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. Modified forms were in use by the French Peninsular army until the summer of 1811, and after it fell out of current use, the mostly diplomatic messages in the French archives were entirely unreadable.
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