The Prophecies

by Nostradamus

7.9 the great prince from Bar: The Duke of Guise, born at the castle of Bar, who had an illicit affair with Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henri II?

  7.10 Barcelona’s isle: One of the Balearics.

  7.12 Moissac…Agen: Towns in Aquitaine, southwest France.

  7.13 The shaved head: Most likely the cleric Thomas de Grailly de Foix-Lautrec, who took over the government of Genoa in the name of France between 1508 and 1522.

  7.15 the city of the Insubrian plain: Milan. For seven years (1515–22) François I dominated Lombardy until his defeat at La Bicoque.

  7.16 The army of three lions: The British army (defeated at Calais by the Duke of Guise four months after the publication of this quatrain).

  7.17 this king: The late François I (died 1547), defeated and captured at the battle of Pavia in 1525?

  7.19 the fort of Nice: The fall of Savoyard Nice to a combined force of French and Turks in 1543?

  7.20 He of Vaud: Théodore de Bèze, disciple of John Calvin and professor of Greek in Lausanne, exposing Imperial plans to attack France from the southeast? Cf. 1.95.

  7.21 Volcae: Celtic people from the Narbonne region. Sorgues: Town in the Vaucluse.

  7.22 Mesopotamia: Cf. 3.61; 3.99; 8.70. Usually, the region between the rivers Rhône and Durance. Tarragona: City in Catalonia. Ausonia: Italy.

  7.24 Marquis du Pont: The marquis de Pont-à-Mousson, heir to the duchy of Bar? Cf. 7.9.

  7.25 sign of the crescent Moon: See note to 4.77.

  7.27 Vasto: Adriatic port. Ferrajo: Capital of the isle of Elba.

  7.29 Duke of Alba: Fernando, Duke of Alba, chief military commander of the forces of Charles V, just as François, Duke of Guise, was the principal general of Henri II. Cf. 4.98; 8.40; 8.60.

  7.30 Fossano…Savigliano: Towns in the Italian Piedmont.

  7.31 Allobrogian men: Inhabitants of the Narbonne region.

  7.32 One who shall tyrannize vault & account: Taken to refer to one of the Medici banking family.

  7.36 the Divine Word: The holy monstrance. Cf. 2.27; 3.2; 8.99. Trebizond: Port on the Black Sea, capital of the Greek empire from 1204 to 1461.

  7.37 Lérins, Hyères: Islands off the southern French coast.

  EPISTLE TO HENRI II

  First published in the posthumous 1568 Rigaud edition of the Prophecies as the introduction to the final three Centuries. As in the case of the 1555 preface Nostradamus wrote to his son César, I have paragraphed the text in order to facilitate reading (while scrupulously following his ampersands and punctuation). The phrases in italics are in Latin in the original.

  that day when I first presented myself before a Majesty so unique: Nostradamus had been received at the French court in mid-1555, shortly after the publication of the first edition of his Prophecies.

  Minerva was free & well-disposed: Cf. Horace, Ars poetica 385. As for the future, the truth cannot entirely be determined: Quoted by Savonarola in the Mirabilis liber. See Nostradamus’s borrowings from Savonarola in his 1555 prefatory letter to his son César.

  by means of the bronze tripod: See 1.1 and note on Iamblichus.

  Kings of France cured people of scrofula: See the thaumaturgic prince of 4.10.

  Varro: Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 B.C.E.), known for his year- by-year chronology of Roman history up to his time.

  Eusebius: Eusebius of Caesarea (ca. 260–ca. 339), ecclesiastical historian.

  I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh: Joel 2:28.

  the long-barren Great Lady: Leoni suggests that this prophecy (which occupies the remainder of the epistle) may refer to the reigning queen, Catherine de Médicis, who had been married to the future Henri II for nine years before conceiving—although she would go on to have nine children. Her eldest child, François (the current dauphin), had just married Mary Stuart in April 1558, which conceivably could also make the latter a candidate for this mysterious “barren lady.” Cf. 10.55 and 10.56. Lemesurier, by contrast, reads this entire section as a compilation of prophecies from the Mirabilis liber, a patchwork of allusions to texts by Pseudo-Methodus, the Tiburtine sibyl, Joachim of Fiore, St. Bridget of Sweden, etc. Crouzet in turn suggests that this “barren lady” may be allegorical of the contemporary Church of Rome.

  Mount of Jove: The Latin Mons Jovis, the Great St. Bernard Pass, or possibly the Mons Capitolinus in Rome, sacred to Jupiter.

  Romania: Roman Italy.

  Pannonia: Turkish-dominated southern Hungary.

  Attila, & Xerxes: Attila the Hun (whence Hungary); the Persian emperor Xerxes (ca. 519–465 B.C.E.).

  one who shall renew the whole Christian Church: Sometimes identified as the “Angelic Pastor” of Joachim of Fiore’s prophecies.

  Mesopotamia: In the quatrains of the Prophecies, Mesopotamia most usually refers to the papal Venaissin enclave, situated between the Durance and Rhône rivers.

  the second Thrasybulus: Athenian general who restored democracy to the city in 404 B.C.E.

  the three sects: Usually identified in order as Protestantism, Catholicism, and Islam.

  Dog & Dogam: An allusion to the Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38:2–3?

  the reds nor the whites: Cf. 1.3.

  the port which takes its name from the sea-calf: Phocaea (from the Latin phocus, seal), i.e., Marseille. Cf. 3.79.

  the Sierra Morena: East-west mountain range stretching across southern Spain.

  the Jovialists: Cf. 10.73 and note.

  Ashem: A garbled version of “Shechem,” visited by Abraham, site of an altar built by Jacob?

  That he hear the groaning of the prisoners: a reminiscence of Psalm 102:20.

  the year seventeen ninety-two: Roussat in his Livre de l’estat et mutation des temps (1550) had mentioned 1789 and 1791 as dates of the “future renovation of the world.”

  Pampotania: From the Greek pan (all) and Latin potens (powerful) or the Greek pan (all) and potomos (river, sea).

  the city of Plancus: Lyon, founded by Lucius Munatius Plancus in 43 B.C.E. Cf. 3.46.

  Modona Fulcy: Possibly Modena and the house of Este.

  the Ligurians of the Adriatic: The Venetians.

  the Gallic Ogmion: The French Hercules; see note to 1.96.

  the great vicar of the cope: The pope.

  Huy huy: In French, “Today, today” (or in Hebrew, “Woe, woe”).

  CENTURY VIII

  8.1 oloron, pau, nay…Aude: Towns in the southwestern French region of Béarn, through which the river Aude runs. Béarn was the heartland of the Kingdom of Navarre, birthplace of Henri IV. “PAU, NAY, OLORON” was read as an anagram for Napoléon in the nineteenth century. magpies: A play on the papal name Pius? Pompon, Durance: The “plenipotentiary” of the river Durance (which runs through Avignon, city of the popes)?

  8.2 Condom & Auch…Mirande…Marmande: Towns in the department of Gers, southwestern France. Cf. 1.46. Sun, Mars in Leo: Reoccurs astrologically roughly every two years. wall falling into Garonne: Cf. the flooding in 9.37.

  8.3 Viglanne & Resviers: San Vigilio and Riviera in the Lake Garda region? Nancy: Capital of Lorraine. Turin: Capital of the duchy of Savoy, under French occupation in Nostradamus’s day.

  8.4 Monaco: Bound by a 1524 treaty to assist the Spanish in all wars against France. The Cardinal of France: Charles, second cardinal of Lorraine (1524–1574), responsible for an alliance between France and the Papacy in 1556? Ogmion: The French Hercules. Cf. 1.96; 2.73; 5.80; 6.42; 10.79. The eagle…the cock: Spain and France.

