Letter 31

[66 rº] Eruditiss. viro simul et amicissimo D. Laurentio Tubbio Pomerano Legum Doctori M. Nostradamus, s. [66 rº-68 rº]. Mense proximo misi ad te, eruditiss. Pomerane, et alium fasciculum, quo erat inclusa Io. (a) Rosenb. filii genitura, simul et epistola ad clariss. D. Io. Rosenbergium patrem, cum superioribus quoque ad te misissem eiusdem revolutiones quinque et Caroli genesin, omnia mehercule tam diligenti calculo supputata, tam etiam copiosé simul et aperté explicata, ut quod requirat amplius Dominus ille noster, nihil erit. Nunc quando in caeteris omnibus vobis, ut mihi videor, satisfeci, satisfaciam quoque et tuis ultimis literis. Doleo certe, et vere doleo, mihique tecum communis est ille dolor, quod tam cito nobis eriperis Augustamque, ut ais, sub hyemem revocaris, antequam contigerit me tecum (b) colloqui, et variis de rebus coram disserere, quae vel literis committi [66 vº] non possunt, vel etiam ut committantur non est liberum. Tu tamen, ubicunque fueris, et de tua et Domini nostri valetudine, itemque de coeteris rebus, ut soles, me semper facies certiorem: de quo (c) ego quidem non dubito, et mihi persuadeo. Sed imprimis, si me amas, mi perdocte Pomerane, da operam, ut quamprimum Dominus Rosenbergius per te accipiat omnia nostra scripta, et fruatur, quae scio avidissimé in dies expectat. Sed quid µast???? d'?pp???; t? d'??? a???te petes?µ?(1). Ego vero gratias multas ago novo tuo hospiti D. Ioquinio Consiliario, qui nullo mea merito bonam suam erga me voluntatem non solum verbis, sed et facto velit declarare. Miror autem, quod D.D. Liparinum reliqueris, quicum, scio, multae et magnae necessitudinis causae erant tibi coniunctae. De quo nihil tamen scribis. Nolui me viae dare et in aulam proficisci, ut ad te scribebam, nisi perfecta piane atque [67 rº] absoluta Caroli IX Francorum regis genitura: quod hisce diebus fecimus, non sine magnis vigiliis et labore incredibili, ut res tanta postulabat. Nunc me aliud ex alio impedit, et video instare hyemem: sum tamen µete???? et adhuc in dubio versatur (d) animus. Si mansero, erit quo passim mandatis tuis votivis et tam diu desideratis quamprimum satisfacere: quod tibi promitto atque recipio diligenter esse facturum. Tu modo 1o. Brototio typogr. quidquam ne committito, et nihil sit nobis amabo! negotii cum mortuis: iamdudum enim excessit e vivis vir bonus et pius, et qui me unice colebat atque observabat. Filium reliquit P. Brototium, sed iuvenem, qui necdum, ut ait ille, Quaerit OPES ET AMICITIAS, VEL INSERVIT HONORI (2). Unus Craftius (e) aptissimus est, si modo idipsum velit curare nostra gratia, ut certé vult: nam memini illum aliquando [67 vº] mihi dixisse, nihil esse tantum, quod mea causa non facturum sit quam libentissime: et id (f) confirmavit frequentissimis literis, magna cum amoris, observantiae, studiorum, officiorum erga me significatione. Quapropter mihi crede Craftio omnia: mihi enim perspecta est eius fides, probitas, integritas atque etiam ex figura Astronomica probior est nemo, fidelior, sanctior, aequior, Germanam veré sinceritatem illam redolens. Quid? ex cognomine Crafft si forte aliquid voles quoque expiscari, remotissimum sané ab omni fallaciae genere et improbitatis comperies. Haec adduxi ne dubitares de eius fide, ut certe non dubitas. Nec mihi aliud in votis est, quam ut meae literae ad vos bona fide perferantur: quapropter cas obsigno tenacissima cera, anulo meo superinsculpto, cuius ad oram nomen est meum, Solis figura supremum locum tenente, tribusque planetis infimum. Unde facilé subolfacere possis fuerintne illae reclusae, necne [68 rº]. Ac ne esset (g)etiam contemptui aut negligentiae locus, singulis fasciculis quibus et Caroli et Ioannis Rosenberg. erant inclusae geniturae pro vectura quindenos asses Turonensis monetae addidi, et iis quidem tabellariis commisi quorum in perferundis literis commoda fructusque omnes consistunt. Craftius ad nos scribebat nuper nihil iam necesse esse Biturigas quidquam ad te mittere: putare enim se te in Germaniam profectum; ne desisterem tamen mea omnia ad se destinare(h), curaturum diligentissimé ut (i) ad D. 1o. Rosenbergerum perferrentur, vel ad te, ubicunque esses, modo illi esset exploratum. Itaque rescripsi me istud non ignorare, et à te certiorem esse' factum. Quamobrem curaret rogavi, ut ista secundum mandata tua redderentur Augustae in aedibus Georgii Herwarti senioris, quod credo ilium sedulo facturum.(k) Caesar Nostradamus F. (l) plurimam tibi reddit salutem. Vale idib. Octobris, et nos semper, ut facis, ama. M.D.LXI. 

From Nostradamus to Lorenz Tubbe

To the very erudite and very dear friend the lord Lorenz Tubbe, the Pomeranian, doctor of law, Michel Nostradamus, greetings.

Within the last month, I had sent to you, very scholarly Pomeranian, a new package which contained the birth chart of Hans Rosenberger's son, as well as a letter intended for Hans Rosenberger Senior; that is to be added to the five progressed charts that I sent previously, as well as the birth chart of Karl. All of these calculations, replete with explanations, I should think, will give complete satisfaction to your master.

Now that I have thus responded to all your earlier requirements, I will consider the response to your last letter. I am sincerely sad and I sympathize with you, that you must leave us so quickly, being recalled to Augsburg, as you announced to me, before this winter. I will not be able to discuss with you subjects which may be difficult or even imprudent to speak of in letters. In any case, if you can, give me news of your health, also all that concerns you, as you have done before; I trust in your fidelity.

In addition, please have the kindness, my dear and learned Pomeranian, to arrange that the lord Rosenberger continues to receive my messages by your intermediary, because I know that he awaits my news impatiently. But what? [you say] "Shall I Whip the horses more? I then have to force them to steal!" [Homer] (Odyssey? )

I return the grace of my heart to my new host, Jocquin the adviser, who, without any reward (obsolete use of the word but was in use at the time) on my part, expresses to me his goodwill, not in words, but in acts. However, I am astonished that you gave up Doctor Liparin with whom, according to what you have said, you had the deepest of great and friendly feelings. However, you have not said much to me to me on this subject.

Finally, I do not intend to return to the court as I had made clear to you, before finishing some of the birth chart for King Charles IX; I have worked there lately, at the price of long days and of enormous labour, proportional to the importance of the subject. And now, here is another impediment -- it is that the winter approaches -- and therefore I am undecided and plunged into uncertainty.

If I remain here, I will do all that I can to answer the questions that you pose to me; I promise to you my diligence.

From now on, do not entrust anything to Jean Brotot; grace, do not maintain any relationship to the dead! He has left the world of the living, indeed, this excellent man, who expressed to me devotion through many trials. I want to speak about Pierre Brotot; Admittedly, he still leaves a son, but too young and who, for the moment, can only "seek the richnesses and the friendships and court the honorary duties" [Horace]. Kraft alone seems to me to be suited to deal with my business, if, however, he still wants it. I believe, besides, that he still waits out there(?),
because one day, he declared to me that nothing would be more pleasant to him than to put himself to my service; it is what he had comfirmed under the terms of many letters, which always testified of his affection and his goodwill. Thus, entrust all my mail to my dear Kraft, of whom I have tested the good faith and the integrity and honesty, also, according to his astrological portrait, there is nobody more faithful, nor more honest: He is the true model of the Germanic (sinceriten?) . Moreover, if you want to look further into the significance of the name Kraft, you will note that he strongly moves away from any kind of fraud or dishonesty. All of this is so you do not doubt his good faith; anyhow, you have been completely correct.

I wish for myself nothing as long as I can forward my letters to you in all security; this is why I seal them very securely with an adhering wax, which I then imprint with my ring; my name is written along the edge, the Sun is represented at the top and three planets on the bottom. Thus, you will be able to verify easily if my letters have been opened or not.

Besides, it is not about demonstrating the least bit of negligence in the routing of the birth charts for Karl and Hans Rosenberger, considering that I have spent 15 as de tournois (?) for their transport and have entrusted them to the mail whose only resources consist of the payments to transport the missives.

Kraft has just written to me that it will be no trouble to send somebody to Bourges, since he believes that you already set out to return to Germany; However, I will certainly continue to address my mail to him and it will be arranged to forward it, either to Hans Rosenberger, or to yourself, or where ever you are. I have requested of him, according to your directives, to address the mail intended for you to be sent to Augsburg c/o Georg Herwart Senior; thus, I think that is what he will do.

Cesar Nostradamus sends greetings to you in return.
Farewell, October 15, 1561, and always let our friendship endure.

Letter 32

[68 vº] Clarissimo ac nobiliss. heroi lo. Rosenbergio civi et patritio inclitae familiae Augustanae M. Nostradamus s. [68 vº-72 vº]. Paucis abhinc diebus, nobilissime Rosenbergi, redditae sunt nobis à te (a) literae, tua (b) iaspide tenia obsignatae in cera viridi, datae autem illae ad fontes febriles prope tua mapalia 15. cal. Iulii. Unde facere non possum, quin tantam moram admirer, quove in loco tamdiu asservatae in carcere. Bene scribebat Pomeranus noster mercatorum literas meliore esse fortuna et conditione, quam studiosorum. Superiori itaque mense fusissime ad te scripsi et misi genesin 1oannis filii tui expectatissimi non indiligenter, ut mihi videor, a nobis et supputatam et explicatam, ornatam autem duplici themate, ex planisphaerio collecto altero, altero ad morem avitum confecto. Iis porro characteribus transcribendam curavi, ut iam nemo queri possit de difficultate lectionis. Cuiusmodi est etiam illa altera Caroli tui [69 rº] nisi quod triplici (c) via calculata: quam ad te misi circiter cal. Augusti. Revolutiones etiam numero quinque ad te miseram paulo ante, hoc est idibus Iuliis. Iis omnibus te frui hoc tempore plané credo, idque diligentia partim Pomerani nostri, partim Craftii mercatoris, ad quem ego omnia mitto cognita eius probitate, fide, singulari in me observantia studioque eximio; qui quoties vestra per eum accipio, toties pollicetur mihi et defert in rebus omnibus studium suum, officium, operam, laborem: quo animo dicere nolo, vir supra omnes meo iudicio humanus, diligens idemque officiosus. Quare nihil est quod dubites de eius fide: diligentissimé, mihi crede, et tua et Pomerani et nostra mandata exhaurit atque exequitur. Brototium meum iamdudum Parca rapuit, quae quidquid est apud nos boni quamprimum sibi vendicat. P. Brototius filius iuvenis est admodum et [69 vº] ista parum curare videtur. Porro autem tales sunt plerumque nostrae literae, quae si vel non perferantur vel negligentius habeantur, non parum ea res nos offensura sit. Quare omnia posthac Craftio mittito: ambobus enim maximé cupit et suam operam et studium navare. Sed oro te, mi Rosenbergi, fac me quamprimum certiorem de perlatis ad te filiorum genituris et tuis revolutionibus, itemque de caeteris rebus copiosissimé: nihil enim mihi gratius, nihil iucundius accidere potest suavissima illa literarum tuarum lectione. Acceptis tuis ultimis coepi tuam genituram, quae mihi alioqui frequenter est in manibus, iterum exactissimé calculare triplici quidem via, visoque ascendente in angulo medii coeli, fortuna inter ascendentem, Solem et Lunam, revera necesse est ista omnia pertinere ad quartam domum, et te omnia parentum bona possidere, indicaréque prosperos et felices successus in rebus paternis [70 rº], in metallicis, in mineralibus, in fodinis, in thesauris absconditis et rebus occultis, atque immobilibus, in agricultura etiam ac edificiis. Quamobrem te vehementer etiam atque etiam rogo per mutuam amicitiam nostram, per suavem illam tuam suavitatem atque humanitatem, per praeclarissima denique maiorum tuorum insignia, ne desistas ab incoeptis: à tergo est a?a?µ t??µ, sed vel ita proxima, ut ita me Deus amet, mihi aliter persuadere non passim, quin die Iovis tertia vel quarta Octobris, et mensibus praeterea antecedentibus, novae quaedam venae à tuis repertae fuerint. Non longe est mehercule à plumbo argentum, atque ita copiosum ut plumbum tandem evilescet, fossoribus intentis tantummodo in venis aureis, argenteis, aereisque perquirendis multum divitibus. Iuppiter etiam hoc tempore nescioquid pollicetur de stanno et aliis metallis. Crede mihi, ascendens est Cancer non sine causa, et inventus horoscopus [70 vº] in quarta domo non frustra, Sole in secunda ab zodiaco. Itaque dum ego iterum atque iterum profundius versor in calculando, video meliora in dies atque feliciora portendi tibi, nec tibi modo, sed et liberis, sed et iis qui sunt ex eodem semine paterno; de matre iudicium nondum institui. Et revera cuidam fratri significantur eadem feré in metallicis ac fodinis, quae tibi; certé aequalis sors, propter Solem et Mercurium cum cauda in undecima ab horoscopo, et undecima tertia est ab zodiaco, et in tertia ab horoscopo Virgo fuit: quod fratri aut sorori tecum aequalem in omnibus sortem manifesto indicat; demum exantlatis malis temporibus atque luctuosis Fortunae vultum adfore quam maximé benignum atque facilem, cuius prosperitas aequé redundet primo tamen ad liberos, deinde ad fratres: nam Virgo fuit in domo fratrum, simul et liberorum. Mars porro in quinta cum capite Drac. perpetuam felicitatem pollicetur. [71 rº] Et Fortuna in secunda ab horoscopo, quae divitiarum domus est, tuos prosperos successus, et à te petendos innuit; at eadem in quinta ab zodiaco, filiorum loco, deliciarum, voluptatum, multo feliciores liberorum causa portendit. Ascendens vero Cancer, et horoscopus in quarta longe prosperrimos omnesque omnium felicitates complectitur. Quae omnia latius explicata sunt à nobis in tua genitura, et diligentius iterum (ut spero) persequemur in secunda illa quam tibi paro, quae quidem iam optimo nititur principio. Ubi absoluta erit, quamprimum ad te mittam, simul cum altera revolutione anni 1562 necnon 1573 qui, ut scis, annus est tuus climactericus. In tua genesi praecipuum illud erit ex nomine matris et cognomine tractum iudicium, quodquidem nondum attigeram, etsi et illud et pleraque alia maiorum tuorum nomina ex astrorum ratione deprehenderam, quae postea bona fide ad me transmisisti, et revera [71 vº] unita concorditer omnia ad calculum astronomicum aequissimé respondent. Quod etiam, ut caetera, exactius iterum videro. Nuper à te petebam, ut, si themata aliquot revolutionum tuarum haberes, ea ad me mitteres, sed iam nihil est opus: ceperat enim me oblvio quaedam loci (d) in quo natus es, et pendebam prorsus, conficerémne themata sub altitudine Augustae, an comitatus Tyrolensis; at ubi evolvi volumen epistolarum tuarum, simul et D. Laur. Pomerani, quas sub signo habeo, et servo diligentissimé, inveni te natum Augustae Vindelicorum, et statim ea confeci ex antiquissimis meis, (e) et D. Cypriani Leovitii tabulis ad altitudinem 49. Interim nihil labora : quamprimum enim omnia ad umbilicum perducam et ad te mittam. Quod superioribus literis scribis nuper admodum perscrutando subterrestria in fodinis venas plumbeas inventas satis divites, gratulor certe tibi, mihi gaudeo, gratulaturus et [72 rºJ propediem Diis adiuvantibus, de aurei, argenteis ac aereis et mihi verius gavisurus. Quod terreis faecibus ita mixtas, ut ingentis sit laboris metallum ab illis dividere, nimirum illud est, ut scis, rerum humanarum condimentum, labor scilicet et voluptas et, ut tu ais, dulcedo cum amaritudine semper est coniuncta,modo ne sit ingratus labor et illiberalis, aspiretque tua fortuna labori, quod profecto in dies factura est omnium astrorum conspiratione atque consensu, et id tibi separatim spondeo in meque recipio. Nihil enim est tam minime vanum tamque non contemnendum, quam praedictiones astrologicae, quam sidera illa et stellae, quae divinis animatae mentibus imperium quasi quoddam in haec inferiora exercent'. Hisce diebus absolvi Caroli IX. Francorum Regis genituram quantis cum vigiliis et laborum taedio non dicam. (f) Hoc tantum dicam, faxit [72 v'] Deus, ne sit vel indignus, vel cassus meus labor. D. Cypr. Leovitium, si quando te invisit, iubeas (g) rogo mea nomine plurimum salvere. Tuas avide expecto, quamobrem cas fac ne diu desiderem, et interim appinge (ut facies) aliquid novi, nam illa iam sunt vetera; et nihil mihi est suavius, quam istis tuis advocari gaudiis, et ea mihi tecum esse communia: quae perpetua ut sint tam opto, quam video et te et tuas liberos ex influentibus undique fortunae donis solidé in posterum gavisuros. Quod brevi faxit Deus optimus maximus, et vos diu servet incolumes. Salone Petraea Provinciae Galliae idibus Octo-bris, 1561. 

From Nostradamus to Hans Rosenberger

To the most eminent and noble personage Hans Rosenberger, citizen and patrician of an illustrious family in Augsburg, Michel Nostradamus, Greetings.

A few days ago, very noble Rosenberger, I received your letter, sealed with green wax like a jasper garland, from Fieberbrunn, close to your mines, dated June 18. I do not know whether to be offended or astonished by so long a delay. Or maybe the courier had been held in captivity? Our dear Pomeranian was right to say that the letters circulate under better conditions between the hands of the merchants that in those of the students.

Last month, I wrote to you lengthily and addressed to you the birth chart of your son Hans, which you await impatiently; I think of how I calculated it with care and properly explained it; I joined to it a double representation of the chart, one calculated according to examination of the Planisphere, the other conforming to the procedure of my ancestors. I had the whole thing transcribed applying characters such that nobody will complain about difficulty in deciphering it. It is the same way that I had presented the chart for your son Karl, which was sent on August 1st; but that one was calculated according to the triple method.

Shortly before that date, that is on July 15, I had sent you five progressions; I hope that you have received them, thanks to the diligence of our friend the Pomeranian, also thanks to the merchant, Kraft, whom I entrust all my correspondence, knowing his loyalty and his good faith, and I appreciate the ardent deference that he expresses to me. Each time that he brings your news to me, he renews his promise to take all his care in rendering service to me. What justifies such zeal? I do not know. This man is in my opinion the most devoted and most effective that there is. You can always rely on him -- he is ready to execute all your orders, like mine and those of the Pomeranian.

Here already it has been some time that my dear Brotot was delighted by Parks, who claimed for himself priority as [being] the best among us. Pierre Brotot, the son, is still quite young and does not take those things to heart. However, if my mail is not conveyed, or if it is delayed too much, that annoys me greatly; this is why I entrust everything, from here on out, to Kraft, who demonstrates swiftness in serving us from one to the other.

Please, my dear Rosenberger, let me know that you received earlier, the birth charts of your sons and your progressions, and all my mail. For me, nothing could be more gratifying than knowing that you took note with pleasure the letters that I have sent to you.

I received your last missive and I am given to the study of your birth chart. I spent a great deal of time on this work, I used my triple method; I established that the Ascendant comes to occupy the region of the sky and that the part of Fortune is between the Ascendant, the Sun and the Moon; it is necessary that all that is located in fourth house signifies: possession of the goods of your parents, great successes concerning your inheritance, metals, minerals, mines, hidden treasures, secret affairs, buildings, agricul- ture and buildings. Also, I urgently beg you, in the name of our mutual friendship, of your exquisite kindness, and of all the titles and triumphs of your ancestors, do not give up your companies.

Good Fortune is in sight, it is even very close; God keeps me! I cannot do this any differently than to simply tell you, for on Thursday October 3 or 4 (1) - if it does not start in the months preceding - will then be the discovery of new veins of metal. And, my faith, the silver is not far from lead; it will be so abundant that the lead will seem negligible and that the miners will apply to seek only very rich veins of gold, silver and copper. Jupiter promises for the same time tin and other metals in an amount unknown to me. Believe me, it is not without cause that the Ascendant is in Cancer, nor that your horoscope is in the fourth house, Sun is in the second zodiacal house. I made and remade my calculations, with more and more precision: I do not (?) see for you that improvement of your fate in the days to come; and that not only for yourself, but for your children and all those who are of the same paternal ancestry; I do not have studies for your maternal ancestry, yet.

In fact, the same forecasts relating to the metal mines apply to one of your brothers; his fate is similar to yours, considering he has the Sun and Mercury, as well as the Tail of the Dragon, in the 11th house of the horoscope - which is the third zodiacal [house] - and that the Virgin occupies the third house of the horoscope; all that indicates for this brother (or this sister) a fate completely similar to yours.

Finally, here is the end of the years of misfortune. Fortune has presented its favourable face; this prosperity flashes back first of all on your children, then on your brothers; because the Virgin occupies the house of the brothers, like that of the children. As for Mars, in fifth house, with the tale of the Dragon, it promises unending felicity. The part of Fortune, in house 2 of the horoscope - house of the riches - promises you brilliant successes and urges you to requisition them. However, it is in the fifth zodiacal house , that of sons, as well as pleasures and rejoices - thus it announces the great satisfaction caused by the children - the Ascendant is in Cancer, and the horoscope in fourth house promises the greatest satisfaction of all kinds to you.

I have explained all of that in detail in the chart that I already sent to you, and I renew my explanations, with even more care, in the second chart that I prepare for you and whose beginning seems to me perfectly satisfactory. As soon as it is finished, I will send it as fast as possible to you, as well as the progressions of 1562 and 1573: this last set is, as you know, that of your climateric year.

It will be extremely useful for me, in order to establish your charts, to know the surname and the first name of your mother, but I did not find it necessary to use them, even if I have marked the details of this kind concerning your antecedents, by the provision of the stars, details that you confirmed to me afterwords. In truth, these details agree perfectly with the results of the astrological calculations. But I will review it all like I did the rest.

I had requested that you send me the progressed charts that you might have in your possession; but I do not need them any more. I had, indeed, forgotten the exact place of your birth and did not know any more if it were necessary to calculate the chart by the latitude of Augsburg or for that of Tyrol; but I again have leafed through your abundant mail, like that of Lorenz the Pomeranian, which I save with great care. I thus have found that your birthplace was indeed Augsburg and I have consequently carried out my calculations, according to my own traditional method and those conforming with the tables of Cyprien Leowitz, for the latitude of 49 degrees. You need not worry: as soon as I have completed this work, I will send it to you.

In your last letter, you said to me that recently, while digging in your mines, you have discovered considerable lead veins: you are glad and I rejoice; but, in the immediate future, grace be to God, you will rejoice yourselves to find veins of gold, silver and lead, verifying my forecasts. Admittedly, the heaps of dirt are mixed with the metal and it is a large task to carry out the sorting: nothing astonishing in that! You know well that the effort is the true seasoning of all things human; as you yourself know, any pleasure and any joy are always supplied with some sorrow. But the sorrow taken will be revealed profitable, the luck is in response to the efforts: it is what the happy provision of the stars announces with certainty in the near future: I engage personally towards you that which you realize. There is nothing less vain, nothing less confusing, than astrological predictions: the planets and the constellations, (like?) animated divine spirits, truly exert their rule over the world here below.

These last days, I have finished the birth charts of the King of France, Charles IX, at the price of many night vigils as before, I cannot say anything more to you. I will only declare: " God grant that my work is neither made indignant, nor useless!".
If ever you receive the visit of Cyprien Leowitz, please greet him on my part.
I await your news impatiently, do not make me wait for too long, please; tell me what you will have done again, because for the moment the information which I have on you starts to date. Nothing will be more pleasing for me than to share your joys and of discussing all that has touched you.

I wish you enduring happiness. I believe besides that yourself and your children will enjoy it in the future, thanks to the good influences of destiny. May God almighty protect you and keep you in good health!

Salon-of-Crau (Croix?) in Provence de France, October 15, 1561.
(1) October 3 fell on Thursday in 1566 and October 4 fell on Thursday in 1565.  

Letter 33

[72 vº] Clarissimo viro virtute et eruditione praestanti D.M. Nostradamo Doct. artis med. et Math. incomparabili Domino suo summa s. [72 vº-75 vº). Si vales, clarissime Domine Nostradame, bene est, ego Dei beneficio recte valeo, melius sane quam cum Biturigibus totos ad Iustinianum [73 rº] desidens dies me macerabam, IPSE MEUM COR EDENS, HOMINUM VESTIGIA VITANS (1). Nam nunc inde usque à cal. Septembris totum hoc tempus in peregrinationibus consumpsi, quod futurum quidem proximis meis ad te literis praesignificavi, quas mense Augusto ad te dederam: puto enim eas ad te ex Lugduno perlatas. Respondi tunc ultimis literis tuis, quas 4. Non. Augusti dederas, unà cum expositione illa elegantissima Caroli geniturae, teque admonui ut post cal. Septembreis nihil Biturigas ad me mitteres, sed, si quid velles, id Augustam potius iuberes e Lugduno per Craftium mitti ad aedes domini Georgii Herwarti senioris, ibi facile mihi redditum iri: id rogo ut adhuc fiat, si quid est quod mittere velis. Ego spero me circiter cal. Ianuarias Augustae futurum, a qua nunc absum supra ducentas leucas, itinere satis longo et difficili et propter anni tempus molestissimo. Genituram Caroli [73 vº] misi in Germaniam statim atque a te acceperam mense Augusto, sed quia significavi eis nos è Gallia abituros, interea ab eis nihil responsum est, quod quotidie nostrum reditum expectant; qui tamen differtur propter discipulorum meorum vitricum, qui in aula Gallica nimis diu moratur, missus repetitum nescio quae à Rege, grandis est summa: is nos Antverpiam praemisit cum Lutetiae orirentur frequentes turbae de religione, de quibus puto ad vos perlatum. Speraveram me ibi visurum te vel in aula Regis: siquidem nuper significaveras te à quadam magnifica Domina evocatum fore ut Biturigas transires; sed nihil potui ibi de te intelligere, nequé Lutetiae neque in aula. Atque ita cum propter metum pestilentiae, turn etiam propter augescentes subinde de religione turbas Lutetiae non possemus diutius esse sine periculo (2), confectis rebus nostris, et comparata mihi bibliotheca [74 rº] mediocri, Antverpiam nos contulimus, quae itinere octo dierum aut paulo amplius à Lutetia abest, emporium nobilissimum totius occidentis, et natura loci munitissimum. Sed de statu rerum Lutetiae prius forte quaeres, quanquam non dubito te habere à quibus haec iampridem resciveris omnia. Mihi sane res tata ad bellum civile spectare videtur, nisi aliquid remiserint Pontificii et tempia concesserint Protestantibus. Atque utinam sine caede et sanguine hoc sic abiret. Plebs Lutetiana insigniter insanit et furit magis quàm uspiam alibi in tata Gallia, superstitione fatua excaecata. Disputationes de religione institutae in oppido Poyssi refrigescunt culpa Cardinalium nescio quid causantium et morae nectentium (3). Circiter cal. Octobreis Rex adversa admodum valetudine tenebatur : itaque visus est mihi post macilentior et nescio quo modo imbecillior (4). Dii faxint ut superstes sit nobilissimus puer. [74 vº] Sed mihi familia Valesiana p??? d?s?? declinare videtur, Burbonia ad ortum, ut sunt rerum vices, utque COGIT ADRASTIAE CEDERE REGNA DEUS (5). Ad Belgicum quod attinet, nondum quidquam hic movetur, sed durat adhuc alibi exautorata Pontificis autoritas. Nonnihil tamen remissum est de inquisitione Hispanica, qua acerrimé etiam in suspectos animadverti solebat. Sed vide novas ar!es. Qui suspecti sunt, noctu comprehensi in propriis aedibus abstrahuntur in carcerem, ibique sine ullo strepitu ac forma iudicii sugmerguntur in dolio aquae quadrupedes constricti. Id eo consilio fit ne quid publicé oriatur turbae, si publicé sumeretur de talibus supplicium. Ita mihi hodie relatum est intra XV. dies proximos tres honestas et pias matronas ob haeresis suspicionem hoc modo clam é domibus noctu extractas periisse. E Germania nihil novi habeo. Fama hic est Reginam [75 rº] Angliae nupturam Regi Sueciae Principi iuveni et ditissimo (6). Praeter haec nihil novi quod magnopere scribendum putarem habeo, téque rogo ut haec boni consulas. Ex Germania Deo volente reliqua copiosius et diligentius atque etiam saepius. De Rosenberg. nostro puto te iampridem é Lugduno habere responsum. Ego reversus Augustam quam maximis itineribus properabo ad ipsum. Non dubitabis quin omnia tua sint ei futura gratissima, téque in hominem gratum labores et officia collocaturum. De mea genesi quod scribis te examinaturum eam, vehementer gaudeo. Sed heus, tu, NON MEA AURUM RENIDET IN DOMO (7). Faciam tamen ne in mediocritate nostra gratitudinem desiderare possis. Neque enim mihi usque adeo fortuna noverca est neque ita sordidé tenax animus, ut summos tuos atque pulcherrimos labores non remunerari velim. Quaeso te, de coniugio vide quid speres, et quo aetatis anna, de posteritate, [75 vº] tum de statu et honoribus, Fe??? ?a? a?a??? ?t?µ? (8), de fortunis et reliquis huiusmodi. Bene et feliciter vale cum omni familia tua, vir doctiss., méque, quod facis, ama, ego te redamare non desinam. Data Antverpiae in Belgico, XVII. cal. Decembris An. 1561. Tuae Excell. addictissimus Laurentius Pomeranus.  

