1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky Listener Discretion advised France fifteen 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: sixty four, and the country is to be perfectly honest 4 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: A bit of a mess. Fourteen year old King Charles 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: the Ninth has just formally ended his regency, but the 6 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: young monarch has no real interest in governing. After all, 7 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:34,879 Speaker 1: he is just fourteen years old. His ineptitude means the 8 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: former regent, his mother, Catherine de Medici, continues to be 9 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: the dominant power in French politics. Before the regency's official dissolution, 10 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: Catherine managed to address the country's increasingly violent religious conflict 11 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: by brokering the Edict of Imboise, which ended the first 12 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: stage of the French Wars of Religion and brought on 13 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: a brief period of official peace between the Hugonots or 14 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:11,399 Speaker 1: French Protestants and Catholics. In an effort to enforce the 15 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: edict and to rally support for the crown in the 16 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: wake of the unrest, Catherine and Little Charles set out 17 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: in March of fifteen sixty four for a two year 18 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: Grand Tour of France. The tour took the pair and 19 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: their roughly twenty thousand person entourage across the country, from 20 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: Paris to Provence, Brittany to the Bourbonet. Each stop on 21 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 1: the tour was carefully planned to strengthen loyalty in the provinces, 22 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: but there is one stop designated for the King and 23 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: Queen Mother's personal agenda. In October, the tour reached the 24 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: quiet southern town of Celan de Provence, home of the 25 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: famed physician and occultist no Stradamus. That iconic name is 26 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: likely known by a majority of modern listeners, but even 27 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: at the time of the royal visit, no Stradamis's infamy 28 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: had already spread throughout the country and beyond its orders. 29 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 1: In fact, the validity of his predictions had become another 30 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: point of contention in the religious conflict. Protestants were arguing 31 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:33,840 Speaker 1: he was a fraud. Catholics believed he had a divine gift. Catherine, 32 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: a devout Catholic, came to sell on seeking a message 33 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:43,920 Speaker 1: from the stars delivered through no Stradamis. Later, writing to 34 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: the Constable of France, Catherine happily recounted that the astrologer 35 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: quote promised all kinds of good things to the King 36 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: my son, and that he shall live as long as you. 37 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: That prediction would come true, but not in the world 38 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: way Catherine brightly anticipated. Today, more than four centuries after 39 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: no Stradamus's death, his prophecies continue to be a subject 40 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: of discussion. Have they predicted major world events or are 41 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: they simply vague enough to be easily applicable to any 42 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 1: number of situations. But there's one more question, perhaps most 43 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:31,519 Speaker 1: interesting of all, were his prophecies even original. For all 44 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: of this debate, the man behind the predictions remains to 45 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: many a mystery. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood. 46 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: The famous future astrologer was not born Nostradamus the Great 47 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: and Powerful or Old Nasty if you've been listening to 48 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: the Rain Recap series over on the Noble Blood Patreon. Instead, 49 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: his parents called him Michelle de Nostre Dame when he 50 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: was born in fifteen o three in sin Remi de Provence. 51 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 1: Michelle was only the second generation to be born with 52 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 1: the last name Nostr Dame. His paternal grandfather had been 53 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: a Spanish Jew forced to convert and take a Christian 54 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: name around fourteen fifty five due to hostile New edicts, 55 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 1: so his grandfather, Gui Gassonet became Pierre de Saint Marie 56 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: before settling on Pierre de Nostradame. The surname meaning our 57 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: lady Michelle Nostre Dame's Jewish heritage will come up later 58 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: in debates surrounding his legitimacy, so remember that point. It's 59 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 1: traditionally believed that Michelle started his education young, taught by 60 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 1: his maternal great grandfather, who was a physician. Those early 61 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: studies are said to have focused on Latin and yes 62 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: some astrology, which at the time was a respected scholarly 63 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:08,480 Speaker 1: tradition with a long history, although the Renaissance period saw 64 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:14,119 Speaker 1: increasing skepticism of astrology and those who practiced it. Later 65 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: in life, Nostredam would claim to still treasure the astrolabe 66 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: he inherited from his great grandfather. Sometime between the ages 67 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: of fourteen and sixteen, Michelle left for the nearest major city, Avignon, 68 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:33,599 Speaker 1: where he sought higher education at the local university. In 69 