Nostradamus

December 1503
Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France
July 1566
Salon, France

Astrologer, physician, author

"He will pierce his eyes through a golden cage/Two wounds made one, then he dies a cruel death."

Nostradamus.

Aphysician and astrologer by profession, Nostradamus is said to have remained awake nights for several years, meditating over a brass bowl filled with water. He lapsed into trances during which he supposedly could see into the future. He then set his predictions down for posterity in a twelve-volume work titled Centuries. Since his death in 1566, scholars and the general public alike have remained fascinated by Nostradamus's forecasts.

Becomes famous for plague treatments

Nostradamus was born in Provence, a region in southern France, in 1503. Nostradamus is the Latinized version of his birth name, Michel de Notredame. His family was of Jewish heritage but they had converted to Catholicism during a period of religious intolerance. Jews were always outsiders in western Europe, and over the centuries they were forced to convert to the Christian religion. Both of Nostradamus's grandfathers were esteemed scholars. One was a physician, and Nostradamus studied Greek and Latin with the other. At the age of fourteen Nostradamus left home to study in Avignon, the religious and academic center of Provence. In class, he sometimes voiced opposition to the teachings of the Catholic priests, who dismissed the study of astrology—the study of how events on Earth are influenced by the positions and movements of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars—(see accompanying box) and the theories of the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543; see entry). Copernicus had recently gained fame with his theory that the Earth and other planets revolved around the Sun—contrary to the Christian belief that the Earth was the center of the universe. Nostradamus's family warned him to hold his tongue, since he could be easily singled out for persecution because of his Jewish background in the anti-Jewish society of France. Earlier, from his grandfathers he had secretly learned some mystical (spiritual perception of reality that does not rely on the senses) areas of Jewish wisdom, including the Kabbalah (a variety of religious literatures) and alchemy (a science devoted to turning common metals into gold and silver).

In 1525 Nostradamus graduated from the University of Montpellier, where he had studied both medicine and astrology. During the first several years of his career as a doctor he traveled to towns and villages where people were dying of the bubonic plague, an epidemic, or widespread, disease that swept Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Called the "Black Death" because of the festering black sores it left on victims' bodies, the deadly epidemic had no cure. Doctors commonly "bled," or drew large quantities of "diseased" blood from their patients, and knew nothing of how to prevent further infection. They did not realize that unsanitary conditions contributed to the spread of the disease. Nostradamus would prescribe fresh air and water, a low-fat diet, and new bedding for the afflicted. He often administered a remedy made from rosehips (fruit of roses), later discovered to be rich in vitamin C. Entire towns recovered with these herbal remedies, which were common at the time, but Nostradamus's beliefs about infection control could have resulted in charges of heresy (violation of church laws) and a sentence of death.

Begins foretelling future

Word of Nostradamus's healing powers made him a celebrated figure in Provence. He wrote a book listing the doctors and pharmacists (people who prepare medicines) he had met in southern Europe. He also translated anatomical texts (studies of the human body) and developed recipes for gourmet foods. Nostradamus received his doctorate from Montpellier in 1529. He taught at the university for three years, but left when his radical ideas about disease were censured, or officially reprimanded. He chose a wife from among the many offered to him by wealthy and connected families, and settled in the town of Agen. Then the plague killed his wife and two young children. Because the famed physician could not save his own family, citizens suddenly looked upon him with scorn. His in-laws sued for the return of the dowry (money or property provided by a bride's family) given to him. His patron, a scholar and philosopher named Julius Caesar Scaliger (1484–1558), also broke ties with him. A chance remark Nostradamus had once made about a statue of Mary (mother of Jesus of Nazareth, the founder of Christianity) landed him in court defending himself against

Astrology

Astrology was considered a science during the early Renaissance period. Closely related to astronomy, astrology is the study of how events on Earth are influenced by the positions and movements of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars. Astrologers believe that the position of heavenly bodies at the exact moment of a person's birth reflect his or her character. Later movements of heavenly bodies determine that person's destiny.