From Lorenz Tubbe to Nostradamus

To the most eminent personage, remarkable by his merits and by his science, Michel Nostradamus, doctor of medicine and mathematics, his incomparable master, greetings.

I rejoice, most noble lord Nostradamus, to know you are in good health. As for me, thank God, I am well, even better than when I was at Bourges, when I had to consume entire days plunged in the Justinian Code; " which consumed my heart and has deprived me of my relations with my kind ".

For now, since September 1, I have spent all my time travelling, as I had told you in my preceding letter. It was dated for August and should have reached you while passing through Lyon. In it I answered your letter of August 8, which contained a splendid commentary for the birthchart of Karl. I told you not to send anything to Bourges after September 1. If you wanted to reach me, I repeat my instructions -- send your mail by the intermediary of Kraft, of Lyon, at Augsburg, c/o Georg Herwart senior. He would foward it to me easily.

I hope to arrive at Augsburg for January 1, from which I am for the momentmore than 200 leagues away and the route is difficult -- especially in the wrong season.

I forwarded to Germany the birth chart of Karl as soon as I received it from you in August, but, that was when I told you that I was leaving France, of course I could not receive an answer [before I left].

My friends are awaiting our return any day. However, our return is delayed because of the father-in-law of my students, who is over much delayed at French court. It has been his responsibility to recover some debt or other -- it must concern a significant sum. He sent us ahead to await him at Antwerp because of the religious conflicts which prevail at Paris, and about which I believe that I have told you.

I had hoped to meet you at the court itself, considering that when you gave me to hope that you would be passing through Bourges, you told me that you were being summoned by some very noble lady but I could find no trace of you anywhere, either in Paris, or at the court. We could not stay in Paris without risking danger; we feared the plague and the religious conflicts that only worsen. We therefore quickly organized our affairs. I equipped myself with a few books, and we continued on our way to Antwerp, that is, which means that we have already been travelling for rather more than eight days. Antwerp is the most splendid of all the west and is benefited by a site that is particularly well sheltered.

But you have probably been more interested in what is happening in Paris, although, undoubtedly, you receive news about it via other sources. Personally, I believe that they are headed directly for a civil war -- unless the papists make concessions and give up the churches to the Protestants. If only it would all occur without bloodshed! The people of Paris are really becoming more than any other people in France; they are blinded by vain superstition. The colloqium of Poissy, created to deal with religious affairs, languished because of the cardinals who do nothing but bring up further causes for delay.

Around October 1, the king fell ill; a little after this date, to me he seemed rather sickly and frail. May the heavans protect this noble young man! The family of Valois is headed, I believe, towards its decline, while that of the Bourbons ascends. Thus the events go, as soon as "God obliges us to cede power to "Adrastea" (Goddess of divine vengeance).

In Belgium, at the moment, there are no religious conflicts yet, only here and there is the authority of the Pope questioned. There is some easing up in the Spanish Inquisition which used to deal very severely with suspects. But here is the new way they proceed now. people are seized in the night, in their own homes. Those whom they consider suspect -- they throw in prison. Then, without any sort of trial they immerse them in barrels filled with water, feet and wrists tied. Thus they proceed in order not to excite the mob of which would happen if such torments were known publicly. I was even told today that, during the last fortnight, three honest and pious old ladies, removed from their homes in this way, at night, on charges of heresy, apparently perished in this way.

I do not have any news from Germany. The rumour runs that the Queen of England may marry young King of Sweden. I have nothing else of any significance to announce to you; I await your own opinion on this news.

Once in Germany, God willing, I will write to you more often and at greater length. I hope that you received from Lyon the answer from our friend Rosenberger which will have been sent there.As soon as I return to Augsburg, I will arrange, even at the price of a long trip, to go and visit him. Do not doubt the pleasure that he will have had in receiving your letters, and be assured that you will not have been obliging one who is ungrateful.

I rejoice highly in what you told me, that is that you will examine my new birth chart. But alas for you, "gold does not glitter in my home". However, I will do my very best to express to you my gratitude. Fortune has not been too unkind to me, and my heart is not so hardened, that I would not compensate you for your considerable work. Please, devote some attention to my chances of marriage: at what age and in what year can I see myself getting married? Will I have children?

In my situation, what honorary duties can I hope to gain (or attain?)? "For honor is a divine good ". What fate awaits me?
Tell me all that you forsee for me.
Farewell and good health for yourself and all of your family, most wise doctor. Keep me in your affection and I will always preserve you in mine.

Antwerp, Belgium, November 15, 1561.
Wholly devoted to Your Excellence,
Lorenz, the Pomeranian.

Letter 34

Eximio ac maximé Astrologiae perito M. Mich. Nostradamo medicinae Doctori Domino ac amico suo unicé suspiciendo s. [75 vº-83 vº]. Clarissime ac omnium eruditiss. D. Nostradame, binas superioribus diebus ab Excellentia tua accepi literas, quarum priores VI. idus Sept., posteriores idibus Octobris erant datae, ex quib. non solum te sanum atque incolumem esse summa cum laetitia intellexi, sed etiam non minori gaudio percepi omnes meas literas, quas ad te dedi, una cum poculo argenteo deaurato, quo magnopere delectaris, effigiéque mea in [76 rº) forma numismatis argentei expressa, redditas esse; quanquam poculum non sit adeo preciosum, tamen propter insolentiam et raritatem tibi misi; similiter et effigiem meam, quam qui vident aiunt prorsus effigiem meam repraesentare, hac de causa misi, ut cum hilaris et inter amicos tuos esses, mei tanquam ignoti et huius, qui omnes Astrologiae peritos amat, memores essetis: hanc enim artem ab ineunte mea aetate in hunc usque diem dilexi et magni eam ex experientia feci. Priusquam mihi binae tuae priores literae erant redditae, quinque meas revolutiones anni 1561. 1562. 1563. 1564. et 1565. una cum literis Laurentii Pomerani nostri familiarissimi accepi, quas ego quanquam non assuefactus ad Gallicas literas legendas sim, tamen crebro legendo, magno labore et diligentia eas perlegi et literas intricatas cognoscere didici. Invenio autem quasdam in nativitate et revolutionib. [76 vº] meis obscuritates, quas non satis intelligo nec quae tua sit opinio scio; quare iamdudum Laurentio Pomerano, quo familiarissimé utor, de his locis obscuris scripsi eumque rogavi ut tuae Excell. scriberet et rogaret, ut illa obscura loca latius explicares et planiora redderes: itaque mihi rescripsit te eum certiorem fecisse te intra paucos dies Biturigas transiturum eumque invisurum, se tunc apud te de omnibus locis obscuris per totum tractatum percontaturum; ad haec hactenus responsum expectavi. Etsi autem longo iam temporis intervallo nullas à Laurentio Pomerano acceperim literas, tamen eum intellexi Biturigibus discessisse et cum patruelibus meis, quorum praeceptor est, Antverpiam iter fecisse: quare eius adventus quotidie expectatur, qui si eo venerit, statim ad me sine ulla mora revocabo eumque quomodo haec loca obscura intelligenda sint interrogabo: qui si mihi satis explicare poterit, illud onus [77 rº] in tuam Excellentiam non conjiciam; sin minus, quo perfectiorem intellectum sensumque habeam in his omnibus, tibi rescribam. Genituram filii ynei Caroli nondum accepi, spero tamen familiarem nos-trum Laur. Pomeranum a te accepisse eamque secum habere et mihi, quod Deus faxit ut brevi fiat, si ad me venerit, traditurum. (a) Magno igitur gaudio laetitiaque affectus sum nec dubito quin omnia diligentissime triplicique modo, Indico videlicet, Babylonico et tuo solito usitatoque more calculaveris. Quare magnopere huius geniturae desiderio teneor, ut eius bonam et adversam fortunam in ea inquiram. Deus optimus maximus, in cuius potestate et gubernatione coelum et terra consistunt, velit infortunium eius per suam misericordiam avertere et felicem fortunam ad sui nominis gloriam et commendationem praestare. Genituram filii mei Ioannis accepi et invenio te nullis laboribus aut diligentia in ea perficienda [77 vº] pepercisse, eamque tam miro artificio confectam esse, ut similem nunquam viderim, et reperio astra filio meo copiosam fortunam, praesertim autem in rebus metallicis promittere magnumque favorem et gratiam cum principibus et Regib. spondere: hoc velit Deus Opt. Max. ad sui nominis gloriam et filiorum meorum salutem praestare. Quantum ad morbos eius attinet, de quibus in sua nativitate mentionem facis, scias eum anno VII. et XIIII. suae aetatis duob. gravibus morbis extra patriam laborasse. Deus omnipotens velit et reliquos suos morbos, qui anno XXI. et XXXV. ei instant, benigniter avertere. Haec ideo tibi scripsi, ut de eius nativitate eo certior esses. Quod meam genituram exactius quam prius feceras more Indico exactis-simo denuo calculare coepisti, et mihi eam unà cum revolutione anni 1562 missurum promittis, propterea tibi gratias immortales ago, eàmque unà [78 rº] cum revolutione anni 1562 et aliis revolutionibus brevi expecto daboque aperam ut tibi aliquo munere pro tuis laboribus, diligentia et assiduitate satisfiat. Etsi autem miror me a te adeo amari, tamen aliter mihi persuadere non possum, nisi quemadmodum Deus Prophetam populo Israelitico in captivitate Babylonica misisset, ut eis redemptionem eorum praediceret et cos consolaretur, ita etiam peculiari fato et ordinatione divina fieri, me à te in his meis variis et magnis calamitatibus, quibus his temporibus obrutus fui, per literas consolari. Quare tibi gratias immortales ago Deumque tuo nomine orabo, ut tibi et tuis ab istis miseriis caveat. Hoc 1560 et 1561 anno satis multis miseriis et calamitatibus occupatus fui et praesertim propter servum aliquem, qui mihi aliquot millium aureorum damnum intulit et quasi furto abstulit, cui nunc litem intendi: qui si ex [78 vº] carcere liberaretur, multo maius mihi facesseret negotium maiusque damnum, extenuatioque famae inde oriretur; tamen omne meum infortunium Lemniumque malum Deo commendo, et in id omnem meam fiduciam pano, Deum tantum suos quos amat calamitatibus invisere eosque num velint constanter in vera fide, spe et fiducia perseverare, tanquam aurum per ignem probare. Quare pro his omnibus et etiam quod hactenus me et meos ne inimici nostri secundum eorum intentionem nobis possent nocere benigniter custodivit, maximas et immortales gratias Deo Opt. Max. que ago. Magno desiderio teneor revolutionis anni 1562 quam denuo confecisti: invenio enim in illis revolutionibus missis, mihi futuro anno adhuc maxima pericula et vitae et corporis esse subeunda. Habetur etiam in revolutionibus aedes et aedificia combustura: hoc velit Deus omnipotens [79 rº] benigniter avertere et nobis suam gratiam praestare ne fiat. Tamen celare te non possum, Excellentissime Domine Nostradame, circiter mensem [ - ] (b) ignem apud meam fodinam argenteam exortum, omniaque aedificia ibi combusta esse. Deus velit ut hoc incendio finem faciat, ne aliud maius inde sequatur. Terrorem mihi injicit hoc caput in iudicio meae geniturae de significationibus Saturni in VII. quod denotat mihi ab anno 1561 in principio Iulii usque ad annum 1563 eiusdem mensis multa damna esse ferenda, incommoda, bonorum diminutiones, perplures et adversas calamitates, factiones, accusa-tiones, contemptus meorum honorum et dignitatum, sed contra rursus me consolatur, quod certo scio Deum omnipotentem generi humano hoc sola-tium dedisse, quod describitur in Evangelista Mathaeo: VENITE AD ME OMNES, Qui LABORATIS (c) ET ONERATI ESTIS, ET EGO REFICIAM VOS (1). [79 vº] Similiter etiam promittis mihi hoc futuro 1562 anno et sequentibus felicissimam fortunam in rebus metallicis, et ais hoc futuro anno cum Cancer erit in ascendente, quod fortasse circiter XII. diem Iunii fiet, omnia optimé futura, nam adesse candidissimos splendidissimosque dies: quare me saepissimé mones, ne ab incoeptis desistam; et naturaliter verissiméque de rebus scribis, praesertim de vena quae in principio erit exigua, sed si diligenter et indefatigato labore perquiratur, inde perpetuam et indesinentem scaturiginem orituram, et testimonii loco adjicis in perquirenda ea appariturum aliquid in specubus, quod fossores perterrefaciat, sed statim evanescet. Scias igitur me adhuc firmiter in elaborandis meis fodinis persistere nec unquam mihi in mentem venisse eas deserendi, meque semper sperasse Deum mihi suam gratiam concessurum, ut etiam magnos meos sumptus, quos in rebus metalli- [80 rº] -cis, qui sunt ultra 120.000 francorum, expendi, rursus ex eisdem reciperem: nam ab ineunte mea aetate semper maximé feci et amore prosecutus sum res metallicas visumque mihi est omnium rerum, quibus magnae divitiae bona (d) et honesta ratione acquiruntur, nihil esse arte metallica utilius, nihil uberius aut magis pium hominibus à Diis immortalibus datum, qua tot millia hominum pauperrimorum nutriuntur; etsi ex agri bene cultis (ut alias res omittam) fructus capimus uberrimos, tamen uberiores ex fodinis, et saepe una fodina triplo maiores utilitatis fructus nobis praebet, quam agri quamplurimi: quocirca ex omnium fere saeculorum memoria cognoscimus, complures ex metallis divites factos esse et eadem multorum Regum fortunas amplificasse. Magno igitur me sensi cumulari gaudio cum in tuis revolutionibus, vel potius meis, invenissem astra mihi etiam [80 vº] copiosam maximamque fortunam in metallis promittere: quibus mihi animum iniecisti ut eo constantior in perquirendis venis sim. Scias igitur, excellentis. Domine Nostradame, me in meis fodinis ab eo tempore, quo meas proximas literas tibi scripsi, venam argenteam cupra mixtam invenisse quae adhuc mediocriter se ostendit, et spero hanc venam diuturnam futuram. In eodem monte, in quo mihi mea aedificia combusta sunt, in alia fodina venam etiam argenteam inveni, quae, quanquam exigua sit, tamen magnae spei est, ac diligentissimé indefatigatoque labore persequetur, quemadmodum et tu mihi suades. In alio monte aliam etiam habeo fodinam, in qua spiritus terrestris apparuit (e) fossoribus octo integris diebus singulis noctibus. Is,(f) quando fossores ex fodinis venerunt, sevum quo utuntur loco candelarum muro ex lapillis confecto sepit, et magnum strepitum in fodina excitavit. [81 rº] Haec et similia fossores magni faciunt sperantque se optimas venas ibi reperturos. Et sine dubio in eo impletur tua praedictio, quando ais appariturum aliquid in spe-cubus quod fossores perterrefaciat, sed iterum evanescet. In tertia fodina aliam venam reperi, quae prorsus nullius precii est; speramus tamen brevi argento et cupro divites fare. Inventa plumbi vena adhuc optima est, et Deo volente in dies magis magisque crescet. Tibi etiam significem necesse est, quemadmodum in iudicio meae nativitatis ponis, quod ab Ecclesiasticis infestabor et me odio prosequentur; hoc mihi praeterita aestate cum eis contigit: me enim propter religionem coram senatu Oenipontano(2) falso accusarunt, sed cum me excusassem et crimen purgassem, rursus dimissus fui. Invenio in mea nativitate et revolutionibus meis fare me in magna gratia et autoritate apud Caesarem, Reges et alios magnificos dominos: [81 vº] hoc verissimum est: valde enim me Caesarea maiestas, Maximilianus Rex Bohemiae, Rex Poloniae, eorum Consiliarii et alii magnifici Domini amant et, crede mihi, tuum iudicium hac in re verissimum est. Obiter te scire volui me nullam sororem et tantum unum fratrem adhuc habere qui 16 annis iunior est me nec ullas fodinas habet, duos tamen adhuc nepotes, qui fratris mei anno 47 defuncti filii sunt, habeo, quorum doctus et excellens vir meus pariter et tuus familiarissimus Laurentius Pomeranus praeceptor est, apud quem etiam filius meus Ioannes fuit. Nunc mea uxor charissima etiam adhuc vivit. Deus Optimus Maximus velit eam diu superstitem conservare. Celare te non possum, eruditiss. D. Nostradame, me podagra calida saepius laborasse incredibilesque dolores perpessum esse, sed postquam consilio medicorum carcaperilla radice, quae ex [82 rº] India in Hispaniam adfertur, usus essem et de ea bibissem, dolores podagrae me reliquerunt et cholerici humores in flegmaticos se converterunt, meaque natura prorsus mutata est. De hoc morbo satis multa in genitura mea praedicis. Quod (g) Ephemeridem anni 1562 in qua multa prodigia, multae calamitates, quae Europae nostrae miserrimae imminent, latius explicantur, Gallice more tuo confecisti Pioque IIII Pont. maximo dedicasti, horum cuperem duo vel tria exemplaria quamprimum à te habere: puto enim impressas esse. Scripsissem Lugdunum ut ibi emerentur, sed cum sciam tibi plurimos infensos esse, qui tuas Ephemerides, quae tamen ex diuturna experientia verissimae sunt, corrumpunt, et aliter sub tuo nomine imprimi curant, ut vix verum exemplar inveniatur, intermisi(3). Saepe miratus sum tuas Ephemerides sive Calendaria, cum vidissem te quod unoquoque die futurum esset praedixisse, et ita evenisse. [82 vº] Quare crede mihi tui similem non esse in tata Europa. Deus Opt. Max. velit te in diuturna sanitate ad sui nominis gloriam conservare. Quod Caroli IX. Regis Gallorum genituram confecisti, cuperem aliquid de eius secunda et adversa fortuna, quantum pennis committere licet, scire: multae, variae et periculosae res religionis causa in Gallia contingunt, quas tu omneis praedixisti nec ab re est, magnam hoc sequenti anno sanguinis effusionem in Gallia futuram, quemadmodum et in Germania praecedentibus annis factum est; sed nunc pacificé in Germania vivitur. Deus velit nos hoc in statu diu conservare. Si quid interim in fodinis meis vel alibi novi acciderit, certiorem te faciam nec quidquam te celabo: video enim me à te valdé amari téque mihi in omnibus promptum esse; quare efficiam tibi ut merito tuus labor et diligentia abundé sati compensetur [83 rº] Posthac Brototio typographo nihil amplius literarum, sed tantum Christophoro Craftio mercatori Lugdunensi mittam: is curabit ut guam fidelissimé ad te perferantur; similiter poteris et tu tuas literas ei committere, sed prius quas ad me dabis compinge in unum fasciculum et mihi inscribe, ut soles: quod si hoc fecisti, involve adhuc in aliam chartam, et inscribe Ioanni Langnavero, deinde mittas Craftio et roga ut illud fasciculum literarum Ioanni Langnavero mittat Augustam: is dabit operam ut mihi reddantur. Langnavero poteris sic inscribere: VIRTUTE ET PRUDENTIA ORNATISSIMO VIRO DOMINO IOANNI LANGNAVERO CIVI AUGUSTANO DOMINO SUO VENERANDO (4). Craftio, qui nostris amborum tabellariis pensitat, quod debetur satisfaciam. Genitura 1oannis filii mei elegantissimis fuit characteribus descripta; itaque rogo, si quid posthac vel literarum vel revolutionum ad me mittis, ut huic describendas des, ego libenter [83 vº] ei ea de re satisfaciam. Has cum obsignare vellem, accepi à Laur. Pomerano literas ex Antverpia. Is III nonas Septemb. Biturigib. discessit et scripsit se genituram filii mei Caroli non acce-pisse, quare te etiam atque etiam rogo, ut apud cos, quibus misisti, de ea inquiras et cures ut quam citissimé ad me perferatur. Vale, mi Domine Nostradame eruditissime, tibique persuade Excellentiam tuam à me mirabiliter amari. Datae ad fontes febriles prope mea mapalia XVIII cal. Ianuarias, Anno virginei partus M.D.LXI. T.E. addictissimus Io. Rosenbergerus. 

From Hans Rosenberger to Nostradamus

To the eminent and most erudite astrologer, Master Michel Nostradamus, doctor of medicine, his friend chosen among all, greetings.
Most noble and most erudite Master Nostradamus, it has been two days since I received your two letters, dated September 9 and October 15 respectively. I am overjoyed to know that you are in perfect health: it is also with joy that I learned that you received all my letters, as well as the goblet of gilded silver - that you have appreciated so much - and the gilded medallion with my image engraved on it.
Regarding the goblet that I sent you; it is not a question that it is so precious, but rather it is especially rare. As for my image, all those who saw it had found that it resembled me very much. There is a reason that I have sent it to you; when you are with your friends, in merry making, you can think of me without me being there to see, like a friend of all your astrologers. Since my earliest youth until now, I have greatly appreciated their discipline and held their conclusions in high esteem. Before receiving your last two letters, I had already received my five solar progressions of 1561, 1562, 1563, 1564 and 1565, with the letter from our
very dear friend Lorenz, the Pomeranian. Although I can hardly exert myself anymore to the reading of the French, I have, however, succeeded thanks to the clear writing traced carefully so that I am able to take note of some of your text.
In addition, you promised me for the year 1562 which is coming, and for the following years, a very good fortune in the metal mines. You told me that next year Cancer will be my Ascendant, on or about June 12 -- perhaps all will work out for the best -- I ought to realize one particularly favorable period. Therefore, you entreat me not to give up my companies. All that you say on this subject -- you exact (claim?)was completely revealed [to you]: evoke a small vein at the beginning, but likely at the price of perserverance in work and excavation, to provide undefined minerals. You added that, in the area concerned, an apparition would show itself in the cave and would terrify the minors, before disappearing. You know well that until the present I have prospected my mines without lessening [my efforts]. Never have I intended to give up this work. I have always counted on the grace of God to return the expenses employed for the search of metal, that is more than 120.000 Francs.
Since my earliest youth, I always had it in my heart to dig in the metal mines. It has always seemed to me that, of all the goods which one can acquire by work, nothing is more useful than the work for the metal. Nothing richer has been granted to men by Providence -- because this work sustains thousands of individuals - most among the poor. Certainly, the well cultivated fields - to speak only about that - produce rich people -- but those of the mines are even richer. Only one mine brings back (returns) three times more than that of many fields. The Histories retain the names of people made rich by metal mines and Kings whose mines increased their fortune. As I felt an immense joy by noting in your progressions - that is to say mine - promise a great richness due to the metal mines; you urge me to not lessen my efforts in the search of the veins.
Know this, most eminent Master Nostradamus, since the date of my last letter, I have discovered a mine of silver mixed with copper, which for now still seems modest, but I think is promising. In addition, the assembly of my buildings have been burned. I have discovered, in another mine, another vein of silver, also small but promising too.
One works there with perseverance, as you have advised. In another mine that I own on another mountain, a terrestrial spirit appeared to the minors for eight days and eight nights consecutively. Then, the minors had hardly left the pit when the tallow which served as candles had infiltrated the stone wall, and a great explosion occurred. The minors make a great case of all these phenomena, they hope to find splendid veins. Without any doubt, here is the realization of your prediction: you said that an appearance would terrorize the minors, then would disappear. In a third mine, one finds another vein, apparently without much value; though it is, we will expect to soon be rich of copper and silver. As for the lead vein, it is excellent, and, by the grace of God, it grows richer day by day.
It is necessary that I announce to you that, as you have it noted in the commentary of my birthchart, I was having difficulties with the ecclesiastical authorities, who ceased persecuting me. Here when I had arrived last year: I was wrongly accused in religious affairs and crept (?) in front of the tribunal in Innsbruck. There, I had presented my excuses and I was absolved of any charge; I thus have been freed.
I read in your commentary of my birthchart and my progressions which I will enjoy the favour of the emperor, as well as that of kings and other princes -- that is completely true. I am extremely close in court of His Majesty imperial, of Maximillian King of Bohemia, King of Pologne, as well as their advisers and other important people; believe me, your opinion above all is completely accurate.
In addition, I must tell you that I do not have any sisters but a brother only [left]-- 16 years my junior; he is not in possession of any mines. I also have two nephews, sons of my brother who died in 1547, who have as a preceptor our very dear friend Lorenz the Pomeranian; besides my own son Hans has also been his pupil. As for my very dear wife, she is, fortunately, still alive; I pray to all powerful God to keep her with me for a long time more.
I cannot hide from you, most erudite Nostradamus, that I suffer from dropsy, that causes me sharp pains. On the consulting of the doctors, I have used root of sarsaparilla -- it is an imported plant of India or Spain. I drank an herb tea [made with it]. That relieved me of my pains of dropsy, but my choleric (irritable?) moods were converted into phlegmatic (impassivity?): all my nature has been thus transformed. You had told me about my disease in your explanations of my birth chart.
You told me, in your almanach of 1562, dedicated to Pope Pius IV, that you have declared, in French and according to the method which is proper for you, the many wonders as well as the calamities which threaten our ill-fated Europe. I would like to receive from you two or three copies of this work, that must be published. I would have ordered it from Lyon, but I fear also the forgers who, knowing your long experiment and the veracity of your forecasts, imitate you and publish their own works under your name: this is what makes me hesitate.
I have often been filled with wonder, while reading your ephemerides or calendars, to note that your forecasts concerning some days in particular are realized exactly. I believe well that you do not have anyone like you in all Europe. May all-powerful God bend down (deign has derrogatory connotations) to keep you in good health a long time for the glory of his name!
You established the birthchart of Charles IX, King of France -- I would like to know what his fate is for the future, in measurement or you tell me by letter. Because of religion, the current situation in France is extremely unsettled, as you, moreover, had foreseen. You announce for the year that is coming a great bloodshed, as you had also declared for Germany last year; but for instance, in Germany, one lives in peace. God wants to preserve us in this state!
If, thereafter, something again occurs in my mines or elsewhere, I will not let myself fail to notify you about it; because I know your noble feelings in my regard, like your eagerness to work for me.
Therefore I will do all in my capacity for you compensate you proportional to your labours. As you've said, I will not address more letters to Brotot, but only to Christoff Kraft, merchant at Lyon, who will foreward them with great diligence. You will also be able to trust him with your mail -- but in this case, place in the envelope another package, on which you will register: Hans Langnauer. Send the whole to Kraft so that he will send the envelope and it's contents to Hans Langnauer, at Augsburg, where it will be arranged for me to forward it. You can make out the address as follows: " To the very noble Monsieur, remarkable by his merits and his wisdom, Hans Langnauer, citizen of Augsburg, his respected Master ". If Kraft is used as secretary by us both, I will pay him what is appropriate.
The birthchart of my son Hans is written in extremely clear characters -- this is why I request, when you send the other works to me, for example progressions, to have them copied by the same scribe and I will requite.
While I finish with this letter, I just I received from Lorenz the Pomeranian, a missive of Antwerp. He had left Bourges on September 4; He says that he did not receive the birthchart of my son Karl for me. I insist that you question the person who you had entrusted this work and have him forward it to me as fast as possible.
Farewell, my dear and most erudite lord Nostradamus. Your Excellence is ensured of my deep affection.
Fieberbrunm, close to my mines, December 15 of the year of the Virgin birth 1561.
Wholly devoted to Your Excellence,
Hans Rosenberger.

There remain some obscurities that I cannot understand in the commentary of my birth chart and progressions; I cannot always grasp your meaning. I have already discussed this subject with dear Lorenz, the Pomeranian , with whom I talk to on the friendliest of terms. I have requested that he write to you and try to obtain from you more complete explanations. In his answer he assured me that you should pass through Bourges soon, and that he could ask
you then very clearly for all the necessary explanations; I have thus
awaited news of this meeting. But alas, it has been some time and I have not received any message of Lorenz, the Pomeranian. In addition I have learned that he had to leave Bourges with my nephews, of which he is a preceptor, to go to Antwerp. So now I await his arrival from one day to the next. As soon as he arrives, I will meet with him, and will question him about the passages that I do not understand. If he is able to enlighten me, I will not need to importune Your Excellence -- if he does not succeed completely, I will write to you again to ask for thorough explanations.
I have not received the birthchart of my son Karl yet. However, I hope that our dear Lorenz the Pomeranian, has it in his hands and that he hopes to give it to me as soon as he arrives. God grant that it may be soon! I am delighted in advance for I do not doubt that you have calculated this birthchart with the greatest care by your triple method -- Indian, Babylonian and personal. I am anxiously waiting to receive this birthchart and to discover the good and bad forecasts therein. Almighty God - who controls the heavens and the earth - grant that he will have diverted from him by a twist, misery and very bad fate, and to grant a good fortune to him, for great is your glory.
I received the birthchart of my son Hans; I see that, for to establish it, you do not spare yourself any pain. I have never seen a birthchart displayed with so much art(istry). I particularly noted that the stars promise to my son prosperity, particularly in the metal mines, as well as the favour of great [men] and even of the kings. All-powerful God grant that it will be realized, for the glory of His name and the goodwill of my sons! As for the diseases that he has underwent and of which you make mention in the study of his birthchart, you should know that he was 7 years and 14 years, whereas he was far away from us when he underwent the two serious ailments. God grant, in His goodness, to draw aside (away?) from him the diseases predicted for him at 21 and 25 years! I give you these details to clarify your diagnosis.
I return to you and the kindness of your heart that you agreed to examine my birthchart again. This time with even more precision than when you had done it according to the Indian method. You would send this work to me, as you promised me and will attach the progression of 1562 too.
I hope to receive them soon, and I intend to do everything in my capacity for you dedommager**(?) of your trouble and your ardor. What makes me worthy to be the object of so much benevolence on your part? I know well that God had sent with the people of Israel, prisoner of Babylon, a prophet for elocution and to comfort him. I think that divine Providence has made you an emissary in the same manner to comfort me-- by your letters, in the great tribulations which have tried me lately. With that, I return to God of unlimited grace and I beseech Him so that He keeps you from misfortune, yourself and all of your [family].
Regarding the present years of 1560 and 1561 -- they do not have me being spared of calamities of all sorts. A certain servant did an enormous wrong unto me -- he stole from me almost a few thousand gold coins; I have brought a lawsuit against him. Lastly, I leave in the hands of God all of my misfortunes and damage and I think, in all confidence, that it is those that He likes that God intends so many calamities in order to test their faith, their hope and their perseverance in confidence(faith), as if it were a question of auditing gold by fire. It is for these reasons that until He has us saved in this present life, me and mine, in spite of the intentions to harm us conceived by our enemies; immortal thanks are returned from there to all-powerful God.
I await with great impatience the progression of 1562 which you finally could carry out. In those which you already sent to me I note that during the year ahead, I will be still exposed to great dangers -- even perils of death. These progressions also foresees fires in various buildings; God wants to protect us such fleaux and to save them to us by his grace! I cannot however hide from you, very noble Master Nostradamus, that approximately a month ago there was a fire in my silver mine, of which all the buildings have been burned. God grant that this fire is the last, and is not a precursor of
another more serious still.
I am terrified by this chapter of my birthchart relative to Saturns significance in house VII: beginning July 1561 to the same month of 1563. I should bear many damages, nuisances, losses of money, many calamities of all kinds, plots, charges, contempt of my honor. I am reassured by His ensuring
e of the consolations promised by all-powerful God, as it was expressed by the apostle Matthew, " Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28).

Letter 35

Clarissimo viro, virtute et eruditione praestanti Domino Mich. Nostradamo Doct. artis med. et Mathematico incomparabili amico summa suo s. [83 vº 89 rº]. Literas tuas ad idus Octobris scriptas et cum Rosenbergii fasciculo coniunctas accepi ante paucos dies, clariss. Domine Doctor Nostradame, [84 rº] quae, quia antiquam humanitatem retinent benevolentiaeque tuae erga me summae testes locupletissimi sunt, periucundae mihi fuerunt, atque utinam ego vicissim satis meum erga te animum, ut vellem, declarare possem, facerem sané ut intelligeres me singulari erga te tuosque amore esse. Ac sane doleo me ita raptum esse à Gallia, ut non contigerit mihi ante coram tecum colloqui ac vultus ante videre tuos: quod tamen futurum aliquando nondum despero, idque Dii ita faxint feliciter. Cum itaque tandem redirem Augustam e Belgico (unde etiam proximo mense Decembri ad te scripseram, quod te accepisse e Lugduno spero) post diuturnas et molestas peregrinationes, cum ab anni tempus, turn ab comitem itineris molestissimum (vitricum scilicet meorum discipulorum, hominem pessimum, qui solus mihi in tata Augusta immerito malé semper voluit, cum quo in maximas rixas et [84 vº] contentiones necdum finitas incidi, quemadmodum tu rectissimé futurum praedixeras) reversus inveni Augustae literas Rosenbergii nostri, valdé, ut ita dicam, cupide expectantes reditum meum, praecipué ob genituram Caroli, quam me-cum attuli in culeo meo, sed diutius quàm vellem retinueram apud me, bono tamen consilio, ne periret tam praeclarus labor, nec speraram me ita tardé reversurum Augustam. Itaque nunc omnia scripta habet Rosenbergerus à te, ut puto; quibus sané maximopere delectatur et eventum sollicité expectat, tempora dinumerans, ut fieri solet, necdum coeptis desistens tuo suasu et consilio. Faxit Deus Opt. Max. ut res omnis bene ei cedat. Nam quantum ad res eorum attinet, nondum sané sunt eo loco, quo esse vellem neque dum ea causa transacta est cum creditoribus propter debiti magnitudinem et creditorum difficultatem ac [85 rº] varietatem, ob eamque causam bona ipsorum omnia, quae Augustae habent, arresto tenentur adhuc. De fodinis quid fiat nescio, sed habes hic adiunctam Rosenbergii ipsius epistolam, missam huc ante mensem: ex ea proculdubio omnia cognosces plenius. Utinam fodinae tandem expectationi satisfacerent! non dubitarem quin ex omnibus emersuri essent malis propediem. Tentata est his mensibus amica transactio cum creditoribus, sed res adhuc haeret. Volo his proximis diebus hinc me conferre ad D. Rosenbergium in Tyrolim eumque invisere, et spero me visurum praeclara multa tua, quae interea misisti. Sed de meis reb. post dicam. Interea, dum hic Augustae fui, bis rogatus sum de iudicio nativitatum constituendo à duobus mercatoribus: alter te tuaque optimé novit, mecumque humanissime agit, ut suscipiam in me laborem istum ad te ut perscribam, eiusque nomine agam, quod quidem propter multa [85 vº] eius erga me merita denegare ei nec possum nec volo; alterum mercatorem etiam de te admonui et pollicitus sum ei meam in perscribendo et urgendo apud te negotio operam: is mihi his diebus respondebit. Prior ille vir bonus est et Astrologicis valdé delectatur; usus est etiam opera Cypriani, qui ei integrum librum confecit super expositione geniturae eius, satis frivolum ut mihi videtur; scripsit et D. Ioachimus Camerarius Graece quaedam egregia et erudita (1). Sed vide inconstantiam fortunae: is bonus vir his annis proximis etiam in summas calamitates incidit fecitque omnium feré bonorum iacturam; uxorem tamen habet nobilissimam cum summa dote quae primam hypothecam habet in bonis mariti, ideoque marito subsidio esse potest facilé; praeterea iuvenis est et peritus mercaturae, facilé ut recuperare vires posset, si modo cum credjtoribus suis transigere posset, et id nunc [86 rº] agitur sedulo; ipse autem toto feré biennio postquam lapsus esset facultatibus, instantibus creditoribus ut ob debita in carcerem traheretur, quemadmodum hîc mos est, profugit in securitatem seu as???? monasterii divitis et magnifici, quod est in urbe Augusta, ibique adhuc agit tuto omniaque tentat ut cum creditoribus suis transigat ac bona sua recipiat ex arresto creditorum. Quid multis moror? Si vis, dicam tibi uno verbo quis sit: frater est domini Ioannis Rosenbergeri nostri, qui habitat, ut scis, non Augustae, sed ad fodinas in Comitatu Tyrolis; hic vero habitavit Augustae et ambo simul negotiati sunt, simulque in calamitates illas inciderunt (2). Is in hac tenuitate rerum suarum vellet tamen coronatos viginti praesentis pecuniae libenter impendere in labores tuos, si velles examinare diligenter et fideliter eius genituram, ac bona fide dicere a?e? pa???, aut (ut Iurisconsultorum more tecum loquar) [86 vº] a?e? d???? ?a? apat??(iocari enim liceat mihi tecum) quid spei sit reliquum de eius fortuna in genere, turn etiam ad quaestiones quasdam respondere. Mittit autem tibi Cypriani calculum thematis et directiones, quae tu facilé iudicabis qualia sint. Si fieri potest sine incommodo tuo, accipe honorariolum illud oùx ??? ap?ß??t?? (3), quod si fortuna ei melior affulserit, perpetuo se tui memorem gratumque fare pollicetur. Quod si propter laboris magnitudinem etiam maiore aliquanto opus esset honorario, non gravabitur id augere mitteturque bona fide Lugdunum ubi voles. Cuperet autem haec à te exponi: primum in genere (ut soletis) de vita, valetudine, morbis, periculis, periodo vitae; turn de fortuna et successu in rebus agendis, in mercatura, aliisque negotiis, de honoribus et dignitatibus, fama, favore, odio, etc., si voles etiam de liberis, et reliqua quaecumque voles annotare, Latiné tamen, sine ullo ornatu, [87 rº] simplicissimé, ut tu ipse loqui soles; ego illi facilé interpretabor. Secundo loco revolutionum, eclipsium et directionum venturarum explicationem talem, qualem fratri eius constituisti egregié. Postremum, quod vel imprimis cupit ex te scire, tale est. Quando cum creditoribus suis concordaverit (quod omnino sperat, et fieri necesse est), vellet hic solus absque fratris vel alterius ullius societate pro se negotiari et ad mercaturam redire, si tibi ita videretur rationibus Astronomicis: nanque hic nunquam metallica exercuit, ut alter frater Io. Rosenbergius. Habet itaque in deliberatione triplicem viam negotiandi, quarum quae tibi consultissima videatur vehementer scire ex te desiderat rogatque etiam atque etiam ut liberé et ingenué quod deprehendis scribas ac pronuncies de ipsius coeptis, probes probanda et improbes improbanda, et si melius consilium scias ex arte tua id candidé impartiri ut velis. [87 vº] Prima negotiandi via de qua deliberat talis est: ad milliaria Germanica novem a Lypsia (quae civitas nota tibi erit ab academiam nobilem prope Wittembergam) sunt fodinae chalybis (4). eum chalybem effossum iam vellet ipse emere, vehendumque suis sumptibus curare praeparatum in Hispaniam, quod ita fit ut primum curru à fodinis vehatur Hamburgam, quod est nobile emporium Saxoniae ad Albim; inde navi per mare Britannicum in Hispaniam, Sybiliam forte aut Caletum Hispaniae (5): eum porro chalybem permutare vellet apud Hispanos alumine, quod paratur in oppido Almassaron maritimo (6), aut etiam vendito chalybe redimere alumen, idque vicissim importare Hamburgam, distrahendum in civitatibus maris Balthici; partem etiam permutare cario Muscovitico in Livonia, quae est negotiatio illarum regionum; coriumque illud aut similes merces Norimbergam vehere ibique distrahere. [88 rº] Altera via haec est: vellet eiusdem chalybis partem aliquam ex Hamburga per mare itidem mittere per Gallias, praesertim Rhotomagum, Lutetiam, Baionam, ubi ferramenta maiora fiunt. Tertia est similis prioribus: vellet in Alpinis regionibus ac praesertim in marchia Stiriae ferrum quod ibi effoditur coemere idque praeparatum suis sumptibus per oppida Germaniae passim distrahere. Iam à te quaerit an putes hanc negotiationem ipsi profuturam et quam ex his tribus viis magis probes, quam etiam improbes, aut si quod aliud vitae, negotiationis aut mercaturae genus magis ei convenire putes. Itemque an borealia et occidentalia illa loca ei commodiora futura sint, quam meridionalia et orientalia. Rogo te, confer omnia et elige quod certissimum futurum putas. Est vir iuvenis, de quo non omnino male spero propter coniunctionem mercure et jupiter in secunda." [88 vº] cui sané videtur Cyprianus nimium tribuisse. Sed tuum, non Cypriani iudicium spectabimus. Si tibi viginti coronati parum sunt pro isto labore, insuper addet. Potes aliquas revolutiones proximé secuturas primum explicare, et paulatim reliqua. Valde amanter tamen te rogat, ut aliquid, quamprimum id fieri per occupationes tuas possit, mittas. Nos ista nostra Lugdunum mittimus ad Craftium: siquidem ita tibi videri intellexi; sed hoc scias etiam Craftium damnum aliquod accepisse à Rosenbergeris: itaque metuere nos ne quid forté negligentius aliquando reddatur tibi aut nobis. Sed spero meliora de Craftio. Quae huic missurus es, ea fac ut mihi adscribantur, ut soles, et Augustae tradantur aut apud Dominum Ioannem Langnaverum aut apud virum clarissimum loan. Baptistam Hanzelium Consulem urbis Augustanae (6): illi me norunt et optima fide ad me mittent ubicunque fuero. Georgio Herwarto [89 rº] nequaquam mittito: is est quem malae meae directiones significant mihi hoc anna adversaturum, sed immerito atque iniustissimé, et hominem facio flocci. De meis rebus mira possem referre, sed meliora tamen quam peiora. Habeo in anima ingratos illos quibus hactenus operam dedi relinquere. Et omnino volo hoc anno, imo paucis mensibus abhinc proficisci in Italiam linguae et peregrinationis ergo. Deinde reversus Deo ducente vola peregrinationibus, si fieri potest, vale dicere. Spero fortunam aliquam, et se ostentant quaedam occasiones bonae; quas si impetravero, brevi ad te plura perscribam. Si quid me monere velles de meis rebus, praecipue de coniugio, faceres mihi valdé gratum; sed vereor ne id mihi denegent occupationes tuae. Die Barptolemaei sumpsi Biturigibus gradus iuris utriusque magna cum benevolentia et favore Academiae totius. Faxit Deus ut foelix sit. Ita a?? ?a? ?a?? (a) feruntur nostra, sed facilé [89 vº] sum contentus sorte mea. Caesari Nostradamo adolescentulo optimo pro una salute mille precor faustissimas ac toti familiae tuae. Bene et feliciter vale, doctissime Domine Doctor Nostradame. Data Augustae Vindelicorum XIIII. calendas Februarias anni M.D.LXII. Tuae Excellentiae addictissimus Laur. Tubb. Pomeranus. [90 rº-98 vº] Directiones astronomicae cum themate natalitio et aliquot annorum revolutionibus nobiliss. viri Rosenbergeri civis et patritii inclitae familiae Augustanae per Cyprianum Leovitium a Leonicia clariss. Mathematicum Bohemum diligenter confectae.

LORENZ TUBBE to NOSTRADAMUS:

To that most illustrious man, outstanding in merit and learning, Michel Nostradamus, doctor of medicine and of mathematics, his incomparable and greatest friend, greeting.

A few days ago I received your letter of 15^th October, accompanied by a folio for Rosenberger. How can I express to you, dearest doctor Nostradamus, the joy that I felt at the benevolence and goodwill that you continue to bear towards me? I, likewise, would like adequately to express the sentiments that I feel in regard to yourself, and to assure you of my singular love for you and yours. I deeply regret having been snatched from France before we could meet and speak in person; I do not despair that it will happen one day, the gods willing.

I have finally arrived in Augsburg, coming from Belgium, from where I wrote to you in December; I hope that you have received my letter, sent from Lyon.

The journey was long and arduous, owing both to the dreadful time of year and also to a particularly unpleasant travelling companion – namely my pupils’ stepfather, the worst kind of man, the only one in all the town of Augsburg who always expresses ill-will towards me. He never stopped quarrelling with me and creating all sorts of nuisances. Indeed, you had actually predicted this kind of discord for me.

Finally arriving in Augsburg, I received a letter from our friend Rosenberger, who has been awaiting my return with impatience, especially because of the birth-chart of Karl, that I indeed had in my sack, but that I had been detained from delivering for a much longer time than I would have wished. My intention was good:  I did not wish to risk losing such a work, and I did not imagine that my return to Augsburg would be so much delayed.

Now I believe that Rosenberger has all your texts. These must fill him with joy and answer his expectations, noting the favorable dates, as he is wont to do, and in all cases respecting your request and advice that he should not give up what he has begun.

May Most Almighty God grant that all turns out well for him!

For as far as his business is concerned, currently it is not as healthy as I would wish for him. He is still in difficulty because of the magnitude of his debts. He has attempted to make a deal with his creditors, but for the moment all his possessions in Augsburg are mortgaged.  What will become of his mines I do not know for sure; but I enclose herewith a letter from Rosenberger himself, which arrived here more than a month ago: from it you will doubtless learn everything more fully. May his mines eventually live up to his expectations! I do not doubt but that they will in due course emerge from all their difficulties.

There was an attempt this past month to make an agreeable deal with the creditors, but at present the matter is in stalemate. I will confer with the Lord Rosenberger about this over the next few days and shall be visiting the Tyrol with him. I hope that he will show me the outstanding things works that you have sent him in the meantime.

But let me return to my own news.

Since I have been at Augsburg, I have been approached by two traders interested in having their birth-charts done. The one you know very well. He has asked me kindly to approach you to do this work. I am therefore acting on his behalf. In view of his many merits I neither can nor will refuse him such a service. As for the other trader, I have spoken to him of you and promised him that I would write to you for him and ask you to take the matter up with him. He is going to give me his response soon.

To return to the first of these individuals, he is an excellent man, very keen on astrology; he uses the works of Cyprian Leowitz, who has put together a whole book for him explaining his birth-chart. Personally I find this work rather frivolous: Joachim Camerarius has also composed very scholarly and beautiful ones in Greek. But it seems that Fortune is fickle: this good man has suffered the worst calamities these past years and lost nearly all his possessions. He has, however, a very noble and richly endowed wife, who is the prime legatee of her husband’s possessions, to whose help she can therefore easily come; also he is young and clever in commerce. He has therefore every hope of recovering his situation, provided that he can reach some compromise with his creditors, which is what he is now actively engaged in doing. But, for the past two years of his bankruptcy, in fear of his creditors who are threatening him with jail, as is the custom here, he has had to seek asylum in the safety of a rich and magnificent monastery here in Augsburg; from there he has been able to act in all security, to attempt a compromise with his creditors and to access some of his income in spite of the claims on it by the creditors.

But what am I dithering for? If you wish, I will tell you in a word who it is. It is the brother of our friend Johannes Rosenberger, who lives, as you know, not in Augsburg, but next to his mines in the County of Tyrol; but his brother lives in Augsburg; both went into business together and suffered the same calamities.

The brother, therefore, in spite of his financial difficulties, will be able without too much of a problem to pay you 20 crowns cash for your work, if you are prepared to examine his birth-chart with care and tell him honestly or (to use the language of the jurists) without fraud or deception (allow me to joke a little with you), what hope remains for him of re-establishing his situation, and finally to answer some of the questions that he asks.

He forwards to you his chart and as calculated by Cyprian Leowitz, as well as his interpretation, which you will easily assess for yourself. If you are able to carry out this work without too much inconvenience, accept the promised remuneration, which is not negligible; if ever his fortune improves, he promises you to be forever thankful.

If, however, the size of the task justifies a more substantial honorarium, he could increase the sum a little and forward the extra to wherever you wish in Lyon.

Here are the topics that he would like to see you cover:

First, in general, as you usually do: life, health, illnesses, dangers, longevity, success in business, in dealing and commerce, honors and dignities, reputation, favours, enmities etc; children also, and any other subjects that you might wish to add. The whole explained in Latin, without any ornamentation, in a simple style, as in conversation. I can then easily to interpret it for him. Second, the progressions, eclipses and directions to come, as per the explanation provided for his brother.

Finally, what he especially wants to know from you is:

When will he reach an agreement with his creditors (which he fervently hopes and needs)?

He would like to negotiate this himself and get back into trading, without aid from his brothers or other associates, if this seems to you to be possible from an astrological point of view – for he no longer wants to continue working metals, unlike his brother Johannes Rosenberger.

He is undecided between three methods of commerce and begs you to say freely which you deem preferable; he asks that you give him your very frank opinion on all this.  What you think of his projects? Which do you approve or disapprove of? If you have any betters on what to mine, tells him very honestly.

Here are the three methods of running his business that he is contemplating:

1.      Five German miles from Leipzig (a city that will be known to you because of the nearby noble academy of Wittenberg), there are iron mines: he would buy this iron, once extracted, then would transport the finished product to Spain; he would first transport it to Hamburg, an outstanding Saxon port at the mouth of the Elbe, then carry it by boat via the English Channel to Spain (for example to Seville or Cadiz); then he would exchange this steel for alum, extracted from the mines of Mazarron; or he would sell the steel and then buy the alum; then he would transport this alum to Hamburg and would also unload it in the Baltic ports; he would also exchange part of it for Muscovite leather in Livonia [Latvia or Lithuania], a country where such business is carried on.

2.   He would transport a part of the iron, still from the port of Hamburg, by sea to

France, in particular Rouen, Paris and Bayonne, which are the centres of steel-making.

3.   This is similar to the previous ideas. He would buy iron in the Alps, notably on the borders of Styria, which produces this mineral; after having it prepared at his expense, he would distribute it in the towns of Germany.

He asks you if this kind of business would be profitable for him and which of these three possibilities you deem to be preferable; or whether you think that a completely different way of earning a living from commerce or trading would be better for him. Are the northern and western regions more favorable than the southern or eastern? I beg you, please think about it all, and let me know which is most certain for the future.

He is a young man whose prospects are not all bad, it seems me, on account of the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in his second house: Cyprian Leowitz expected much from this aspect. But it is your opinion that we wish to know, not that of Cyprian.  If twenty crowns will not suffice you for this work, my friend will add whatever may be necessary. Would you also explain the first progressions to come, and then the rest little by little?

Finally, this friend requests you kindly to send him whatever you have as soon as possible, insofar as your numerous other tasks will permit.

I am sending this letter to Kraft, in Lyon: such, I am given to believe, was your wish.

You know, however, that Kraft has been somewhat denigrated by Rosenberger, which leads one to suspect that he has been negligent in some way regarding either you or us. But I have better hopes of Kraft. Address to me any mail that you confide to him,  as usual, for fwarding either to Master Hans Langnauer, or to the honorable Joannes Baptista Hanzel, consul of the city of Augsburg; both know me well and will reach me wherever I am.

Don not send anything to Georg Herwart: he it was who was ill-disposed to me, as indicated for this year by the bad part of my reading – though in fact it is unmerited and unjust, and I couldn’t care less about it.

I could give you plenty of other news of myself, quite astonishing actually, and good rather than bad. I have it in mind to forsake all those wretches who have been such a nuisance to me. This year I intend to spend a few of the coming months in Italy, as much in order to practise the language as for the journey itself. Once back again, God willing, I hope if possible to say good-bye to travel.

I am hoping for some good fortune, given that various good opportunities are currently present themselves. If they come to anything, I will tell you about it in detail soon. If you have any advice to give me, in particular on the subject of a possible marriage, please feel free to tell me, but I fear that you are too busy for it.

On St Bartholomew’s day I took my doctorate in both forms of law at Bourges, both of them with the congratulations of the Academy. May God grant that this will be to my benefit. So go my affairs, somewhattopsy-turvy perhaps, but I am content with my fate.

I send my fondest greetings to your charming young son Caesar, as well as to all your family.

Farewell and good luck, most erudite Lord Doctor Nostradamus.

Given at Augsburg, 19^th January 1562. Totally devoted to Your Excellence,

Lorenz Tubbe, the Pomeranian.

Astronomical irections with birth-chart, and some annual progressions for the very noble Lord Rosenberger, citizen and patrician of a famous family of Augsburg, carefully established by Cyprian Leowitz, of Leonicia, renowned mathematician of Bohemia.

Horoscope of Marquard Rosenberger:

Born in 1526, July 1^st, at 2.23 in the afternoon, time rectified on the basis of life-events, latitude of Noricia (1).  Progressions (years 1561, 1562, 1563, 1564, 1565).

(1)        Ancient region of central Europe situated between the Danube to the north, Pannonia to the East and the Rhetia to the west – a Roman province from the

Letter 36

Dominico Sanstefanio, et lammotio Pathoni civibus Tholozanis, M. Nos trad. s.p. [101 vº-103 vº]. Acceptis vestris literis quamprimùm ad illam vestram interrogationem de thesauro abscondito in nonnullis Hispaniae partibus, figuram Astronomicam erexi, offendique ascendens XIII gradum Arietis in parte opposita medii coeli: qui sine dubio significavit magnam ibi inesse et numerosam auri atque argenti congeriem, et maiorem etiam quam vos putatis. Plaga illa est Hispaniae Tarraconensis, quae hodie regnum Aragoniae appellatur; ager Batestanus dicitur, non longe ab Caesarea Augusta, ab oppido Batestano, sive colonia sic dictus. Agrum hunc amplissimum et spaciosissimum esse necesse est: in quo olim (veram narrabo historiam, simul et absconsi thesauri aperiam causam) florentissima illa imperii Romani aetate bellum gestum est à Caio Iulio Caesare Dictatore contra Sextum et Cneum Pompeios Cnei illius magni filios, qui multis profligati praeliis, [102 rº] re tandem desperata, quidquid habebant pretiosi, ne in manus hostium deveniret, aurum argentumque omne, facta scrobe, unum in locum congesserunt (1). Id in hoc agro fuisse factum, non vanis argumentis atque auguriis nitor. Sed qui hactenus perscrutati sunt, aberrant certé à vero loco; quem vobis, ne ista fingere videar, indicabo sine ullo errore, nodo aut sermonis involutione. Is est versus occidentalem agri partem; ad guam plurima etiamnum hoc die videntur fragmenta marmorea, et illa quidem animalium sculptura, sed boum praesertim et taurorum, insignita: sunt urnae, sunt vasa fictilia, sunt et ex porphyrite et iaspide tenia praeclara quaedam, in quibus Leonis videtur effigies ensiferi, hoc est, ensem ore ferentis. Sed vel inter caetera, rudera sunt antiquissimi templi et subtus puteus profunditatis maximae et amplitudinis, in cuius ambitu et operculo lapis est quadratus proportione aequali quadrilaterali, sed mirae [102 vº] crassitudinis, eo consilio profecto ne percussus signum daret concavitatis. Ibi urnam videre licebit et lampadem ardentem purissimo quodam liquore perpetuum fomitem vi igneae subministrante. Ad urnam non longe, (nulla enim alia est concameratio) repositum est sine dubio ingens illud numismatum antiquorum ex aura purissimo, argento, aere pondus atque etiam gemmarum et lapidum preciosorum. Quamobrem vos hortor, tu Iammote, tu item Dominice, ut rem tantam et occasionem ne praetermittatis: date imprimis operam ut cognoscatis quis sit ager ille Batestanus, quo cognito atque invento fossores tamdiu fodiant donec ad optatum perveniant finem, ut facient Deo favente, sine cuius etiam ope nulla certé futura est thesauri ista investigatio. Sed et si mihi creditis, facite ut iste labor differatur in mensem Iunium: a cuius dimidio usque ad Iulii quoque dimidium peropportunum fuerit omnem in ista re movere [103 rº] lapidem : quod si feceritis, res ex voto et sententia succedet, nec vos unquam talia suscepisse poenitebit. Quamobrem vos rursus moneo et monitos incendo : ab inceptis ne desistite. Idem vobis polliceor eventurum à la pile de Falzes (2), quo in loco est etiam ingens auri copia sed dissimilis. De D. Ferrerio (3), qui negat id sciri posse et colligi ex iudicio Astronomico, quam bene sentiat ipse viderit: nec mirum, ut qui se referat ad Cabalisticos. Et quod ait substantiam esse corpoream, inanimatam ergo metalla, parum abest quin aberret à scopo omnino. Subiungit et in fodinis et subterraneis lacis quosdam versari iucundos spiritus ratione custodiae, sed merae nugae; non nego tamen à malignis spiritib., ut vos scribitis, impediri ea loca et infestari. Hoc itaque qualecunque sit, nitimur nostro iudicio et ea cognitione quam nabis impartivit divina indulgentia. Quaerite modo locum et curate ut fodiatur diligenter nec dubito quin vestris optatis fortuna respondeat. [103 vº] Sed moneo imprimis, ut protinus inventa loco et puteo, qui se vobis facile offeret, faces ardentes intromittantur, ut aeris inclusi pestifera exhalatio abeat in auras et evanescat: quae si extinguantur, cavete summopere ne quis ingressum paret, alioqui futurum, ut dicto citius extingueretur et ille quisquis foret, vitamque cum morte commutaret. Atque ea sunt iudicia, quae ad vos mitto, ex certissimo et maxime veridico calculo Astronomico ad unguem tracta atque desumpta. Valete felices, et invento thesauro mementote vobis esse moriendum. (a) Salonae Petreae Provinciae ad XX lanuarii l 5 62. [104 rº] Oraculi instar. Quando invenietur thesaurus reconditus in La Pegna Palomera, et a Rapite de Falzes Hispaniae locis. Aux latomies le rocher voulant fendre En la plaineur del pegno palomero, (b) Foudre tombant, ou deux se viendront rendre L'or en l'argille, qui du rocher est mere. Proche aux palombes ou viennent pernocter Bas ou Typhon iadis feit ouverture, Nombre si grand qu'on ne sçaura compter. Quant à Iammot entrer ne s'avanture. De S. Martin hors temple de Rapite Qui est de Falzes, pres d'un lieu mal-froissé, Iammot aura par fortune subite, Ou il verra de loin l'arbre baissé. Aux chams herbuz d'Arragon Batestan Lors treuvera, quand le pied du taureau Pied beuf de marbre d'or luisant si tres tant Dessoubs le quadre enfermé, seur barreau. [104 vº]. Le grand thresor d'oeba charbonnera De Belzet proche, de la sera plus bas Quand rets tendus prendre l'arbanera Ouvrir couvrir de Iammot les debas. Proche au fozal de los moros n'approche Cesaraugusta du temple demoli A my chemin d'or reluisant la broche Le percera, racine, herbe, moly. 

NOSTRADAMUS to DOMINIQUE de SAINT-ETIENNE and JAMMOT PATHON

To Dominique de Saint-Etienne and Jammot Pathon, citizens of Toulouse,
Michel Nostradamus, greeting.

As soon as I received your letter, in order to respond to that
question of yours regarding treasure concealed in various parts of
Spain, I prepared an astrological chart. I found that the 13th degree
of Aries was rising in opposition to the Mid-Heaven, which means,
undoubtedly, that there is a considerable accumulation of gold and
silver there, greater than you think.

The location is in the Tarragon area of Spain, today called the
kingdom of Aragon; the site is called Batestan, from the name of the
town or colony of Batestan, not far from Sarragossa.

The site there has to be very large and spacious, for it is there
that, once upon a time (I will tell you the true story of, and reason
for, the hiding of the treasure), at a time of great prosperity for
the Roman empire, Caius Julius Caesar was campaigning against Sextus
and Gaius Pompey, the sons of Gaius Pompey the Great. Having lost many
battles, and their situation being desperate, in order to prevent
anything so precious from falling into the hands of their enemies they
buried all the gold and silver objects that they possessed in a pit.
This is truly what happened: I am not basing what I say on mere empty
arguments or oracles.

Those who have hitherto looked into it are certainly wrong as far as
the true location is concerned.

As for me, you will see that I am not inventing anything: I am going
to tell you the place, without any error -- and without using involved
language, either.

It is located toward the west of the site in question, in the part of
it where one can still see pieces of marble adorned with remarkable
sculptures representing animals, and especially oxen and bulls; there
are also urns and other earthenware vases, as well as a beautiful
frieze of porphyry and jasper depicting the effigy of a lion bearing a
sword -- i.e. carrying a sword in its mouth.

Among other things, one can see the ruins of a very ancient temple,
and beneath, a very deep and very large pit whose lid is a rectangular
stone block with square cross-section that is wonderfully thick,
probably so that it does not sound hollow. One can see an urn, as well
as a burning lamp fed by some unknown liquid, very pure, whose
inflammable nature ensures a perpetual flame [compare Nostradamus,
V.66, I.27, IX.9]

Not far from the urn (for there is no other vault) is concealed the
hoard [in question] -- without doubt a considerable number of very
pure ancient gold, silver and bronze coins, as well as gems and
precious stones of every kind.

Therefore I urge you, Jammot, and you also, Dominique, not to let slip
such a matter and opportunity.

Start by making sure of the exact location of this place called
Batestan: then, when you have pinpointed the exact spot, bring in the
diggers. Let them dig until they have reached the desired goal: they
will surely get there with the aid of God, without whose help no
search for treasure can be successful.

Nevertheless, take my word for it and arrange for this work to be put
off until June: from the middle of that month until the middle of July
the weather will be particularly favourable for moving the stone. If
you do all this, the matter will work out as you wish and desire, and
you will not regret having undertaken it. So, I again urge and implore
you not to abandon your enterprise.

I promise you a similar success at a place called "la pile de Faizes"
(1), where there is also a great deal of gold of different origin.

As for Master Ferrier [a prominent doctor and writer of Almanachs in
Toulouse], who denies that this could be known or derived from any
mere astrological analysis, let him think what he will. No surprise
there, since he is referring to the Cabalists. In saying that metals
are a material substance, and therefore inanimate, he completely
misses the point. He adds that in mines and other underground workings
there are benevolent spirits that keep guard: that is the purest
nonsense. But I do not deny that certain malignant spirits, as you
say, obstruct and infest such places. Whatever the case may be, I rely
on my own judgment and on the knowledge that Divine indulgence has
granted to me.

Seek out the place, therefore, and be sure to have it excavated
carefully: I do not doubt that Fortune will crown your desires.
Nevertheless, I warn you in advance: once you have discovered the
site, as well as the pit itself, which will be easy to enter,
introduce lighted torches first, so that any pestilential exhalation
of stale air may escape and be taken away by the wind; if the torches
go out, do not go in beyond the entrance; for if anyone disregards
this presage of extinction, he could well [himself] pass from life to
death.

These, then, are the findings that I am sending to you; they are drawn
and taken with the greatest precision entirely from astrological
calculation that is most certain and true.

Farewell and be happy, and, when you have found the treasure, remember
that you are mortals [see Nostradamus: I.27, and below!!].

From Salon-de-Craux in Provence, 20 January 1562.

Sample oracle:

On the discovery of the treasure hidden at la Pegna Palomera (2) and
at Rapite de Falzes, in Spain:

In stone-quarries, wishing to split the rock
Upon the plain of Pegno Palomero,
Lightning shall fall, where two shall make their way.
Gold in the clay, which mother is to rock,

Near to where doves do come to spend the night,
Down where old Typhon once did make a cleft,
So many as to be to great to count,
When Jammot ventures to insert himself.

Of blessed Martin, by Rapite's old church
Which is of Falzes, near site extremely rough,
Jammot shall suddenly espy by luck,
While yet afar, the tree all stooping down.

On grassy fields of Batestan he'll find
In Aragon, with foot of mighty bull
And marble ox-foot, so much shining gold
Shut up beneath the slab, upon a grate.

The mighty hoard of Oeba Charbonnera --
Quite near Belzet, from there somewhat below,
When shall the 'arbanera' stretch his nets,
Jammot shall open and shall close the matter.

Come thou not near the pit sunk by the Moors
At ruined temple of Cesaraugusta:
For half-way there the pin of shining gold
Shall pierce him and shall slay him through and through.

[apparently a revamping of Nostradamus: I.27]


(1) Falset near Tarragone?
(2) Peak of the Sierra Palomera in Aragon?
(3) Original text: "Palamera."
(4) All the poem is in French in the original.

This translation copyright (c) 2002 by participating members of the
Nostradamus Research Group

Letter 37

Eximio ac maxime Astrologiae perito M. Mich. Nostradamo Medicinae Doct. domino et amico meo omnib. modis venerando Io. Rosenb. s.p.d. [104 vº-107 vº] Clarissime ac omnium eruditiss. domine Nostradame, proximas meas literas ad XVII. calend. Ianuarias datas, quas Doctor Laur. Pomeranus utriusque nostrum familiarissimus ad te transmisit, eas tibi iamdudum redditas esse spero, tuumque responsum quotidie expecto. Facere autem non potui, cum ex omnibus tuis literis humanissime scriptis promptum tuum erga nos animum singularemque amorem perspexissem, [105 rº] quin has ad te darem literas, ex quibus nos omnes bona et prospera Deo iuvante valetudine uti intelligeres; quod idem de te saepius intelligendum nisi longinquitas loci interdiceret, mihi longe esset gratissimum. Quantum ad fodinas meas attinet, scias quasdam in felici statu, quasdam vero bonae spei esse. Ante quinquennium reperta est apud fodinam meam, quae vocatur Sanctus Sigismundus indicium metallicum, seu vena argentea angusta, quae a meis fossoribus neglecta, et ab eo tempore usque ad quinque menses proximé elapsos tata fodina deserta est, sed nunc rursus elaboratur, et venula illa diligentius quam antea investigatur, séque magis magisque dilatat, et directé in montem tendit. Spero igitur venam illam exiguam esse, cuius in literis tuis mentionem facis, cum ais venam in principio futuram exiguam, sed si diligenter et indefatigato labore perquiratur, perpetuam [105 vº] , et indesinentem scaturigi-nem orituram, et sané si ea sese valde dilataret, tunc mihi perpetua vena metallica cum maximo reditu speranda esset. Alia etiam fodina nunc elaboratur, quae ante sexennium fuit relicta, haec vocatur Sanctus Rudolphus: huius vena directé in montem versus orientem in profundum cadit, et haec quoque magnae spei est, sed apud fodinam quae vocatur Sanctus Vitus (1), in qua spiritus terrestris auditus, cuius in meis proximis literis mentionem feci, nullum adhuc metallum repertum est; speramus tamen id brevi futurum: nam spiritus terrestris adhuc saepius exauditur, et hoc fossores re experta magni faciunt: nam sciunt max inde metallum secuturum. Vena in fodina plumbea, de qua et proximis literis tibi scripsi, magis magisque se dilatat crescitque: quare firmiter spero, quemadmodum in proximis tuis literis spem mihi iniecisti, quando [106 rº] Cancer futurus sit in ascendente, tunc meam fortunam in rebus metallicis sese amplificaturam. Haec te de meis fodinis metallicis scire et hac in re tuo desiderio satisfacere volui. Magno desiderio teneor iudicii meae nativitatis, quod denuo calculare coepisti; similiter et revolutionis anni 1562 quam diligentius ac antea componere volebas: nam in revolutione missa reperio mihi hoc anno multas calamitates et pericula esse subeunda. Sed spero in Deum omnipotentem eiusque filium unigenitum, dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, qui genus humanum in quantum homo a Deo patre omnipotente in custodiam recepit, ex pietate sua crudeli passione nobis paradysum cum pretioso sanguine suo mirabiliter mercatus est et inter angelos et homines pacem fecit, me facile per suam omnipotentem manum divinumque auxilium omne meum infortunium adversitatesque evasurum. Me tuum debitorem [107 vº] adhuc agnosco propter diligentiam et assiduitatem, qua usus es in erigendis iudiciis nativitatum filiorum meorum; sed ne dubita quin abunde satis tibi recompensetur opera tua, nam curo tibi aliquid ex argento et auro confici, quod tibi max mittetur. Ego etiam scribae tuo, quo hactenus usus es, qui tam elegantes literas pingit, aliquo honorario memor ero. Et si petere liceret téque exorare sineres, tunc mihi gratissimum faceres, ut quemadmodum per totum annum id quod unoquoque die boni vel adversi evenire debet in tuis calendariis sive Almanach annotas, ita etiam maximé desiderarem, ut revolutionem anni 1562 hoc modo conscriberes, ut etiam quae unoquoque tempore boni vel adversi accidere deberent videre liceret. 1udicium geniturae filii mei Caroli per Laurent. Pomeranum mihi missum est; id ego diligenter perlegi, et reperio multa ei quemadmodum in iudicio suae geniturae [107 rº] indicas gravissimis morbis et vulnerationibus evenisse, praeterea et alia multa quae tu ei praedixisti. Nam ante quinque hebdomadas cum equo de ponte decidit; sed Deus qui eum adhuc velit per suam gratiam conservare, benigniter custodivit, ut ne ullum membrum fregerit. Ego etiam hoc anno mihi diligenter cavebo et Deum rogabo, ut me et meos ab omnibus adversitatibus et periculis velit conservare. Te etiam atque etiam rogo, mi domine Nostradame, ut duo vel tria exemplaria tuorum calendariorum sive Almanach mittas, et tibi quantum pro eis debuero solvam. Novi quod ad te scribam nihil est: nam Germania prorsus pacata nunc est; sed tamen dicitur Regem Hispaniae clam magnam copiam turn peditum, turn equitum capitaneorum convocare; sed contra quem uti velit, hoc nescitur; existimatur tamen in auxilium Pontificis contra Galliam ducturos. Quare te [107 vº] etiam atque etiam rogo, ornatiss. Domine Nostradame, ut quod tuum in eo sit iudicium togane an bello hoc anno victura sit Gallia, me certiorem facias. Sed tamen celare te non possum Regem Hispaniae magnam summam pecuniae contrahere paucosque suorum creditores persolvere, et sine dubio aliquid magni machinatur. Deus omnipotens velit ne haec summa pecuniae contra Christianos, sed potius contra Turcas et Moriones convertatur. Praeterea, quod ad te scribam nihil est, nisi ut me meosque ut soles de meliori nota commendatos habeas tibique persuadeas meum amorem erga te tantum esse, ut non dubitem, quin aeternus futurus, nec quisquam alius nisi mors sit separaturus. Bene et feliciter vale. Datae ad fontes febriles prope mea mapalia VI. cal. Martias. Anno salutis recuperatae 1562 Tuae Excellentiae addictiss. Ioannes Rosenberger.

JOHANNES ROSENBERGER to NOSTRADAMUS

To the most outstanding and eminent expert in astrology, Master Michel Nostradamus, my master and especially venerated friend, Hans Rosenberger, greetings.

Most eminent and erudite Master Nostradamus, I hope that my last letter, dated 19^th of December last, has been delivered to you by doctor Lorenz the Pomeranian, our very dear mutual friend, and I await your response from one day to the next.

I could do no other, conscious as I am of the great sympathy that you have shown us in all your letters, but to write to you again to inform you that all is well and prosperous with us, thank God. I am given to understand, in spite of the distance, that it is the same for you, and I am overjoyed. As for my mines, know for certain that one of them is in a happy state, while the others are truly promising.

Five years ago we discovered in one of my mines, called Saint-Sigismund, signs of metal, in fact a thin vein of silver, which my miners disregarded, and from that time until about five months ago the mine was completely abandoned. However, it is now being worked again, and we are exploring this vein more carefully than before, which is getting bigger and bigger as it heads directly into the mountain. I am therefore hoping that this is the tiny vein that you mentioned in your letter, in which you said that, if this narrow vein were excavated diligently and indefatigably, abundant ore would be discovered, and that then the vein would enlarge greatly into an inexhaustible vein of metal capable of giving me a maximum return.

We are currently working in another mine, abandoned for six years, named Saint-Rodolphus; the vein bores deeply into the mountain toward the east, and this mine also is very promising. But in the Saint-Vitus mine, in which the earth-spirit was heard of which I told you in my last letter, no metal has been found to date: we hope nevertheless to discover some in the near future; for the earth-spirit is now being heard more frequently, and the miners are making great haste, knowing that the metal cannot be far away. The vein in the lead mine, which I mentioned in my last letter to you, is continually getting bigger and bigger. I therefore fervently hope, as you gave me to hope in your last letter, that when my Ascendant enters Cancer I shall see my wealth in metals grow.

Such is the news that I wished to give you of my mines, in order to satisfy your curiosity.

I am most anxious to receive the commentary on my birth-chart that you undertook to calculate; I am also awaiting the solar revolution for 1562 that you previously said you would compose with the greatest diligence, for in the progressions that you have already sent me I note that for the present year I should expect disasters and dangers of every kind.

But I put my hopes in almighty God and in His Only Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, who, as man, has received from His Almighty Father the guardianship of all human kind, and in suffering his cruel passion redeemed paradise for us by His precious blood and created peace between angels and men; I expect therefore that his almighty hand and his divine help will easily spare me from all my misfortunes and adversities.

I remain your debtor for all the diligence and assiduity that you have applied to calculating the birth-charts of my sons; but, have no fear, you will be appropriately rewarded for your labour; for I am making something for you out of gold and silver and will send it to you soon. Nor shall I forget your regular secretary whose writing is so elegant; I shall have in mind some fee for him, too.

If you would permit me to make a request and if you would be kind enough to grant it, I would ask you to write out my progression for 1562 as you do in your calendars and almanacs, by indicating day by day the happenings foreseen or unforeseen, so that I may the more clearly anticipate the good or bad things that may arrive each day.

The commentary on the birth-chart of my son Karl has been sent to me by Lorenz the Pomeranian. I have read it with great attention: and I note that you foresaw the numerous illnesses and injuries that he underwent, which actually went well beyond what you predicted. Indeed, five weeks ago he fell from a bridge on his horse. But God, who has protected him thus far by His grace, vouchsafed to protect him, such that he broke none of his limbs. As for me this year, I will take care of myself and pray to God to us keep me and mine safe from all adversities.

I beseech you, My Lord Nostradamus, to send me two or three copies of your calendars and  almanacs. I will pay you whatever is due for them.

There is not much news to tell you. Germany is at peace for the moment. We have heard that the king of Spain is raising a large army in secret, with as many infantrymen as horsemen; but nobody knows against whom he intends to use it.  Some think that he wishes to aid the pope against France.

I beseech you, Most Eminent Lord Nostradamus, to tell me, in your judgement, whether France will be victorious in war this year. But I cannot hide from you the fact that the king of Spain has had to borrow enormous sums and is greatly indebted: without doubt he is planning something big. Pray God Almighty that these huge sums of money are not for attacking Christians, but rather the Turks or Moors!

Finally, all that I wish you to know is that I commend both myself and mine to you most sincerely. Be assured of our deep devotion. My affection for you will endure, if not eternally, at least until my death.

Farewell and good health!

Fieberbrunn, at the hot springs close to my mines, 24 February in the Year of Salvation Regained 1562.

Totally devoted to Your Excellency,

Johannes Rosenberger.

Letter 38

[108 rº] Ornatiss. viro virtute et doctrina praestanti D. Mich. Nostradamo Doct. Artis medicae, et Mathematico incomparabili Do. suo colendo s.p. [108 rº-109 r']. Clariss. domine D. Nostradame, mense Ianuario nuper Lugdunum misi fasciculum literarum cum genesi quadam amici nostri viri boni ac rogavi Craftium nostrum amice per literas, ut eum fasciculum ad te perferri curaret. Sed hactenus nihil neque a te neque a Craftio responsi accepimus. Itaque in mentem venit nobis subvereri ne literae nostrae in itinere perierint. Quod si redditae sunt, peramanter te rogo, mi D. Nostradame, ut, si ullo modo per occupationes tuas fieri potest, significes an ea genesis tibi reddita sit et an eam examinaris, examinandamve susceperis. Honorarium quod promisi certum erit; quod si denuo voles craterem germanicum, qualem olim, fac ut sciam quamprimum, et veniet tibi [ios vº] summa cum gratia. Tantum hoc rogo, ut syncere respondeas de significationib. Astrologicis, sive eas deprehenderis bonas sive tristes, idque sermone Latino, tuo stylo, ut olim. Si quid Lugdunum miseris, quod ad nos perferri velis, non Craftio ut hactenus (vereor enim ei talibus negotiis deinceps esse molestus, cum discesserim a mea conditione paedagogica cui hactenus praefui) sed cuidam Germanico mercatori Lugduni degenti adscribas: nomen eius est Gaspar Thaurer, et in eius absentia Martinus Hohreitner': cos duobus tribusve verbis roga, ut mihi Laurentio Tubbio Pomerano D. in Germaniam curent literas tuas perferri. Dicti mercatores Lugduni in Cambio invenientur facillime. De meis rebus admiranda tibi scribere possem, si tempus ferret, quas rixas, contentiones et lites sustinuerim cum homine impio et maledicentissimo; sed Dei beneficio victor [109 rº] extiti cum laude, ac saepius recordatus sum tuarum praedictionum. Rogo te, si quid annotasti de mea genesi, fac ut videam, et ero pro mea mediocritate gratus. Constitui hac aetate commorari Augustae cum viro docto et urbis advocato primario causa discendae praxeos iuris; interea sae-pius ad te scribere potero. Spero me brevi visurum etiam Rosenbergium nostrum, cuius fodinas audio paulatim florescere. Bene et feliciter vale, clarissime Nostradame. Data raptim Augustae Vindelicorum Idibus Aprilis, Anni M.D. L X I I. Tuae Excell. addictiss. Laur. Tubb. Pomeranus. 

Lorenz Tubbe to Nostradamus

To that most eminent gentleman, outstanding in merit and doctrine, Master Michel Nostradamus, doctor of medicine, his incomparable and venerated master, greeting.

Most illustrious master, Lord Nostradamus, in January last I sent from Lyon a bundle of letters which contained the birth-chart of our good friend, and I wrote to our friend Kraft asking him to take care of forwarding that bundle to you. But to date I have received no response either from Kraft or from you.

So I am wondering whether my letter may have gone astray somewhere en route. If however you have received it, I ask you urgently, my very dear Nostradamus, to endeavour, insofar as you are able, in spite of your numerous tasks, to let me know whether you have received the chart in question and whether you will examine it or have begun to examine it.

I confirm the agreed fee; if you would like another German goblet, similar to the previous one, let me know as soon as possible, and one will be sent to you with much thanks.

All that I ask of you is to reply sincerely regarding your astrological judgments, whether they be fortunate or unfortunate prognostications, and to do it in Latin, in your customary style.

If you send anything to Lyon with a view to having it forwarded to me, do not address it to Kraft as previously (for I fear that he is finding such affairs too burdensome, ever since I have abandoned my former post of teacher), but instead send it to another German merchant resident at Lyon named Gaspar Thaurer or, in his absence, to Martin Hohreitner.

Ask either of them briefly to take care of forwarding your letters to me, Lorenz Tubbe, the Pomeranian, in Germany. It is easy to find the said merchants in Lyon, at the Exchange.

I would, if I had the time, narrate to you the astonishing things that have been happening to me -- in particular the disputes, quarrels and lawsuits that I have had to put up with on the part of a certain impious and malevolent individual; but, thank God, I emerged the winner with honours, and constantly remembered your predictions.

I ask you, if you have been able to work on my birth-chart, please to let me know, and I shall show you my gratitude within my limited means.

I have decided to stay in Augsburg for the moment with a lawyer of this town, to get some experience in the practice of law; in the meantime I shall have the opportunity to write to you often.

I hope to see our friend Rosenberger soon, whose mines, I hear, are doing well.

Farewell and good luck, most illustrious Nostradamus.

Given in all haste at Augsburg, 13 April in the year 1562.

In total devotion to Your Excellence,

Lorenz Tubbe the Pomeranian.

