The Prophecies
Page 26
But seeing, O Most Serene King, that some given to censure shall raise difficulties, & that this shall cause me to withdraw my pen for the sake of my nocturnal repose,
Many events, most powerful of Kings, of the most astounding sort, are to transpire soon, but we neither can nor will include them all in this your epistle, but in order to comprehend certain horrible facts, a few must be set forth, even though your generosity & humanity toward all men are so great, as is your divine piety, that you alone seem worthy of the great title of the Most Christian King, to whom the highest authority in all religion should be deferred.
But I shall only beseech you, O most merciful King, by this singular & prudent humanity of yours, to hearken rather to the desire of my heart, & the sovereign diligence with which I have sought to obey your Most Serene Majesty, ever since my eyes came so near to your solar splendor, yet only inasmuch as the grandeur of my labors might achieve or deserve it. From Salon this 27th June, fifteen hundred and fifty-eight.
Written by Michael Nostradamus
Of Salon de Craux
In Provence.
CENTURY VIII
8.1
More fire than blood at OLORON, PAU, NAY:
Lord swims Aude & escapes to nearby streams :
To all magpies shall entrance be gainsaid :
Pompon, Durance shall keep them well besieged.
8.2
Condom & Auch & all around Mirande,
I see the sky-fire that’s surrounding them :
Sun, Mars in Leo, & then at Marmande
Hail, lightning : wall falling into Garonne.
8.3
In the fortress of Viglanne & Resviers
Shall Nancy’s younger prince be locked & barred :
In Turin the first shall be put to fire,
Lyon taking its mourning very hard.
8.4
In Monaco the cock shall be received,
The Cardinal of France shall soon step forth :
By Ogmion shall the Roman be deceived,
The eagle weaken & the cock gain force.
8.5
At Bornel, Breteuil, lamps & candles bright,
He’ll appear in church ornate & shining,
Every canton turning to glimpse that light,
To see the great cock in coffin reclining.
8.6
A blazing light at Lyon shall be seen,
Then, Malta seized, be extinguished again :
Sardinia the Moors shall treat with deceit :
Genoa at sea : to cock, treason feigned.
8.7
Through Vercelli, Milan the news shall transpire :
Ticino is where the wound shall be made :
Florence floods Siena with blood, water, fire :
Maying, the one & only falls from grace.
8.8
Near Cisterna in barrels sealed up tight,
For the eagle Chivas shall plot the move :
His troops besieged, elected one in flight :
At Turin wife taken by force, removed.
8.9
While cock & eagle fight for Savona,
The Levant Sea & Hungary shall unite :
Troops at Palermo, Naples, Ancona :
Rome, Venice filled with horrid Barbar cries.
8.10
From Lausanne such a strong stench shall arise
That no one shall know from where it has come :
Aliens expelled, fire seen in the skies :
All the foreign people shall be undone.
8.11
Multitudes shall appear at Vicenza,
Set fire to the Basilica without force :
Near Lunigiana falls the lord Valenza,
While Venice shall be harassed by the Moors.
8.12
He shall appear near to Buffalora
Who entered Milan so high & mighty :
The abbot of Foix with those of St. Maur
Dressed as peasants shall commit treachery.
8.13
The crusader monk, his head turned by love,
Shall like Proetus make Bellerophon die :
Troops at Milan : the woman come unstrung :
The potion drunk, the two shall then expire.
8.14
The mass of silver, the great credit of gold,
Shall cause honor to be blinded by greed :
Once the crime of debasing coin is known,
It shall bring him great dishonor indeed.
8.15
A mannish northern female’s great actions
Shall vex Europe & well-nigh all Creation :
She shall put two eclipses to the flight,
Bolster Pannonia through death & life.
8.16
In the place HIERON built his famous ship,
Such a sudden & mighty flood there’ll be
That there’ll be no more land at which to grip :
Waves shall climb Olympian Fiesole.
8.17
The well-to-do shall quickly be dethroned,
By the three brothers the world shall be troubled :
The city of the sea be seized by foes,
Famine, fire, blood, plague, & all ills redoubled.
8.18
From Flora come, his early death she’ll cause
With a drink that young & old did once imbibe :
By the three lilies they’ll give him much pause,
Through her untouched fruit like flesh thought ripe.
8.19
To support the great cope in his troubles sore
The reds shall work to put things right instead :
His family shall find itself at death’s door :
The reddest reds killing his redness dead.
