of State for War for a significant part of the reign of Louis XIV. Louvois and his father, Michel le Tellier, would increase the French Army to 400,000 soldiers, an army that would fight four wars between 1667 and 1713...
served as Minister of War), so notable that "black chamber" became an international term for any code bureau.
A generation later, when Bonaventure's son, Antoine-Bonaventure, died, the Grand Cipher fell out of use. Absent the key, and even the base concept, it remained uncrackable until the late 19th century, when Etienne Bazeries
Étienne Bazeries
Étienne Bazeries was a French military cryptanalyst active between 1890 and the First World War. He is best known for developing the "Bazeries Cylinder", an improved version of Thomas Jefferson's cipher cylinder. It was later refined into the US Army M-94 cipher device. Historian David Kahn...
deciphered it after three years of work. During this time, historians remained unable to read the coded diplomatic records of the time in the French archives.
Antoine Rossignol had the title of "King's counselor". Both Bonaventure and Antoine-Bonaventure Rossignol reached the position of "president of the Chamber of Accounts."
In fiction
Bonaventure Rossignol is an important character in The Baroque CycleThe Baroque Cycle
The Baroque Cycle is a series of novels by American writer Neal Stephenson. It was published in three volumes containing 8 books in 2003 and 2004. The story follows the adventures of a sizeable cast of characters living amidst some of the central events of the late 17th and early 18th centuries in...
series by Neal Stephenson
Neal Stephenson
Neal Town Stephenson is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction.Difficult to categorize, his novels have been variously referred to as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk...
.
Sources
- Laffin, John, Codes and Ciphers: Secret Writing Through The Ages, Abelard-Schuman, London, 1964 ISBN 0-200-71118-0
- A Short History of Cryptography
- Paris Math History Sites
- Protection of Information - The Lessons of History
- INFOSEC and INFOWAR: Considerations for Military Intelligence
- Codes and Ciphers in History, Part 1 - To 1852
- Codes, Ciphers, & Codebreaking from Greg Goebel's IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN