Nostradamus
NostradamusNostradamus
Once, while passing through Italy, Nostradamus bowed before a young
Franciscan monk, addressing him as "His Holiness." Others around him
did understand his strange behavior and the reasons as to why someone
would call a mere monk by such a title. However, years later, and after
Nostradamus' death, that monk became Pope Sixtus V. This was just
one of the hundreds of prophecies, or visions of the future, that the
fifteenth-century prophet made during his lifetime.
Nostradamus, born in the year of 1503 in France, spent his childhood
under the guidance of his two grandfathers. After going to the
University of Montpelier for three years, he received a bachelor's degree in
the study of medicine. Around this time, there was an outbreak of the
plague in various parts of France, and he quickly earned a good reputation
with the use of his medicine. However, Nostradamus' "medicines" were not
ordinary, as they consisted of psychological guidance and homemade
formulas. Using these methods, he cured many victims of the plague who
were previously labeled incurable. He later went back to Montpelier to
earn his doctoral degree in medicine.
Although Nostradamus was very interested in medicine, he began
reading books about the occult and took a fancy to predicting the future.
In 1550, he published his first book which contained prophecies for the
coming year. The almanac proved so successful and accurate that he began
publishing them annually. After several years, Nostradamus developed the
idea of writing a complete almanac, entitled Centuries. This book came to
consist of prophecies ranging in time from his present to the end of the
world. In Centuries there were one thousand quatrains, or verses of four
lines each. One which was particularly amazing was this:...
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