Historians estimate that the earliest known form of astrology was practiced by the Chaldeans, who lived in Babylonia (now Iraq), in 3000 b.c. Astrology was also part of ancient cultures in China and India, and evidence of astrological practices has been found in Maya ruins in Central America. Astrology reached Greece by the fifth century b.c., and Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras and Plato incorporated it into their study of religion and astronomy. Astrology was popular in Europe throughout the Middle Ages, although it had been condemned by church leaders since the early days of Christianity. Like alchemy, astrology eventually fell out of favor when scientists discovered new facts about the Earth and the universe. Nevertheless, astrology enjoyed considerable popularity during the Renaissance. Monarchs and noblemen had astrologers such as Nostradamus create charts called horoscopes, which mapped the position of astronomical bodies at certain times and were used to predict future events.

charges of heresy. He fled the area when he was told to appear before the feared Inquisition, a church court set up to search out and punish heretics.

For the next several years Nostradamus traveled through southern Europe. Modern scholars suggest that this difficult period probably awakened his powers of clairvoyance, or ability to predict the future. By 1544 torrential rains were bringing more disaster to southern France, which had already been devastated by the plague (a series of disease epidemics). Nostradamus appeared in Marseilles and then in Aix, where he managed to halt the spread of disease and was again celebrated for his skills. Moving to the town of Salon, he set up a medical practice, remarried, and began a new family. Although he was outwardly a practicing Catholic, he secretly spent the night hours in his study meditating over his brass bowl. The meditation would put him into a trance. Scholars theorize that he may have used herbs to achieve such a state. In these trances Nostradamus would have visions about events that were to happen during the coming year.

Predicts king's death

Nostradamus wrote down his visions, and in 1550 he began publishing them in Centuries, (also called Almanacs and Prophesies) which appeared annually for the next fifteen years. In the Almanacs Nostradamus described astrological phases for the next year and he offered hints of upcoming events in rhymed four-line verses called quatrains. The Almanacs became immensely popular, and soon Nostradamus was even more famous in France. By now his visions were such an integral part of his scholarship that he decided to channel them into one massive work for future generations. He would call this book Centuries. Each of the ten planned volumes would contain one hundred predictions in quatrain (four lines of verse) form, and the next two thousand years of humanity would be forecasted.

Nostradamus began working on Centuries in 1554. The first seven volumes were published in Lyon the following year and made him a celebrated figure. His writings attracted the interest of France's royal family. In 1556 he was invited to the Paris court King Henry II (1519–1559; ruled 1547–59) and the queen, Catherine de Médicis (1519–1589; see entry). Catherine belonged to the powerful Medici family of Florence, Italy, who were known for their political ambitions. She hoped that Nostradamus could give her guidance regarding the futures of her seven children, for whom he cast horoscopes (see accompanying box). Nostradamus had also been summoned to explain Quatrain 35 of Centuries I, which apparently referred to Henry. It read: "The young lion will overcome the older one/On the field of combat in single battle/He will pierce his eyes through a golden cage/Two wounds made one, then he dies a cruel death."

Nostradamus told the king to avoid any ceremonial jousting (a contest between two people with lances riding on horses) during his forty-first year (1559), a warning that had also been given by Henry's own astrologer. Nostradamus spent the next three years ensconced, or sheltered, in the luxury of the royal court. He drew up astrology charts for four of the royal couple's sons and predicted that they all would become kings. Then Nostradamus received word that Catholic authorities were again becoming suspicious of his soothsaying (foretelling future events) and were about to investigate him. He returned to his wife and children in Salon. After completing volumes eight through ten of Centuries, Nostradamus began work on two additional volumes. (He would not allow volumes eight through ten to be published until after his death.) On June 28, 1559—in his forty-first year—King Henry was injured in a jousting tournament. With thousands watching, his opponent's lance penetrated the visor of his helmet and lodged in his brain. The blinded king died ten days later.

Predicted twentieth-century events?

Already a celebrity in France, Nostradamus became a figure inspiring both awe and fright among the populace. His other prophecies regarding France's royal line were consulted, and most seemed to predict only death and tragedy. Catherine de Médicis visited Nostradamus in Salon during her royal tour of 1564, and he again told her that all four of her sons would become kings. This prediction came true, but the children met dismal ends: one son became king of Poland, but was murdered by a priest; another died before carrying out a plot to kill another brother; two died young as well; the three daughters also met tragic fates. The family's House of Valois came to an end with the death of one of the daughters, Queen Margaret (1553–1615), wife of King Henry IV (Henry of Navarre; 1553–1610; ruled 1572–89).

