Roger Bacon, O.F.M. (c. 1214–1294), (scholastic accolade Doctor Mirabilis, meaning "wonderful teacher"), was an English philosopher and Franciscan friar who placed considerable emphasis on the study of nature through empirical methods.
The Voynich manuscript has been attributed to Bacon by various researchers on the topic, including Johannes Marcus Marci, Wilfrid Voynich, a book drafted by William Romaine Newbold and posthumously edited and published by Roland Grubb Kent in 1928, and in a 2005 book of Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone published by Doubleday and Broadway Books.
Historians of science Lynn Thorndike) and George Sarton have dismissed these claims as unsupported.
While Bacon's reputation probably played a part in the initial association with the manuscript, the VM has been shown to be of considerably later date (early 15th century) to his lifetime, and is also probably of Italian origin.
John Matthews Manly's article can be found on JSTOR here.
More details on the Wikipedia page [1] and the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia [2]. There is much coverage, somewhat repeating details, elsewhere on the Internet.
See also Francis Bacon