Letter 39

Docto imprimis viro et maxime amico D. Laur. Tubbio Pomerano legum Doct. M. Nostradamus s. [109 rº-115 vº]. Eruditiss. Pomerane, omneis epistolas tuas accepi, primas mense Ianuario, secundas ad Martii finem, tertias breviores et raptim scriptas ad [109 vº] Aprilis; igitur antiquissimae cuique primum respondebo. Quas Antverpiae scripseras, plenae sunt illae quidem rerum novarum, et maxime mirabiles; turn vero crudelitas illa inaudita immanitasque barbara, quae in Christianos exercetur et noctu et indicta causa, mihi piane bilem movit. Quam optimum tuum est praesagium de Adrastia Nemesi! ?st? t?? ?e?? ? adpaste?a ???s ?a? ta t??a ta t??a?ta ?pa ? tade pa?ta p??? ?a?a??? e?a?e?(1), omnia terrena despec-tans, regina et arbitra rerum omnium, sed praecipue fastui infensa. Nemo non dixerit miserrima ista tempora in quibus vivimus, in quibus optimi cuiusque cervicibus gladium impendet, scelestissimo favetur, in quibus libertate oppressa, pietate constuprata, legibus bello silere coactis, piena sunt timoris omnia, immo ad caedem spectant inexhaustam, cruorem, flammam et, ut tu ais, ad civile bellum. Revera ?a??? ???a? pe???stµ t? a??? ?µ?? (2). Sed et maior impendet tempestas nec adhuc cadi fundum. Felices ter et amplius quibus est fortuna [110 rº] peracta iam sua! quae ut ne viderem libenter vita cederem. Sed venio ad alteram tuam epistolam Augustae datam. Accepi quicquid fasciculo erat inclusum, et directiones clariss. illius viri et revolutiones a D. Cypr. Leovitio elaboratas. Itaque confeci ipsius genituram mea more et Indico et omnium Astronomorum. Statim in principio adscripsi in quibus consistit eius fortuna, et versus quam partem, quam sit felix in rebus metallicis, et de omnib. uti mihi scribis, libere et ut sentio; deinde separatim feci eiusdem revolutionem anni 1563; omnia denique, ut mihi videtur, diligentissime calculo Astronomico et supputata et explicata. In ea videbit quaecunque deside-rat, et multa etiam quae non desiderat. Reliquas revolutiones, si necessariae sunt, et vita nobis suppetit, cum volet exponemus. Quinetiam tuam quam tantopere efflagitas genituram ad te mitto, copiose et diligenter, ut ipse videre poteris, descriptam, nec mediocriter laetatus sum, [110 vº] ubi eam ad umbilicum perductam vidi, ita exacte calculatam, ut mihi satisfaciat; tibi quoque ut arrideat taiis labor et opto et non diffido. De alia genitura quam te rogante calculavi et exposui pro nostris laboribus, pluris facio craterem argenteum, quam pecuniam numeratam. In tua, quando tu me vis tam livere proloqui, laborem agnosces, et mediocritati tuae relinquam: satis enim prudens ad iudicandum es. Quapropter curabis ut ista simul cum honorario illo Domini nostri Rosenbergeri ad nos quamprimum perferantur, et tuta. Aperte scribo uti me mones. Sed si et hoc vis audire: ego iam plus decem aureis vestra omnium causa expendi in scribendo, transcribendo, et aliis negotiolis. Atque id quidem exprobrandi causa minime dictum velim, sed ut cognoscas quam liberali animo nec tenaci mihi curanda sint omnia. Revolutionem D. 1o. Rosenb. anni 1562 confecimus, quam etiam ad te mitto, ut ei cures reddendam. Genesin ipsius quam denuo calculare coepi, et mea manu scriptam, nondum licuit nostris [111 rº] scribis per summas occupationes transcribere: quod ut in causa sit cur ad vos non mittatur hoc tempore, ita et summam manum ei nondum imposui, bellicis istis religionis ergo tumultibus et miseriis nostrorum temporum calamitatibusque potissimum impedientibus: quae tantae sunt tamque stupendae ut, si literis mandare velim, minime certe passim. Fugerunt hic omnes cum maxima rerum suarum iactura qui de religione Christiana suspecti, caeteri cos persequuntur tanto furore et rabie ut devastent omnia, domos et urbes incendant, ne mulierculis quidem aut pueris parcentes. Ego solus remansi cum mea familia, expectans quid de nobis constituat Deus et de universa Provincia; faxit Christus opt. max. sua benignitate ut eam velit pacificam nobis reddere et diu servare tranquillam. Ad singulas horas versamur in maximis gravissimisque periculis nec solum bonorum omnium, sed et vitae, neque id iussu regio, vel autoritate principum, sed plebis furore et mera insania. Sed et si vis (ut habeatis vos aliquid novi, et id cum amicis communicetis [111 vº] et nostras miserias securi contemplemini) bellum in Provincia gestum superioribus mensibus ab religionem, quodquidem in commentariolum retulimus copiosius, breviter narrabo (3). Mense februario elapso, status qui dicuntur Provinciae nostratis hic Salonae videlicet habiti sunt, ubi Regius praefectus et primae nobilitatis homines convenere, item Senatorii ordinis praecipui, ut mas est: inter cos multis de rebus actum et disceptatum, sed de religione praecipue: baelua multorum capitum (4) totis viribus nitebatur ne praedicationi evangelicae ullus esset locus; tamen nec ita obstrepere potuit quin singulae fere urbes suos habuerint verbi Dei ministros. Apud Aquas Sextias, (quae civitas est praecipua post Massiliam, caput et parlamentum Provinciae, ubi quatuor praesides, sex et quadraginta Consiliarii (5), duo Advocati regii, duo item regii procuratores, sed mille, ut sic dicam, alii patroni, et totidem procuratores) est inter caetera Deorum immortalium tempia D. Salvatoris innumeris sacrificis aµ??s????? (si paucos excipias) [112 rº] ?a? a?e?µet??µt??? (a) refertum. Ii eo tempore, quia videlicet censibus magnis et redditibus à piis quondam Galliarum regibus aucti sunt atque etiam ornamentis et gazis ecclesiasticis, sibi timebant imprimis. Quapropter Flassanum quendam nomine (6), praenobili illum quidem ortum familia, sed qui patrimonium omne luxu et nequitia absumpsit, biremem etiam quam in pc rtu Massiliensi habebat dilapidavit, in sui defensionem adsciverunt magna proposita mercede. Is eo furore rem tractavit, ut quoscunque religionis Christianae sectatores offenderet infinitis contumeliis afficeret, iniuriis opprimeret, probris omnis generis vexaret nulla habita personarum acceptione, nulla praetermissa violentiae specie. Sacerdotum cohors videns hominem intentum maxime suis partibus defendendis auxit ut canonicum reditu quotidiano ecclesiastico; plebs itidem Consulem creavit, simul cum aliis duobus eiusdem farinae. Fuit hoc furenti gladium dare: si enim antea in Christianos saevierat, tunc poterat etiam magis, ita ut [112 vº] singulis noctibus, cum magna plebis infimae et sacrificulorum multitudine, urbem obirent armati, nescioquam cantilenam cantitantes in aliorum opprobrium, quae apud Friburgum Brisgoiae in eosdem decantari, ut dicitur, solita erat, saxa iacientes in suspectorum domos, et potentissimorum quorumcunque, et alia innumera nefanda conantes. Christiani tandem cum importunissimorum hominum impotentiam, fastum, iracundiam, insolentiam, iactationem, contumelias et crudelitatem diutius perpessi fuissent nec essent tolerabiles eorum insaniae, elegerunt unum ex suis civem Mutonium qui legati munere apud Regem et Reginam matrem fungeretur (7); quibus cum patefecisset immanium hominum nefarios (b) conatus, missi sunt duo Consiliarii qui rem omnem cognoscerent, simul et equestris ordinis humanissimus idemque nobilissimus Comes a Crussol, qui sua autoritate plebem sedaret ac universum Provinciae incendium extingueret. Is prius Salonam venit, quae distat ab Aquis Sextiis quinque leucis Gallicis, et hîc [113 rº] mensem circiter moratus est cum Comite a Tenda, qui per quadraginta fere annos nostrati Provinciae praefuit. Interim missi Aquas Sextias qui nunciarent vellentne in suam civitatem ex edicto regio Comites admittere, consessu facto, nolle se responderunt, etiamsi sceptro decoratos; missi iterum qui commonefacerent in quam grave sese periculum conjicerent Regiae maiestati non parendo, negarunt et secundo. Visa ista pertinacia, D. Comites exercitum cogebant in rebelles per Delphinatum, per et Narbonensem provinciam. Interim apud Aquenses Flassanus Consul fure-bat, fugiunt suspecti, clauduntur portae, bombardis et caeteris tormentis bellicis muniuntur muri, vallo et fossa altiori urbs cingitur, opere omnis semita fervet (8). Tandem audiunt in suam perniciem collectum magnum cum peditum turn equitum numerum, et eum in propinquo esse, Comites ducere ingentes copias. Sic stupefacti, convocatur Senatus, recipiendos Comites maior pars [113 vº] censebat, Flassanici repugnabant. Scinditur incertum studia in contraria vulgus. Senatorum tamen praevaluit consilium et autoritas, panduntur portae, civitas offertur Comitibus. Flassanus vero inferiorem se videns cedit urbe cum LX equitibus, et numerosa nebulonum manu, quos ex finitimis locis undique collegerat, tenditque ad Orientalem Provinciae partem, omnia depopulans, vicos, castella, urbes, tecta diripiens, pecuniis locupletum, equis, bobus non abstinens; cuicunque aurum erat Lutheranus erat et, ut vocitabant, Huguenaudus: rapinae, cae-des, homicidia in factis eius erant praeclaris. Franciscanum quendam a suo (a) latere nunquam discedere patiebatur, qui quidem habitus monachalis inferioribus partibus ad zonam alligatis crucifixum ligneum gerens, cum facturi essent impetum in aliquos aut urbem direpturi, ter implorabat (d) divinam misericordiam magna voce vociferando, caeterisque generatim acclamantibus (9). Tourves itaque oppidum quod [114 rº] iam diu fidem Christianam edoctum fuerat occupavit, distans ab Aquis Sext. septem leucis, idque ingentibus homicidiis, furtis, rapinis, depraedationibus replevit (10). Interea Aquenses honorifice Comites accipiunt cum eorum copiis; qui, Consulibus aliis creatis, sedatis rebus, bello persequendum Flassanum censuerunt. Missus itaque ad eum legatus D. de l'Etrange, vir nobilis et patritius Parisiensis, qui eloquentissimé ab inceptis ut desisteret, discederet ab armis, Regi pareret et Comitibus, à quo ius omne et potestatem vitae et necis accepissent, admonuit. Ille contra iracundé legatum remittens minatur D. Comitib. nisi Aquas Sextias relinquerent quamprimùm irrupturum se in cos, et ad unum misera occidione occisurum. Nihil his moti Comites Aquas Sext. transeunt cum omnibus militib. quos secum habuere; hic numerus fuit 4779, quorum adventum sentiens Flassanus retrocessit, et ad oppidum Barioux natura loci munitissimum contendit; ibi obsessus: Comites [114 vº] oppugnare oppidum coepere; pugnatum aequo Marte totis quatuor diebus, quinto vi capti; pedites equités-que clamore facto eruptionem in adversarios faciunt: suspensi, trucidati, praecipitati sexcenti, ducenti captivi fuére, caeteri fugati (11). Flassanus cum nonnullis aliis per cuniculum trepidus saluti consuluit. Atque hanc victoriam D. Comitibus praediximus, cum relicturos se arbores novis fructib. plenas et insolitis nunciavimus. Dum ista apud Barioux gerebantur, in antiquissima Provinciae urbe Arelate, quae est ad Rhodanum, ubi theatrum Antonii (e) adhuc stat, vel, ut quidam volunt, M. Aurelii, nobilis quidam et strenuus vir nomine Ventabren, sed doctrinae evangelicae inimicissimus, collectis aliquot equitib. et monachorum sacrificulorumque magna multitudine, in auxilium veniebat Flassani, iamque ad secundum erat à Salona lapidem, cum audita clade Flassanicorum receptui statim cecinit. Domini Comites Aquis Sext. 500 milites constituerunt, ut praesidio urbi essent [115 rº], duce M. Antonio Tripolitano (12) Salonio viro certe strenuo; quos cum Aquenses ferre non possent, associatis Massiliensium Consulibus legatum ad Regem miserunt qui quaecunque hîc gesta fuerant in seditiosos exponerent, crudelitatem, atrocitatem, acta immania, uti aiebant, incusarent. Quare Rex et Regina mater nunciarunt statim Comitibus ut Provincia cederent, omnem potestatem abji-cerent. Vide hîc, mi Pomerane, fortunae variabilis inconstantiam (13). Quapropter factum est ut alio constituto Praefecto fugere coacti sint intra dies quatuor omnes qui religionem tuebantur, derelictis uxoribus et liberis proh! dolor, cum maxima rerum suarum iactura. Nunc instruuntur viginti et octo cohortes à Papisticis, quae Provinciam defendant, et ea caeteros plané inter-dicant. Sed et hisce diebus ea res agitur a??????e? ?t? t? ??t? ?? ?d?a? teµ???s? (14). Audiimus nuper Christianos (f) Lugdunum occupasse et dominari". [115 vº] Atque haec sunt, mi ornatissime Pomerane, quae te scire volui; meas cogitationes omnes feré explicavi tibi : quapropter vide ne quid etiam rerum novarum abs te desiderem. Avide itaque literas tuas expecto, et cas quidem cum supra dictis honorariis. Caeterum illorum omnium fac, amabo, participem nostrum Rosenbergium, ut facies. Vale, Salonae Petraeae Provinciae Idibus Maiis (16). M.D. LXII  

From Nostradamus to Lorenz Tubbe

To his very dear and very learned friend, Master Lorenz Tubbe the Pomeranian, doctor of Law, Michel Nostradamus, greetings.

Most learned Pomeranian, I have received all your letters, one in January,

another at the end of March and the third -- brief and written in haste -- in April. I will start

by answering the oldest, sent from Antwerp, which is full of most astonishing news. Such unheard-of cruelty, such barbaric ferocity, practised by Christians at night and secretly, provokes in me a deep indignation. You are right to recall the prophecy of Adrasteia Nemesis: “She whom none can escape, the daughter of Jupiter arrives. See what she did in similar cases: on behalf of the gods, she pursues without exception all the guilty” (1)

Scornful of all that occurs here below, the queen and judge of all things is shown to be irritated above all by pride. Nobody can say that we are not are living in most wretched times. A sword hangs over the heads of the best, whereas criminals are favoured. Freedom is oppressed, religion corrupted. War imposes silence on the law, all are full of fear and see things turning to insatiable carnage, bloodshed, fire, in short -- as you said -- towards civil war. It is indeed true that “the times are surrounding us with a multitude of criminals.” However, we are not at the end of our troubles and we have not yet reached the bottom. Thrice lucky and more are those whose fortune is already established! If I were not able to see mine, I would prefer to die.

But now I come to your second letter, mailed from Augsburg. I have received everything that was included in the packet, in particular the directions for your illustrious friend and his revolutions as calculated by Master Cyprien Leowitz. I have consequently established his birth chart according to my own method, as well as by the Indian method and by the one that all astronomers use. Right from the start, I have therefore indicated what his fate consists of, and in which area. I have said that he will be fortunate in exploiting his mines and I have answered all of your questions frankly and as I feel. Then I have separately established his revolution for year 1563. Finally, as you will see, I have calculated and explained it most diligently by astronomical calculation. He will see in it everything he wished to see, and even a great deal that he did not wish to see. As for any further ones, if he considers them necessary, and if God grants me life, I will establish them to his satisfaction.

As for your own birth chart that you asked me for so urgently, I am sending it to you herewith. I have developed it diligently and at length, as you can see for yourself, and am not a little delighted at the way in which it has gone right to the nub of the matter, being calculated exactly just as I like to see it. I hope that you will be as pleased with it as I am – as, indeed, I do not doubt.

To return to the other chart, which I have calculated at your request: in payment for this work I choose the silver goblet rather than coins. Given that you are unaware of how much work has been involved on your behalf, and given that you wish me to speak frankly, I will leave aside the fact that you are merely the intermediary – for you are wise enough in judgement. In view of this, please see that the object in question, or any other fees due from the lord Rosenberger, are sent to me both securely and post-haste. I am telling you this frankly as you advise: for your information, I have already spent more than ten pieces of gold on sundry fees concerning all the things that you have requested of me for having them copied out, transcribed and other things. I am telling you this not in order to extol my own worth, but in order to show you with what generosity and perseverance I am attending to everything.

I have calculated the progression of Johannes Rosenberger for 1562, and am sending to you so that you can have it forwarded. As for his birth chart, I have redone the calculations, and have written it out in my own hand, since my secretaries, being too busy, have not been able to transcribe it yet. That is why I cannot send it to you at present, not having been able to put the last touches to it on account of the difficulties caused by all the troubles resulting from the wars of religion -- all the misfortunes and calamities of our time.

I cannot possibly describe to you in detail so many truly terrifying events. All those who were suspect because of their Christian religion have lost all their belongings while fleeing. Those who remain are continually pursued with rage and fury. Their houses and cities are burnt, and neither women nor boys are spared. I am the only one who has stayed put, together with all my family. We are awaiting what God will decide for us and for the world of Provence. May Almighty Christ, grant, in his goodness, that peace may return to it and that it may long preserve t! For now, we are ceaselessly being thrown about by the greatest and gravest of perils. We are threatened with losing not only our possessions but our lives too. Yet all this is the result neither of the King’s orders, not of the authority of the Princes, but of a popular fury that is bordering on madness.

If you wish (so that you may learn what is new and so be able to think about our misfortunes from the safety of where you are, in the company of your friends) I will narrate briefly what I have set out at greater length in a memoir about the wars that have been raging in Provence on recent months on account of religion...

Last February, the assembly known as the States General of Provence came together here at Salon: present were, as usual, the royal Governor, the senior nobility and the members of the Order of Senators. They discussed numerous questions, but especially matters of religion. The many-headed Hydra of the people was doing its utmost to forbid that any evangelical preaching should take place: nevertheless it could not prevent each town from having a Minister of the Word of God. In Aix-en-Provence (the principal city after Marseilles, where the Parliament sits, which comprises four presidents, forty-six councillors, two lawyers, two attorneys for the king and -- they say -- a thousand other lawyers and as many attorneys) this word is delivered in an old temple to the immortal gods, currently the church of Saint-Saviour. Services are celebrated there, nearly all without music, and all without any ritual.

This naturally frightens those who were formerly provided, through the piety of the Kings of France, with great riches and revenues as well as ecclesiastical ornaments and others treasures. Therefore they called to their defence, in return for a rich reward, a certain Flassan, the scion of a noble family, but ruined by luxury and prodigality, and backed by powerful commercial interests, even though he was given to throwing money away on the bireme that he owned in the port of Marseille. Whatever the variety of religious devotees that he comes across, he showers them with abuse, attacks them with insults, harasses them with all kinds of trials, not hesitating to inflict violence, without regard to anybody’s rank or status. The clergy, seeing in him a man ready to defend their interests, appointed him canon and provided him with an income as a regular clergyman; the people appointed him consul, in the company of two individuals of the same ilk.

Thus, they had armed a veritable madman. He began by attacking Christians, but now his power has spread and we have an armed mob made up of common folk and minor clergy ransacking the town each night.  When confronting their enemies, these people bawl out some chant or other adopted by their colleagues in Freiburg-im-Breisgau. They throw stones at the homes of suspects and the powerful; in short, they are given to all kinds of wrongdoings. For a long time the Christians have been suffering violence, confusion, anger, insolence, commotions, abuse and all kinds of crudities from these terrible scoundrels.  But finally, not being able to tolerate any more of this treatment, they sent a delegate of theirs, named Mutonius, to the King and the Queen Mother.

Their Majesties, having learned of the crimes of so many horrible people, appointed two councillors to find out what was happening; these were accompanied by the Count de Crussol -- a very noble and very equitable knight, who was supposed go use his authority to calm the people and pacify all of Provence. He came initially to Salon, which is five leagues from Aix in French measure. There he remained for about a month in the company of the Count de Tende, who had been governor of Provence for forty years. From Salon envoys were sent to Aix as messengers, to ask if the city would receive the two Counts under the terms of the royal edict. The people of Aix answered that even if they were bearing sceptres, they would not do so. The messengers returned again, insisting on the gravity of their refusal to respect his royal majesty; but they repeated it again. In the face of such obstinacy, the Counts raised an army against the rebels from all the Dauphiné and the province of Narbonne. At this, at Aix, consul Flassan became furious; even as the suspects were escaping, he closed the gates of the city. He fortified the walls with bombards and other machines of war. He had a rampart and deep trench dug all around the city, and everyone was conscripted to do this work.

But at this point, at Aix, they learned of the arrival of a sizeable and menacing troop of infantry and cavalry approaching the city, commanded by the two counts. Their astonishment was great; the senate was convened; the majority were of the opinion that the Counts should be received, but Flassan’s partisans opposed this decision. The people, uncertain, were split between these two opposing parties. The decision and authority of the Senate, however, prevailed in the end. The gates were opened, and the city was handed over to the Counts.

Flassan, seeing himself in the minority, left the city with sixty cavalry, and moved toward the east of Provence with a motley crowd collected from neighbouring areas around, plundering everything -- villages, fortresses, cities, houses -- relieving the rich of their money, not forgetting their oxen and horses.

Whoever had gold was called a Lutheran, or, as they preferred to bawl, “Huguenot.” Plunders, murders, assassinations passed for exploits in the eyes of Flassan. He was always accompanied by a Franciscan whom he would not allow far from him. He wore a cassock tucked up under his belt and waved a wooden crucifix about. Whenever the mob was preparing to attack and plunder, the Franciscan bawled out a plea for Divine mercy three times, and the mob cheered and clapped. In Tourves (a fortified town approximately seven miles away from Aix) the Christian faith had already been taught for some time; so this city duly became the target for murder, robbery, looting and other depredations.

During this time, the citizens of Aix were receiving with honour the Counts and all their troops. They elected new consuls, calmed things down and authorised them to make war on Flassan. They delegated the Lord of Estrange, a noble patrician of Paris, who eloquently enjoined Flassan to give up his resistance and lay down his arms, and to lend obedience to the King and the Counts, who had inherited powers of life or death over him. Flassan angrily sent the emissary back and declared that, if the Counts did not soon leave the city, he would attack them there and commit total carnage. But the Counts, unmoved by this response, advanced with all the troops they had, that is to say 4779 men. Flassan, sensing the coming attack, retreated and holed up in the village of Barjoux; a naturally fortified position. The Counts duly launched an attack on that place. Mars being favorable to them, after four days of combat they overpowered the citadel on the fifth. Infantry and cavalry, letting out loud yells, descended on the enemy: six hundred men were either hung, massacred, or thrown from the top of the ramparts; two hundred were made prisoner, while the rest escaped. Flassan himself succeeded  in escaping with a few of his followers. I had predicted this victory to the Counts, when I declared that they would leave the trees loaded with new and strange fruits.

While these events were unfolding at Barjoux, here is what was happening at Arles (a very ancient town of Provence built on the banks of the Rhône) where one can still see the theatre of Antoninus according to some, or of Marcus Aurelius according to others. At Arles, then, a certain Ventabren, a noble and courageous man, but a great enemy of the evangelical doctrine, set out to help Flassan. He had assembled a few nobles as well as a large crowd of monks and priests of the minor clergy. This troop was not yet within two miles of stony Salon when  news broke of the defeat of Flassan’ partisans broke; so they at once retreated again.

The noble Counts installed at Aix a garrison of five hundred men commanded by an energetic leader, Marco-Antonio of Tripoli, a native of Salon; but the populace of Aix wanted nothing to do with this garrison. They joined with the consuls of Marseille to send a delegation to the king. The deputies explained how the insurgents had been checked, emphasising the cruelties and violence to which they were said to have been subjected. So then the King and the Queen Mother ordered the counts to leave Provence, withdrawing all their powers. Behold, my dear Pomeranian, how variable and fickle is Fortune!  A new governor was named, and all of those who had remained faithful to their religion had to flee within the four days, leaving behind, alas, their wives and children, as well as most of their belongings. Twenty-eight companies of papists are currently being formed to defend Provence and to prohibit all innovations.

But latterly the latter are once again the order of the day, and many “are unaware that it is like Hydra, always reappearing” (2). I hear that the Christians have recently occupied Lyon and are masters of it.

Such, then, my dear Pomeranian, is the news which I wished to communicate to you. I have revealed to you my deepest thoughts; as a result of which you can see that I have left out nothing.

I look forward keenly to a letter from you, as well as to the above-mentioned fees. Please inform our friend Rosenberger, I pray, of everything else, as is your wont.

Adieu.

From Salon-de-Craux in Provence, May 13, 1562.

(1)   a collection of works by Erasmus, according to Dupèbe.

(2)   Plato, according to Erasmus.

Letter 40

Ornatiss. viro omniumque scientiarum ac virtutum revera praedito D. Mich. Nostradamo amico incomparabili s.p. [115 vº-116 vº]. Ornatissime domine, hune tuum comitem enixe rogavi ut te admoneret illuc appulsus eorum quorum hîc verba fecimus. Primum ut illi credas astrolabium tuum unà cum libro Hermetis (1), et aliis simul ligatis, quae omnia fideliter ad me transferet. Secundo ut frustulum thimiamatis (2) tua media videam. Tertio ut recorderis interrogationis meae nativitatis dum quietus sedebis domi tuae. Quarto ut erigas figuram [116 rº] super interrogatione anuli mei. Quinto ut iudicium super figuram, quam iussu tua erexi, exactum et amplum ad nos mittas, ut queat natus favente Deo futuris occurrere malis si per naturam (a) liceat, et tibi plené satisfiet. Is, ut audio, brevi est recessurus, et rogavit me soror mea ut pro illius expeditione instarem. Sexto iudicium etiam Pauli Seguini affinis mei commendatum habeas rogo; is etiam tuas labores benigne compensabit. Scis denique quid inter omnia exoptem et quid etiam animum torqueat meum. Oro te itaque et obsecro, ut pro tua incredibili clementia tuo Berardo faveas, ilium adiuves, ei hac in parte adsis atque auxilieris: ille enim tibi se posterisque tuis in perpetuum devinctum sentiet. Fac, quaeso, ut qui te amant tuorum sint laborum participes. Memini quid mihi ex astrorum situ, maximé ¼ in ? praedixeris: noli facere verbum tuum irritum. Nuntius hic fidelis est nec est quod verearis aliquid îlli transferendum ad nos committere: ut quem novi intus et in cute'. [116 vº] Sed cum à te pendeant scripturae propheticae, Deum omnipotentem supplex exoro, ut te familiamque tuam incolumem servet ac felicem. Bene vale et me, ut sales, ama. Atque ista admonendae memoriae gratia scripta sint. Avenione Idibus Augusti 1562. Tuorum deditissimus franciscus Berardus.

François Bernard to Nostradamus:

To the most eminent master of all sciences, remarkable for his merits, Michel Nostradamus, his incomparable friend, greeting.

Most eminent master, I have urgently asked your companion hereby to remind you of the conversation that we had [while you were] here:

First, to the effect that you would entrust him with your astrolabe, together with the book of Hermes and various associated pieces, so that he can forward them all to me.

Secondly, that you would provide me with a little thymiama.(1)

Thirdly, that you would work on my birth chart as soon as you have a quiet moment in your house.       

Fourthly, that you would draw up a chart on the basis of whatever you can find out about my ring.

Fifthly, that you would send me a full and detailed commentary on the birth-chart that I myself have drawn up, so that that the subject of it may by God’s grace anticipate the ills to come as best he may to the best of your satisfaction. I hear that he will shortly be back, [so] my sister is pressing me to insist that you hasten on his account.

Sixthly, I request that you devote yourself to a study of  the chart of my cousin Paul Seguin, who is ready to pay you generously for your work. (2)              

Finally, you know what it is that I want above all and that torments me. I beg and implore you in your incredible mercy to gratify your friend Bérard, to support him, stand by him and help him in this; for he will for ever hereafter feel obligated to you and your descendants. Let your friends participate in your work.  Remember what you predicted for me on the basis of the stars, in particular because of Mercury in Aquarius. Let what you said not be in vain!

This messenger is trustworthy: have no fear of confiding to him whatever you wish to convey to me, I know him and his background.

While I await your prophetic writings, I implore God almighty to maintain you and your family in health and in happiness. Farewell and love me as ever.

(This letter’s purpose is to refresh your memory.)

Avignon, 13 August 1562.

Your all-devoted,

François Bérard.

(1)/(2) See details in Letter 41, to follow.

Letter 41

[XLI]

Doctissimo viro Frane. Berardo Legum Doctori Mich. Nostradamus s.d. [116vº-119 vº]

Doctissime Berarde, postquam à vobis discessi, saepius et tuam epistolam et ea de quibus inter nos coram, mente versavi, sed nec potui in his magnis caloribus tibi per omnia satisfacere. Accipe ergo quae novem continuis noctibus a media nocte usque ad horam fere quartam sedens ego et tempora redimita lauro et lapidem gerens coeruleum, extorsi à genio ilio bono tanquam à tripode (1) super anulo tuo. Itaque arrepto olorino calamo (anserinum enim ter recusavit), ilio ipso dictante, veluti furore percitus poetico, in tales versus prorupi: [117 rº]

 Filtra Leontaei magici suspecta tibi vox
Renuet hoc tibi exoneratus ager.
Ardua nunc PARPALUS mercede et caede beatus
Non anulum dabit capite glaber ovans Calcabis nocuos, durescet cuspide vates
Ille qui non aere victitat in liquido
Sic anulus veniet aries quando saxa rimabit
Colchidos dum saevo caprificos quatiet Omnibus in tumulis cupressos ex sole funebres
Bathracon unge cruor turpia membra madet Et nocturna strygon pluviam submerge cruori
Rhodoleam, cedri carbo in acerra dabit.
A cane ieiuna ossaque rodentia carpe
Rotantem Thyphon anulo sospes eris
Dii meliora dabunt sparso cruore Novembri
Ovans et in cives versa carina ruet (2).

Mox ad personatum hunc nostrum genium bonum ac supra modum optimum versus, oravi ut pro suo fidissimo Achate Francisco Berardo (a) chymista, qui in transmutandis rebus metallicis egregié pollet, et eorum est summus perscrutator, me [117 vº) doceret uti et quomodo ELICIUM (3) et aurum evocaret et pyritem, quem nos emeril dicimus, eliquaret. Turn ego, ramis lauri in cervicali impositis capiteque corona laurea et daphnoide, quam pervincam appellamus cincto, Angele, qui meus es custos pietate guberna, fac ut de transformatione rerum naturalium, tanquam ex aeneo tripode vera vaticiner secundum cursum Astronomicum. Da ista, obsecro, per amica silentia Lunae, per has tenebras Marte oriente lucente. Da, inquam, favente Christo opt. max. et Virgine matre sancta, Michaeleque Archangelo mea invincibili patrono. Fac potissimùm te ducente naturae ut opes et fortunae augeam, vilioraque metalla cum hydrargiro, et quasi ramenta in veram auri imaginem solarem redigam, aurumque ipsum ad propagandam imperatorum, Regum magnorumque principum vitam posculentum ac potabile reddam (4), et simul metalla cum auro per alambici rostra facilé permeando defluant, nihil ex mineralibus in sublime tendente, neve aurum ab humido et terrestri separa-turn in fundo [118 rº] appareat, sed omnia simul distilentur subtili artificio. Atque ille in somnis sic mihi visus est respondisse:

 Ne strue Amalthaeum consueto in limine cornu Oleniique tuis insultent aedibus hoedi:
Sed gemini nati succendant follibus ignes Turbidus hydrauli solem detraxeris illi
Rem medio calici lunares funde rorantes Aesgynumque premas, ne forte exuberet humor Dacmia pompholigis cum pondere mixta recenti Accedat mixtis aestiva metopia iunge
Myrti molydennae xestum cum sulphure iunge Et cucii et ciphii pariter sarmenta cremato. Sic strigmenta Tagi precioso in veliere condes.

Porro autem de tua sorte, de vita et eius longitudine, de morte, eiusdemque genere, de inimicis, de anulo genii qui latet inter preciosa mercedis haec accipe:

 Monstrificum in aura velim fieri simulacrum
In loco agresti statuas, virga aurea circum
Celatoque mures, quibus mos aedibus amplis
Hîc habitent, et erit nobis gratissima merces
[118 vº] Ac thus, et styracem, myrrhamque merumque cruorem
Immisce simul, et sacro thymiamate conde
Laurigeram trunco viridi componere thecam.
Nox erit cum merces secla tunc aurea pandent
Oloreamque feret pennam calvitia merces
Stantia mulcebit barbam dulcedine canam
Tunc tibi lucentes venient rubigine fulvi
Rotantesque dabunt anulis mercede potitis
Aglaiam pyropis incluso daemone fulvo
Daemoniumque tetro liber à purissimo sole
Anulus adveniet cum libram falcifer ibit
Mox tua pervenient felicia tempora geni
Verubus attagenis torrere viscera pandent
Sic paribus flammis torrebunt corpora verno.

Et haec sunt, perdocte Berarde, quae potui ex genio bono tanquam ex adyto quodam secundum profundissimum astrorum iudicium sciscitando cognoscere. Et revera expectanda mihi ob hoc fuit Martis orientalitas, quae apparuit hora prima post mediam noctem, Luna cum cauda Draconis, Sole cum cauda Leonis feliciter coniuncto, Mercurio item ex quadrato dextrum [119 rº] Orionis humerum aspiciente. Quapropter tu bene quidem, qui quamvis prudentia singulari, eruditione eximia, virtute, eloquentia, rerumque occultarum cognitione polleas imprimis, in rebus tamen arduis, difficillibus, et à vulgo remotis tanquam ad Apollinis oraculum confugiendum censes. Nam in omni deliberatione, quae de re magna et ardua instituitur, pium est Deorum implorare auxilium, cum humanum sine eo parum possit. Imitandus Xenophon qui Socratem in consilium adhibuit an Cyrum sequeretur relictis Athenis (5). Caeterùm eorum omnium quae tu summopere scire desideras finem subtili poteris perscrutatione facilé adipisci: maxima enim quaedam tibi pollicentur astra. At in occulta philosophia necdum quod voles assequeris Saturno potissimùm in Cancro impediente, ac etiam omni repugnante diametro. Sed revera merces illa ex calvitie ab anulo pollicetur ex bono genio securitatem ab omnibus terroribus, vitamque felicem per universum eius(b)cursum conferet. [119 v ] Thymiama quam nonnulli vulpinaceam occidentalem Arabicam appellant nuper ad te misi simul cum nostro astrolabio quod A praefecto Provinciae Barone [                                 ](6) dono acceperam: si quid est quod in rem tuam faciat, eo utere ut voles, nihil enim impedio; sin minus, fac ad nos quamprimùm redeant omnia. De thymiamate varii varia sentiunt: sunt enim qui ambram vocitent, alii aliter; sed quod ad te misi, persuade tibi verum esse thymiama quo Medea olim cum [ ] percepisset cogebat senes reiuvenescere (7). Genituram tuam spero brevi absolvere et eam ad te mittere. Et in persequendis revolutionibus inveni hoc anno 1562 à media Iulii usque ad Augusti initium graviora vitae, honoris et famae pericula tibi esse praeterita. Quapropter fac bono anima sis, quando prospera omnia deinceps ab astris tibi promittuntur. Vale felix et vive. Salone Petraea ad VI. cal. Septemb. 1562

NOSTRADAMUS'S LETTER TO FRANCOIS BERARD

Letter 41 of Nostradamus's private correspondence is the one that
contains most of what we know about his nocturnal esoteric practices
and the sort of raw material that they produced. The copy appears to
be in Chavigny's hand.
The original letter seems to have been delivered personally by
the seer to Francois Berard, lawyer and Procurator Fiscal to the Papal
Legation at Avignon, a keen alchemist and would-be disciple and
assistant of the mage of Salon, on or about 10th September 1562. It
concerns (among other things) a golden magic ring that the latter had
recently acquired. As a magician in his own right, Nostradamus
naturally had such a ring of his own (in his case, one inset with
cornelian, subsequently bequeathed to his son Cesar), and its purpose,
like Berard's, was to help bestow on him power to summon up the
spirits and to assist the general alchemical magnum opus. Such, at all
events, was the known function of such rings, and the precise methods
of making them were likewise well-known and in print.
Not surprisingly, therefore, Nostradamus devotes most his
letter to his 'reading' of Berard's ring. Its Latin syntax is notably
vague and inconsistent, but with Nostradamus this does not necessarily
argue any kind of drugged or trance-like state:


To the most learned Francois Berard, Doctor of Law, from Michel
Nostradamus, greetings.

Most learned Berard

Since leaving you, I have often reflected in my mind both on your
letter and on what passed between us, but was unable to satisfy all
your requirements in this great heat. Accept therefore that for nine
nights in succession I have sat from midnight until about four o'clock
both with my brow crowned with laurel and wearing the [ring with its]
sky-blue stone and, as it were on the [prophetic] tripod, have wrung
out of that good spirit [everything I can] about your ring. Therefore,
having plucked a swan's quill (for he thrice refused a goose one), and
with the spirit dictating to me, as though carried away by a poetic
frenzy I launched myself into the following verses:

For thee the suspect potions Leontine
Refused are by the voice. Thy field is free.
And PARPALUS, 'spite slain burnt offering
No ring shall grant. Yet, bare-head, now rejoice.
Crushed all your enemies. Stern spearman, he
In fluid air who lives, shall be that seer.
Shall come that ring when, splitting rocks, the ram
Colchis's fig trees shakes with furious horns,
Or cypresses on tombs far from the sun.
Bathed be the hideous limbs with blood of frog.
Enmired the nightly ghoul in Thracian gore.
Render the cedar charcoal in the censer
And seek the half-gnawed bones of fasting dog.
Ring-savèd thou from every whirling cyclone.
Dearer the gods be blood November-sprinkled.
On folk though fall Carina, now rejoice!


[Note the evidently planned and deliberate acrostic on FRANCISCO
BERARDO. This, plus the fact that the original poem is written in the
approved Virgilian hexameters, seems suspiciously non-inspirational.
The classical allusions seem even more so, so possibly putting the
final seal on some readers' suspicions that the poem is not inspired
at all, but a carefully-constructed artifice. On the other hand, it is
not at all impossible that Nostradamus actually started by writing the
letters of Berard's name down the margin, precisely in order to give
his intuition a jump-start and provide a kind of scaffolding for the
subsequent inspiration to coalesce around. Moreover, neither the
Virgilian Latin nor the classical mythology is any real surprise,
since he had been steeped in both from his youth up, to the point
where they possibly resurfaced regularly even in his dreams.]

Turning now to our own good spirit in person, and excellent in
every point, I prayed that for the sake of his most faithful Achates
[i.e. friend and follower] Francisco Berardo, an alchemist who
succeeds admirably in the transmutation of metals and is a supreme
investigator of them, he might teach me how and in what manner he
might bring forth ELICIUM and gold and purify pyrites, which we call
emery.
Thus I, laurel boughs having been laid upon the pillow, and my
head girt with a crown of laurel and daphnoid which we call
periwinkle:

"Angel who art my guardian and who guideth me in piety, grant that on
matters touching the transformation of natural substances I may
prophesy as on the brazen tripod, according to the courses of the
stars. Grant these things, I beseech thee, through the friendly
silences of the moon, and through these shades as Mars shines at his
rising. Grant them, I say, for the sake of the most good Christ and
his Holy Virgin Mother, and of Michael the Archangel my invincible
patron. Above all, grant that by your guidance I may increase both the
resources and the favour of nature, transform with mercury the basest
metals, even the slightest traces, into the veritable solar image that
is gold, and make this gold itself potable for the prolongation of the
lives of emperors, Kings and the greatest princes: [grant also] that
these metals, along with the gold, may flow easily through the tubes
of the still, without any of these liquids evaporating and [without]
the gold, separated both from the watery and from the earthy, sinking
to the bottom, but that all may be distilled at once by subtle
artifice."

And he, in my dreams, seemed to me to reply:

Not Amaltheus' horn raise at the door:
Olenus' goats let thou not prance within.
So let the twin-born blow the fires alight.
Turbid the wind hydraulic that thee gives
Rare gold; the dewy moonstuff pour in t' cup.
Aesgynum press, lest ought of it escape.
Do thou add cadmia, some pompholix
All fresh; of summer myrtle add the oils.
Mix in, with sulphur, scraped molybdenum,
Upon this, burn cucii and ciphii stalks.
So shall thy fleece catch Tagus' precious lees.

Furthermore, on the subject of your destiny, of your life and
its length, of your death and the manner of it, of your foes, of the
spirit hidden in the ring receive, among other jewels of your
recompense, the following:

Make me some statues in a rustic place,
In gold a magic image and a wand
Carved round with mice that in these vast abodes
Have dwelling: this shall be our offering.
And mix with styrax, myrrh and purest blood
Incense, and add to sacred thymiama,
Laurel-entwined, within a bough of green.
Night shall it be when He Who Thee Rewards
Opens the age of gold, swan-quill in hand,
Stroking thy beard, though strangely hairless thou.
Then shall descend on thee, sprinkling its dew,
Rose-fingered dawn, granting the ring-empowered
Aglaia's grace by him whose spirit wild
Dwells in pyropes. Free from demons foul
And pure that solar ring! And as dread Saturn
'Midst Libra walks, soon shall the sprites attain
Unto thy blissful brow; then pullets' entrails,
Spring's fair burnt-offering, roast o'er steady flame.

[True, this further acrostic -- this time on MICHAIL NOSTRADAMUS --
reads more like John Keats than some mere babbler in tongues, more
like the ancient Sibyl of Cumae's educated literary interpreters than
her original, incoherent utterances themselves. And yet the thought is
incoherent, the ambiance distinctly dreamlike. Possibly, then, we are
as close to the source of Nostradamus's original inspiration as we are
ever likely to get . . .]

These, then, learned Berard, are the things that I have been
able to glean from that good spirit, as from the [oracular] cave,
according to the most profound judgement of the stars. And for it, in
truth, I had to await the rising of Mars, which appeared in the first
hour after midnight, when the moon was in conjunction with the Tail of
the Dragon and the sun in fortunate conjunction with the Tail of the
Lion, while Mercury was in quadrature with the right shoulder of
Orion. This is why you did well, who are nevertheless outstanding in
wisdom, unequalled in erudition, virtue, eloquence and knowledge of
the occult, to think of addressing yourself as it were to the oracle
of Apollo in respect of these questions that are exacting, difficult
and remote from the common [understanding]. For in every deliberation
that touches on things great and exacting it is [only] pious to
implore the aid of the Gods, since without it the human [variety] can
achieve little. It is meet to imitate Xenophon who called Socrates in
counsel as to whether he should follow Cyrus after his departure from
Athens. For the rest, all those things that you desired to know you
can easily obtain by detailed examination: for the stars promise you
the greatest things. But in matters of occult philosophy, you shall
not yet obtain your desires, for Saturn in Cancer stands most greatly
in your way, and even opposes it all diametrically. But truly that
recompense promises you (apart from the baldness from the ring, and
apart from the good [indwelling] spirit) safety from all terrors, and
shall confer on you a life of good fortune for as long as it shall
last. I have recently sent you some thymiama, which some call
Vulpinacea occidentalis Arabica, at the same time as our astrolabe
which I received from the Prefect of Provence, Baron [...]: if this
bears on your concerns, use it as you wish, I have nothing against it;
otherwise see to it that everything is returned to me as soon as
possible. As far as the thymiama is concerned, various people think
different things -- some call it amber, others something else -- but
be persuaded that what I have sent you is the true thymiama thanks to
which Medea, once she had [gathered it], forced old men to grow young
again. I hope soon to complete your birth-chart and to send it to you.
And in following through your [astrological] revolutions, I have
discovered that in this year of 1562, from mid-July to the beginning
of August, there were serious events in your life and dangers for your
honour and repute. Be therefore of good courage, since hereafter the
stars promise you prosperity. Farewell and live happily. From
Salon-de-Crau, 27th August 1562.

Done by M. Nostradamus 1562

Letter 42

[120 rº] Io. Cibo Boerius Magistro Mich. Nostradamo medico praestanti, sed syderalis scientiae certiss. enunciatori s.d. [120 rº-121 r']. Ab priscis illis in omni virtutum genere clariss. philosophis haud temere neque casu factum duco, clariss. Doctor, ut Virtutis symbolum flammam sive ignem constituerint. Quandoquidem ut ipsa fiamma non solum adstantes splendore corusco sui admonet, sed etiam longé semotos in sui spectaculum trahit, itidem et ipsa virtus non solum apud praesentes sui possessorem in admirationem allicit, sed etiam longé remotos magnetis cuiusdam instar trahit. Hac profecto ratione factum est, ut splendor virtutis tuae non solum infra patrios limites vagaretur, sed et per universas Gallias (a) disparsus, denique etiam asperrima Alpium iuga, aereasque moles transvolans, in Italiam usque gloriosé penetrarit, atque adeo etiam in nostram Lyguriam tandem delatus sit. In qua tuae virtutis admiratorem ita me tibi fama devinxit, ut continere me non potuerim, quin hoc epistolio, licet infantissimo, te [120 vº] salutem, et gratulabundus felici patriae tuae observantiam simul studiumque profiterer in te meum. Fretus itaque humanitate illa tua, quae ut virtutis sem-per solet esse comes, ita in animo tuo praecipue vigere debet virtutum stemmatis omni ex parte decorato, à te peto vehementer, ut et epistolium qualecumque amoris non temeritatis fiducia exaratum boni consulas, et cum ipso Io. Cibo Boerium Ligurem (1) licet, at laudum tuarum buccinatorem egregium in albo tui studiosiss. atque addictiss. conscribas. Quem si in tuam clientelam gratanter acceptare dignaris, itidem quinque mihi quaesita ex tuo oraculo explicare non graveris. Primum hoc erit: Utrum vivat soror mea in coenobio S. Brigidae in Anglia Deo dicata. Secundum quaesitum, vitae meae periodum definire. Tertium, Utrum melius mihi sit praedium meum Sturlanum vendere an retinere. Quartum, Utrum inter veteres ruinas cuiusdam antiqui palatii diruti in dicto mea praedio aliquid lateat subterraneum. Quintum et ultimum, Utrum in loco mihi designato in eodem Sturlano venam aquae vivae potero adipisci et reperire. Haec quidem [121 rº] quaesita si literis humanitas tua mihi explicare dignabitur, certissimum mihi erit testimonium hoc epistolium, et scribentem simul clientulum animo grato atque pio abs tua praestantia fuisse acceptatos; quae felix sit, precor. Datum in nostro Sturlano ad XVI. diem Novembris 1557 Quaestio ac-cepta Decemb. Penultima, ¤ Die, Hora X. Min XXXI. Eiusdem A. M.D. L VI I

Johannes Cibo Boerius to Nostradamus

Johannes Cibo Boerius to Master Michel Nostradamus, the renowned
physician (but most certain interpreter of the science of the stars),
greeting.

Concerning those ancient and very famous philosophers who shone in all
the virtues, I would affirm without hesitation, most eminent doctor,
that they ignited an eternal flame or fire, the symbol of virtue. Not
only did that flame enlighten those around them with its radiance, but
it also attracted the attention of people far away. Today, similarly,
that same virtue does not limit itself to attracting the admiration of
those immediately at hand: but it attracts those from far away as if
by magnetism.

Such is the reason, undoubtedly, why the splendour of your virtue is
not limited to your own country but, having spread throughout France,
and taking wing on the winds over the cliffs and jagged peaks of the
Alps, has penetrated gloriously into Italy, and now has spread at
length here into Liguria.

It is the extent of your renown that makes me an admirer of your
merits, such that I could not contain myself from sending you
greetings via this small note, childish though it may be. I feel a
sense of appreciation towards your homeland, and wish to assure you of
my consideration and of my zealous study.

For, having every confidence in your generosity, which is on a par
with your virtue, I am sure that your greatness of soul is not lacking
in any respect. Therefore I beg you to see in the present note a
testimony of love rather than an act of daring. Be good enough to
number me, Johannes Cibo Boerius, in the book of your most zealous and
devoted admirers.

Therefore, if you would have the goodness to accept me into your
clientele, please oblige by putting to your oracle the five questions
presented here:

First, is my sister still living in the nunnery dedicated to Saint
Brigid* in England?

Second, please tell me how long I shall live.

Third, would it be better to sell my property at Sturla or to keep it?

Fourth, is it true that here on this property, among the ruins of an
ancient palace, there is treasure hidden underground?

Fifthly and lastly, can I, in the place indicated above at Sturla,
find and exploit some source of clear water?


If you are kind enough to answer these questions, your response will
be to me a precious testimony; therefore this correspondent and client
begs you to accept in advance his thanks for your prompt reply. I pray
that it will be propitious!

Given at our property at Sturla, November 16 1557.

[Interrogation survives for Friday the next-to-last day of December,
in the same year 1557, at 10 o'clock 31 minutes.]

*St Brigid of Sweden, author of one of the more important prophecies
in the 'Mirabilis liber' of 1522.

This translation copyright (c) 2002 by participating members of the
Nostradamus Research Group

Letter 43

[121 vº] Sacrosancto Solis et Lunae Antistiti D.D. Mich. Nostradamo Domino suo plurimum colendo Io. Chevignaeus s. [121 vº-122 vº] Quantùm in me meriti, beneficii, liberalitatis tuae contuleris, quantumque extiterit tuum semper studium mei vel augendi vel ornandi, in memoria habeo, nec ulla annorum series ex anima divulserit mea. Quod cum multis modis reipsa compertum habeam, tum vero iis tuis literis, quas nudiustertius accepi,(a) Soie clarius apparuit. Scribis enim vocari nos ab illustriss. Domino praefecto Avenionensi (1) scribae nomine, et ut id faciam me hortaris non solum sed incendis atque inflammas. Cum itaque dubius in anima verso quid agam, ecce à te et alterae literae quib. idipsum inculcas, ut properem, ut festinem, nec morae ullum relinquam locum : ter quippe tecum ea de re humaniss. Dominum habuisse sermonem. Scio, vir clariss., non id factum sine tua ampliss. commendatione, ut tuus est in me amor, qui certé sese ostendit ex omni parte, sed pressus ignorantiae meae conscientia, ut qui nulla penitus polleo rerum administrandarum peritia, nec audacia vigeo nec [122 rº] animo, malo cum verecundia me minus ad id aptum natum coram te profiteri quam meam GREEK WORDS(2) in tanta virorum ornatissimorum corona impudenter ingerere. Memini equidem mihi te aliquando praedixisse, futurum ut magno principi essem à secretis; nescio quid boni mihi astra superique reservent: certé nunquam tantùm speravi, homo omnium minimé ambitiosus et mollibus alioqui assuetus studiis. Volui quidem mediocri literarum cognitione tentare viam, qua me quoque possem tollere humo, et eo scilicet contentus esse: quid enim me opus est longis cancre tibiis? Plurimorum adhaec philosophorum me movent sententiae, sed Ciceronis praesertim autoritas: ad suam cuiusque naturam, inquit, consilium est omne revocandum (3). Diem sine lectione perdere non possum; frigida curarum fomenta plané detestor, otium imprimis literarium gratum est atque optabile; beataque tranquillitate prae rebus omnibus capior ; inquietudinis praecipitium abhor-reo; studia meam tenuere iuventam, eadémque senectutis (faxint ô Dii!) praesidium et solatium erunt. [122 vº] Otium divas rogat in patenti Prensus Aegeo, infit Horatius (4), Otium bello furiosa Thrace, Otium Medi pharetra decori, Grosphe, non gemmis neque purpura vae- Nale, nec auro. Et ut in summa dicam cum Seneca tragico (5), Stet quicunque volet potens Aulae culmine lubrico: Me dulcis saturet quies. Obscuro positus loco Leni perfruar otio. Nullis nota Quiritibus Aetas per tacitum fluat. Sic cum transierint mei Nullo cum strepitu dies, Plebeius moriar senex. Illi mors gravis incubat, Qui notus nimis omnibus Ignotus moritur sibi. Quare hanc nostram haeresim aequi bonique consules. Vale aetatis nostrae lumen decusque. Salonae nonis Maiis M.D.LXIII. 

Jean de Chevigny (alias Chavigny, alias Chevignard*) to Nostradamus

To that High Priest of Sun and Moon, Lord Michel Nostradamus, his most
venerated Master, Jean de Chevigny, greetings.

I treasure in my memory, nor shall the passing of the years ever allow
me to forget, how many merits and benefits you have conferred upon me
in your liberality, all the zeal that you have always brought to
raising and improving my situation. Convinced of it as I have long
been in every way, your letter received the day before yesterday has
finally made it clearer to me than the sun itself.

You write that I have been summoned by the illustrious Lord Governor
of Avignon to accept a position as secretary: you advise me to do so,
in fact I would say that you urge me to do so with flames of fire.
Since you are perfectly well aware that I am reluctant to take such a
decision, you redouble your literary efforts, tell me to bestir
myself, not to let slip the slightest moment: you tell me that you
have already discussed the matter with the Noble Lord on three
occasions.

I am well aware, Eminent Master, that the offer did not come without
your full recommendation: you waste no opportunity to show your love
for me; but I am seized with scruples on account of my ignorance. I
really have no competence in administrative skills; besides, I have
neither the audacity nor the mind to undertake them. In addition, I
prefer frankly to admit to you my ineptitude, rather than to be
impudent enough to inflict my inaction and my intractable nature on
such distinguished men.

I remember, it is true, that you once predicted to me that I would
become secretary to some important man. I do not know what good
fortune the stars above reserve for me: to tell the truth, I do not
expect much from them. I have no ambition, used as I am to the gentle
pursuits of intellectual labour.

Thanks to my modest knowledge of letters, I have preferred to essay a
down-to-earth career that will afford me a measure of contentment.
What need have I to play the [paid] flautist any longer? My main
interest is in the discourses of the many philosophers, and I
appreciate above all others the authority of Cicero: 'Let everybody,'
he says, 'return to his own nature.' I cannot bear to spend a day
without reading: I detest the cold shower of cares: I appreciate and
desire above all the leisure to read. Only blessed tranquillity
attracts me: I detest matters that disturb. Studies have taken up my
youth, and they will be the support and consolation of my old age.

'He demands quietude of the gods, the man suprised far out at sea on
the Aegean'. Thus commences Horace, who continues thus:

'It is quietude that Thrace demands amid her mad struggles; quietude
that the Medes demand, adorned with quivers; quietude, O Grosphus,
whom neither gums nor purple nor gold can buy.'

Finally, let me declare with Seneca the Tragic:

'Let whoever power seeks
Climb the slippery slopes of fame.
Sweet to me is gentle quiet
In a place that has no name.
Gentle pastimes I enjoy.
Quite unnoticed by the Great
Life flows by with not a word.
Thus, when all my days are gone,
Passing quite unseen, unheard,
Old, unnoticed I shall die.
A graver death shall him await
Who known shall be to all the great,
Yet unknown to himself shall die.'

I trust that you will accept my way of thinking with a good grace!

Adieu, beacon and ornament of our age!

From Salon, 7 May 1563

*Nostradamus's secretary and amanuensis from about 1561. One almost
has the impression that Nostradamus was trying to 'kick him upstairs',
as though overwhelmed by the man's evident over-enthusiasm... If so,
Chavigny is unable to take the hint! ;)

Note the possible influence of both these pieces on Shakespeare's
Hamlet [I.iii.75+]!

This translation copyright (c) 2002 Peter Lemesurier

Letter 44

Io. Bergius medicus D. Nostradamo doctissimo undecunque viro s.p [123 iº-124 rº] (1). Non est quod mireris, Nostradame doctiss., in schedulis ad te missis non fuisse obscurum meum nomen conscriptum : non enim eo scripseram ut tibi doctissimo innotescerem, sum etenim minime ambitiosus, sed ut morem gererem his qui sunt de me optimé meriti. Sed quando ôta tibi placet, ut mutuis literis institutam amicitiam colamus, tibi promitto in méque recipio, in hoc genere officii, quoties tabellarii dabitur occasio, me non defuturum. Perge item tu pari studio me tuis sollicitare, ut hac una ratione absentes nos saepe visamus. Erat quaedam tui adventus in Aquitaniam concitata non levis expectatio ; quae mirum in modum me et quamplurimos tui amantissimos exhilararat: nam sperabam me hac ratione explere passe animum abditis tuis responsionibus. Sed postquam ex tuis literis intellexi te arthritide laborare, excidit spes tantae voluptatis tantique commodi. Scio enim quantum hic morbus vires corporis frangat, tum in meipso tum in patre D. lulio Caesare Scaligero tibi [123 vº] aequé ac mihi nota (2). cuius memoria nunquam sese mihi sine lacrymis offert; quod me tanto literarum et virtutis lumine orbatum caecutire tota vita videam, quam si cum illo finiissem praeclaré mecum actum putarem: quandoquidem non essem spectator tam miserarum tragoediarum. Quarum actus cum in septennium protrahi debeant, ut tu quodam loco tuarum praedictionum profiteris, augent vitae acerbitatem, maximé mihi cui vivendum est (a) cum ingeniis in Nugamine D. Scaligeri divino sua more depictis (3); qui si hodie viveret, alio stylo aliisque verbis depingeret: nam accessit ingens cumulus nequitiae ad cas mores, quos tu olim in istis explora-tos habuisti. Quando igitur mihi hic vivendum est, et excidit spes tui videndi, rogo te, ac si pateris obsecro, ut ad ea quae Iulius Fortis (4) tui et mei studiosissimus meo nomine proponet cum apud vos erit (audio enim propediem ad vos profecturum) respondeas nulla facta circuitione nec mei nominis significatione: veruntamen quae tegenda putabis notis exprimes, sed ita ut ego intelligere possim; hoc si feceris, pergratum feceris, meque tibi devinctiss. devinctiorem reddideris. [124 rº] Quos me tuo nomine salutatos voluisti, salutavi et praesertim D. Daurea Caus (5). atque universa eorum familia, qui de te expec!ant summariam praesagitionem futuri anni; et quae sors Nugaminis pene eversae sit futura. Vale, plura ociosus. Agenni idibus Octobris anni salu. M.D.LXIII.

Johannes Bergius to Nostradamus

Johannes Bergius, physician, to the Lord Nostradamus, a man most
erudite in all things, greetings.

Do not be surprised, most learned Nostradamus, that I have not signed
my humble name to the messages that I have sent you. My object in
writing to you was not in any case to make myself known to the great
scholar that you are (I am not so ambitious!). I simply wished to
conform to the best usage as I understand it to be.

But since you are pleased that we should cultivate a pen-friendship, I
promise both to you and to myself to remain faithful to such an
undertaking, in so far as postal opportunities allow. Be kind enough
to apply commensurate zeal on your own part, so that, even without
meeting each other, we shall have the impression of constantly seeing
each other.

The announcement of your arrival in Aquitaine had raised many hopes. I
and all your great admirers were overwhelmed with joy. For I had hoped
to have a chance to obtain from you clarification of your veiled
replies. But when I learned from your letter that you were suffering
from arthritis, all my hopes of such an agreeable opportunity were
dashed. I am well acquainted with how much this illness incapacitates
the body, as much through my own experience as through the memory of
Jules Cesar Scaliger senior, whom you knew as I did. His memory still
moves me to tears. I feel as though all the light of his culture and
merit has gone out of my life. I wonder whether I should not have
done better to bring my affairs to an end when he did.

After all, am I not about to be the spectator of so many wretched
tragedies? If such woes are to last seven more years, as you have
declared in your predictions, they will only increase my despair,
especially if I am to continue to live under the circumstances
described by Scaliger, in his inspired manner, in his 'Nugamen'. If he
were still alive, I daresay he would change his tune, for a vast cloud
of wickedness is now being added to the activities that you have
already described in your investigations.

However, since I have to live here and now, and since my hopes of
seeing you have been dashed, I request and beg of you to reply
directly, and without special regard to myself, to Jules Fortis, who
is as devoted to you as he is to me, and who (I hear) is shortly to
visit you on my behalf. If, however, you feel that you have to say
anything covertly, please do so in such a way that I can still
understand you. I offer you my thanks in advance: you will not have
obliged one who is ungrateful.

I have greeted on your behalf all the people you wished me to, in
particular the Consul Dr. Dauré, and also all the family of those who
are awaiting a summary of your predictions for next year, and of what
the future fate shall be of Nugamen with the upturned penis.*

Adieu, universal man.

From Agen, the 15th of October of the Year of Grace 1563.

* Interesting that both Dupebe and Lecureux studiously ignore the last
phrase in their paraphrases/translations altogether! I imagine that
'Nugamen' is some sort of anagram... presumably made up from 'gen...'
and 'manu' ['by hand']. Not knowing the book, it occurs to me that it
could conceivably be a reference to the self-generating Egyptian God
Amun (curiously, an exact anagram of 'manu'!!). But that, of course,
is pure guesswork... [PL]

This translation copyright (c) 2002 by participating members of the
Nostradamus Research Group

Letter 45

Benedictus Flandrianus D.M. Nostradamo philosopha et mathematico praestantiss. s. [124 rº-124 vº](1) . Toto iam orbe celebratissima tuarum virtutum fama tuaque illa maximé divina ex astris futura praesagiendi prudenter ac vere solertia et consulendi fideliter atque sapienter perhumana consuetudo et prudenter respondendi sagacitas faciunt ut meam tibi genesin (a) ad caelestem figuram et normam dirigendam, atque discutiendam mittere sim adductus. Natus fui Vapinci 1525 die 21 Octobris hara secunda post Solis occasum. Ex hac genitura facilé videre et perspicere poteris quae sint, quae fuerint mea et quae ventura trahantur fata: quae omnia te obsecro diligenter annotes atque perscribas, nihil omnino celans neque dissimulans, ut meae meorumque saluti prudenter consulam ac fideliter inserviam, ut bonis [124 vº] sapienter utar et rebus adversis fortiter obsistam: ut omnia quae mihi erunt facienda vel fugienda ad bene beatéque vivendum à te perdiscam. Quod si feceris, perficiam profecto ut apud gratissimum hominem et tui amantissimum virum quàm optimé posuisse studium tuum atque officium sentias. Vale et me in tuis habe. Vapinci M.D.LXIIII. cal. Maii. 

