ABSTRACT
This chapter surveys the discrepancy that extends between the homophonic method as a theory and its application in real life. It argues that early modern cryptographical practice cannot be understood merely on the basis of how homophonic methods are supposed to be applied; one needs to look deeper at the sources to see how they were actually used in everyday situations. The chapter examines the rich source materials of early modern Hungary. The sources relevant to the history of cryptography in early modern Hungary are scattered in the archives, mostly unidentified and unpublished. A recurrent theme in early modern Hungarian military, political, and diplomatic correspondence is the use, or improvement, of cryptography and all the entailing problems. Another feature of Hungarian ciphering practice was that it advanced more slowly than in Western Europe, and even toward the middle and end of the seventeenth century, shockingly simple methods were used to cover information in life-and-death situations.
