BIOGRAPHY AND PERSONALITY OF A FAMOUS CAPRICORN: MICHEL DE NOSTRADAMUS

(born Dec. 14, 1503, Saint-Rémy, France—died July 2, 1566, Salon) French astrologer and physician known for his prophecies. He practiced medicine in southern France from 1529 and gained a reputation for his innovative treatment of plague victims in 1546–47. He began making prophecies in 1547, and in 1555 they were published in a book titled Centuries. He wrote them in rhymed quatrains, using a cryptic style that mingled French, Latin, Spanish, and Hebrew. Catherine de Médicis invited him to her court as an astrologer, and in 1560 he was appointed physician to Charles IX. His prophecies are still widely read; readers have discovered apparent predictions of such world events as the French Revolution and World War I.

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