Nostradamus: a prophet at the court of the Valois? (part 2)

From his first visit to the Louvre at the court of Henri II and Catherine de Medici, Nostradamus forged links with the great figures of the time, starting with the queen, of whom he became adviser.

In this new episode of the Europe 1 Studio podcast "At the heart of history", Jean des Cars tells you how the diviner predicted most of the major events of his time.  

A prodigious session

If there is one thing that cannot be denied in Nostradamus, it is his instincts.

He knows that by associating with the great characters, by being well in court in every sense of the word, we excite jealousy and we feed backbiting.  

A powerful party is formed against him and in Paris, evil spirits, headed by the poet Jodelle, have not ceased to ridicule and discredit him.

Knowing well human nature, he resigned himself to these insults, ignored them because his purse was heavy with his gold coins and his books were increasingly successful. 

It is much later, during a mysterious period, that an episode occurs which one cannot say with certainty if it is true or invented.

But it seems that Catherine de Medici had called him to join her at the Château de Chaumont, in the Loire Valley.

Nostradamus would have locked himself there for six weeks to carry out strange operations in a secret room. 

At a time deemed auspicious, he summons the queen to him;

he quickly understood that she was conquered by his predictions.

In this dark room, a circle is drawn and only the queen must stand in it.

There is a large mirror there, dimly lit by a chandelier.

At the four angles of the mirror, we can distinguish the four names of God in Hebrew characters.

In an impressive silence, a shadow emerges.

Its contours become clearer but fade very quickly after having gone around the room.

Catherine de Médicis has time to recognize her eldest son, François, who had married Marie Stuart. 

Barely had the queen recovered from her emotion, her third son, Charles, the future King Charles IX whose reign was marked by the wars of religion and who ordered the terrible massacre of Saint Bartholomew on August 24, 1572, appears in the mirror .

He passes fourteen times in this magical field and his image disappears ... Now, he reigned fourteen years.

Henri succeeded him, the Duke of Anjou, third son of Catherine, first elected King of Poland thanks to his mother.

At the instigation of Nostradamus, she said to her son: "You will come back soon ..."

And that's right: after ascending the throne of Poland, he returned and succeeded his brother Charles as King of France, had no children and was assassinated by a fanatic Dominican, Jacques Clément, in 1589. During this strange sitting in front of the mirror, he manifests himself fifteen times before mimicking an excruciating pain in his chest, a reference to the fatal blow he received.

He was the last Valois king. 

Finally, that evening, the cousin of the previous kings, Henri de Navarre, who became King Henri IV, appears in front of the mirror.

He spends twenty-one times there before being suddenly hidden by a spot of purple color.

It is true that Henri IV, head of the House of Bourbons, occupied the throne for twenty-one years before dying under the dagger of Ravaillac ... 

Nothing proves the absolute authenticity of this "magic operation" relating a family curse.

In her lifetime, Queen Catherine, it is said, does not mention it, but does refer to it.

This prodigious session, perhaps partly real, perhaps partly invented, is best known to us from the account made of it by a son of Nostradamus, after the death of his father.

Something to ignite the imaginations ...

The prophet of the mighty

Nostradamus doesn't just write and publish his prophecies.

Always interested in the sky, he published, in 1558, a text entitled "The meanings of the eclipse which will be on September 16, 1559".

He therefore foresees the eclipse a year before and tries to give it meaning. 

During this period, he received a visit from the Duke of Savoy and his wife Marguerite of France, sister of Henri II.

It was for their marriage that the king had imagined the tournament which was fatal to him.

They question Nostradamus, return to see him three years later, in January 1562, to ask him to make the horoscope of their newborn son.

We do not know if the horoscope was verified, but there are still many disturbing elements in the life and prophecies of Nostradamus linked to the story.

And there are proven events.

The court therefore holds him in great esteem. 

At the initiative of Catherine de Medici, the royal family traveled through the kingdom to present the king to his subjects, restore the prestige of the crown and unify the country.

This notably involves the holiday calendar which fixes, once and for all, the start of the year on January 1. 

So in October 1564, crossing Provence, the young King Charles IX came to see Nostradamus at his home in Salon.

