Protection of Documents, Cryptography and Secret Communications in Byzantium (the 4th—15th centuries)

Abstract

Origin and evolution of cryptography in Byzantium haven’t been studied yet. We discuss here how the written texts were ciphered, how the integrity and authenticity of documents were ensured in Byzantium in the 4th—15th centuries A.D. The investigation let us to find the roots of some modern concepts of information security. In particular, we argue a hypothesis that the medieval Byzantium diplomatic protocol could be the prototype of modern cryptographic protocol