BENOIT DE FLANDRIA to NOSTRADAMUS

Benoit of Flandria, to Monsieur Michel Nostradamus, eminent
philosopher and mathematician, greeting.

Your universal renown and the fame of your almost divine skill in wisely interpreting the future from the stars, together with the wisdom with which you are in the habit of replying sincerely and wisely and with great humanity to those who consult you -- all this prompts me to ask you to establish my birth-chart and to comment upon my future prospects.

I was born at Gap in 1525, October 21, two hours after sundown. From the enclosed chart you will easily be able to deduce the events of my present life, as well as of my past and my fate to come. I beseech you to annotate it and comment on it, neither hiding nor concealing anything, so that I can consider and faithfully act on what is best for the fate of myself and my family, and so that I can profit from what is good and resist adversity with courage. So please tell me what
I must do or avoid in order to live well and enjoy good fortune.

If you will do all this, I assure you of the good will and devotion of
one who is among the most grateful and loving of men.

Farewell, and count me among your friends.

Gap, 1st May 1564.

This translation copyright (c) 2002 by participating members of the
Nostradamus Research Group

Letter 46

Clariss. ac praestantiss. viro D.M. Nostradamo a consiliis Regis Christianiss. ac eius Maies. medico et mathematico, s.d. [124 vº-125 rº] Cum proximo mense superiori Augustae Vindelicorum essem, vir clariss., ibique esset Daniel Rechlingerus patricius Augustanus (1) in aula Imperatoris nobilis, à me petiit ut, si Lugdunum proficiscerer, diligenter curarem ut nativitates sive geneses, quas pro illustriss. principibus Caesareae maiestat. filiis, qui nunc in Hispania sunt, anno superiore confecisti, hue ad me mitterentur (2). Dicit enim se ut fierent tibi mandasse, munusque eius rei causa dedisse. Itaque ut cas nativitates certo reciperem et ad Imperatorem deinde in Germaniam deferrem [izs rº] , petiit à me ut aliquem tabellarium ex hac urbe ad te mitterem; dedit etiam ille suas ad te literas, quas nondum mitto donec ex te intelligam utrum illae geneses paratae sint, et utrum ad cas adferendas opus sit proprio nuntio, quem ad te mittam; peto igitur à te ut primo quoque tempore ea de re me facias certiorem, ut Danieli Rechlingero et Imperatori idipsum significare passim. Cupio certé, quantum in me est, ut tuum nomen non minorem in nostra Germania quàm in vestra Gallia autoritatem obtineat, quod certé futurum est, si talium principum geneses a te confectae in lucem prodeant. Expectabo igitur hîc Lugduni tuam responsionem, ut intelligam utrum sit propter eam rem pecularis nuncius ad te mittendus necne. Literas ad me tuas hue prima data occasione mittes: earum vero inscriptionem ita facies ut commode mihi reddantur. Oro te plurimum ut statim respondeas, ut Daniel Rechlingerus intelligat me id diligenter curasse. Bene vale, vir clariss., ac me ignotum ama. Ex Lugduno 13 Iunii 1565. Tuae Excellent. studiosiss. Io. Lobbetius I.V. Doctor (3).

Johannes Lobbetius to Nostradamus

To the most noble and eminent Master M. Nostradamus, one of the
Councillors of the most Christian king and His Majesty's physician and
astrologer, greeting.

Since, Most Eminent Sir, I was in Augsburg last month, and also there
was Daniel Rechlinger, patrician of the town and gentleman at the
Emperor's court, he asked me, if I was setting out for Lyon, to make
every effort to have sent to me here the horoscopes that you prepared
last year for the most eminent princely sons of the emperor (who are
currently in Spain). For he says that he is ready to order them
from you and pay whatever it costs.

Therefore, in order that I may be sure of receiving these birth-charts
and transmitting them to the Emperor in Germany, he has asked me to
send you a messenger from this city. He has also given me a letter for
you, which I have not yet sent, not knowing whether the works in
question have already been prepared, or whether I should send a
special messenger for you to hand them over to, whom I will now send.

I therefore pray you to confirm this without delay, so that I can
indicate as much to Daniel Rechlinger and thus to the Emperor himself.
For my part, I wish with all my heart that the authority of your name
may spread no less widely in our Germany than in your own France. That
is certainly what will happen, as soon as it becomes known that you
are the one who supplies charts for such great princes.

I will therefore await your response here in Lyon, so that I may know
whether, with regard to this particular matter, I should send you a
special messenger or not. Write to me here at the first opportunity:
please write the address in such a way that your letter duly reaches
me. I beg you for an immediate reply, so that Daniel Rechlinger may
know that I have taken care of this matter with due diligence.

Farewell, Eminent Sir, and love me as an unknown friend.

From Lyon, 13 June 1565.

Most devoted to Your Excellence,

Johannes Lobbetius, Doctor of Law (of both kinds)

This translation copyright (c) 2002 by participating members of the
Nostradamus Research Group

Letter 47

[125 vº] Eruditiss. ac ornatiss. viro D. Io. Lobbetio LL. Doctori M. Nostradamus. s. [125 vº-126 vº]. Tantum Aquis Sextiis redibam, cum ecce à filiola nostra redditae sunt nobis tuae literae, clariss. Doctor, plenae illae quidem humanitatis et benevolentiae; quas ego ob candorem veré Germanicum saepe perlegi. Curabo itaque (quod à me petis) diligenter ut promissa nostra quamprimum exolvantur, illa certé quae dederamus iampridem nobiliss. viro D. Danieli Rechlingero, Rechlingero, inquam, prorsus heroi, adhaec ingenio, doctrina, fide, probitate et eloquentia singulari ornatiss., de principum scilicet genituris et calculandis diligenter et copiosé explicandis. Enimvero, eruditiss. Doct., ne quid te lateat, pro calcula, cura et labore suscepto in Rechlingeri geneseos explanatione triginta aurei numi nobis sunt numerati ; scribae vero nostro qui eam transcripsit fideliter, sex. Longe vero praestantius munus ab illustriss. principib. expecto, et Caesareae maiestatis filiis dignum. Ignorare te non puto quantis constent ista vigiliis et laboribus ; [126 rº] primo quidem mea manu scripta omnia adeo diffuse, adeo ample ut nihil magis, tum illa ipsa alterius exarata characteribus propter lectionis difficultatem. Quamobrem ea de re ad D. Rechlingerum rescribas oro : quod et facio sed sermone Gallico, utpote ei quem Musae Gallicae (a) educarunt, et ita in Gallicis exercitatus est, ut Gallum potius quam Germanum dixeris. Quo fit ut in huiusmodi genesibus idiomate nativo magis quam aliunde accito et Latino utor. Dabis autem operam, si placet, ut nostrae quamprimum literae ad eum deferantur. Efficiam interea ut quae sum pollicitus in eius manus quam citissime veniant. Salutabis etiam meo nomine per tuas literas D. Laurent. Tubium Pomeranum apud Augustanos, LL. Doctorem, et si eum invisis, id quoque facies impensius, quod quidem mihi tam gratum erit quam quod gratissimum. Nuntius ad me mittendus non est donec rescripta sint omnia et ad umbilicum deducta : quod fiet sedulo Diis faventibus. Caeterum quantum ego praesagio consequor, [126 vº] - In precio es maiore futurus: Multum corde vales, nec minus ore sapis. Si nobis rescribis, nihil gratius efficere possis. Vale, et me ama. Salonae Petr. nonis Iulii 1565.

Nostradamus to Johannes Lobbetius

To the most celebrated and scholarly Master Johannes Lobbetius, Doctor
of Law, Michel Nostradamus, greeting.

Hardly had I returned from Aix than there was my little daughter
handing over your letter to me, illustrious doctor, who are so full of
humanity and good will which, by its frankness, I recognize as
typically Germanic.

I shall take good care, as you request, to fulfil the promise made
earlier, and remain dedicated to calculating and commenting diligently
and fully on the Princes' birth-charts for the most noble Master
Daniel Rechlinger, that veritable demigod, singularly outstanding in
intelligence, learning, loyalty, integrity and eloquence.

But you should know that it has cost me 30 golden crowns [some 90
pounds at the time, or some £1800/$3000 in modern currency!!] to do
the calculations and all the work involved in the charts requested by
Rechlinger, not to mention six further crowns [some 18 pounds, or
£360/$600] for my secretary for his faithful transcription. Indeed, I
have long been waiting for a remuneration on behalf of the Princes,
and one worthy of the sons of his Imperial Majesty.

I cannot imagine that you are unaware of how much time and labour is
involved: I have first to write it all out by my hand, in a
handwriting that is as clear as possible; then I have to have someone
else transcribe it all in order to remove any remaining difficulty in
reading it.

Therefore transmit what I have told you, I pray you, to Master
Rechlinger. You might add that I have written out my work in French
because it is nourished by the Gallic muses, and that he himself is
practised in French, to the point where you could say that he is a
Frenchman rather than a German. It is for this reason that I have
written my commentaries in my native idiom rather than in the Latin
that I normally use.

Please, I pray you, see to it that my letter is transmitted most
swiftly to Master Rechlinger. On my part, I will do everything
possible to deliver the work to him quickly, as promised.

Please greet on my behalf Master Lorenz Tubbe of Pomerania, Doctor of
Law, in Augsburg, when you write to him; if, however, you should
encounter him [in the flesh], greet him all the more. I thank you for
this most sincerely in advance.

There is no need to write to me again until I have re-written it all
and extracted it from the scrolling cylinder - which shall be done
with all speed, God willing.

As for the rest, let me finish with a presage:

Your value shall increase in future: your heart is in good shape, even
though you are unaware of it.

Should you write back to me, nothing would please me more.
Farewell, and love me.

Salon-de-Crau, 7 July 1565.

This translation copyright (c) 2002 by participating members of the
Nostradamus Research Group

Letter 48

Clariss. ac excellentiss. viro D.M. Nostradamo a consiliis Regis Christianiss. ac eius Maiest. medico et mathematico s.d.p. [126 vº-128 vº]. Mirabar et quidem vehementer, vir eximie ac clariss., quod ad binas meas literas in quib. nomine Danielis Rechlingeri veteris amici nostri, abs te iuniorum principum filiorum nostri Imperatoris invictiss. geneses petebam (a), certe eandem ob causam ad XX huius mensis diem alias literas ad te dederam quae idem flagitabant quod priores, quas tamen literas nunc tibi non mitto. Etenim cum iam clausae obsignataeque essent, et tabellario nescio cui Massiliam profecturo tradi deberent, eodem momento mihi fasciculum literarum reddidit Filiolus Lugdunensis tabellarius, in quo reperi ad me literas ternas Salonae Petraeae VII, XIIII et XV huius mensis abs te scriptas, quae mihi fuerunt longé gratissimae. Nam tametsi [127 rº] cum illis literis iuniorum Regum ac principum genituras non accipiebam, tamen quia ex iis intelligebam brevi fore ut absolverentur, et ita absolverentur ut neque te officii, nec Danielem Rechlingerum expectationis, neque me curae huius rei nomine susceptae poenitere possit, non mediocrem accepi voluptatem ; fasciculum literarum quem ad Danielem Rechlingerum scribis, primo quoque tempore Augustam Vindelicorum deinde Viennam in Austriam perferri curabo. Eum vero hortabor, quia id à me petis, ut moram exiguam non graviter ferat; faciam etiam illi spem brevi futurum esse ut apud Divum Maximilianum Imperat. officii sui rationem reddere et diligentiae suae significationem praebere possit. Interea à te peto, vir clariss., ut illi rei quam iamdudum promisisti diligenter et cito incumbas. Ego, quod dicis, fateor quidem esse verum id quod differtur non auferri; sed nec istud vulgatum proverbium falsum est, aliquid bis videri datum quod cito datur (1). Age igitur, praesta illud officium et nostram expectationem [127 vº] supera. Id sane et iocundum est futurum Imperatori et tibi gloriosum, et Da. Rechling. mihique longe gratissimum. Porro non est quod differas mittere ad me principum genituras, tametsi nondum a Daniele Rech-linge.(b) responsum accipias: nam si ab eo ante tibi responsum expectandum existimares, propter locorum maximum intervallum res aequo diutius differretur. Mitte igitur ad me geneses illas simul atque confectae erunt; hoc est mitte hue mihi per praesentem tabellarium Filiolum qui te proficiscendo Massiliam ea de re conveniet, tibique hasce tradet, ut revertendo omnia apud te parata inveniat. Interea dabo operam ut omnia quae cupis is Da. Rechl. quam citissimé intelligat. Mittam ad eum tuas literas, ei etiam hac de re accuraté scribam, denique ut nihil omittam, ternas illas literas quas ad me dedisti ad eum perferri curabo. Haec omnia ubi acceperit, statim respondebit, et ita respondebit, ut te decet et dignitas tua postulat. Mitto iam tibi literas illius, quas penes me hactenus asservavi [128 rº] dum ex te intelligerem quid mihi esset faciendum. Quod vero ille ad te ante non dederit literas, non est eius negligentiae aut oblivioni adscribendum, sed potius magna locorum intervallo; ad quod accedebat quod neminem haberet cui tale negocium procurandum committere posset. Doctorem Tubbium Pomeranum apud Argentoratenses iuris professorem tuis verbis salutabo. Quod coniectura ac praesagio de me versibus es vaticinatus, tam faustum est, vix ut id sperare audeam; habeo tamen gratiam quod mihi bene cupis ac bene cupiendo mones ut ad cas virtutes contendam, quas in me esse dicis. Si horam meae geniturae scirem, de ea te redderem certiorem, sed eam certo non scia. Caeterum habeo quendam amicum, qui in Germania commorari cupit; de eo obiter sententiam tuam lubens intelligerem : est vir literatus et doctus : natus est ille in infe-riore Flandria prope Hanoniam in urbe Vallencenarum (2) hara 7 post merid. 24 Novem. anno 1524; non cupio ut in conficienda eius [128 vº] genitura labores, non enim id cupit, sed si de eo obiter aliquid dici potest, id cuperem cognoscere. Is de matrimonio est sollicitus, nec illi adhuc contigit contrahere matrimonium: est vir laboriosus et qui propria virtute non mediocrem est autoritatem consecutus. Si igitur aliquid de eo mihi significaveris, ea de re eum reddam certiorem efficiamque ut tuum nomen celebret, tuasque praedicet virtutes. Tu bene vale, vir clariss., ac me, quod facis, ignotum ama. Datum Lugduni XXIII Iulii, M.D.LXV. Tuae excellent. studiosissimus Ioannes Lobbetius.  

IOHANNES LOBBETIUS to NOSTRADAMUS

To the illustrious and most excellent Master Michel Nostradamus,
Councillor to the most Christian King, and physician and astrologer to
His Majesty.

I was truly astonished, most distinguished and eminent Master, to
receive no reply to the two letters in which I asked you, on behalf of
my old friend Daniel Rechlinger, to establish the birth-charts of the
princely sons of our most glorious Emperor. On the 20th instant I
repeated my request in a letter which, in the end, I did not send you.
It was in fact already closed and sealed, ready to entrust to a
messenger who was about to leave for Marseille, when Fillol of Lyon
handed me a bundle of letters among which I found the three missives
that you had sent me on the 7th, 14th and 15th of this month, for
which I thank you warmly.

Certainly, I was somewhat disappointed not to receive at the same time
the birth-charts of the princes -- but you say that they will soon be
completed not only to your own satisfaction, but in such a way as to
fulfil the expectations of Daniel Rechlinger and to relieve me of all
concerns on the matter. For all this I rejoice greatly.

I will have all your mail for Daniel Rechlinger forwarded first to
Augsburg, and thence to Vienna. I would ask you not to delay too much
in fulfilling your promise. For my part I shall do my best to ensure
that the divine Emperor Maximilian arranges for you to be compensated
for your work as soon as possible.

Therefore I repeat my request to you to get on with it as you
promised. I am well aware that, as you say, what is put off is
nevertheless not lost: but the popular saying is no less true that
what is given quickly is as though given twice [Erasmus]. You will
certainly please the Emperor, but you will also contribute to your own
glory and earn the recognisance both of Daniel Rechlinger and of
myself. Do not delay, therefore, in sending me the Princes'
birth-charts, even if you have not yet received Daniel Rechlinger's
reply; for, if you were under the impression that you had to await
such a reply, the whole matter would be indefinitely delayed on
account of the long distances.

I am the one to whom you should send the charts, once completed; try
to hand them over to this Fillol fellow who is leaving for Marseille
and is bound to run into you. It is he who will be handing you this
present letter, so he can also bring back everything you have done.
For my part, I shall make it my business to acquaint Daniel Rechlinger
with your terms as soon as possible. I shall forward your letter to
him, together with my own message. In fact, so as to omit nothing, I
shall also add the three letters that you wrote to me on this subject.
As soon as he receives all this, no doubt he will answer you, and in
terms commensurate with your station.

I am now sending you his letter, which I had retained in my hands
until briefed on the matter. If he failed to write to you earlier, it
was neither out of forgetfulness nor of carelessness, but simply
because of the distance. In point of fact, he didn't have anybody to
whom he could entrust his mail.

I will greet for you Doctor Lorenz Tubbe, the Pomeranian, Professor of
Law at Strasbourg.

What you tell me in the form of a presage in verse is more favourable
than I could have dared hope. I am nevertheless grateful to you for
taking an interest in me, and for recommending me to try and practise
the virtues with which you see me as gifted. If I knew my time of
birth, I would tell you it, but unfortunately I do not know it.

Regarding other matters, I have a friend who wants to come and live in
Germany. I would like to know what you think of this proposal. We are
talking here of a man born in lower Flanders, at Valenciennes in
Hainaut, at 7 o'clock after noon, on November 24, 1524. I am not
asking you to calculate his birth-chart -- he himself doesn't ask as
much. Yet if you could tell me something about him, I would very much
like to know it. He is keen to get married, but has not yet had the
opportunity. He is a very hard-working young fellow who has gained a
certain authority thanks to his own merits. If you would be kind
enough to offer some advice for him, I will transmit it to him - which
will not fail to make him appreciate your talents.

Good health, most eminent Master, and count me among your friends,
even though you do not know me.

Lyon, 23 July 1565.

Totally devoted to Your Excellency,

Johannes Lobbetius.

This translation copyright (c) 2002 by participating members of the
Nostradamus Research Group

Letter 49

Clariss. ac eruditiss. viro D.M. Nostradamo consiliario medico ac mathemat. regio [128 vº-130 rº]. Ante non multos dies attulit mihi Filiolus Lugdunensis tabellarius fasciculum abs te ex urbe Salona Petraea, vir clariss., in quo praeter genesin illustriss. principis Rodolphi (1), Imperatoris nostri invictissimi filii, et praeter literas quas ad Danielem Rechlingerum scribis, erant etiam tuae ad me literae septimo huius [129 rº] mensis die datae, ex quibus summatim intellexi capita quaedam quae in illius principis nativitate fuse, scite ac dilucide explicantur. Non dubito quin id unum sit quod commemoras, nimirum te in ea genesi tractanda et exponenda tot menses serio laborasse, cum quia tanti principis natura tibi hoc intueri videbatur, tum ut apud Imperatorem maximum Rodulphi principis parentem gratiam inires, et diligentiae, industriae ac scientiae tuae non obscuram praeberes significationem, certumque testimonium instar pignoris deponeres. Nosti profecto id quod dici solet, magna magnis convenire, et quid Imperatores, Reges, ac principes desiderant non ignoras, quorum expectationi cum satisfacere studes, nominis tui claritatem ita commendas, ut famam tuam, Gallis hominibus praecipue notam, apud Germanos nulla unquam posteritatis sit deletura oblivio. Ut autem praestem quod à me petis et ut Danieli Rechlingero arnica mea veteri gratum faciam, curavi fideliter et diligenter ut fasciculus ille optimé compactus et cerea tela involutus Augustam Vindelicorum primum, deinde in Austriam asportetur. Id autem feci primo quoque tempore, nam optato se [129 vº] obtulit nuncius in Germaniam profecturus et iam itineri accinctus. Scripsi etiam ad Danielem Rechlingerum: commendavi illi, quantum in me fuit, tuas egregios labores tuamque fidelitatem ; exposui etiam illi causam cur principis Ernesti genesim non misisses; praeterea hortatus sum eum ut tibi statim responderet, tuaeque petitioni satisfaceret; deinde significavi te anni proximi prognosticum Imperatori dicare velle, si intellexeris eius maiestati tale munus non futurum ingra-tum. Denique quia in hac urbe amplius mansurus non sum diu, nominavi illi hic quendam mercatorem Germanum, Christophorum Crafft, ad quem me absente hue poterit mittere literas, ut per eum tibi deferantur. Vidi ego genesim quam mittis, sed non exacte eam, ut par erat, consideravi, nam diligentius evolvendi tabellarii festinatio tempus mihi non concessit; certé occasionem mittendi tam bonam negligere non volui, ne tardius quàm vellemus ista redderentur, et ne Daniel Rechlingerus ea diutius desideret. Dolebit ille certo ubi intelliget Ernesti principis genesim non esse cum alia coniunctam (utriusque enim principis [130 rº] geneses expectabat), idque eo magis cum hanc quam mittis tam accuraté exaratam animadvertet; sed cum spem illi facis brevi fore ut ea quoque mittatur, tuis, ut opinor, promissis acquiescet. Quantum ad me attinet, libenter ferrem aequum iudicium de tuis lucubrationibus, sed ad talia examinanda opus est otio et tempore, et mihi (ut ante dixi) diligentius genesim illam inspiciendi tempus concessum non est; deinde, ut verum fatear, non opis est nostrae, et (ut meam inscitiam non dissimulem) quia in mathematicis disciplinis non sum ut vellem institutus, talia soleo potius verecundé admirari, quam cuiusmodi sint iudicare temere: has ob causas, quid de tuis laboribus sentiam, dicere non possum, nec video cur in hac re meum requiras iudicium: etenim ut vina vendibili non est opus appensa hedera, ita literarum tuarum tuorumque studiorum monumenta huiusmodi sunt, et ita omnibus nota, ut per meum iudicium nihil illis laudis et gloriae possit accedere. Tabellario Filiolo Lugdunensi duos coronatos aureos solvere ut adscripseras, mercedis nomine persolvi, ut ex eodem intelli-ges. Bene vale, vir clariss., ac me ama. Lugd. 16 Augus. T. excell.ae studiosiss. Io. Lobbetius.

IOHANNES LOBBETIUS to NOSTRADAMUS

To the very famous and most erudite Master Michel Nostradamus, royal
councillor, physician and astrologer.

A few days ago, eminent Master, Fillol, the messenger from Lyon,
brought me a packet of writings from you in Salon-de-Craux, in which,
in addition to the horoscope of Prince Rudolph (the son of our
glorious Emperor) and your letter addressed to Daniel Rechlinger, was
the one that you wrote to me on the 7th of this month. I have noted
with interest your analyses of the prince's chart, which are as
scholarly as they are lucid. I completely understand your emphasis on
the long months of serious labour that you have devoted to the study
of this chart, but what you will actually gain from all the care that
you have devoted to the study of such a great Prince's nature will be
the favours of the Emperor, father of this same Prince Rudolph. You
will thus add to your great reputation as a scholar, of which this
work is a certain pledge. [In other words, they don't propose to pay
him anything!]

You know the saying: "Great things become the great", and you know
what emperors, kings and princes expect. In endeavoring to meet their
expectations, you are working for your own glory. Your renown, already
great throughout France, will from now on be just as imperishable in
Germany.

In order to do as you ask and oblige my old friend Daniel Rechlinger,
I have made all the necessary arrangements for your big parcel, well
tied and sealed, to be sent off first to Augsburg, then to Austria. I
have been able to see quickly to its despatch, given that a messenger
has just come, ready to leave for Germany straight away.

I have also written to Daniel Rechlinger, boasting (in so far as I was
able) of the quality and the accuracy of your work. I have likewise
explained to him why you did not enclose the chart for Prince Ernest.
I have urged him to reply to you promptly and give you full
satisfaction; and finally I have told him that you are proposing to
dedicate your prognostications for next year to the Emperor, always
assuming that you think that such a homage might be pleasing to His
Majesty. In conclusion, since I do not intend to prolong my stay here,
I have given him the name of a German trader, Christoff Kraft, through
whose good offices he will always be able to forward his mail to your
address in my absence.

I have perused Prince Rudolph's chart, but was unable to take it all
in sufficiently. To tell you the truth, the messenger was in a hurry,
and so I did not have the time to read the work at greater leisure. I
did not wish to let slip such a good opportunity, nor delay this
consignment that Daniel Rechlinger was awaiting so anxiously. I am
sure he will be sorry that the chart of Prince Ernest is not enclosed
with the other one: he was, after all, expecting to receive both
charts. Indeed, he will regret it all the more when he realises the
quality of the chart that you have sent him. But fortunately you are
promising to send him the other chart in short order, and so he will
be happy about that.

As for me, I would very much like to be able to do justice to your
labours, but I have hardly had the leisure to look at them in detail -
besides which, as I told you above, I have not had time to take in the
most recent chart. Finally, I have to admit to you that I am hardly
competent in the subject, not having studied mathematics [i.e.
astrology] sufficiently. I shall therefore content myself with
admiring you rather than venturing to try and judge you. I can
therefore give you no competent advice regarding your works, and
rather wonder why you ask me for it. A good wine has no need of a
crown, and in the same way the monument that constitutes your works is
so well known and so famous that nothing I say about it can possibly
add to your glory.

I have, as you asked, given two crowns to Fillol by way of
recompense; he will be able to tell you so himself.

Farewell, eminent master, and keep your love for me.

Lyon, 16th August.

In total devotion to Your Excellency,

Johannes Lobbetius

This translation copyright (c) 2002 by participating members of the
Nostradamus Research Group

Letter 50

[130 vº] Clariss. viro D.M. Nostradamo Doct. medico ac mathematico regio s. [130 vº-131 vº]. Cum ad te ad XVI mensis Augusti proximé praeteriti diem scriberem, existimabam fore ut in aulam Regis proficiscerer ; verum praeter opinionem accidit ut propter aliqua negotia mihi hîc manendum hactenus fuerit. Interea dum hîc haereo nullas literas accepi à Daniele Rechlingero, quod vehementer miror. Ut tibi antea significavi, misi genesim principis Rodolphi ad eius fratrem Anton. Rechlingerum Augustam, ut inde in Austriam mitti curaret. Scripsi ad utrumque fratrem binas literas, verùm nullam responsionem adhuc accepi; ubi aliquid intellexero, de eo te faciam certiorem si hic sum; sin minus, id officii praestabit Christophorus Crafft, ad quem ante paucos dies scripsisti. Dedi ante triduum literas ad amicum qui Viennam in Austria habitat; eum oravi ut Danielem Rechlin. moneret officii. Intellexi ex tabellario Filiolo te non bene habere, sed ex podagra laborare; hoc moleste tuli, ut hominem tibi amicum decet. Quidam Germanus mercator qui ex Augusta Vindelicorum [131 rº] hue ante paucos dies reversus est, mihi retulit se à duobus civibus Augustanis in mandatis habere, ut ad te scriberet significaretque quid illi abs te expeterent. Cuiusmodi illud sit, nescio; tu ex eorum literis id intelliges. Caeterum quia ille mercator amicus meus ad te antea non scripsit et scivit me tibi per literas esse notum, à me petiit ut negocium suum tibi commendarem. Itaque ut homini gratum faciam oro te, ut quod à te petit cito expedias, ut diligentiae suae aliquam possit praebere significationem. Vocatur iste mercator Georgius Rolly: habitat in hac urbe in magna domo Germanorum, quae Corona appellatur. Ex Germania mihi scriptum est brevi fore imperii comitia: habebuntur Augustae Vindelicorum; dies dicta est ad XV diem mensis Ianuarii proximo futuri. Dicunt quidam agi de pace inter Imperatorem et Solymanum: quae pacis conditiones proponantur, ignoro. Dux Ferrariae et princeps Florentinus ducunt uxores duas principes virgines, quae Imperatoris sorores sunt ; nuptiae in Italia magna, imo regio apparatu celebrabuntur (1). Aliud non habeo quod scribam. Itaque bene (131 vº) vale, vir clariss., ac tuam cura valetudinem diligenter. Ex Lugduno XIX Novembris M.D.LXV. Tuae excell. studiosiss. Io. Lobbetius.  