  8.5 At Bornel, Breteuil, lamps & candles bright: May allude to the 1547 funeral cortege of King François I (the “cock” of the last line), which visited a number of illuminated Catholic churches across the land before his final burial in the Saint-Denis Basilica.

  8.6 A blazing light at Lyon: Cf. 3.46. Malta seized: Cf. 2.49.

  8.7 Ticino: From the Latin name (Ticinus) for Pavia, site of the disastrous February 1525 battle during which François I was captured and subsequently imprisoned in Madrid in May. Cf. 2.26; 4.45; 4.75; 10.72. Maying: Taking part in
the festivities of May Day; gathering flowers or pleasures during the month of May (Oxford English Dictionary).

  8.8 Cisterna: Town in Lazio in central Italy. Chivas: Chivasso, Piedmont commune north of Turin.

  8.9 Savona: Seaport west of Genoa, here fought over by France and Spain. Barbar: “Barbarian,” or possibly an aphaeresis of the mysterious “Aenobarbe.” Cf. 5.45.

  8.10 Lausanne: Metonym for Calvinist Switzerland.

  8.11 Vicenza…lord Valenza: May allude to the partial destruction of the Palazzo della Ragione at Vicenza in 1496 and the defeat of Cesare Borgia, Duke of Valentinois, in Urbino in 1502. Lunigiana: Strategic valley in eastern Liguria.

  8.12 Buffalora: Town near Milan. St. Maur: Legendary founder of the Benedictine order in Gaul.

  8.13 Shall like Proetus make Bellerophon die: Accused of trying to seduce the wife of King Proetus, Bellerophon was sent to his death in the land of King Iobates of Lycia. Iobates, hesitating to murder him, instead dispatched him on a mission to kill the Chimera, astride his flying horse, Pegasus.

  8.15 A mannish northern female: May allude to Isabella, daughter of the king of Poland, who married the satrap of Pannonia (modern Hungary) in 1539 and subsequently became an active ally of Süleyman the Magnificent.

  8.16 HIERON: Jason. Olympian Fiesole: Mount outside of Florence, with a pun on Thessaly, home of Mount Olympus.

  8.18 Flora: Florence. lilies: Traditional symbol of France.

  8.19 the great cope: The pope? The reddest reds: Cardinals? Spaniards?

  8.20 The election: Of the pope? Of the Holy Roman Emperor?

  8.21 Agde: Seaport between Narbonne and Marseille in southern France. foists: Light galleys.

  8.22 Coursan…Tuchan…Perpignan: Towns in the vicinity of Narbonne involved in the southwestern salt-tax revolt of 1548. Cf. 1.90; 3.21; 9.1.

  8.24 Montpertuis: The Perthus Pass in the Pyrenees, south of Perpignan? Lusignan: Seat of the illustrious medieval clan that provided the kings of Jerusalem and ruled Cyprus until 1489.

  8.26 Cato: A grandson of the famous censor Cato died in Tarragona, Spain, in the second century B.C.E. Montserrat: Benedictine abbey west of Barcelona.

  8.27 aqueduct: An ancient Roman aqueduct near Le Muy fed the coastal town of Fréjus in southern France. Cf. 4.80; 5.58; 8.68; 10.89.

  8.28 The idols: Severe flooding in September 1557 led to the discovery of various pagan artifacts from the ruined temple of Diana that had originally been thrown into the Sacred Lake at Nîmes with the coming of Christianity. Cf. 9.9; 9.12; 10.6.

  8.29 Caepio: The Roman consul Caepio, dispatched to fight the local Cimbri tribes, plundered Toulouse in 106 B.C.E. Cf. 1.27; 6.98.

  8.30 Bazacle: Name of the milling section of Toulouse. Cf. 1.27; 8.29, 9.7.

  8.31 Pescara’s prince: The marquis di Pescara commanded the Imperial Hapsburg troops who defeated François I at the battle of Pavia in 1525. Selin: The moon-king; usually refers to Henri II. See note to 4.77.