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:39,560 Speaker 1: Nostradamus's day, university curriculum consisted of the trivium, which was grammar, 70 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:45,839 Speaker 1: rhetoric and logic, followed by the quadrivium geometry, arithmetic, music, 71 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: and astrology. However, our young scholar never got the chance 72 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 1: to advance to the quadrivium's astrology lessons because in fifteen 73 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: twenty a plague outbreak forced the Universe Diversity to close 74 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: its doors covid Era students, I'm sure can relate in 75 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: a later diary entry, Nostrodamis reflected on life following the 76 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: university closure quote. I spent most of my young years 77 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 1: on pharmaceutics and the knowledge and study of natural remedies 78 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: across various lands and countries, constantly on the move to 79 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: find out the source and origin of plants involved in 80 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: the purposes of the healing art. That is a long 81 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:40,039 Speaker 1: sentence to say he became a self taught traveling apothecary. 82 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:44,279 Speaker 1: Perhaps he was inspired by his close encounter with the plague, 83 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,720 Speaker 1: or maybe he was following in his great grandfather's footsteps. 84 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:55,479 Speaker 1: By fifteen twenty nine, schools had reopened their doors. We 85 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,479 Speaker 1: know this because fifteen twenty nine was the year Michelle 86 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:03,480 Speaker 1: enrolled in the University at Montpellier to study for his 87 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: medical doctorate. His written enrollment confirmation pen in shaky Latin, 88 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: remains in the university's library to this day. Though this 89 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: may be a point of pride for that university. Now, 90 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 1: the reception no Stradamis received at the time was quite different. 91 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: In fact, he was expelled shortly after arriving. The confirmation 92 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: of his expulsion also still exists in library records, reading quote, 93 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: he whom you see crossed out here has been an 94 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: apothecary or quack, and through the students we have heard 95 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: him speak ill of doctors end quote. This was the first, 96 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 1: but certainly not the last, time no Stradamus would be 97 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: called a quack. While being an apothecary was deemed inferior 98 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: to being a doctor, it was also forbidden for university 99 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: students to have practiced a quote manual trade. Academic snobbery 100 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: and no Stradamis's over confidence were a bad mix. So 101 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: no Stradamus returned to the life of a traveling apothecary 102 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: for the next few years, following Hippocratus's famous advice to 103 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 1: quote seek out old wives or alternative remedies. In fifteen 104 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: thirty one he settled into a stationary life in Agen, 105 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 1: where he was invited to be the personal apothecary of 106 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 1: a famed scholar he had befriended. There, he married his 107 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:46,560 Speaker 1: first wife, Henriette, with whom he had two children. His 108 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: time there, as his time had been in Avian and Montpellier, 109 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:56,080 Speaker 1: was once again destined to be brief. By fifteen thirty four, 110 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:01,439 Speaker 1: Michell nostdam faced the triple loss of his wife, son, 111 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: and daughter, all to another plague outbreak. The mortality rate 112 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:11,959 Speaker 1: of the sixteenth century plague epidemics was still lower than 113 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: that of the Black Death in the fourteenth century, but 114 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 1: the effects were still devastating. Known treatments were ineffective, and 115 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,959 Speaker 1: a famous piece of advice at the time for doctors 116 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: was quote get out fast, stay well away, come back late. 117 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: I don't remember that part of the Hippocratic oath, but 118 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:36,679 Speaker 1: I am no doctor. If you can't find a doctor, 119 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:41,000 Speaker 1: you might as well turn to a less respected professional. 120 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:45,679 Speaker 1: After two years spent as the aid to a prominent physician, 121 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:51,000 Speaker 1: a Montpellier alum no less in Marseille, Nostrodamus's service were 122 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: procured by the city of x in Provence. Our apothecary 123 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:59,960 Speaker 1: was likely motivated to aid where others fled for an 124 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: number of reasons. A chance at renown, certainly, but also 125 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: the chance for medical discovery almost certainly. The chance to 126 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:14,680 Speaker 1: fight the same disease that took his family away. It 127 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: was there that he treated residence with his would be 128 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:23,079 Speaker 1: famous rose pill. I wouldn't recommend trying this at home, 129 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:25,959 Speaker 1: but if you're curious as to how a rose pill 130 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 1: is made, you can turn to Nostrodamis's fifteen fifty five 131 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:35,240 Speaker 1: best selling medical cookbook Wellness Influencers, pumping out a book 132 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:40,440 Speaker 1: tail as all as Time. The rose pill formula calls 133 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 1: for quote one ounce of the sawdust shavings of cypress 134 