Nostradamus: prophet or hoaxer?

At all times, the soothsayers and fortune tellers enjoyed much greater popularity than science. Among all predictors, even in our time the greatest interest is people, who lived five centuries ago, Nostradamus. Whether this man is really endowed with extraordinary gifts? Or Nostradamus is merely another talented charlatan? To these questions we will try to shed some light.

Life predictor

To understand the mysteries of the prophecies of Nostradamus, you need to understand his personality and the times in which he lived. Predictor born in France in the early XVI century. In the description of the life of the famous French a lot. Even the name of Nostradamus was not present, and the present– Michel de Nostrdam. He came from a family of Jews who converted to Catholicism. Later detractors will point to Jewish roots of Nostradamus and call it a secret Jew. There is the legend that even in early childhood, Nostradamus began to make accurate predictions.

In his youth, Michel de Nostrdam was chosen as the main direction of his activities medicine. In 1529, the year he entered the University of Montpellier, the medical faculty. Despite the difficult relationships with teachers Nostradamus managed to finish school. Already in 1534, the year he received his doctorate. Rumor has it that not the last role in the success of training played his pedigree. Supposedly the ancestors of Nostradamus were renowned doctors and served at the Ducal court. In our time can neither prove nor disprove this theory. It is likely that eminent ancestors existed only in the imagination of a talented hoaxer. Anyway, one thing is certain: Nostradamus was smart, educated and versatile man. In addition to medicine, he was seriously fond of astrology and alchemy. And in the XVI century these pseudo-science was perceived not as in our time. Of course, if You believed the alchemist, then Your chances of being burned at the stake by the Inquisition is markedly increased. But in the sixteenth century there was no definition of “pseudoscience” in the conventional sense. The people of that time did not see a big difference between chemistry and alchemy, astronomy and astrology.

Nostradamus was born in 1503, the year in the family of notary. According to legend, his ancestors were physicians who served at the court of the Duke of Lorraine, Rene the Good, and the Duke of Calabria. If you believe the legend, the great-grandfather of Michel de Nostredame was a Royal physician Abraham Solomon. It is known only that the doctors were his ancestors on the maternal side.

Nostradamus lived in a really difficult time. Famine, war, disease, and ferocious Inquisition – it was an integral part of life in France of the XVI century. One of the greatest evils of the time was the plague. In 1537, the year of the disease his wife died of Nostradamus and his two children. All this could be a decisive impact, forcing him to engage seriously not only medicine, but also the occult Sciences. However, this is just a hunch.

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With confidence we can only say that Michel de Nostrdam decided to devote himself to the fight against this disease. Nostradamus championed the idea of preventing disease, helping to prevent an epidemic in AIX-EN-Provence. He also tried to invent a cure for the “black death”, but the great success of these experiments had no effect. But who is seriously interested in his work, is the Holy Inquisition. In order to avoid contacts with the representatives of the Church Nostradamus left France a few years hiding in Germany and Italy. Returning to France, he continued the practice of healing, and even received recognition. Soon Nostradamus married a second time to Anna Ponsard Gemelle, from this marriage six children were born.
In the first half of the XVI century the plague was not Europe new. The most terrible epidemic broke out on its territory in the middle of the XIV century. Then, this disease has killed about one third of the European population. However, in the XVI century, there has been no effective methods of controlling this disease.
Mystic legacy