Horoscope

A horoscope is a diagram in the shape of a circle, called the ecliptic, which represents the Earth's orbit in its annual rotation around the Sun. The ecliptic is divided into twelve sections known as the signs of the Zodiac, and each sign is associated with a set of human characteristics. The twelve signs are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Each planet, including the Sun and the Moon, is associated with basic human drives. The ecliptic is also divided into twelve houses corresponding to the twenty-four-hour period during which the Earth rotates once on its axis. Each house is related to certain aspects of a person's life.

In casting a horoscope, an astrologer chooses a date in the future and then assigns each planet a particular sign according to where the planet appears on the ecliptic for that time. The astrologer then makes a prediction about events that will take place by interpreting the position of the planets within the signs and the houses. Astrologers also give a person a certain sign, such as an Aquarius or a Taurus, according to the sign occupied by the Sun at the time of the person's birth. It is called the person's Sun sign.

Although astrology fell out of favor in the sixteenth century because of new theories of the universe, it remains popular today. Most newspapers and magazines feature horoscope sections that are avidly consulted by readers. In 2000 the Kepler College of Astrological Arts and Sciences was founded in Seattle, Washington. The school offers bachelor and master's degrees in astrology.

Nostradamus himself died in 1566, after many years of suffering from gout (a disease that causes painful swelling of the body). Naturally, he predicted his own end, although records show that he was off by a year. Many translations of his Centuries and treatises on their significance appeared in the generations following his death. For the next two hundred years the Vatican (office of the pope) issued the Index of Forbidden Books. Centuries was always on the list. Centuries remains popular to the present day, and interpreters claim Nostradamus predicted many important twentieth-century events. For instance, he reportedly warned that the German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) would rise to power in the 1930s. Another of Nostradamus's supposed predictions was the explosion of the U.S. space shuttle Challenger in 1986.

For More Information

Books

Fontbrune, Jean-Charles de. Nostradamus 2: Into the Twenty-first Century. Alexis Lykiard, translator. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1985.

Web Sites

"How Nostradamus Works." How Stuff Works. [Online] Available http://www.howstuffworks.com/nostradamus.htm, April 5, 2002.

"Nostradamus." MSN Encarta. [Online] Available http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=761568156, April 5, 2002.

Nostradamus Repository. [Online] Available http://www.nostradamusrepository.org/, April 5, 2002.

Nostradamus

A physician and astrologer by profession, Nostradamus (1503-1566) is said to have remained awake nights for several years, meditating over a brass bowl filled with water. Through these trances he supposedly could see into the future, and he set his predictions down for posterity in a twelve-volume set he entitled Centuries.

Nostradamus is the Latinized name of a sixteenth-century French prophet named Michel de Notredame. Since his death in 1566, scholars and lay people have remained fascinated by Nostradamus's forecasts, in which many future events seem to have been uncannily divined. The French Revolution, the rise of fascism in 1930s Europe, and the explosion of a U.S. space shuttle were supposedly prophesied by the Renaissance scholar.

Questioned Authority

Nostradamus was born in December of 1503 in the south of France; his family was of Jewish heritage but had converted to Catholicism during a period of religious intolerance. Both of his grandfathers were esteemed scholars, one a physician; with the other, he studied classical languages. At the age of 14 Nostradamus left his family to study in Avignon, the ecclesiastical and academic center of Provence. In class, he sometimes voiced dissension with the teachings of the Catholic priests, who dismissed the study of astrology and the assertion of the Polish scientist Copernicus. Copernicus had recently gained fame with his theory that the Earth and other planets revolved around the sun—contrary to the Christian appraisal of the heavens. Nostradamus's family warned him to hold his tongue, since he could be easily singled out for persecution because of his Jewish heritage in the anti-Semitic climate, conversion and baptism or not. Earlier, from his grandfathers he had secretly learned some mystical areas of Jewish wisdom, including the Kabbalah and alchemy.

Nostradamus graduated in 1525 from the University of Montpellier, where he had studied both medicine and astrology, a common professional duality during the era. The first several years of his career as a doctor were spent traveling throughout the many towns and villages in France being decimated by the bubonic plague. Called "Le Charbon" because of the festering black cankers it left on its quickly-dead victim's body, the epidemic had no cure. Doctors commonly "bled" the patient, and knew nothing of how to prevent further infection or how Europe's unsanitary conditions contributed to the spread of the disease. Nostradamus would prescribe fresh air and water for the afflicted, a low-fat diet, new bedding, and often administered an herbal remedy made from rosehips, later discovered to be rich in vitamin C; entire towns recovered. Nostradamus's herbal remedies were common to the era, but his beliefs about infection control could have resulted in charges of heresy and death.