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:48,280 Speaker 1: wood as green as you can find, six ounces of 135 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 1: florentine iris, three ounces of cloves, three DRAMs of sweet calamus, 136 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:58,840 Speaker 1: and six DRAMs of aloes wood. Next, take three or 137 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: four hundred years unfolded red roses, fresh and perfectly clean, 138 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:08,560 Speaker 1: and gathered before dewfall. From there, the concoction is to 139 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 1: be shaped into a lozenge and left to dry. But 140 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: as a bonus, he notes that the mixture may also 141 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: be made into a perfume. Quote add as much musk 142 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,880 Speaker 1: or ambergrease as you either can or wish. If these 143 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 1: two are added, I do not doubt that you will 144 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:32,120 Speaker 1: produce a superbly pleasant perfume. This same cookbook part of 145 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:36,880 Speaker 1: a rapidly growing genre of recipe books, often called books 146 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: of secrets, marketed to DIY minded readers, many of them women. 147 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: Also includes formulas for teeth whitening, hair coloring, and a 148 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:53,200 Speaker 1: love tonic so powerful that Nostrodamis claimed a few drops 149 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,800 Speaker 1: placed in a woman's mouth while kissing her would trigger 150 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 1: a burning passion. When described how big the rose pill, 151 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: no Stradamis dedicates time to recounting the horrors he witnessed 152 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 1: in X, as the plague tore apart, families and graveyards overflowed, 153 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:16,439 Speaker 1: but he notes that his concoction provided relief, protecting its 154 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:21,240 Speaker 1: users from infection. We can't say for certain or with 155 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 1: any likelihood, that the pill was an actually effective preventative measure, 156 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:30,319 Speaker 1: but as in many cases, what mattered was that people 157 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:34,719 Speaker 1: believed in it. That rose pill was the catalyst that 158 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 1: set no Stradamis on the path to fame, and he 159 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:42,680 Speaker 1: soon became known as the plague Doctor. In reality, it 160 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 1: appears that the X plague naturally subsided after around nine months, 161 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:52,840 Speaker 1: which was a typical timeline. While his prowess may have 162 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:57,360 Speaker 1: been exaggerated, no Stradamis rightfully deserves credit where it's due, 163 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:01,760 Speaker 1: for staying where many doctors fled, and for trying what 164 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 1: hadn't been tried. He continued to help a number of 165 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:09,560 Speaker 1: other cities over the next few years before settling in 166 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:12,240 Speaker 1: the town that he would call home for the rest 167 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: of his life, Celon. By this point he was in 168 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: his early forties, and alongside his new success, it appears 169 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:25,839 Speaker 1: he sought another chance at a stable family life. On 170 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 1: November eleventh, fifteen forty seven, he married his second wife, 171 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: a wealthy widow named Anne Ponzard. It was in the 172 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:40,280 Speaker 1: years following his second marriage that Nostrodamus became interested in 173 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 1: the occult. He hadn't formally studied astrologies since childhood, but 174 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,200 Speaker 1: the field was becoming increasingly more popular as well as 175 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:55,319 Speaker 1: more controversial. His major influences included fifteen fifty's book on 176 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: the Nature of the Times and Their Changes, which used 177 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:04,199 Speaker 1: planetariyr patterns to define the world by cycles, the last 178 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:09,480 Speaker 1: of which would conclude with a predicted and notably inaccurate apocalypse, 179 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 1: as well as the rising success of annual almanacs, which 180 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: provided predictions and warnings for the year ahead. Though they 181 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 1: were first introduced about a century earlier, almanacs were now 182 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: so popular that two to three dozen were being published 183 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 1: every year. With the country's increasing religious tensions, as well 184 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 1: as economic and political strife, it was no wonder that 185 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:41,960 Speaker 1: people sought guides to the future. Nostradamus wrote his first 186 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 1: almanac in fifteen fifty, and would continue to write one 187 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 1: every year until his death. It was in his first 188 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:54,520 Speaker 1: almanac that we see the pen name Michele Nostre Dame 189 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: mus as opposed to Nostradame. In trading his French surname 190 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: for or a Latin one, he aligned himself with the 191 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: great thinkers of antiquity, a practice adopted by many scholars 192 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: of the Renaissance. No copies of his first publication have survived, 193 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:17,760 Speaker 1: but the predictions it contained were recorded by his secretary. 194 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: One reads, throughout Gaul, meaning France, there shall be certain 195 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:28,960 Speaker 1: uprisings which shall be appeased by stern Council, fairly vague, 196 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:34,720 Speaker 1: but pretty predictably likely. Another report quote in the autumn 197 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 1: heavy rains, which shall be the cause of many setbacks, 198 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: shall even confound some very great enterprises. The third prediction claims, 199 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 1: at this time, whether in wars or in illness, love, honor, 200 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: and fear shall be the reason why people shall not 201 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:58,960 Speaker 1: be oppressed but shall live in peace. Those are all 202 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: decidedly short, vague, and reliable rain in autumn groundbreaking, But 203 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: as the years progressed, we'll see his predictive style change 204 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: predictions will become wordier, heavier, and increasingly grounded in the 205 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 1: movements of the planets. His almanacs sold well, but they 206 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: didn't particularly stand out compared to the many other successful almanacs. 207 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: His more lucrative source of income was a new practice 208 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: horoscope readings for wealthy clients. As opposed to other astrologists. However, 209 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: he did not draw up these charts himself, instead asking 210 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 1: the client to provide the material. His apothecary practice also continued, 211 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: but you wouldn't be wrong to wonder where the shift 212 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:59,760 Speaker 1: from medicine to occultism came from. After his childhood studies, 213 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: Michelle hadn't shown an interest in astrology for his entire 214 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:08,639 Speaker 1: young adult and adult life, but now in middle age, 215 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 1: he was a practicing astrologist with visions of the future. 216 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:18,240 Speaker 1: This transition wasn't something Nostradamis wrote about in his journals, 217 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 1: so we're left to analyze for ourselves. There's the cynical 218 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: angle that he saw the field becoming more lucrative and 219 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,280 Speaker 1: wanted a piece of the pie. And there's also the 220 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:36,160 Speaker 1: more optimistic angle that he was an inherently curious person, 221 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 1: constantly seeking new ways to understand the world around him. 222 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 1: I would argue it's probably a mixture of both, and 223 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: indeed many scholars of the time saw medicine and astrology 224 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:55,080 Speaker 1: as intertwined. Fifteen fifty five would be the year Nostradamis 225 00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 1: began to see real success in his new practice. For 226 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:03,480 Speaker 1: the fifty five almanac, no Stradamis had the idea to 227 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: write his predictions in verse, which not only set him 228 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,720 Speaker 1: apart from his contemporaries by calling back to the voices 229 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:16,200 Speaker 1: of ancient prophets, but poetic language also helped keep things 230 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 1: open to interpretation. It's also in the fifteen fifty five 231 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:25,920 Speaker 1: edition that no Strodamus first claims to be divinely inspired 232 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:33,160 Speaker 1: quote by divine spirit, soul filled with prophecy, War, famine, plague, 233 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:38,399 Speaker 1: and upheaval shall come by floods droughts, while blood shall 234 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: stain both land and sea. Peace packs, prey lets be born, 235 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:49,840 Speaker 1: and princes die. He does not explicitly state his predictions 236 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:53,359 Speaker 1: came from God. That would be a step two controversial 237 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 1: in certain circles, but any reader who wanted to believe 238 00:18:57,040 --> 00:19:01,800 Speaker 1: that could certainly sense the true intent behind his words. 239 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:08,400 Speaker 1: Besides religious wars, lightning strikes, and crocodiles, Yes, Nostradamis predicted 240 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 1: an incident involving a mysterious crocodile. One particular prediction stood 241 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:18,200 Speaker 1: out among the others that year the King, he wrote 242 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:22,720 Speaker 1: at the time, still referring to Catherine de Medici's husband, Henry, 243 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:27,119 Speaker 1: the second quote shall beware of some one or many 244 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: of his court, lest they seek to do which I 245 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: dare not put in writing, as the stars in accordance 246 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:42,680 Speaker 1: with occult philosophy demonstrate. A few years later, the astrologer 247 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:47,160 Speaker 1: Laurent Videl, who ironically taught the subject at Avignon where 248 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:51,160 Speaker 1: Michel was forced to abandon his studies before he reached 249 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 1: the astrology courses, published a scathing indictment of Nostrodamis, in 250 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: which he questioned that very prediction quote you say that 251 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: you dare not declare what would happen that year? Why 252 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 1: did you resort to such ruses? If not so that 253 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:13,240 Speaker 1: you should be sent for from the court. You knew 254 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: perfectly well the king would want the truth. In other words, 255 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: you're only being COI, so the king will summon you. 256 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:26,919 Speaker 1: Whether or not Videl was right about Nostradamis's intentions, he 257 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:30,680 Speaker 1: was wrong about one thing. In particular, it was not 258 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:35,400 Speaker 1: the king whose attention he caught, but rather the queen's. 259 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:40,280 Speaker 1: In the summer of fifteen fifty five, Nostradamis received the 260 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:45,720 Speaker 1: Queen's summon to attend court in Paris. According to the 261 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: contemporary Chronique Lionnaise, he apparently