prediction based on the configuration of
stars and planets as it would exist at some
future point, and finding correspondences
in that configuration to important events
in the past.
In 1555, Nostradamus attracted the at-
tention of Catherine de’ Médicis, the
queen of King Henri II. A prophecy con-
cerning the royal family prompted her to
summon him to Paris, where he cast the
horoscopes of the king’s children and
where, in 1560, King Charles IX made him
one of the royal physicians. Nostradamus’s
prophecies hinted at occult knowledge, but
he was always careful to remain in the
good graces of the church. One of the
king’s decrees demanded that he secure
permission from the church before pub-
lishing his almanacs, and in 1561 he was
tried, found guilty, and jailed for not heed-
ing this order.
Nostradamus’s legacy has endured
through his own skill in predicting natural
and man-made disasters in vague terms
that are open to many interpretations. He
has been credited with predicting the
French Revolution, the campaigns of
Napoléon, the rise of Adolf Hitler, the two
world wars of the twentieth century, and
the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Believers unable to decipher his quatrains
as corresponding to any specific event al-
low them to stand for an event that has
not yet taken place. Many commentators
view Nostradamus as a historian who
wrote in verse rather than a “prophet”—a
term he never used to describe himself—
and believe he wrote in deliberately vague
language in order to avoid persecution as
ahereticorasanopponentoftheFrench
monarchy.SEEALSO: astrologyNostradamus