Devastated by Personal Tragedies

Word of Nostradamus's healing powers made him a celebrated figure in Provence. He wrote a book listing the doctors and pharmacists he had met in southern Europe, translated anatomical texts, developed recipes for gourmet foods, and received his doctorate in 1529 from Montpellier. He also taught at the university for three years, but left when his radical ideas about disease were censured. He chose a wife from among the many offered to him by wealthy and connected families, and settled in the town of Agen. Unfortunately, Le Charbon's recurrence felled his wife and two young children; because the famed physician could not save his own family, citizens suddenly looked upon him with scorn. His in-laws sued for the return of the dowry given to him. His patron, a scholar and philosopher named Julius-Cesar Scalinger, also broke ties with him. A chance remark Nostradamus had once made about a statue of the Virgin Mary landed him in court defending himself against charges of heresy. When told to appear before the feared Church Inquisitors at Toulouse, he became a fugitive.

For the next several years Nostradamus traveled through southern Europe. Scholars have posited that this difficult period probably awakened his powers of clairvoyance. By 1544 torrential rains were again bringing pestilence to southern France, and Nostradamus appeared in Marseilles, then Aix; with his medicinal practices he managed to halt the spread of disease in the latter and was again celebrated for his skills. Moving to the town of Salon, he set up a medical practice, remarried, and began a new family. A devout practicing Catholic outwardly, he spent the night hours ensconced in his study positioned in front of a brass bowl filled with water. Meditation would bring on a trance, and it is also theorized that he may have used herbal means to achieve such a state. In such trances visions would come to him.

Some of these visions for the coming year Nostradamus began writing about when he undertook the first of his Almanacs, which appeared annually from 1550 to 1565. Greatly popular with the reading public, the Almanacs spoke of astrological phases of the coming year and contained quatrains, or rhymed four-line verse, offering hints of upcoming events. The published works served to spread his fame across France to an even greater degree, and by now his visions were such an integral part of his scholarship that he decided to channel them into one massive opus for posterity. He would call this book Centuries. Each of the ten planned volumes would contain 100 predictions in quatrain form. In it, the next two thousand years of humanity would be forecasted.

Prophecies Brought Fame and Fortune

Nostradamus began working on Centuries on Good Friday of 1554. The first seven volumes were published in Lyon the following year; although he completed volumes VIII through X by 1558, he would not allow them to be published until after his death. Yet the reception of the initial works made Nostradamus a celebrated figure. "Polite society called Nostradamus a genius," wrote John Hogue in Nostradamus and the Millennium: Predictions of the Future. "The peasant Cabans [the superstitious Catholic underclass] called him an instrument of Satan and his dark, cryptic poems the confounded gibberish of Hell. His medical colleagues called him an embarrassment. Philosophers praised and cursed him. Poets either marvelled or scratched their heads at his crabbed and wild verses—a bewildering madness with a method set in riddles and anagrams written in a mixture of French Provencal, Latin, Greek and Italian."

Nostradamus's writings attracted no less than the interest of France's royal family. He was invited to the Paris court of Henry II and his wife, Catharine de Medici. The Medicis were known for their pan-European political ambitions, and the queen hoped that Nostradamus could give her guidance regarding her seven children. Ostensibly, Nostradamus also arrived in Paris in August of 1556 to explain Quatrain 35 of Centuries I, assumed to refer to King Henry II. It read: "The young lion will overcome the older one/ On the field of combat in single battle/ He will pierce his eyes through a golden cage/ Two wounds made one, then he dies a cruel death."

Nostradamus told the king that he should avoid any ceremonial jousting during his 41st year, which the regent's own astrologer had also asserted. The physician spent the next few years ensconced in the luxury of the royal court, but received word that Catholic authorities were again becoming suspicious of his soothsaying and were about to investigate him. He returned to his hometown of Salon and his wife and children. Finishing volumes VIII through X, he also began work on two additional volumes of Centuries, which were unfinished at the time of his death. On June 28, 1559, in his 41st year, Henry II was injured in a jousting tournament celebrating two marriages in his family. With thousands watching, his opponent's "lance pierced the King's golden visor, entered his head behind the eye, both blinding him and penetrating deep into his brain. He held onto life for ten agonizing days," wrote Hogue in Nostradamus and the Millennium.