quote feared greatly that harm 262 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 1: would have been done to him, for he said himself 263 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,640 Speaker 1: he was in great danger of having his head cut off. 264 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:03,359 Speaker 1: Evidently it was not his head Nostradamis had to worry about, 265 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: but his feet. He was only at court a short 266 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: amount of time before he was bedridden with a bad 267 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:15,120 Speaker 1: flare up of gout. As later reported by his son Caesar, 268 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:19,680 Speaker 1: Nostradamis actually read the charts of Eager Nobles right there 269 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:24,639 Speaker 1: from his bed. In a letter, Nostradamis wrote, as a 270 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 1: fine reward from the court, I became ill there. The 271 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:32,480 Speaker 1: Queen paid me thirty crowns and there's a fine sum 272 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:36,800 Speaker 1: for having come two hundred leagues, having spent a hundred crowns, 273 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:41,480 Speaker 1: I made thirty. This may seem an oddly irreverent tone 274 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 1: from a man who was highly respected by the Queen, 275 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:47,840 Speaker 1: but that letter was written to a man to whom 276 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:52,560 Speaker 1: Nostradamis owed money, and so he sought to downplay his wealth. 277 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:56,120 Speaker 1: He does, however, make sure to tell the man how 278 00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 1: much he sung his praises to Catherine. According to a 279 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:05,040 Speaker 1: later account from Nostradamis's son, the seer's duty on that 280 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:08,520 Speaker 1: first trip was to examine the birth charts of the 281 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 1: three princes who would become Francis the second, Charles the ninth, 282 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: and Henry the third. The Queen was evidently pleased, and 283 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: Nostradamis's son later reported that his father returned to Ceylon 284 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:27,200 Speaker 1: a hero, haralded by the people, as quote the most 285 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:32,080 Speaker 1: famous prophet in all of France. The next project for 286 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:37,680 Speaker 1: this most esteemed Frenchman was his magnum opus, The Prophecies, 287 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:42,639 Speaker 1: released in three volumes from fifteen fifty seven to fifteen 288 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:47,640 Speaker 1: fifty eight. Rather than predicting a single year's events, as 289 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 1: was the task of his almanacs, he would predict thousands 290 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 1: of year's events. He was certainly not the first to 291 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:59,720 Speaker 1: attempt such an undertaking, but he would be the first 292 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,600 Speaker 1: to time to do so in French, the language of 293 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:06,919 Speaker 1: the people. It was such a major project, in fact, 294 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:12,800 Speaker 1: that upon publication it included a dedicatory letter to King Henry. 295 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: The second. Published treatises during this time were frequently dedicated 296 00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:23,360 Speaker 1: to existing or potential patrons. By addressing his work to Henry, 297 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 1: Nostradamis communicated his lofty ambitions to both the king and 298 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:35,440 Speaker 1: to his readers. He was making the inaccessible ancient art 299 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:39,760 Speaker 1: of prophecy accessible, and I mean that in a more 300 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: literal sense as well. He was essentially translating the existing 301 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:49,200 Speaker 1: work of the ancients into French. As described by Peter 302 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:55,040 Speaker 1: Lemosier in his biography The Unknown Nostradamus, Michelle's writing directly 303 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:59,919 Speaker 1: reflected the major events and developments first told by ancient 304 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: prophets and later reproduced in fifteen twenty two's Mirabilis Lieber, 305 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:10,800 Speaker 1: which was a popular collection of predictions from numerous Christian 306 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 1: saints and diviners in Latin. Of course, in his book's preface, 307 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 1: no Stradamis writes that his prophecies concerned future events quote 308 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:25,080 Speaker 1: about which the divine Being has granted me knowledge by 309 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:31,000 Speaker 1: means of astrological cycles. He contradicts himself in the same preface, however, 310 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 1: writing quote, even though my son I have used the 311 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:39,040 Speaker 1: word prophet, I have no wish to attribute myself a 312 00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 1: title of such lofty sublimity. At present here, at present 313 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: means in the present work. In his biographer's words, the 314 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:54,719 Speaker 1: material was quote certainly not Nostradamus's copyright. Only in the 315 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 1: matter of detail of the who and where and when 316 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:03,399 Speaker 1: was his own hand and evident. Even then, his predictions 317 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:08,360 Speaker 1: relied on the expectation that history would repeat itself. For example, 318 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: he wrote numerous times that Europe would be invaded from 319 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 1: the east and south by massive Muslim forces. There are 320 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:22,280 Speaker 1: passages fully plagiarized from historical sources, including Livy, Plutarch, and 321 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:27,800 Speaker 1: other classics. This all sounds rather scandalous to our modern ears. 322 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:33,159 Speaker 1: Revealed no stra Damis plagiarized his predictions, but this was 323 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:37,320 Speaker 1: actually a very common practice at the time, seen more 324 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,480 Speaker 1: as paying homage to the great than infringing on their 325 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:47,720 Speaker 1: intellectual property. In one quatrain that would become particularly famous, 326 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: Nostradamis mirrors the deposition of the Byzantine emperor Isaac the 327 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:59,119 Speaker 1: sec Angelus. It reads in Nostradamus's standard verse style quote, 328 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:03,400 Speaker 1: the young young lion shall surmount the old on Marshall 329 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:07,879 Speaker 1: battlefield in a single duel. His eyes he'll put out 330 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:11,960 Speaker 1: in a cage of gold. Two forces joined, and then 331 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:17,359 Speaker 1: a death most cruel. Nostrodamus was right that history would 332 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:21,719 Speaker 1: repeat itself, but in a way no one could have expected. 