“Within a few years of his settling into Salon, Nostradamus began moving away from medicine and more toward the occult. It is said that he would spend hours in his study at night meditating in front of a bowl filled with water and herbs. The meditation would bring on a trance and visions. It is believed the visions were the basis of his predictions for the future. In 1550, Nostradamus wrote his first almanac of astrological information and predictions of the coming year. Almanacs were very popular at the time, as they provided useful information for farmers and merchants and contained entertaining bits of local folklore and predictions of the coming year. Nostradamus began writing about his visions and incorporating them into his first almanac. The publication received a great response and served to spread his name all across France, which encouraged Nostradamus to write more.”
Sam asked, “But at this stage there was no hint that he actually believed in the visions?”
She said, “No. The book was printed during a period of great popularity for Nostradamus, due to his use of poetry to predict each coming year’s expectations. Those poems were astrologically based, and constructed of either four or six lines, with each yearly publication typically totaling twelve to fourteen verses, roughly corresponding to each month of the coming year. The poems were akin to brain teasers, riddles or puzzles, with much play on words and metaphor, forcing the reader to figure out the “hidden” meaning. Because most people readily understood the intent, with his sense of witty sarcasm embraced by his readers, the almanacs were enjoyed by all.”
“Go on.”
“That popularity created a demand for such entertainment.”
Sam said, “He found an income source that could provide for his large family that paid better than being a Plague Doctor.”
She nodded. “Seemingly in response, Nostradamus had initially published The Prophecies with a total of 353 verses, all four-lined poems with an ABAB rhyme scheme. He did that in May 1555, dividing that number of predictions into four Chapters, as divisions of 100 prophecies headed as Centuries. Of course, he still left out forty-seven quatrains.”
“But The Prophecies included a lot more than 353 verses?”
“True. Prior to the 1557 Second Edition, King Henry II had approved an additional 291 quatrains be added to the book, bringing the total to 642, presented in seven Centuries. Century Four, which originally only contained 53 quatrains, had filled out to a hundred; but the new Century Seven ended with only 42 verses. Heads were still being scratched over the first edition’s riddles.”
“No one could work them out?” Sam grinned. “He took his puzzles to their next level.”
Zara smiled. “The problem was that no one could solve any of these new riddles. While delight in the almanacs was still high, people were reading this new book and thinking Nostradamus was losing his grasp on what the people enjoyed. Some might have thought he had gone mad. Therefore, his request for the approval of 300 final quatrains, bringing the total Centuries to Ten, with Century Seven still only having 42 quatrains, was in effect denied, pending an explanation as to what it all meant.”
“So what did it all mean?”
“Nostradamus claimed to base his published predictions on judicial astrology — the art of forecasting future events by calculation of the locations and motions of the planets and stellar bodies in relationship to the earth. His sources include passages from classical historians like Plutarch as well as medieval chroniclers from whom he seems to have borrowed liberally. In fact, many scholars believe he paraphrased ancient end-of-the-world prophecies from the Bible and then through astrological readings of the past, projected these events into the future. There’s also evidence not everyone was enamored with Nostradamus’ predictions. He was criticized by professional astrologers of the day for incompetence and assuming that comparative horoscopy, the comparison of future planetary configurations with those accompanying known past events, could predict the future.”
Zara said, “The unique and substantial events described by the individual quatrains appeared to be in a jumbled mess of non-chronological order. Jumping forwards and backwards through history, the quatrains described a combination of some events that had already been and many which were still to come. He intentionally obscured the quatrains through the use of symbolism and metaphor, as well as by making changes to proper names by swapping, adding or removing letters. The obscuration is claimed to have been done to avoid his being tried as a magician.”
Sam asked, “So what made The Prophecies a success?”
Zara said, “You see, the writings of Nostradamus were enjoyed by many people of all levels of society in Sixteenth Century Europe. The more noble his public admirers the more people wanted to read his predictions. His most notable admirers were the Royal Family of France. 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 Century One, assumed to refer to King Henry II.”
Zara carefully flicked through the first few pages of Century One, before handing the book to him. “This is quatrain 35 of Century One. Probably the most notable and influential of all of Nostradamus’s predictions.”
Sam carefully read the quatrain out loud.
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.
Sam shrugged. “So what did it mean?”
“Nostradamus told the king that he should avoid any ceremonial jousting during his 41st year, which the regent's own astrologer had also asserted. Nostradamus 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.”
Sam said, “Tough break.”
“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.”