Nostradamus, also called Michel de Notredame or Nostredame, (born December 14 or 21, 1503, Saint-Rémy, France-died July 1/2, 1566, Salon), French astrologer and physician, the most widely read seer of the Renaissance.
Nostradamus began his medical practice in Agen sometime in the 1530s, despite not only never having taken a medical degree but also apparently having been expelled from medical school. In 1544 he moved to Salon, where he gained renown for his innovative medical treatments during outbreaks of the plague at Aix and Lyon in 1546-47. He began making prophecies about 1547, which he published in 1555 in a book entitled Centuries. The work consisted of rhymed quatrains grouped in hundreds, each set of 100 called a century. Astrology was then at a peak, and an enlarged second edition, dedicated to the French king, appeared in 1558.
Some of his prophecies appeared to be fulfilled, and his fame became so widespread that he was invited to the court of Catherine de Médicis, queen consort of Henry II of France, where he cast the horoscopes of her children. He was appointed physician-in-ordinary by Charles IX in 1564.
He was often in the houses of great men of his time.
One story has it that once he was a guest of Lord Florinville at the castle of Faim, where he was attending professionally on Lord Florinville's mother, in his capacity as a doctor. Having finished with his work for the day, the doctor and his host went on a casual stroll, crossing the courtyard where two little pigs, a black one and a white one, were running about as was the casual custom of livestock in those days. Lord Florinville, wanting to tease his ability to predict the future, said to the doctor,
"I suppose you can even foretell the fate of those two pigs!"
"Certainly I can," replied the doctor. "We shall eat the black one, and a wolf will eat the white one."
Lord Florinville in a bid to make sure his prediction turns out to be false, specifically instructed his cook to prepare the white pig for supper. That evening, as they sat at supper, the Lordship announced to the house and his guest that they were eating the white pig. Nostradamus denied, insisting that they were, infact, eating the black pig. An argument ensued.
To settle the argument, Lord Florinville sent for his cook to adjudicate on the matter. "Yes," said the cook fearfully, "the pig was the black." The white one had been killed and prepared as directed, but she had stepped out of the kitchen, before putting the pig in the oven, and a tame wolf had stepped in and was doing himself very well on the pig when the cook returned.
Not supposing that it would make any difference, the black one had then been quickly killed and served, exactly as predicted.
This episode occurred long before the writing of the prophecies, and certainly indicates that the doctor's uncanny faculty must have been well known to a select number of his friends and patients.
10 predictions by Nostradamus that came true:
1. The death of King Henry II of France
The young lion will overcome the older one,
On the field of combat in a single battle;
He will pierce his eyes through a golden cage,
Two wounds made one, then he dies a cruel death.
King Henry II of France was badly wounded during a dispute, as a lance fragment pierced through his eye, and died 10 days later from septicemia after suffering greatly.
2. The great fire of London
The blood of the just will be demanded of London
Burnt by fire in the year '66
The ancient Lady will fall from her high place
And many of the same sect will be killed.
In 1666, a horrible fire consumed much of the city, including St. Paul's Cathedral, which couldn't be extinguished for 3 days. Most of the medieval London was in ashes after the fire. "Blood of the just" might refer to the elimination of millions of flea-carrying rats that spread the Black Death. That deadly plague died out during the Great Fire.
3. The French Revolution
From the enslaved populace, songs,
Chants and demands
While princes and lords are held captive in prisons.
These will in the future by headless idiots
Be received as divine prayers.
In 1789, the hungry, work laden poor people of France pulled down the monarchy, creating a new democracy that unfortunately didn't turn out to be what they had expected. The fall of the Bastille, which symbolized the monarchy's abuses, marked the height of the French Revolution.
The peasants quickly took control of Paris and enforced their demands by kidnapping the royals. Some of them were even beheaded.
4. Napoleon's Conquest
PAU, NAY, LORON will be more of fire than of the blood,
To swim in praise, the great one to flee to the confluence.
He will refuse entry to the Piuses,
The depraved ones and the Durance will keep them imprisoned.
The first 3 words are French towns, but put together, they are anagrams for Napoleon the king. Napoleon Bonaparte wasn't of a royal heritage, but rose to power during the French Revolution as a military leader and later ruled France from 1804 to 1815.
"More of fire than of the blood" may refer to the non-noble lineage of Napoleon, who took power during a coup. "Refuse entry to the magpies" could refer to Popes Pius VI and VII, both of whom Napoleon imprisoned.
5. Louis Pasteur's discoveries
The lost thing is discovered, hidden for many centuries.
Pasteur will be celebrated almost as a God-like figure.
This is when the moon completes her great cycle,
But by other rumors he shall be dishonored.
Louis Pasteur was a 19th century microbiologist and is called the father of microbiology for his contributions like finding vaccination and pasteurization. In 1995, science historian Gerald L. Geison published a book showing Pasteur incorporated a rival's findings to make his anthrax vaccine functional. That finding partly "dishonored" the great scientist, as Nostradamus predicted.
6. The rise of Hitler
From the depths of the West of Europe,
A young child will be born of poor people,
He who by his tongue will seduce a great troop;
His fame will increase towards the realm of the East.
Hitler, born in 1889 in Western Europe - used his intense oratory skills to mobilize the Nazi party in Germany in the years following World War I. Germany, as a part of the Axis powers, also allied with Japan in the East. While many believe "Hister" to be a typing error, it's also an old name for the Danube River.
Hitler was born just miles from that river in what was then Austria-Hungary, also known as the "Danube Monarchy."
Nostradamus often incorporated anagrams, such as "Hister," into his writing.
7. World War II
Beasts ferocious with hunger will cross the rivers,
The greater part of the battlefield will be against Hister.
Into a cage of iron will the great one be drawn,
When the child of Germany observes nothing.
World War II (1939) remains the greatest holocaust that mankind has ever witnessed. It was also the only war in human history that saw the use of nuclear weapon.
8. Atom bomb
Near the gates and within two cities
There will be scourges the like of which was never seen,
Famine within plague, people put out by steel,
Crying to the great immortal God for relief.
As a spilling effect of World War II, USA dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, killing thousands of people
9. First Moon landing
He will come to travel to the corner of Luna,
Where he will be captured and put in a strange land,
The unripe fruits to be subject of great scandal,
Great blame, to one, great praise.
It is believed that this prophecy foretells the moon mission conducted in 1969. Apollo 11 carried Neil Armstrong (first man on moon) and Buzz Aldrin to the moon.
10. 9/11
Earthshaking fire from the center of the Earth
Will cause tremors around the New City.
Two great rocks will war for a long time,
Then Arethusa will redden a new river.
On September 11, 2001 terrorist group al-Qaeda attacked the twin towers of the World Trade Centre, both of which collapsed with hundreds of people dying because of the collision.
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