333 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:25,880 Speaker 1: In fifteen fifty nine, a tournament was held honoring the 334 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 1: marriage of Henry the Second and Catherine's daughter Elizabeth to 335 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 1: King Philip the Second of Spain. King Henry was an 336 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:39,119 Speaker 1: avid jouster and decided to participate in a festive triple 337 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:44,320 Speaker 1: joust with his captain of the Scottish Guard, Gabriel of Montgomery. 338 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:50,360 Speaker 1: In the third round, Gabriel's lance splintered and pierced Henry's 339 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:56,120 Speaker 1: eye so severely it penetrated his brain. Despite their best efforts, 340 00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:59,480 Speaker 1: the royal doctors found there was nothing to be done 341 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:05,159 Speaker 1: when the king died ten days later. There are some 342 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:10,960 Speaker 1: clear parallels to Nostradamus's verse. For example, both jousters had 343 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:16,600 Speaker 1: lions as their emblems. While Marshall Battlefield isn't exactly the 344 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:21,040 Speaker 1: same as a celebratory joust, Henry did lose his eye, 345 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: wearing a gilded helmet and suffering an agony for ten 346 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:29,959 Speaker 1: days before finally succumbing to brain damage. I would certainly 347 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:35,360 Speaker 1: qualify that as a death most cruel At the time, however, 348 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:40,160 Speaker 1: those parallels were not drawn. Instead, some people wondered why 349 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 1: Nostradamis failed to predict anything about the death of a king. 350 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,200 Speaker 1: In the letter at the beginning of his book addressed 351 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:52,640 Speaker 1: to Henry, Nostradamis even described the king as quote most invincible. 352 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:58,639 Speaker 1: While Nostradamis had his fair share of denouncers, mainly fellow 353 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:02,960 Speaker 1: astrologists who saw him as a hack, this snaffoo wasn't 354 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 1: enough to hinder his rise. Even in England, diplomats discussed 355 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:13,600 Speaker 1: quatrains referencing the ascension of Queen Elizabeth and the marriage 356 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:18,560 Speaker 1: between Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry's young successor, Francis 357 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:25,359 Speaker 1: Nostradamis Mania officially swept the country. Foreign ambassadors were reporting 358 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 1: back to their home countries that it was becoming difficult 359 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:33,119 Speaker 1: to conduct any business in France. For the country's collective 360 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:38,600 Speaker 1: mind was fixated on one thing. International clients were also 361 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:43,440 Speaker 1: rolling in, including the crown Prince of Vienna and a 362 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:48,960 Speaker 1: prominent Duke of Savoy. Catherine herself became a regular client, 363 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:54,080 Speaker 1: asking for readings for the new King Francis and for 364 00:28:54,200 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 1: his younger brother, Charles. No Stradamis's fifteen sixty almanac election 365 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:04,280 Speaker 1: ugly predicted the early death of King Francis the Second, 366 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:09,040 Speaker 1: which occurred in December of that year. If you recall 367 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:13,880 Speaker 1: this episode's introduction, the early years of Francis's younger brother, 368 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:18,520 Speaker 1: Charles the Ninth Regency saw the country on the brink 369 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:22,720 Speaker 1: of civil war. In the end of fifteen sixty one, 370 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,400 Speaker 1: Nostra Damis wrote to a friend that the troubles had 371 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 1: reached Salon and that he and his family had been 372 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 1: forced to rent a safe house in Avignon, as his 373 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:41,440 Speaker 1: famed mysticism made him suspect in the chaos. Michelle failed 374 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: to get the required license from a bishop for the 375 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:48,640 Speaker 1: publication of his fifteen sixty two almanac, and he was 376 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 1: thrown into prison at the castle of Margnen. The Governor 377 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:57,240 Speaker 1: of Provence left his sentencing to Charles the Ninth and 378 00:29:57,400 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: No stra Damis was freed. Thus this began his reputation era. 379 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:07,479 Speaker 1: He always had his detractors, but upon his release from prison, 380 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:12,040 Speaker 1: the movement against him gained more traction than ever. A 381 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:16,280 Speaker 1: famous published critique called him and I will be adding 382 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:21,120 Speaker 1: this phrase to my personal vernacular a twenty four carot liar. 383 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:25,240 Speaker 1: Another pamphlet sought to discredit him on account of his 384 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:30,680 Speaker 1: Jewish origins, while additionally framing him as something of a courtester. 