Surprisingly, but the glory of the predictor was waiting for the Nostradamus during his lifetime. In 1555, the year he managed to publish his first work – “the Prophecy”. This book was a collection of so-called Centuriae. The book has ten Centuriae, each brings together one hundred quatrains – quatrains, are written in poetic form.
By the way, about form. Written in quatrains were in a language that even the contemporaries of Nostradamus understood with great difficulty. The language of the Epistles was extremely ornate. Because of this, any word quatrain can have several meanings and be interpreted in different ways. It is not clear why Nostradamus needed to clothe his thoughts in such an envelope. Rumor has it that the only way Michel de Nostrdam could avoid unnecessary attention from the Inquisition. There is a more simple version. Nostradamus could use difficult to understand language specifically, that prediction looked more vague. In favor of this theory says one important fact. A characteristic feature of the work of Nostradamus is the almost complete lack of specific dates of the predicted events.
The fame of Nostradamus brought not only the Centurion. Besides them he published astrological calendars-almanacs. The first almanac was published in 1550, the year. It is noteworthy that in the almanacs Nostradamus made his predictions in verse and in prose. Unfortunately, none of these prophecies have not been preserved.
The fate was favorable to the author of the prophecies. In 1555, the year Nostradamus was invited to the Royal personages and appointed a personal astrologer of king Henry II. The name of this monarch is one of the most famous predictions of Nostradamus. In 1559, the year held celebrations on the occasion of the double wedding. Celebrated marriage of Henry’s daughter to Philip II and sister of Henry Duke of Savoy. To mark the momentous event was arranged joust. Took part in it and the king himself, his opponent was count Gabriel de Montgomery. During the fight lance of count Montgomery broke, and a shard of the mirror using the visor pierced the skull of Henry. The injury proved fatal, and after a long agony, the monarch died.
Nostradamus was destined to perpetuate this tragic event. In the thirty-fifth quatrain of the first Centuries of Nostradamus States:
A young lion will surpass
old
The battlefield
single match
He will pierce his eyes
through a Golden cage,
Two wounds in one,
then die
agonizing death.

There are several versions of this quatrain, but their meaning is very similar. The tragic death of the king turned to Nostradamus great success. After predicting the death of Henry II, many people believed in the supernatural powers of Michel de Nostredame.
So what does the famous quatrain? Indeed, the count of Montgomery was somewhat younger than the “old lion” – of Henry II, but their age difference was not more than two years. Much attention was attracted by the reference in the quatrain “Golden cage” and “eyes”. It is known that during the contest, Henry II fought in the gilded armor, but the spear struck the king in the eye and entered the skull slightly above the right eye. There is another reason not to give this prediction a lot of attention. Even in the XVI century jousting tournaments were not uncommon, and many of them ended tragically. The message of Nostradamus if you wish, you can apply for any of these fights.
Another famous prediction was the prophecy of the king of France. Nostradamus maintained good relations with Queen Catherine de Medici. During a meeting with her Nostradamus predicted that in the future the king of France a relative of the ruling dynasty of Valois, Henry of Navarre. At that time, such a prediction seemed almost incredible, as Catherine de ‘ Medici had his own sons. But many years later the prophecy came true, and in 1589, the year he ascended to the throne, the new king of France – Henry IV of Navarre. However, this prediction is in the form of a beautiful legend.
Fame was the last prediction of Nostradamus. July 1, 1566, the year his pupil Jean-aimé de Chavigny Michel de Nostrdam said, “At dawn you will not catch me alive!”. The next morning the prophet died. Whether his words were a premonition, a manifestation of super-powers or pure chance? Perhaps we’ll never know.

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The coming of the Antichrist

The writings of Nostradamus contain apocalyptic prophecy. Appeals to religious subjects not seem strange if we remember about the time in which he lived. At the same time, in the predictions of Nostradamus can find a lot of unusual.
Unlike traditional religions Nostradamus predicted the coming of not one but three antichrists. “Pau Nay Oloron in the veins of more of fire than blood,” reads one of his messages. It is believed that Pau Nay Oloron is an anagram that conceals the name of one of the antichrists. If you rearrange the letters in some places, you can see the phrase Napaulon Roi (Roi Napoleon or Napoleon. The mention of Napoleon and contains one quatrain of Nostradamus. It says:

Near Italy
born the Emperor,
Which will cost
Empire in the high price.
I will say, looking at people
that he will surround
yourself
What it is, rather, the butcher,
than the Prince.
Indeed, Corsica (birthplace of Napoleon) is much closer to Italy than to France. It is also known that Nostradamus was a royalist, and self-proclaimed Emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte could hardly call it warm feelings. However, all this makes sense only if we take for granted the thesis of the prophetic gift of Nostradamus.

Among scientists there is an acute problem of the authenticity of the works of Nostradamus. It is likely that some of the poems were written by followers of the author after his death. In addition, it is possible that Nostradamus himself could rewrite the part of their messages after the occurred event. According to the French historian Peter Lemesurier, Nostradamus was not a predictor. Based on the works of Nostradamus, the researcher conclude that these predictions are based on the theory of cyclicity (recurrence) of history. The researchers also do not exclude the possibility that Nostradamus could borrow the predictions of the earlier authors.

