JOIN USPast forward: Nostradamus
Nostradamus is in the news! He often is when calamity strikes. Now that COVID-19 is a trending topic, that famous Frenchman is doing regular rounds on WhatsApp. Apparently, about 470 years ago, he envisaged a plague with a regal name that would originate in China and spread across Italy.
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US, it was widely believed that Nostradamus had predicted the disaster, just as he had foretold earlier momentous events. Of course there are those who say that his verses (more enigmatic than explicit) are conveniently construed to match historic occurrences, such as the French Revolution, Hitler’s rise to power, President Kennedy’s assassination and Princess Diana’s demise.
Surmounting such scepticism, Nostradamus continues to command a faithful following. Nostradamus (Latinised form of Michel de Nostradame) spans the centuries, albeit in a metaphysical sense. He was also very much a product of his own era. Contrary to popular opinion Nostradamus was not particularly in danger of being condemned by the Church. As long as he did not dabble in sorcery he was free to pursue astrology. Les Propheties (The Prophecies) is his best-known work but, wisely perhaps, Nostradamus disclaimed the appellation of prophet.
In his mid-fifties, Nostradamus served as an apothecary at the court of King Henry II of France. He enjoyed the confidence of Queen Catherine, who had immense faith in his powers of divination. In 1558, Francis, heir to the French throne, married Mary, the ill-fated Queen of Scots. He became King at an early age and died 17 months later. His childless young widow returned to Scotland. Nostradamus had written about ‘the first son abandoned to an ill-timed marriage’, apparently presaging the 16-year-old ruler’s premature end.
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More specific-sounding lines have been viewed, in hindsight, as foreshadowing the fate of Francis’ father, Henry II. The young lion will overcome the older one, On the field of battle in single combat; He will pierce his eyes through a golden cage, Two wounds made one, then he dies a cruel death. On June 30, 1559, Henry II engaged in a jousting contest with Comte Gabriel de Montgomery. Both men (Henry ‘the older one’) had lions emblazoned on their shields. The King sustained ‘two wounds’ when his opponent’s lance accidentally entered his visor (‘golden cage’), piercing his eyes and temple. ‘Cruel death’ describes the agony that Henry endured for ten days before succumbing to his injuries.
Detractors of Nostradamus point out that King Henry would not have worn a heavy helmet of gold. They observe too, that he and ‘the young lion’ were involved in a friendly encounter and nowhere near a ‘field of battle’. Besides, the heraldic symbol of the French monarchy was a lily and that would have adorned the King’s shield. For Nostradamus and against. The debate will probably rage as far into the future as Nostradamus could, or could not, see. One fervently hopes he was wrong about a virus that will destroy the world.