8.20
The election fixed, false rumors shall flood
The city: snapped, the pact no longer stands :
Votes bought, the holy chapel stained with blood,
The empire transferred to another’s hands.
8.21
Into the port of Agde three foists shall sail,
Bringing foul heresy & pestilence :
From across the sea they’ll steal thousands away,
And break through the thrice-resistant bridge.
8.22
Coursan, Narbonne admonished about salt,
Prosperous Tuchan, Perpignan betrayed :
The red city shall refuse to comply :
The good life gone while the gray banner waves.
8.23
Letters are found inside the queen’s coffers,
No signature, no name of the author :
The police shall hide the secret offers :
No one shall know who shall be the lover.
8.24
The lieutenant standing by the gate
Shall put to death the lord of Perpignan :
Thinking Montpertuis a safe haven,
He’ll be deceived, the bastard of Lusignan.
8.25
The lover’s heart rent by a furtive love,
He shall ravish the Lady in the shoals :
The hussy shall half protest too much,
Father shall strike both bodies from their souls.
8.26
Traces of Cato found in Barcelona,
Discovered in a place of awe & ruin :
The lord without holdings wants Pamplona :
The abbey of Montserrat lies in gloom.
8.27
By the aqueduct with its arch on arch,
Le Muy deserted save darnel & broom :
The inscription of the phoenix Emperor :
Seeing in this what no one else presumes.
8.28
The idols tricked out with silver & gold
Which after the sack were thrown in the lake,
When found, shall all be dimmed & dulled :
Marble inscriptions, scattered, out of date.
8.29
At the fourth column long sacred to Saturn,
By flood & earthquake sp
lit & upturned :
Beneath the Saturnine pile is found the urn
Of gold looted by Caepio, then returned.
8.30
Not far from the Belvedere in Toulouse,
Digging a ditch for a palais des spectacles :
A treasure’s found that shall deeply confuse,
In two places quite close to the Bazacle.
8.31
Pescara’s prince shall bear good fruit at first,
But then a cruel bastard he shall become :
At Venice his fine glory shall be burst,
And be threatened by the younger Selin.
8.32
Beware, O French king, of your own cousin,
Who shall act much as if your only son :
While making vows to Venus he’ll be smitten,
Consorting at night after a mere nine months.
8.33
At Verona or Vicenza born the lord
Who shall bear a nickname that is most vile :
Who on Venice would wish to sow discord,
Yet shall be captured by a watchman’s sign.
8.34
One Lion having crushed the other Lion,
Hecatomb on the JURA mountains :
Drowned & charred some seven million,
Lion scourged, killed at the mausoleum.
8.35
Where the Baïse flows into the Garonne,
And in the forest near to Damazan :
Frozen marshes, then hail & north wind strong :
Dordogne freezes, getting the month all wrong.
8.36
County to duchy connection is planned
Via Saulne & Saint-Aubin & Bell’Oeuvre,
Paved with marble from far-off towers grabbed :
The Bletterans name resists: a chef d’oeuvre.
8.37
The great tower by the river Tamise
Shall fall just when the King is locked within :
Near the bridge he shall be seen in chemise :
One dead out front, then barred inside again.
8.38
The King of Blois shall reign in Avignon,
Monopolize the land with single rule :
Over the walls so they’ll bathe in the Rhône
Some five he’ll throw, the latter toward Yule.
8.39
To him who stood with the Byzantine prince
Toulouse’s prince no courtesy denies :
By the trust of Foix he’ll not be convinced,
That Toulouse prince, yet not refuse the bride.
8.40
The blood of the Just for Dorade & Taur,
To take revenge against the Saturnines :
They’ll cast the whole crew into the new pool,
Then shall march off against the Albanines.
8.41
The Fox shall be elected, bite his tongue,
Play the saint, publicly live on barley bread :
Then suddenly a tyrant he’ll become,
His foot at the throat of powerful men.
8.42
By avarice, by force & violence,
In confusion his Orléans chiefs he’ll keep :
Near Saint-Memire, assault & resistance,
So dead in his tent they’ll say he’s asleep.
8.43
Through the demise of two misbegot things,
The monarch’s nephew shall the kingdom hold :
Within Lectoure then shall the spearpoints ring :
Fearful, the nephew shall his banner fold.
8.44
The natural offspring of Ogmion
Shall rout some seven to nine lines of troops
From their routes &, friend of the demi-man,
In Navarre shall soon make PAU’s fort bow down.