Most amazing of all the prophecies described in the twenty-fourth quatrain the second Centurion. We are talking about the second coming of the Antichrist.

The animals, savage from hunger,
to cross the river.
A large part of the camp
will be against a Hister’.
In an iron cage
drag great
When the Rhine will pay
attention
for a child of Germany.
So reads one of the translations of quatrain. In the image of the mysterious “Hystera” many people tend to see the leader of the Third Reich of Adolf Hitler. However, according to critics, we are talking about the ancient name of the Danube river – Istres. Anyway, the real point of this quatrain almost impossible to understand, because the exact translation does not exist. The only people who unconditionally believed in the truthfulness of this prediction, were the Nazis themselves.

The year 1999, seventh month.
From the sky will come a great
the king of horror
To raise
the great king
Angolmua
Before and after Mars
to rule happily.
Date 1999 is obvious mystical tinge, as if to turn the three nines, you get the number 666. Based on the prophecies of Nostradamus, the Antichrist will be destroyed after twenty-seven years of bloody confrontation. In his prophecies Nostradamus also calls the name of the Antichrist Mabus. Inexplicably, many see it as the name of Saddam Hussein (if you read the word Mabus on the contrary, get Subam). In defense of this theory says that since coming to power, the Iraqi leader prior to the day of his death twenty seven years. However, it is not clear how mediocre the dictator of a banana Republic has suddenly become the Antichrist. With the same success a servant of the devil can be called IDI Amin, Pol Pot or Kim Il sung.

There is a view that the message of Nostradamus should not be taken literally. According to supporters of this hypothesis, in the predictions of Nostradamus contains an astrological cipher. Today there is no consensus regarding this theory.

Nostradamus is also credited with the prediction of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, September 11, and even the Kennedy assassination. If the prediction of the death of king Henry II there is at least some logic, then in the case of the Kennedy assassination, the explanation is hardly. It is difficult to imagine that in the XVI century on the agenda was the assassination of the American President.

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Fictional prophet
So why the predictions of Nostradamus still chained? Obviously, the answer lies not so much in his predictions as in human consciousness. Perhaps the most important feature of his writings have been negative predictions. Work of Nostradamus cover the topics of wars, killings, destruction and disasters. Such subject interests of society.

There is another reason to take a prediction with skepticism. Perhaps the supporters of Nostradamus allow one characteristic error. In their opinion, the writings of Nostradamus tells about the events of the distant future. But it would be much wiser to accept the message of Nostradamus in the context of his time. The prophecy could be thinly veiled attempts to predict the phenomena characteristic of that era. Hardly of a man who lived in the XVI century, was much troubled by the events of the XIX and the XX century.

Not the last role in the fact that Nostradamus became famous all over the world, played an ordinary accident. After the death of Nostradamus, his disciple Jean-aimé de Chavigny did everything to the works of his mentor was published and became the property of the society. They say that history does not tolerate subjunctive mood, but we move away from the tradition of historical science. It is likely that if not for the efforts of de Chavigny, Michel de Nostrdam would have remained in memory only as the court astrologer.

To comment on this question, we turned to a well-known researcher of the legacy of Nostradamus, the candidate of historical Sciences, writer Alex Penza:

– Certainly, for its time Nostradamus can be considered a scholar. His interests covered a variety of aspects. Among other things, Nostradamus was fond of interpreting the hieroglyphs and cooking. But his name was not destined to be next to the names of outstanding figures of the Renaissance, such as Leonardo da Vinci or Nicolaus Copernicus. Nostradamus was farmed out to cheap sensationalism. In his prophecies, the people are still vainly trying to find something it never meant. Nostradamus, like many of his contemporaries, was esoterica, he believed in mysticism. But hardly in his works there is something supernatural in the usual sense. Nostradamus was convinced of the correctness of their predictions. He was aware that history is cyclical, spiral. It helped him to foresee future events. I believe that Nostradamus also had a powerful intuition. However, the intuitive concept is debatable, so far nobody has been able to identify algorithms in intuitive knowledge.

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