Read ancient letters revealing life centuries ago

600 letters that were never sent were discovered by museum experts in an ancient chest. According to experts, these letters are dated more than 300 years ago and require the help of x-ray machines to be able to read the characters in these old letters.

Ancient letters reveal 17th-century European life

David van der Linden of Groningen University is the project leader named 'Signed, Sealed and Undelivered' which includes many international experts from Oxford University, Yale and MIT. The group was allowed by the postal museum in The Hague, Netherlands to access the ancient letters. According to these experts, learning about the contents of the letters will bring a unique aspect of 17th century European life.

Unprecedented over 300-year-old letters were found in a leather chest.(Photo: Museum voor Communicatie / The Hague).

The team of experts must use all knowledge and special scanning techniques to understand the content of scandals, rumors and conspiracy to hide in 600 unopened letters.

A newly translated letter showed that it was sent to a Jewish businessman by a woman and said that she represented a Dutch opera singer who wrote this letter to him to inform her of her work. The doctor was pregnant and needed money to return home.

Experts said the content of 600 unopened letters could bring a new dimension to the life of 17th-century Europe (Photo: Museum voor Communicatie / The Hague).

The letter has a paragraph that says: 'You must not be hard to know the true cause of her despair. I am not comfortable talking about this much; What I need to tell you is enough. Think about it yourself, and bring her back to your life by taking her back. '

The man - apparently the father of the singer in the belly of the singer refused to accept the letter and the letter was marked 'neit hebben'.

It is known that a total of 2,600 recently discovered letters were sent from aristocrats, spies, merchants, artists and ordinary people, and 600 of them were never opened. Many letters seem to have been sent from people fleeing the religious persecution of Louis XIV.

Letters are the only way to keep in touch with those who flee religious persecution.(Photo: Museum voor Communicatie / The Hague).

David said many Huguenots - French Protestants pursuing theological doctrine and pastor John Calvin - had to flee the persecution and so correspondence was the only way to stay in touch.

The study also noticed how some letters were folded and sealed to ensure no one could sneak them.

Specialists need special techniques to read the contents of these ancient letters.(Photo: Museum voor Communicatie / The Hague).

The letters, mostly sent in France, were kept by postman Simon de Brienne, and his wife, Maria Germain in The Hague.

The Brienne family has kept undeliverable letters for many reasons, such as the recipients have changed their place, died or simply refused to accept the letter and hoped they could eventually be collected again.