ABSTRACT
Biography 2.3 Steganographia was written by Johannes Trithemius (14621516) in 1499. Trithemius’s manuscript was circulated for over a century and not published until 1606. In 1609, the Roman Catholic Church placed it on its index of Prohibited Books, where it remained for over two centuries. Nevertheless, it was reprinted numerous times, including as late as 1721. During Trithemius’s lifetime, his Steganographia caused him to be known as a sorcerer, which did not sit well since he was an abbot at the abbey of Saint Martin at Spanheim, Germany. In fact, his fellow monks were so incensed that Trithemius was transferred to the monastery of Saint Jacob in Wurzberg, where he remained (writing and studying) until his death on December 15, 1516.