385 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:34,680 Speaker 1: I who was there meaning court at the time, know 386 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: perfectly well that there was nobody there who was not 387 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:41,320 Speaker 1: convinced that you had come there expressly in order to 388 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:45,560 Speaker 1: receive by way of reward, all the mockery that all 389 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:51,720 Speaker 1: your poor little treatises and fantastic statements richly deserved. That's 390 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:54,520 Speaker 1: such a good takedown, you know. The guy who wrote 391 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:58,760 Speaker 1: that would have killed on Reddit. But the heart of 392 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: this entire revie debate was between Protestants and Catholics. After 393 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:09,920 Speaker 1: Pierre de Ronsard, a Catholic poet with royal patronage, composed 394 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: a flattering portrait of Nostradamis, a Protestant pamphlet was published 395 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:21,959 Speaker 1: denouncing Ronsard by appealing directly to Queen Catherine, it read, Ronzard, 396 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 1: you fool, how dare you take to heart this damned 397 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:29,320 Speaker 1: Nostra Damis and his art calling him true and for 398 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 1: a maniac's word betray the revelation of the Lord. As 399 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:38,240 Speaker 1: a brief aside, takedowns being written in verse feels like 400 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:43,680 Speaker 1: the sixteenth century forbearer of rap battles. Catherine, as we know, 401 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 1: paid those detractors no mind, and she soon embarked on 402 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 1: her trip with King Charles to Salon, where we began 403 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:57,640 Speaker 1: this episode. Michelle's son Cesar was only ten at the time, 404 00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 1: but he would recount that visit in his later years. Apparently, 405 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:08,120 Speaker 1: Nostradamis asked to examine Charles's younger brother Henry to assess 406 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:12,760 Speaker 1: his future prospects. He pronounced that, according to the placement 407 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 1: of the moles on his body, he would not only 408 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:20,640 Speaker 1: become king, but rule for a long time. When the 409 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:24,800 Speaker 1: young prince did ultimately succeed to the throne, it said, 410 00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:29,719 Speaker 1: he would often recall the occasion with amusement. As for 411 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:33,760 Speaker 1: Nostra Damis's other prediction that Charles would live as long 412 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:39,560 Speaker 1: as the Constable of France, that also came true, albeit bleakly. 413 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 1: He died three years later in his seventies, and King 414 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:50,120 Speaker 1: Charles only lived for another seven years, dying at just 415 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:56,800 Speaker 1: twenty three years before Charles's death, however, Nostra Damis was 416 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:01,240 Speaker 1: called upon to bless the proposed union between the new 417 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:05,479 Speaker 1: French king and Queen Elizabeth of England, who was twice 418 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:08,960 Speaker 1: his age. Whether or not no str Damis saw a 419 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,320 Speaker 1: bright outcome, it appears he had no choice but to 420 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:16,120 Speaker 1: say he did. The proposal was sent to England with 421 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:20,720 Speaker 1: a copy of Charles's birth chart and no Stradamis's commentary. 422 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:27,480 Speaker 1: Elizabeth delicately refused the proposal and is said to have replied, quote, 423 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:31,240 Speaker 1: my Lord is too great for me, and yet too 424 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:35,720 Speaker 1: small still. No Stra Damis had gained enough acclaim with 425 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:39,760 Speaker 1: Catherine de Medici that he was appointed Privy Councilor and 426 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 1: physician in ordinary to the King and awarded a grant 427 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:49,640 Speaker 1: and pension. The Spanish ambassador, reporting the quote lunacy of 428 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:53,080 Speaker 1: what is going on here to his king, wrote quote, 429 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:56,360 Speaker 1: he has all the guile in the world, and only 430 00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,680 Speaker 1: ever says what is pleasing to whomever it may be. 431 00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:04,120 Speaker 1: The ambassador continues, quote the Queen said to me to 432 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:07,280 Speaker 1: day do you know, noster Damis assured me that in 433 00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:11,840 Speaker 1: fifteen sixty six a general peace would reign across the world, 434 00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:14,960 Speaker 1: and that the Kingdom of France would be the most peaceful, 435 00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:18,840 Speaker 1: and that the situation would settle down, and while saying 436 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:22,200 Speaker 1: that she had an air of earnestness, as if somebody 437 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:25,759 Speaker 1: had been quoting Saint John or Saint Luke at her 438 00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:31,600 Speaker 1: end quote. Despite what outsiders thought of him, though noster 439 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:35,439 Speaker 1: Damis had made it to the top, but not long 440 00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:41,719 Speaker 1: after arriving, his chronic gout became increasingly more painful. In 441 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:47,040 Speaker 1: a December fifteen sixty five letter to a colleague, he wrote, quote, 442 00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:51,280 Speaker 1: at Arl recently a fiery arrow was seen, a kind 443 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:56,359 Speaker 1: of falling star. He believed this meant varied woes were 444 00:34:56,400 --> 00:35:01,640 Speaker 1: to plague the land, including invasions, drought, and famine. But 445 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:05,720 Speaker 1: maybe he should have been looking inward. In his final 446 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:10,960 Speaker 1: surviving letter, he wrote an update to Catherine, predicting a 447 00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:17,840 Speaker 1: vastly different future than the falling star portold quote, I find, 448 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:22,120 Speaker 1: by various celestial patterns drawn up in this place, that 449 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:27,240 Speaker 1: all shall be in peace, love, union, and concord, even 450 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:31,759 Speaker 1: though there shall be some great contradictions and differences, but 451 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:36,360 Speaker 1: in the end everybody shall return content of mouth and heart. 