Born Michael de Nostredame, in December 1503, in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, in the South of France, he has,for many centuries, intrigued people regarding his prophecies about the future.Changed to Nostradamus in Latin, this French doctor, medicine of sorts, is also reputed to have found a cure for the plague that hit the region in his time. His collections of prophecies have acclaimed worldwide fame. His book, Les Propheties (The Prophesies), was published in 1555. The book has had a great following and has been published many times as people are of the opinion that it predicts major world events and disasters.

However, there are several academics that say his predictions are merely coincidences or interpreted by his followers to suit particular events that he had predicted. His ‘quatrains’ were written in several different languages so that they could not be scrutinised or destroyed by his enemies, and interpreting the content of the book was also not an easy task to perform because it was likely to be translated incorrectly.

He was a researcher of herbs and also studied in the University of Montpellier after travelling the countryside for eight years to study herbal remedies. He was expelled due to his practice of manual trade in medicine which was not approved by the university; however, he continued his research and is said to have developed a ‘rose pill’ that could prevent plague.

Later, he travelled to Italy and became more interested in occult sciences and started prophesying and even wrote a series of books containing more than 6,000 prophesies. He then claimed to have rejected the occult and also developed good relations with the church. His popularity in astrological sciences made people believe in his physic abilities and thus came to him for consultations. His fame prompted him to write a book containing one thousand prophesies which were mostly in French and were undated. It was this main work which is the reason for his worldwide popularity as a man who could look into mankind’s future.

In 1556, the gout or bone disease that he was suffering from became worse and he is said to have told his secretary that “You will not find me alive at sunrise”, and he was found lying dead in the morning. He was buried in the local French chapel but his body was dug up again during the French Revolution.

When they dug him up, a medallion was hanging round his neck which he was buried with initially. It bore the exact date of when his body would be dug up again! This was enough to send shivers down the spine of many and they started believing even more in his abilities as a seer. But Nostradamus never referred to himself as a prophet in the true sense of the word.

In one of his letters he wrote that he was merely an astrologer who, with the help of numerological calculations and inherited insight, could foresee future events. Some of which he saw while meditating or gazing into water or fire. But then many of his prophecies were very much biblical and he was also accused of copying the contents of a previous works of astrology, anMirabilis, a book of prophesies written by saints in 1522.

Accusations and objections aside, he was much revered even by the royals and nobles of that time, the most important of which was Queen Catherine de’ Medici, wife of King Henry 11. The queen greatly relied on his council regarding the safety of her family.

His most important prediction even today is the one that predicted the death of the King in a jousting match, describing exactly the way he would be injured and die. The quatrain reads, “The young lion will overcome the older one, on the field of combat in a single battle. He will pierce his eyes through a golden cage, two wounds made one, then he dies a cruel death”. In the actual event, the tournament took place between the king and Comte de Montgomery. The shields that both men used were embossed with lions. The ‘young lion’ suggests Comte, who was six years younger than the king. When his lance shattered, a splinter broke through the visor, referred to as the ‘golden cage’ and pierced his eye and the other his temple. The king surely died a ‘cruel death’. There were certain events that increased his popularity.

Thus, his many quatrains for the future also were thought to be prophesies like the one referring to the French Revolution, to the death of President John F. Kennedy, the Los Angeles earthquake and many more such disasters and events. The most popular documentary, depicting his life and works is by the name of, The Man Who saw Tomorrow made during the 1970’s.

Were his predictions really true or just mere vague references from past disasters to coincidental future events? You decide.