Editing Tabula recta (section)

{{Short description|Fundamental tool in cryptography}}
{{Refimprove|date=September 2014}}

[[File:Vigenère square shading.svg|thumbnail|right|320px|Tabula recta]]

In [[cryptography]], the '''''tabula recta''''' (from [[Latin language|Latin]] ''[[wikt:tabula#Latin|tabula]] [[wikt:rectus#Latin|rēcta]]'') is a square table of alphabets, each row of which is made by shifting the previous one to the left. The term was invented by the German author and monk [[Johannes Trithemius]]<ref name="Salomon">Salomon, Data Privacy, page 63</ref> in 1508, and used in his '''Trithemius cipher'''.