  8.32 your own cousin: Presumably Louis XII (1462–1515), nephew of Charles VIII and sole monarch from the Valois-Orléans branch of the house of Valois. After his uncle’s death in 1498, he quickly married the latter’s widow, Anne de Bretagne.

  8.33 Verona or Vicenza: Towns within the Venetian republic.

  8.34 mausoleum: Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, near Nostradamus’s birthplace at Saint-Rémy? Cf. 4.27.

  8.35 Damazan: In the Aquitaine region of southwestern France.

  8.36 Saulne [i.e., Lons-le-Saulnier]…Saint-Aubin…Bletterans: Locations in the Franche-Comté, where in the fifteenth century a project was launched to connect the roads of this region with the duchy of Burgundy by using materials recycled from watchtowers built by the Romans.

  8.37 Tamise: French name of the river Thames. Could refer to the imprisonment in the Tower of London of Henry VI of England, although it’s been read from Garencières onward as predicting the imprisonment and eventual beheading of Charles I in 1649. Cf. 9.49.

  8.40 Dorade & Taur: Two major churches in Toulouse, Saint-Saturnin-du-Taur and Sainte-Marie-de-la-Dorade. Saturnines: Cf. 6.17. Albanines: The Spanish troops of the Duke of Alba? Cf. 4.98; 7.29.

  8.41 The Fox: The reign of Pope Julius III (1550–55)?

  8.42 Saint-Memire: Saint-Mamert-du-Gard in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France?

  8.43 Lectoure: Town in the Midi-Pyrenees, north of Auch, on the pilgrimage route to Compostela.

  8.44 Ogmion: The French Hercules. See note to 1.96. pau: Birthplace in 1553 of the future Henri IV, who would later marry Marguerite de Valois, daughter of Henri II and Catherine de Médicis.

  8.46 Pol-Mausole: I.e., Nostradamus’s Saint-Rémy-de-Provence? Cf. 4.27. Cock vs. eagle: France vs. the Holy Roman Empire.

  8.47 The Transmenian lake: Lake Trasimeno, west of Perugia (Perouse in French).

  8.48 Salvatierra…Briviesca: Towns in the Basque Country and in the province of Burgos, Spain. May refract Nostradamus’s readings of Froissart’s account of the military campaigns of Edward the Black Prince in the fourteenth century.

  8.49 Saturn in Bull: The astrological configuration could describe 1499 or, according to Brind’Amour, 1736. Ponterosso: The “Red Bridge” of Florence built in the early sixteenth century (here rhymed with the celebrated bridges of Bruges). Barb.: Barbarian.

  8.50 Capellades: Town in Catalonia. Sagunto: Seaport in Valencia.

  8.51 The Byzantine: Here, perhaps, the Turks of Constantinople, attacking Spain. pampination: The pruning or trimming of vines (Oxford English Dictionary). the Pillars: The Pillars of Hercules; Gibraltar.

  8.52 In Avignon: Cf. 8.38. Blois…Amboise…Bonny: Towns on the river Loire, which meets with the Indre farther south. An incomplete quatrain.

  8.54 Great Selin Chyren: See notes to 2.73; 2.79; 4.77. Quentin, Arras: Sites of major military defeats of the French by the Spaniards in 1557. At that time a marriage between Henri II’s daughter Elisabeth de Valois and Philip II’s son Don Carlos was in the offing. Philip II would marry her himself in 1559 after the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis.

  8.56 Ebro: River in Spain.

  8.57 From simple soldier: Most likely evokes the meteoric rise to power of Gaspard II de Coligny, admiral of France and hero of France’s defeat at the 1557 battle of Saint-Quentin. Soon thereafter, having converted to Protestantism, he became an important leader of the French Huguenots. Cf. 4.62; 6.75.