Spent Later Years Quietly

Already a celebrated persona in France, Nostradamus became a figure inspiring both awe and fright among the populace. His other prophecies regarding France's royal line were consulted, and most seem to predict only death and tragedy. Henry's surviving widow, now Queen Regent Catharine de Medici, visited him in Salon during her royal tour of 1564, and he again told her (as he had when he drew up their astrology charts) that all four of her sons would become kings. Yet all the children came to equally dismal ends: one son became king of Poland, but was murdered by a priest; another died before carrying out a plot to kill another brother; two died young as well; the three daughters also met tragic fates. The family's House of Valois died out with the burial of Queen Margot.

Nostradamus himself died in 1566. He had long suffered from gout, and naturally predicted his own end, although sources say he was off by a year. Many translations of his Centuries and treatises on their significance appeared in the generations following his death, and remain popular to the present day. Interpreters claim Nostradamus predicted Adolf Hitler's rise to power as well as the explosion of the U.S. space shuttle Challenger in 1986. Biographies of the seer have also appeared periodically. For two centuries the Vatican issued the Index, or a list of forbidden books; Centuries was always on it. "No other prophet since Biblical times has held as constant a place in the hearts and minds of the populace as Nostradamus," wrote Dava Sobell in Omni. "Whether by dint of the audacity of his future vision or the dreamlike imagery of his verses, he has literally triumphed over time."

Further Reading

Sobell, Dava, "The Resurrection of Nostradamus," in Omni, December 1993, p. 42.

Hogue, John, Nostradamus and the Millennium: Predictions of the Future, Doubleday, 1987.

Leoni, Edgar, Nostradamus: Life and Literature, Nosbooks, 1961. □

Nostradamus

Born: December 1503
Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France
Died: July 1566
Salon, France
French astrologer, physician, and author

Nostradamus was a physician (doctor) and astrologer (someone who believes that the future can be learned by studying the stars and planets). Today Nostradamus is remembered chiefly for the predictions he made of future events.

Early years

Michel de Notredame, commonly called Nostradamus, was born in December 1503 in the south of France. His family was of Jewish heritage but had converted to Catholicism during a period of religious intolerance (unwillingness to give freedom to people who have different beliefs) and prejudice (hostility aimed at a person or group of people based on their beliefs, looks, or habits). Both of his grandfathers were scholars and instructed Nostradamus themselves when he was young. One grandfather was a physician. The other taught him classical languages.

At the age of fourteen Nostradamus left his family to study in Avignon, France, a major ecclesiastical (church related) and academic center. In class he often voiced dissension (disagreement) with the teachings of the Catholic priests. Nostradamus later attended the University of Montpellier, where he studied both medicine and astrology. It was common to study both at that time. He graduated in 1522 and began calling himself Nostradamus, a Latin version of his name. This was a common practice of university graduates.

The first several years of Nostradamus's career as a doctor were spent traveling in France. Many towns and villages were being destroyed by the bubonic plague (a widespread destructive disease). It was called "Le Charbon" ("coal" or "carbon") because of the black sores it left on its victim's body. The epidemic (a disease that affects a large number of people or regions) had no cure. Doctors commonly "bled" (letting blood out) their patients, thinking it would take the disease with it. They knew nothing of how to prevent further infection or how unclean conditions helped spread the disease.

Nostradamus prescribed fresh air and water for the afflicted. He also recommended a low-fat diet and clean bedding. He often administered an herbal remedy made from rosehips, later discovered to be rich in vitamin C. Entire towns recovered under his care. Nostradamus's herbal remedies were common to the era. His beliefs about infection control, however, were contrary to the practices of his time. Such beliefs could have resulted in charges of heresy (opinions that are against church teachings) and a sentence of death.

Personal tragedies

Word of Nostradamus's healing powers made him a celebrated figure. He wrote a book listing the doctors and pharmacists he had met in southern Europe, translated anatomical texts, developed recipes for gourmet foods, and received his doctorate in 1529 from the University of Montpellier. He also taught at the university for three years, but left when his radical ideas about disease were criticized.