8.45
The younger son of Calais shall long display
His bandaged leg, his hand in sling for show :
On watch’s word the death shall be delayed,
Then in the church at Easter blood shall flow.
8.46
He’ll die at Pol-Mausole, three leagues from Rhône :
Flee both, not far from the Tarascon strait :
For Mars shall sit upon his awful throne :
Cock vs. eagle, three French brothers wait.
8.47
The Transmenian lake sends the message
About the plotters holed up in Pérouse :
A despot shall play the role of a sage,
Killing the Teuton, hacking him askew.
8.48
Saturn in Cancer, Jupiter with Mars,
Calends of February, Salvatierra :
Passes of Castille assailed from three parts :
Near Briviesca war & mortal terror.
8.49
Saturn in Bull, Jove in Water Carrier,
Mars in Archer, Feb. six, everything dies :
Catalans at Bruges shall break such barrier
That at Ponterosso Barb. chief shall die.
8.50
Pestilence falls all about Capellades,
Near Sagunto, famine raises its head :
Misbegotten knight of the king so aged
Shall take the Tunis lord & him behead.
8.51
The Byzantine shall make oblations,
Once he’s taken Cordoba for his sake :
At journey’s end, long rest, pampination :
Passing through the Pillars their prey they’ll take.
8.52
In Avignon the king of Blois shall reign,
From Amboise he’ll swarm up the Indre :
Poitiers uncle shall clip his sacred wings
Before Bonny
8.53
At Bologna he’d like to wash his sins,
Impossible at the church of the sun :
He’ll soar so high, his deeds such linchpins :
Never did the clergy see such a man.
8.54
Beneath the cover of a marriage pact,
Great Selin Chyren’s magnanimous act :
Quentin, Arras recovered in his path :
Worse than a butcher’s plank that Spanish clash.
8.55
Between two rivers shall find himself trapped,
Barrels & casks lashed in order to pass :
Eight bridges down, the chief grievously stabbed,
Noblemen’s children with their throats all slashed.
8.56
The weakest flank shall occupy the heights
And there create a fierce hullabaloo :
The main force shall attack toward the right :
Near Ebro they’ll find writings on a tomb.
8.57
From simple soldier he shall race to power,
From short tunic to long robe he shall lunge :
Most valiant in arms, though at his worst hour
Shall pursue priests as water does a sponge.
8.58
The realm in strife, twixt brothers divided,
They’ll take up arms & vie for Britain’s name :
The term Anglican later provided :
Seized by night: dancing to the Gallic tune.
8.59
Twice shall it rise, & twice be brought low,
The East like the West ever growing weak :
After full many battles shall its foe,
Pursued by sea, founder in time of need.
8.60
First in Gaul & first in Romania,
By land & sea vs. the English & Paris,
This mighty host with such marvelous deeds :
Violent monster shall lose NOLARIS.
8.61
Never by the slow dawning of the day
Shall he attain a scepter-bearing post,
Until all the sees have been vacated
And cock offered the gift of an armed host.
8.62
When they see the holy church laid to waste,
The great one of the Rhône, its rites profaned,
Through th
em shall arise such enormous plagues,
He’ll not condemn the unjust, King astray.
8.63
The adulterer, wounded without a blow,
Shall murder his wife & son out of spite :
His wife knocked senseless, his child he shall choke :
Eight captives seized, smothered without respite.
8.64
Toward the Isles the children transported,
Two out of seven shall be in despair :
The locals shall thereby be supported,
Nompelle taken, the leagues seem not to care.
8.65
Frustrated in his fondest ambitions,
The old one shall reach the heights of power :
Twenty months he’ll hold on to his station,
A tyrant cruel, leading to far worse hours.
8.66
When the inscription D.M. shall be found,
And ancient vault by lamplight discovered,
Ulpian law, prince, king shall then redound :
The Duke & his Queen under tent cover.
8.67
PAR., CAR., NERSAF, great ruin & discord,
Nor one nor other shall find election :
The folk of Nersaf shall want love, concord,
Ferrara, Colonna great protection.
8.68
Old cardinal by the younger deceived,
Stripped of his post, he shall appear disarmed :
Arles, show not that the double be perceived,
Neither Liqueduct nor the prince embalmed.
8.69
The agèd angel bows before the young
But shall overmaster him in the end :
Ten years his equal, he’ll not be outdone :
One of the three two & eighth seraphim.
8.70
Wicked & vile he shall make his entry
And tyrannize Mesopotamia :
All friends made by the adulterous lady,
Dire monster, black of physiognomy.