In the 12th century, a German Benedictine abbess of Rupertsberg, St. Hildegard von Bingen, invented a vocabulary called Lingua Ignota translated from Latin as 'unknown language'. One of the earliest invented languages, Lingua Ignota’s purpose was unclear, but speculations include a secret cipher and a universal language. Whereas the purpose of the invented language remains unclear, type- and graphic designer Edgar Walthert created a contemporary revival of Lingua Ignota: reinventing the secret cipher in a sans-serif typeface.