452 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:41,879 Speaker 1: Perhaps he simply forgot to mention the invasions, drought, and 453 00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 1: famine that the falling Star had told him about. But 454 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:50,960 Speaker 1: really a prediction of peace, love and concord is pretty safe, 455 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:54,080 Speaker 1: because if you say that everything will be okay in 456 00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:58,440 Speaker 1: the end and things aren't okay yet, it just means 457 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:04,080 Speaker 1: the end hasn't come. No Stradamus completed his final almanac 458 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:09,200 Speaker 1: for fifteen sixty seven only a fortnight before his end 459 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 1: came in the beginning of July fifteen sixty six. He 460 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:18,640 Speaker 1: did not predict his own death, but November fifteen sixty 461 00:36:18,719 --> 00:36:23,839 Speaker 1: seven's entry was posthumously edited by his secretary to fit 462 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:31,760 Speaker 1: the circumstances of his passing. That's the life of no Stradamus. 463 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:35,879 Speaker 1: But keep listening after a brief sponsor break, to hear 464 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:39,520 Speaker 1: a bit about how his prophecies have been interpreted in 465 00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:53,640 Speaker 1: modern times. There are numerous events in more recent history 466 00:36:53,719 --> 00:36:58,040 Speaker 1: that people believe had been predicted by Nostronamus, including the 467 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:02,160 Speaker 1: French Revolution, the death of Princess Diana, and the rise 468 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:06,720 Speaker 1: of Adolf Hitler. The latter is a particularly interesting one, 469 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:12,520 Speaker 1: as Nostradamus became a figure of government propaganda. Astrology was 470 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:17,319 Speaker 1: gaining popularity again in nineteen thirties Europe and publishers were 471 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:20,960 Speaker 1: putting out multiple Nostre Damis books a year. The New 472 00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:25,200 Speaker 1: York Times reported that men and women of all social stations, 473 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:30,279 Speaker 1: including officers at the front, were turning to Nostradamis's prophecies 474 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:35,799 Speaker 1: for insight. One of his quatrans stands out quote beasts 475 00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:40,080 Speaker 1: wild with hunger shall swim the rivers. Most of the 476 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:45,040 Speaker 1: hosts shall move against ister. He'll have the great one 477 00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:49,880 Speaker 1: dragged in iron cage. When the child the German Rhine 478 00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:55,520 Speaker 1: surveys Ister spelled Hister in the old French was referring 479 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:59,600 Speaker 1: to another name for the Danube River, but the twentieth 480 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:03,400 Speaker 1: century mind saw a clear reference to the name Hitler. 481 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:08,520 Speaker 1: On the eve of war, France's propaganda agency sought to 482 00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:14,239 Speaker 1: publish a favorable interpretation of Nostradamis. Centuries after he was 483 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:19,000 Speaker 1: sought out by Catherine, Nostradamus was once again tasked with 484 00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:24,560 Speaker 1: predicting a hopeful future for France. Seeing the effectiveness of 485 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:29,240 Speaker 1: that strategy, the Nazis began to publish their own interpretations 486 00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:34,640 Speaker 1: of Nostradamis's quatrains, and Hitler himself was interested in astrology. 487 00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:39,080 Speaker 1: That didn't stop the Allies from using him in their propaganda. 488 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,719 Speaker 1: In fact, their new plan was to make no Stradamis 489 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:47,440 Speaker 1: a movie star in the US, with MGM producing short 490 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:52,759 Speaker 1: films about the seer. As said by the studio's production supervisor, 491 00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:57,200 Speaker 1: the vision was to quote make a given verse say 492 00:38:57,400 --> 00:39:00,759 Speaker 1: what you wanted it to say in terms of the times, 493 00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:04,279 Speaker 1: and in terms of the interest, and in terms of 494 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:09,279 Speaker 1: the dramatic value of your interpretation. It's something to keep 495 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:13,600 Speaker 1: in mind when you see people making grand predictions on 496 00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:18,280 Speaker 1: the Internet, people reading into clues and symbols and signs 497 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:24,400 Speaker 1: that throughout history, vague enough predictions have been used as propaganda, 498 00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:30,080 Speaker 1: and we've always been looking to the stars for answers. 499 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:42,200 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and 500 00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:45,840 Speaker 1: Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me 501 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:51,319 Speaker 1: Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannaswick, 502 00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:55,600 Speaker 1: Courtney Sender, Amy hit and Julia Melaney. The show is 503 00:39:55,760 --> 00:40:00,720 Speaker 1: edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima 504 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:05,400 Speaker 1: il Kaali and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and 505 00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:11,000 Speaker 1: Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 506 00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:16,560 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.