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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
National
RFI

French historians crack mysterious code in letter from Charles V

An encrypted letter from Charles V, also known as Charles Quint, the Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria, dated from 1547, at the Stanislas library in Nancy, northeastern France. AFP - JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN

A team of researchers has cracked the secret code used by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, in a letter that has puzzled historians for nearly 500 years.

Charles was one of the most powerful men of the 16th century, presiding over a vast empire that took in much of western Europe and the Americas during a reign of more than 40 years.

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