Nostradamus married and settled in the town of Agen, France, with his wife. They had two children. Unfortunately, Le Charbon came again. While Nostradamus was trying to heal others, his wife and two young children died of the plague. Citizens looked upon him with scorn because he could not save his own family. His in-laws sued for the return of his wife's dowry (the goods she brought to her husband when they were married). His patron (sponsor) also broke ties with him.

Visions

For the next several years Nostradamus traveled through southern Europe. By 1544 heavy rains were again helping to spread the plague to southern France. With his medicinal practices, Nostradamus managed to halt the spread of disease in one town. He was again celebrated for his skills.

Nostradamus moved to the town of Salon, France, set up a medical practice, remarried, and began a new family. Outwardly, Nostradamus was a devoted practicing Catholic. However, at night he spent the hours in his study meditating in front of a brass bowl filled with water and herbs. Meditation would bring on a trance. In such trances visions would come to him.

Nostradamus began writing about his visions when he wrote the first of his almanacs. It contained predictions of things to come in the next year. The almanacs appeared each year from 1550 to 1565. They were very popular with the public. The Almanacs spoke of astrological phases of the coming year and contained quatrains, or rhymed four-line verse, offering hints of upcoming events. The published works served to spread his fame across France to an even greater degree.

Nostradamus's visions had become such an important part of his studies that he decided to gather them into one massive work for future generations. He called this book Centuries. He planned that there would be ten volumes, each containing one hundred predictions in quatrain form. In it, the next two thousand years of humanity would be forecast—through the year 3797.

Prophecies brought fame and fortune

Nostradamus began working on Centuries in 1554. The first seven volumes were published the following year. He completed the other volumes soon after, but would not allow them to be published until after his death. The reception of the initial works made Nostradamus a celebrated figure.

Nostradamus's writings attracted the interest of France's royal family. He was invited to the Paris court of Henry II (1519–1559) and his wife, Catherine de' Medici (1519–1589). The Medicis were known for their Europe-wide political ambitions. The queen hoped that Nostradamus could give her guidance regarding her seven children. Nostradamus arrived in Paris in August of 1556.

Nostradamus explained that one of his quatrains referred to the king. It read: "The young lion will overcome the older one/On the field of combat in single battle/He will pierce his eyes through a golden cage/Two wounds made one, then he dies a cruel death." Nostradamus cautioned King Henry against attending any ceremonial jousting during his forty-first year, which the regent's own astrologer had also asserted.

The physician spent the next few years in the luxury of the royal court. He heard that Catholic authorities were again becoming suspicious of his soothsaying (making prophecies) and were about to investigate him. He returned to his hometown of Salon and his wife and children.

On June 28, 1559, when he was forty-one years old, Henry II was injured in a jousting tournament celebrating two marriages in his family. With thousands watching, his opponent's lance "pierced the King's golden visor, entered his head behind the eye, both blinding him and penetrating deep into his brain. He held onto life for ten agonizing days," wrote John Hogue in Nostradamus and the Millennium.

Later years

Already a celebrated individual in France, Nostradamus now became a figure inspiring both awe and fright among the populace. His other prophecies regarding France's royal line were consulted, and most seemed to predict only death and tragedy. Henry's surviving widow, now Queen Regent Catherine de' Medici, visited him in Salon during her royal tour of 1564. He again told her (as he had when he drew up their astrology charts) that all four of her sons would become kings. All did, but all died young.

Nostradamus died in Salon, France, in 1566. Many translations of his Centuries and treatises on their significance appeared in the generations following his death. They remain popular to the present day. Some critics point out that the verses are vague and can be read in many ways. Other interpreters claim Nostradamus predicted Adolf Hitler's (1889–1945) rise to power, the explosion of the U.S. space shuttle Challenger in 1986, and many other events.

For More Information

Hogue, John. Nostradamus and the Millennium: Predictions of the Future. New York: Doubleday, 1987.

Leoni, Edgar. Nostradamus and His Prophecies. New York: Bell Publishing Company, 1982. Reprint, Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2000.

McCann, Lee. Nostradamus: The Man Who Saw Through Time. New York: Creative Age Press, 1941. Reprint, New York: Wings Books, 1995.

Randi, James. The Mask of Nostradamus. New York: Scribner, 1990.