On this occasion, Nostradamus was appointed ordinary physician to the king.

Every year he publishes an almanac with predictions.

He is going to write a dedicatory epistle for that of 1564, in other words, he dedicates it to the king.   

In front of the assembled notables, curious, convinced or skeptical, the king showered him with honors and gifts.

It is then said that Nostradamus predicts, in public, to the Duke of Anjou, that he would wear two crowns.

And that's right, it must be said again: Henry III was first elected King of Poland and then King of France. 

Some time later, the same year, he was taken to the room where little Henri de Navarre, then eleven years old, slept.

Nostradamus had him undressed and examined him for a long time as a doctor.

Finally, he delivers his judgment, this time as an author of prophecies.

To the prince's governor, he said, in front of witnesses: "If God will grant you the grace to live long enough for that, you will have for master a king of France and Navarre."

Nostradamus predicts his own death

A few weeks later, in Marseille, the two cousins ​​Henri de Navarre and Henri d'Anjou pass in front of a church.

The second, for fun, takes the Béarnais cap and throws it into the church.

The future Henri IV, Protestant, furious and sheepish, must enter the church to recover his headgear.

Reported to Nostradamus, the incident inspires him this comment: "Yes, he will enter the Roman church ..."

Obviously, we did not understand this reflection until the time when Henri de Navarre abjured Protestantism and converted to Catholicism.

In Salon de Crau, money and honors flock to Nostradamus.

His prophecies continue.

In 1565, he was appointed royal advisor to the regent Catherine de Medici, since Charles IX was a minor.

She asks for him and consults him often.

But the one many call the "prophet" has grown gloomy and melancholy. 

For some, he suffers horribly from gout, but also from dropsy.

For others, it is because he would have read in the stars the announcement of his imminent death.

After all, why shouldn't he see his fate, he whose specialty is to announce that of others? 

From June 1566, Nostradamus had several talks with his lawyer, Maître Roche.

He dictates his will to her, dividing his property and money fairly between his wife and their children.

He formally forbids the taking of an inventory of his library and his cabinet, which suggests that there were prohibited or compromising documents there.

He receives the last rites with piety.

With the serenity of a sage, he awaits his death.

He knows he's coming ...

On July 2, 1566, at 4 a.m., 63-year-old Nostradamus died alone, trying to get up.

However, he had predicted and wrote that he would be "found dead near the bed and the bench".

By will, he had asked to be buried in the Saint-Laurent church.

But an overload, a lack of space, make this arrangement impossible.

He was finally buried in the church of Saint-François des Cordeliers, in a tomb built against the wall, between the portal and the altar of Sainte-Marthe.

The good people are intrigued to be buried with them their archives, their writings, many books and strange instruments.

This gave rise to a tenacious legend.

No one foreign to his family having seen his body, all kinds of rumors will arise, often extravagant because such a character could not disappear "normally".

It was soon asserted that Nostradamus was not deceased, that he was locked in a secret chamber of the tomb.

Thus, miraculously preserved and alive, it would continue to write centuries and "to announce and retrace great future events".

The great poet Ronsard knew Nostradamus well, like all fine minds of the time.

He truly considers him a prophet and dedicates this poem to him:

"Either that of the great God the immense eternity

Has excited enthusiasm from Nostradamus,

Or either that the Devil good or bad agitates him,

Or that by nature he loves the sudden soul,

And besides mortal rushes up to 'to heaven,

And thence repeats stupendous facts,

Or whether his dark and melancholy mind,

With sated fat moods, makes him fantastic:

In short, he is what he is: if it is however

Only by words doubtful of his prophet voice,

Like an ancient oracle, he has since many years,

Foretold most of our destiny "

In 1568, two years after the death of Nostradamus, a new edition of the Prophecies was published.

Readers rush.

Four and a half centuries later, they continue to fascinate us.

Bibliographical references: 

Bruno Petey Girard,

(Flammarion, 2019)

Jean Orieux,

(Flammarion, 1986)

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"At the heart of history" is a Europe 1 Studio podcast

Author and presentation: Jean des Cars

Production: Timothée Magot

Director: Jean-François Bussière

Distribution and editing: Clémence Olivier

Graphics: Europe 1 Studio