  8.58 twixt brothers divided: Probably alludes to the rivalry between Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset (ca. 1506–1552), and John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland (ca. 1504–1553). The latter, after engineering Seymour’s decapitation in 1552, became the chief backer of evangelical Protestants (the “Anglican” of line 3) among the clergy. Seized by night: During Dudley’s regency, Boulogne was surrendered to the French and the dauphin François allowed to marry Mary, Queen of Scots, thus allowing Henri II to claim sovereignty over both Scotland and England.

  8.60 Romania: Probably the Holy Roman Empire, given that the quatrain would appear to evoke the counterattack by François, Duke of Guise (1519–1563), against the forces of Charles V in 1558, during which Calais was recaptured from the English and Paris spared. Cf. 7.29. NOLARIS: Usually read as an anagram for Lorraine.

  8.61 host: Translates Nostradamus’s “TAG[ma]” (“legion” in Greek).

  8.64 Nompelle: Montpellier?

  8.65 The old one: Pope Adrian VI (1459–1523), who reigned eighteen months between 1522 and 1523?

  8.66 D.M.: From the Latin Diis Manibus (“In the hands of Pluto”), a common inscription on Roman tombs. Ulpian: Having to do with Roman jurisprudence, after the celebrated jurist Domitius Ulpianus (ca. 170–228).

  8.67 PAR., CAR., NERSAF: Paris, Carcassonne, France (anagram). Colonna: Powerful Italian noble family in medieval and Renaissance Rome. Cf. 9.2; 10.64.

  8.68 Liqueduct: Nostradamian compound, variously interpreted as “the water-borne one” (from the Latin ille acqua ductus) or “the rotted one” (from the Latin liqueducere). Lemesurier reads it as
“aqueduct,” given Nostradamus’s financial investment in his friend Adam de Craponne’s project to dig an irrigation canal from the river Durance to Salon and as far as Arles. Cf. 4.80; 5.58; 8.27; 10.89.

  8.70 Mesopotamia: Usually refers to the area between the Rhône and Durance rivers. Cf. 3.61; 3.99; 7.22. Lemesurier, however, reads the quatrain as alluding to the Great Whore of Babylon and the coming of the Antichrist.

  8.71 astronomers: Cf. 4.18. No such decision was made by the Church in 1607.

  8.72 Ravenna: The French victory in the battle of Ravenna of April 11, 1512?

  8.74 the King enters the new land: Cf. 6.83. Philip II of Spain’s takeover of the Netherlands in 1556?

  8.77 The Antichrist: Sometimes read as referring to the Protestant leader John Calvin.

  8.78 A soldier of fortune: Michel de l’Hôpital? Cf. 1.97.

  8.79 whoreson father: The French, nay de Nonnaire (born of a Nonnaire), derives from the Latin nonaria, or strumpet (because harlots appeared at the ninth hour, our three o’clock in the afternoon). Gorgon: In Greek mythology, a terrifying female creature (from gorgos, “inspiring dread”).

  8.80 Great Red: The French, grand roge, may also be read as an anagram of “ogre.”

  8.81 The new empire: An apparent prediction of a major Hapsburg civil war between Philip II and his uncle, the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand (both of whom had come to power in 1556 after the abdication of Charles V).

  8.83 Zara: As reported in Villehardouin’s eyewitness account of the Fourth Crusade, the Crusaders captured Zara, a seaport on the Dalmatian coast, for the Venetians in 1202 before going on to capture Constantinople two years later.

  8.84 Paternò: Town north of Catania in Sicily. Trinacria: The name of the island kingdom of Sicily after 1302 (“Triangle” in English).

  8.85 Bayonne & port Saint-Jean-de-Luz: Towns in the far southwestern corner of France.

  8.86 Ernani…Adrian mounts: The three towns of the first line and the Sierra San Adrián of line 2 all lie near the western tip of the Pyrenees in Spain. Bichoro: The war cry of Navarre (or, more specifically, of Bigorre), launching its attack on Bayonne.

  8.88 Into Sardinia: The King of Aragon invaded Sardinia between 1323 and 1326.