Nostradamus (1503-1566)

Medieval French physician and prophet. Nostradamus was born Michel de Nostredame on December 24, 1503, in St. Remey de Provence. A short time before his birth his Jewish family had changed its name from Gassonet to Nostredame as a reaction to a "convert or go into exile" order of the government in Provence. He received his medical training at Montpellier. He sometimes voiced dissension with the teachings of the Catholic priests, who dismissed the study of astrology and the assertions of Copernicus that the Earth and other planets revolved around the sun—contrary to the Christian appraisal of the heavens. Nostradamus's family warned him to hold his tongue, since he could be easily persecuted because of his Jewish background. Earlier, from his grandfathers he had secretly learned mystical areas of Jewish wisdom, including the Kabbalah and alchemy. He graduated in 1525 and was licensed as a physician. Four years later he received his full medical degree. He established his reputation by treating the ill during the plague in southern France. For a while he lived in Agen to work with Julius Caeser Scaliger, a prominent physician of the day, but moved on to Aix-en-Provence and Lyons during the 1530s. He eventually settled in Salon.

Over the years Nostradamus (the Latin version of his name) became a practitioner of astrology and related occult arts. He published his first book, an astrological almanac (issued annually for several years), in 1550. Five years later he issued a popular book of recipes for cosmetics and various medical remedies. That same year he also published the first edition of the book from which his current fame is largely derived, The Centuries.

In reference to Nostradamus's writings, a "century" referred to a grouping of one hundred verses, each verse being a four-line poem called a quatrain. It was this work that brought Nostradamus his fame. The 1555 edition contained the first three centuries and 53 quatrains of "Century Four." A second edition two years later had 640 quatrains and Centuries Eight through Ten were published as a separate volume in 1558. The first English edition, published in 1672, also had eight additional quatrains from the "Century Seven" not in the French editions. As a result of the success of the first edition, in 1556 Nostradamus was invited to Paris as a guest of the French queen Catherine de Médicis. With the financial support she gave him, he was able to complete his writings of the prophetic verses.

The quatrains were written in a cryptic and symbolic fashion requiring some interpretation and thus offering room for a wide variety of understandings of exactly to which events and persons Nostradamus was making reference. Among the most famous of quatrains is one often seen as referring to the London Fire of 1666 (though more critical interpreters see a reference to the burning of Protestants by Queen Mary I of England, a contemporary of Nostradamus):

The blood of the just shall be wanting in London, Burnt by thunderbolts of twenty three the Six(es), The ancient dame shall fall from [her] high place, Of the same sect many shall be killed.

Nostradamus died in June 1566 of congestive heart failure. He was succeeded by a colleague, Jean-Aimé de Chavigny, also a physician, who immediately began work on a biography. De Chavigny also published his interpretations of 126 of the quatrains. Over the centuries a number of additional interpreters have arisen (including Theophilus de Garencieres, who translated the quatrains into English (1672)), all of whom have championed the reputed accomplishments of Nostradamus as a seer of future events and emphasized those quatrains presaging events soon to occur. Garancieres's effort was marred by his acceptance of two fake quatrains written to attack French Roman Catholic Cardinal Jules Mazarin, who also served as the French prime minister.

Modern interest in Nostradamus, which has spawned a massive popular literature during the last generation, began with Charles Ward's work, Oracles of Nostradamus (1891). One prominent student of the quatrains, Edgar Leoni, submitted his lengthy treatise as a master's thesis at Harvard University (1961). Interpreters claim Nostradamus predicted Hitler's rise to power as well as the explosion of the U.S. space shuttle Challenger in 1986.The popular interest in Nostradamus has been countered by the observations of a variety of historians who have offered other explanations of his prophetic verse (often to the detriment of his reputation), and by some modern psychic debunkers, such as stage magician James Randi.

Sources:

[Note: There is a large literature on Nostradamus, of which only a selected list is given here. For a bibliography of the 25 oldest editions of Nostradamus, published up to 1689, compiled by Carl Graf von Klinckowstroem, see Zeitschrift für Bücherfreude, March 1913.]

Cheetham, Erika. The Prophecies of Nostradamus. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1972. Reprint, London: Neville Spearman, 1973. Reprint, London: Corgi, 1975.

Du Vignois, Elisée. Notre histoire racontée à l'avance par Nostradamus. Paris, 1910.

Hogue, John. Nostradamus and the Millennium. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1987.

