Equation

 To reduce my hypothesis to arithmetic simplicity, the equation is:

The simplest and most adequate explanation for all the oddities we find in the Voynich manuscript is that the cosmology of Nicholas of Cusa has been applied to the herbal tradition of the Ladin people of alpine northern Italy.

I contend that we can apply this simple equation to almost any aspect of the Voynich and find plausible reasons for most things, including the contradictions of the work.

Folkish art = the Ladin tradition
Complex text = Cusanus
Rare and unfamiliar herbs = the Ladin tradition
The mountain nymphs = the Ladin mythology
Pagan elements? = the Ladin tradition
Humanism? = Cusanus
Heliocentricism? = Cusanus
Graeco-Islamic astrology? = Cusanus
Llullian influence? = Cusanus

The main equation is:

A folkish herb tradition + an early modern cosmology.

That is the conundrum that confronts us in the Voynich manuscript, along with a text in an unknown language in an unknown script that is evidently the work of some highly literate person. How do we explain this unusual conjunction? The rustic herbal informed by an early modern cosmology and a text suggesting a deep knowledge of Latin manuscript traditions and an author with linguistic genius? The equation Ladin + Cusanus is an historical circumstance that would explain it, or at least offer a more adequate explanation than any other.

R. B.