Howe, Ellic. Urania's Children: The Strange World of the Astrologers. London: William Kimber, 1967. Rev. ed. as Astrology and Psychological Warfare During World War II. London, 1972. Reprinted as Astrology: A Recent History Including the Untold Story of Its Role in World War II. New York: Walker, 1968.

Laver, James. Nostradamus, or the Future Foretold. London: Collins, 1942. Reprint, UK: Penguin Books, 1952. Reprint, London: George Mann, 1973.

Leoni, Edgar. Nostradamus and His Prophecies. New York: 1961.

Le Pelletier, Anatole. Les Oracles de Michel de Nostredame. 2 vols. Paris, 1867.

Le Vert, Liberte E., ed. The Prophecies and Enigmas of Nostradamus. Glen Rock, N.J.: Firebell Books, 1979.

Prieditis, Arthur A. Fate of the Nations. London: Neville Spearman; St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 1973.

Randi, James. The Mask of Nostradamus. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1993.

Roberts, Henry C. The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus. New York, 1947.

Torné-Chiavigny, H. L'Histoire prédite et jugée par Nostradamus. 3 vols. Bordeaux, 1860-62.

Voldben, A. After Nostradamus. London: Neville Spearman, 1973. Reprint, New York: Citadel, 1974.

Ward, Charles A. Oracles of Nostradamus. London, 1891. Reprint, New York: Modern Library, 1942.

Nostradamus (1503–1566)

A French physician and prognosticator, whose fame as a Renaissance prophet has endured into modern times. “Nostradamus” is the Latin form of his given name, Michel de Nostredame. Born in the town of Saint Remy de Provence, the son of a grain dealer, he studied at the University of Avignon but left after a short time when a plague struck southern France and the university closed. He then studied medicine for a brief time at the University of Montpelier, which expelled him for engaging in the lowly craft of apothecary. Deciding on a career as a physician, he moved to Agen at the invitation of a celebrated Italian scholar and physician, Jules-Cesar Scaliger.

Nostradamus's brief training as a physician, his knowledge of medicines, and his assumed title of “Doctor” gained him a reputation as a healer. During an epidemic of plague in 1546–1547 he treated and cured many cases of the disease—so it was believed. In 1547, he settled in Salon de Provence, where his marriage to a wealthy widow provided him with the means to buy a comfortable house and write at his leisure. He made several voyages to Italy, a land that kindled his interest in the arts of magic and prophecy. In 1550, he began writing a yearly almanac, a calendar accompanied by prophecies written in the form of four-line verses known as quatrains. The almanacs found a large audience, and as his reputation spread people began calling on Nostradamus for his services as an astrologer and seer. He began collecting the quatrains separately and published them in Le Propheties, which first appeared in 1555 and in which the verses are grouped in sets of 100 known as a “century.” With an ambition to publish 1,000 of his short and obscure poems, he published a second edition in 1557 and a third in 1558; all three surviving volumes of Le Propheties contain a grand total of 942 quatrains, all but one of them rhyming.

Nostradamus based his predictions on his own knowledge of the Bible, of historical events, of classical Latin authors such as Livy and Plutarch, on medieval historians such as Jean Froissart and seers such as Girolamo Savonarola, and on astrology. He sought to create a system of prediction based on the configuration of stars and planets as it would exist at some future point, and finding correspondences in that configuration to important events in the past.

In 1555, Nostradamus attracted the attention of Catherine de' Médicis, the queen of King Henri II. A prophecy concerning the royal family prompted her to summon him to Paris, where he cast the horoscopes of the king's children and where, in 1560, King Charles IX made him one of the royal physicians. Nostradamus's prophecies hinted at occult knowledge, but he was always careful to remain in the good graces of the church. One of the king's decrees demanded that he secure permission from the church before publishing his almanacs, and in 1561 he was tried, found guilty, and jailed for not heeding this order.

Nostradamus's legacy has endured through his own skill in predicting natural and man-made disasters in vague terms that are open to many interpretations. He has been credited with predicting the French Revolution, the campaigns of Napoléon, the rise of Adolf Hitler, the two world wars of the twentieth century, and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Believers unable to decipher his quatrains as corresponding to any specific event allow them to stand for an event that has not yet taken place. Many commentators view Nostradamus as a historian who wrote in verse rather than a “prophet”—a term he never used to describe himself—and believe he wrote in deliberately vague language in order to avoid persecution as a heretic or as an opponent of the French monarchy.

See Also: astrology