IOHANNES LOBBETIUS to NOSTRADAMUS

To the most celebrated Master Michel Nostradamus, Doctor of Medicine
and Royal Astrologer, greeting.

When I wrote you on August 16th last, I expected to have to set out
for the royal Court. Now it turns out that, contrary to what I had
expected, I have so far had to remain here, detained by various
business affairs. But, stuck here as I am, I have received no letter
from Daniel Rechlinger, which amazes me greatly.

As I indicated to you previously, I sent the chart of Prince Rudolph
to his [i.e. Daniel's] brother Anton Rechlinger in Augsburg, so that
he could see to forwarding it to Austria. I wrote two letters, one to
each of the brothers, but have so far received no reply. As soon as I
hear anything, I will let you know (if I am still here); if not, this
service will be performed by Christoff Kraft, to whom you wrote some
days ago. Three days ago I sent a letter to a friend who lives at
Vienna in Austria, asking him to make contact with Rechlinger.

I have learnt from Fillol, your messenger, that, far from being well,
you are suffering from the dropsy; I sympathize greatly, as befits one
of your friends.

A certain German merchant who returned here some days ago from
Augsburg has told me that he has been commissioned by two burghers of
Augsburg to write to you explaining what they want from you. I don't
know what it is about: you will find out when you see their letters.
Moreover, given that this merchant is a friend of mine, [he tells me]
that he has not written to you yet, but is aware that I know you
through correspondence, and has asked me to commend his business to
you. Therefore, I pray you, make this friend welcome, grant his
request and tell him what he wants to know, so that he can pass on
whatever it is with all diligence. This merchant is called Georg
Rolly: he lives here, at the great house of the Germans called "The
Crown."

A little while ago I heard from Germany that the Imperial Diet
[Parliament] is going to be held at Augsburg; the date is set for
January 15th next. Some say that they are going to discuss a
peace-treaty between the Emperor and Suleiman; I do not know what its
terms will be.

The Duke of Ferrara and the Prince of Florence are to marry two
princesses, sisters of the Emperor. The marriages are to take place in
Italy with much royal pomp.

I have nothing more to tell you. Therefore farewell, most eminent Sir,
and take good care of yourself.

From Lyon, 19th November 1565.

Most devoted to Your Excellency, Johannes Lobbetius.

This translation copyright (c) 2002 by participating members of the
Nostradamus Research Group

Letter 51

Ornatiss. viro et LL. Doctori prudentiss. D. Io. Lobbetio M. Nostrad. s. [131 vº-133 rº]. Contigit nescio quo fato, clariss. D. Lobeti, ut postridie quam Gaspar Flechamerus (1) civis et patritius Augustanus me invisisset, tanto dolore chyragrae detentus sim, ut quae de eius genesi calculanda atque explicanda ei pollicitus fueram, ad praescriptum diem exequi non potuerim. Tum malum malo accessit et afflictio afflictioni. Vehementior enim ille dolor de manu insiliit in dextrum genu, deinde in pedem; quae ita affecit, ut pervigil et miserandus tatas XXI dies exegerim; nunc temporis ex torsione tanta aliquantulum respiro. Interea Filiolus tabellarius expectatissimas mihi tuas literas reddidit, quae mihi vel hoc nomine gratae fuerunt, quod et de te ubi esses, simul et domino Dan. Rechlingero certiorem fecerunt. Mirabar enim quid tantis amicis accidisset, cur ad me nihil literarum [132 rº]. De te coniectura nihil plané consequi poteram; at D. Rechlingerum augurabar in vertenda de Gallico idiomate in German. incliti principis Rodolphi genitura occupatum. Vir est enim (ut bene nosti) multiplici doctrina et candore tanto, adhaec ea fide, probitate, virtute, nobilitate ut nihil non nostra gratia nedum Imperatoris ter maximi neque recusare velit neque possit. Quapropter ei talis provincia bene et merito demandata. In fasciculo literarum quas idem Filiolus attulit, erant et ex Germania nobilis Anto. Schorer, qui ut suam genituram conficiam à me enixé petit'. Memini me armas abhinc IIII, ex Math. Wichmanni' mandata, fratris Hieron. Schorer perfecisse genesim non sine magnis meis vigiliis et laboribus, et ei Lugdunum misi mea manu scriptam; qui ut debet animo esse elato cum nescioquo contemptu remisit, causatus lectionem eius esse difficilem. Itaque dedi operam ut transcriberetur his paulo elegantioribus characteribus; quae etiam fecit minimi. Si stomacho Ant. Schorer frater tam fastidiente (quod minimé crediderim) esset futurus, id [132 vº] mihi tam molestum foret quàm quod maxime; consuerunt autem fratres ut eodem prognati semine eiusdem quoque esse naturae, quanquam non ubique verum, et sunt saepe contrariae. Scribo ego anima libero quaecunque scribo, quo et velim (a) excipi. Nec illa interim fratri reticeo, quando haec sese occasio obtulit. Accepi et nonnullorum aliorum literas, in quibus sunt illae Georgii Rolly et nobiliss. quoque herois Conradi Schwartz, qui mihi quaedam de thesauro in domo paterna defosso inculcavit: quibus omnibus, ut vides, satisfecimus, sed cum olei et operae dispendio. Caeterum (b) pergrata nobis fuere quae ex Germania tibi sunt allata de imperii comitiis, et reliquis quae tu non minus vere quam ingenue scribis. Sed, heus, tu accipe quoque quae Galliae nostrae miserrimae atque adeo toti Italiae impendere tanquam e specula video. Revera periculum est, Doc. ornatiss., et quidem magnum (nisi quis Deus nos respiciat) ne iterum seditiones, tumultus, bella religionis ergo suboriantur: fervent enim etiamnum ambae [133 rº] incendio tanto, ut vix ac ne vix quidem absque sanguinis fusione extingui possint aut defervescere. Apud Arelatenses nuper visa est ignita quaedam sagitta sive stella transcurrens, visa est et Lugduni et in Delphinatu, ut quidam retulerunt, quae profecto multa partendit adhuc mala, variaque nostris hominibus incommoda. Gens alienigena insurget, magna siccitas aeris futura est : arbores, segetes arescent fere omnes; aquae puteales et fontanae non paucis in lacis deficient, minuentur et amnes; denique periculum de fame: quod in prognostico nostro anni M.D.LXIIII notavimus, ubi Gallia cum veniet Lymo comitante duellum. Nihil habeo impresentia aliud quod ad te scribam, doctiss. Lobeti; quapropter valebis, et me, quod facis, ama. D. Rechling. cum ad eum scribes, meo nomine salutes precor. Salone Petraea idibus Decembribus, M.D.LXV.

NOSTRADAMUS to JOHANNES LOBBETIUS

To the most celebrated and scholarly Doctor Johannes Lobbetius, M.
Nostradamus, greeting.

Through I know not what fate, most eminent Doctor Lobbetius, the day
after I was visited by Gaspar Flechhaimer, that citizen and patrician
of Augsburg, I was seized by such an attack of gout to the hands that
I was unable to calculate or explain his birth-chart by the time I had
promised. Thereafter the illness just got worse and worse, and the
agony too. The severe pain that had attacked my hands moved to my
right knee, then to my foot. I was so ill that I went for 21 days
without being able to sleep. Now the pain is decreasing somewhat and I
am beginning to breathe again.

Meanwhile, your messenger Fillol delivered your so eagerly awaited
letter: I was most pleased to receive it, as much in order to have
your own news as that of Daniel Rechlinger. I was beginning to wonder
what could have happened to so many of my friends, and why they were
sending me no letters. In your case I could think of no likely
explanation.

As for Daniel Rechlinger, I imagined that he was busy translating from
French into German the explanation of Prince Rudolph's chart. The man
is, as you know, as virtuous as he is knowledgeable; one cannot but be
charmed by his loyalty, his integrity, his strength of soul, his
nobility of heart. The Emperor, like ourselves, appreciates such
merits - merits that he neither can nor will ignore. It is only right
that the man should have been entrusted with so high a function.

In the packet of letters brought by Fillol there was one from a German
noble, Anton Schorer, asking me carefully to work out his birth-chart.
I recall that some four years ago, on the request of Mathias
Weichmann, I had worked out the chart of Hieronymus Schorer, Anton's
brother. Working out Schorer's chart demanded of me much work and
numerous sleepless nights. I sent it to Lyon, written in my own hand.
Hieronymus, probably in a bad mood, sent me back the study somewhat
scornfully, claiming that it was difficult to read. I therefore went
to the trouble of transcribing my text in rather more elegant letters
-- but this seemed to do little for him, either.

If Anton Schorer were to show as bad an attitude as his brother (which
I can hardly believe), I confess that I should find it very upsetting.
Naturally brothers born of the same parents can resemble each other,
but it is not always true; they can equally well be very different. I
write this quite openly, so that everyone may know it. It is not
for me to hide the fact from my correspondent's brother, since the
matter is apposite.

I have also received a few other letters, among them one from Georg
Rolly, and another from a very noble personage, Conrad Schwartz, who
tells me about a treasure buried in his father's house. As you can
see, I have been giving satisfaction to everybody, at the cost of many
vigils and much work!

Quite apart from that, I was most interested in your news from Germany
concerning the Imperial Diet [Parliament], as well as in everything
that you tell me with such truth and frankness.

But alas, be it known to you that I see, as in a mirror, what
disasters are threatening our unhappy France, as well as all of Italy.
Danger lurks ahead for us, eminent Doctor, and it is great (unless
some god protects us), even assuming that the insurrections, the
upheavals, in a word the wars of religion do not resume. The two
parties are both seething with such ardour that it is not at all
certain whether it will be possible to calm them down again without
bloodshed.

At Arles, recently, a fiery arrow was seen - a kind of falling star.
The same phenomenon occurred, according to reports, at Lyon and in the
Dauphin: all this presages many and varied woes that shall befall
our land.

An alien people is preparing to invade us, and there shall
be great dryness of the air. The trees and nearly all the harvest
shall dry up, and in many places there shall be no water in the wells
and springs, and even the watercourses shall start to run dry - whence
the danger of famine. This is what I said in my prognostications for
the year 1564, where I declared: "Civil war shall visit France,
accompanied by dishonour."

I have nothing further to tell you for the moment, most scholarly
Lobbetius. Wherefore farewell, and love me as ever. When you write to
Daniel Rechlinger, greet him in my name.

From Salon-de-Crau, 13 December 1565.

This translation copyright (c) 2002 by participating members of the
Nostradamus Research Group

Extra 1

A Mons. Lobetius à Lyon (2). Monseigneur le Docteur Lobetius, j'ay receu vos lettres ensemble celles de Monsieur Rechlinger gentilhomme de la bouche de la Majestè Imperiale, je luy respons amplement à tout ce qu'il m'a escrit,(a) les lettres siennes ne sont point serrés, je dis celles, que je luy envoye à celle fin, que vous voyez le tout. Je luy envoye aussi une partie de ce qu'il demande, que vous mesmes aurés entre mains. Et si bon vous semble, la ferés relier la mesmes à Lyon, comme meritent les personnages, à qui elles s'addressent. Je vous promets, que j'ay demeurè plus de 14. mois tant à la calculation, qu'à l'explication d'icelle nativité, comme vous mesmes pourres voir & juger. Le Sr. Rechlinger pensoit, que pour 80. libr. qu'il me bailla, & six escus pour le scribe, que j'eusse failli ma promesse a parfaire ce que je luy avois promis. Et pource que par le vray jugement des astres selon leurs nativités ces deux princes doivent parvenir à grandiss. exaltation de regne & d'empire, ce m'à donné la cause d'y travailler tout ainsi que vous voyez. Cependant je luy envoye la nativité de ce Prince & Roy inclite Rodolphe, dans la quelle est contenu amplement & compris beaucoup de grands articles concernant premierement sa vie, santé & disposition de son corps, des substances, voyages, religion, des freres, sœurs & proches parents du sang du pere, de l'Oncle, ayeuls & bisayeuls, des enfans, des plaisirs & delices & expeditions, des maladies, des serviteurs, du mariage & de quelle famille & nation sera la femme, & en quel temps, & combien de femmes, des ennemis publiques & autres, de la mort & espece d'icelle, & en quel temps & de ce, que les morts luy auront delaissé des regnes, d'hereditès, de pleur, de crainte, de poisons, de voyages, des religions, peregrinations, & en quel temps il changera de religion, d'empire, de magistrat, de devotion,' de exaltation & de supreme puissance, de ses amis hors le sang, qui seront en grand nombre, des ennemis secrets & occults, de prisons & exilemens & captiveté par voye hostile. Et toutes telles significations & autres sont amplement declairees dans la dite nativité espandues sa & là selon les chapitres & exigence du cas. Que si Dieu fait la grace, que ce mien petit labeur puisse parvenir entre les mains de Cesar le pere, je suis asseuré, qu'il n'en prendra moins de delectation, que sa Majesté sera prise d'admiration. Et pour ce je vous envoye le tout, tant l'escrit de ma main, car il fault que j'escrive le tout, & puis la transcription. Et je suis tresasseurè, que si les personnes doctes, comme vous, y auront mis les yeux, elle ne sera moins digne du cedre, que sont vos epistres à moy escrites. Et de ce, que me venes à objecter, que j'ay trop tardé à envoyer ceci, comme venant à m'improperer ingratitude, juxta illud: Gratia, quae tarda est, ingrata est: Cum fieri properat gratia grata magis. Mais quant à cela, je ne suis coulpable. La reste de nativité du Sr. Prince Ernestus, frere & fils de Cesar, elle est escripte de ma main. Et pource que le premier escrivain se fache de tant escrire, je la vous envoyeray escritte des presents characteres, mais ce ne sera qu'au preallable je n'aye receu lettres du Sr. Rechlinger accompagniés de ce que sera raison jouxte mes labeurs & travaux, & entre autres, que je puisse entendre, que la Majesté de Cesar en soit content. Quant vous envoyerés la dite nativité ensemble les lettres, il vous plaira le tout le plus diligemment, que faire se pourra les faire tenir, & les cacheter & serrer ainsi, que vous entendès. Il vous plaira de contenter le fillol, pource que quand il est arrivé de Marseille ce jourdhuy sabmedi au soir, restoit tout un de mes cayers à transcrire, & l'ay fait arrester, comme estoit de raison. Et ce que vous dites, que de vostre argent vous luy avés baillé quatre testons entre vous & le Sr. Rechlinger aurés d'affaires de plus grande importance, que cela n'est pas, & en donnerés autant à cette heure. Et ne scay, s'il sera content. Par luy ou par autre me ferés response de la receue & de tout. Et si en quelque autre endroit je vous puis faire service, & le me fairés entendre, je m'essaieray de l'accomplir d'aussi bon cœur, que je me recommande treshumblement à vostre bonne grace apres avoir prié le Createur Monsieur le Docteur, que vous doint santè, vie longue, & prosperité, & l'entier accomplissement de voz nobles desirs. De Salon de Craux en Provence ce 5. d'Aost dimanche 1565. Vostre treshumble & obbeissant. M. Nostradamus Faciebat Michael Nostradamus à consiliis medicis & Mathematicis Francorum Regis die 7. Augusti 1565. 

To Monsieur Lobetius of Lyon

My Lord Doctor Lobetius, I have received your letters, together with
those of Monsieur Rechlinger, Gentleman, as dictated by His Imperial
Majesty. I am replying fully to everything he wrote to me. His letters
-- the ones that I am sending him, I mean -- are not sealed, so that
you can see everything. I am also sending him part of what he
requests, which you yourself will [thus] have in your [own] hands
[too]. And if it seems right to you, you can forward the same to Lyon,
as befits the people to whom they apply. I assure you that I have
spent more than 14 months, not just on the calculation but on the
explanation of this birthchart, as you yourself can see and judge. My
Lord Rechlinger thought that for 80 pounds that he paid me, and six
crowns for the scribe, I might have broken my undertaking to complete
what I had promised him. And because by the true judgment of the stars
these two Princes are, according to their birthcharts, to experience
most great exaltation of their power and authority, this caused me to
work on them in the way that you can see. Nevertheless I am sending
him the birthchart of this Prince and illustrious King Rudolf, in
which is contained and included many long articles concerning firstly
his life, health and corporal disposition, properties, travels,
religion, brothers, sisters and close blood-relatives of his father,
uncle, parents and grandparents, children, pleasures and delights and
expeditions, illnesses, servants, marriage and of what family and
nation his wife will be, and when, and how many wives, public enemies
and others, the said wife's death and nature, what dominions deaths
will bequeath to him, inheritances, tears, fears, poisons, travels,
religions, pilgrimages, and when he will change religion, authority,
overlordship, devotion, promotion and supreme power, his non-blood
friends who will be great in number, enemies both secret and hidden,
prisons and exiles and captivities during foreign travels. And all
these significations and others are amply declared in the said
birthchart, and expanded upon according to the chapters and the
exigencies of the case. May God grant that this my small labour may
come into the hands of the paternal Emperor: I am sure that he will
find it no less delectable than his Majesty will be seized with
admiration for it. And for this reason I am sending you all of it, not
merely my written manuscript -- for it I must needs write all of it
[myself] -- but also the transcription. And I am most assured that
once learned persons such as yourself shall have set eyes on it, it
will be no less worthy of the cedar than are your letters written to
me. And in case you should object that I have sent this too late, as
it were reproaching me with ingratitude, I would add: 'Gratia, quae
tarde est, ingrata est: Cum fieri properat gratia grata magis (Latin:
'Thanks that are late are ungrateful: for when one hastens to give
thanks, it is thanks to great thankfulness'). But as for that, I am
not guilty. The rest of the birthchart for the Lord Prince Ernest, the
brother and son of the Emperor, is written by my own hand. And because
the first secretary is angered at writing so much, I shall send it
written in the present characters, but that will only be provisional,
until such time as I have received letters from the Lord Rechlinger
accompanied by that which shall with reason be added to my labours and
works [i.e. an extra fee!!], and until among other things I shall have
heard that his Majesty the Emperor is pleased with it. When you send
[on] the said birthchart together with the letters, please be most
diligent to do all that you can to keep them in one piece, and seal
and close them as best you know how. Be pleased also to reward the
young courier, because when he arrived from Marseille this Saturday
evening, one of my notebooks still remained to be written, and I made
him wait, as was right and proper. And as for what you say about your
having paid him four testones between you and the Lord Rechlinger,
you will have much bigger concerns than that, and will give him as
much again at this time. And I do not know whether [even] that will
satisfy him. By him or by another you will acknowledge receipt of
everything. And if in some other way I can be of service to you, and
you let me know of it, I shall attempt to fulfil it with as good a
heart as I commend myself most humbly to Your Grace after having
prayed to the Creator, Dear Doctor, that he might grant you long life
and prosperity and the entire fulfilment of your noble desires. From
Salon de Craux in Provence, Sunday this 5th day of August, 1565.

Your most humble and obedient M. Nostradamus

Faciebat Michael Nostradamus a consiliis medicis and Mathematicis
Francorum Regis die 7 Augusti 1565

(Latin: 'Written by Michel Nostradamus, one of the medical and
mathematical advisers to the King of France')

Translation copyright (c) Peter Lemesurier, 2000

Extra 1

[28 rº] Monsieur, ce sabmedi XXIXme nouembre 1561 j'ay voz lettres receues de Paris le XII d'octobre de la presente annee, et voy que selon qu'il me semble voz lettres sont plaines d'estomach, de querelle et de indignation que vous auez à l'encontre de moy, que ne puys scauoir la cause pourquoy; de ce que vous plaignez de ce que moy estant a Paris m'en allant voyr faire la reuerence à la maieste de la Royne me prestatez deux nobles a la Roze et deux escus, qui est chose juste aequitable & veritable, et en cella vous monstrates ce qui estoit et perpetuellement apert de estre, que moy ne vous connoissant ne vous a moy que par renommee. Et deuez entendre, Seigneur, que tout incontinent que je feuz arriué à la cour apres auoir parlemente (a) quelque peu a la maieste de la Royne je luy diz mesmes la noblesse vostre et vostre plus que Caesaree liberalité de ce que m'auiez presté. Et ce ne fut pas une foys que le diz a sa maiesté, mais asseurez vous que il feut reiteré par moy de plus de quatre foys. Et je suis marry que m'aiez en telle estimacion que je ne suys pas tant ignorant que je ne scache: quod benefacta malé locata maie facta arbitror. Mais je congnoys que par vostre lettre vous parlez de colere et de indignation : et selon qu'il me semble sans auoir ample notice de moy. Et de ce que vous dictez m'auoir escript par quelque Cappitaine d'Aix, asseurez vous, Seigneur, que je n'ay receu jamais lettre de vous que ceste icy, (b) que je cuydoys fermement veoir, ce que j'auoys dict a la maiesté de la Royne, que vous feut esté satisfait, sed de minimis a eulx. Mais pour venir au poinct comme il est juste et tresraisonnable que [zs vº] que (c) vous soyez satisfaict que fault que vous asseuriez que en cest endroict et en tous aultres je me veoiz aultant homme de bien non tant seullement en votre endroict mais aussy en tous aultres comme vous vous estez montré noble & heroique et veritablement je pensois mon allee estre a la court (d) que j'estois mandé pour y aller. Mais aussy a l'opposite par d'autlres contremandé de n'y aller poinct. Et ce ne feust pas esté sans vous demander ny vous gratiffier amplement - Dernierement il y auoit chez Monsieur le Baron de la Garde ung jeune gentilhomme paige qui se disoit estre vostre priuigne (2) que souuent je luy diz et luy fiz offre qu'il m'apprint (e) de voz nouuelles que je vous eusse satisfaict amplement du tout, mais jamais il ne m'en parla. Combien que bien souuent je luy en tins propos. Quand a ce que m'escripuez que je m'en vins de Paris, HOSPITE INSALUTATO, asseurez vous qu'il vous plaist de ainsy escripre, que je ne pensais pas a cella et de moy ne de mon naturel je ne scay que cest affronter ne affronterie: telles imparfections ne vices ne me sont nullement ni ne m'appartiennent mais sont esloingnes totallement de mon naturel, de ma qualite et condition. Mais j'estois malade pour bonne recompense que j'euz de la court, je y vins malade (3), la maiesté du Roy me bailla cent escuz, la Royne m'en bailla trente et voila une belle somme pour estre venu de deux cens lieues (4), y auoir despendu cent escuz, j'en ai trente. Mais ce n'est pas cella: que apres que je feuz arriué a Paris [29 rº] du retour de Saint Germain (5), une fort honneste grande femme que je ne scay quelle estoit, a son apparence demonstroit estre dame grandement honneste et dame d'honneur, quelle que fut qui me vint veoir le seoir que je feuz arrivé et me tint aulcuns propos, je ne scaurois dire quelz c'estoient, et print congé qui estoit asses nuict. Et le lendemain matin me vint veoir et apres que sa noblesse m'eust tenu quelques propos tant de ses affaires particulieres que aultrement, a la parfin elle me dist que Messieurs de la justice de Paris (6) me debuoient venir a trouuer pour me interroger de quelle science je faisois et presageois ce que je faisais. Je luy diz par responce qu'ilz ne prinsent pas de penne de venir pour telz affaires, que je leur ferois place, que aussy je auois delibere m'en partir le matin pour m'en retourner en Prouence, ce que je feiz. Et que ce feust pour vous frustrer je n'y pensiz aulcunement, mais quoy, vous pourrez auoir de moy telle sinistre estimacion quelle qu'il vous plaira, si suis je certain que le connoistrez en brief. Et si suis grandement desplaisant que plus tost ne m'en auez escript que plus tost raison vous serait este faicte. Et si vous dyz que ne vous viz jamais que par lettre et si ne connoy que par vostre aspect de phisiognomie (f) propter (g) conniuenteîs (h) oculos' que une singuliere preudhomye, bonté, foy, probité, doctrine, et erudition. Mais vous penserez que auec toutes telles parolles que je [29 vº] Vous escriptz qu'il feust suffissant pour vostre satisfaction; non est. Je vous enuoye cy dedans votre lettre deux petitz billetz qu'il vous plaira de les bailler que tout incontinent que vous les aurez deliurez je suis asseuré que votre argent vous sera deliuré et promptement, l'ung est a Madamoiselle de Sainct Remy (7) et l'aultre a Monsieur de Fizes (8). Et de ce je vous supplye ne voulloir faillir les leur (j) deliurer. Car par apres, d'eux j'auray responce si les ayans receus qu'il n'y aura faulte aulcune et a plusieurs aultres de Paris et de la court que de plus grande somme ne me voudroient esconduire, et si en aulcune chose de ce monde je vous puys faire service je vous supplyerois bien fort qu'il vous pleust de me voulloir emploier soit pour vous ou pour quelzqu'ungs de voz amyz que vous pouuez tenir pour asseuré de vous fyer de moy (k) aultant que d'homme (l) qui soit en ce monde. Et si n'estoient les tumultes qui journellement sont pour le fait de la religion je me serois mis en chemyn et ce ne feust pas este sans m'enquerre de vous amplement. J'attendz vos lettres expostulenement,(m) desquelles je suys asseuré que la responce que vous me ferez que vous serez satisfaict. J'espere d'aller a la court tant que pour amener mon filz Caesar Nostradamus aux estudes et pour satisfaire a quelques personnaiges qui me pryent d'y voulloir aller, ce que je feray (9). Cependant je vous supplye le plus tost qu'il vau S [30 rº] plaira de m'escrire de voz nouuelles et je ne failliray de m'employer a vous faire tout le service qu'il me sera possible de faire, et le connoistrez plus amplement par effect aultant affectueusement que je me recommande, Monsieur de Morel, a vostre bonne grace, pryant Dieu qu'il vous doinct sancté, vye longue, accroissement d'honneurs et l'accomplissement de voz nobles et heroiques vertus. De Salon de Craux en Prouuence. Ce dernier octobre (10) 1561. Vostre humble obeissant serviteur prest a vous obeyr, M. Nostradamus. Monsieur, je vous enuoye a deux que je suis asseuré que le premier que vous demanderez a vostre premiere instance on ne fauldra de vous satisfaire comme est de Raison, il vous plaira de m'en escripre du tout. Votre humble dl obeyssant serviteur prest a vous obeyr M. Nostradamus (n)

Nostradamus to Jean Morel

[the person who had lent him money to pay his board and lodging in
Paris prior to his visit to the Court back in 1555, six years
before!!]

[I had hoped just to edit Leoni's translation from the French, but his
version is pretty hopeless, I'm afraid, even though a brave effort!]

My Lord

This Saturday, 29th November 1561, I received your letters sent from
Paris on 12th October this year. And I see that, as it seems to me,
your letters are full of bile, antagonism and indignation that you
have against me, who cannot make out the reason why.
Now, you complain that, I being in Paris and on my way to pay my
respects to Her Majesty the Queen, you did lend me two rose nobles and
twelve crowns, which is just, equitable and true, and, in that, you
showed what was and remains patently obvious, I not knowing you nor
you me, other than by hearsay. And you should understand, My Lord,
that as soon as I had arrived at the court and had spoken somewhat to
Her Majesty the Queen, I mentioned specifically to her your more than
imperial liberality in what you had lent me. And this was not the only
time that I told Her Majesty so, but be assured that it was reiterated
by me more than four times. And I am grieved that you hold me in such
estimation as to think I am not so ignorant as not to know [!!]: 'quod
benefacta male locata male facta arbitror' [Latin: 'that benefits
badly conferred are judged to be badly granted']. But I realise that
by your letter you are speaking out of anger and indignation and, as
it seems to me, without knowing very much about me. Nor about what you
say you have written to me via some Captain in Aix or other. Be
assured, My Lord, that I have never received any letter from you other
than this one, [and] that I was firmly of the view, regarding what I
had said to Her Majesty the Queen, that you had been satisfied. 'Sed
de minimis' [Latin: 'But as far as trifles are concerned'], regarding
such matters. But to come to the point, since it is just and very
reasonable that you should be satisfied, you should be assured that in
this matter and all others I see myself as much a man of goodwill not
only where you are concerned but in all other matters, just as you
have shown yourself to be noble and heroic. And truly I thought that
in going to the court I was summoned to go there. But also,
contrarywise, I was countermanded by others not to go there at all,
and this was not without asking you or fully satisfying you [??].
Recently, there was at the home of My Lord the Baron de la Garde a
young gentleman page who professed to be your stepson, so that I often
said and offered him the chance to advise me of your news to the
effect that I had amply satisfied you in all respects. But he never
spoke to me about it. Even though I mentioned it to him quite often.
As regards what you wrote, that I left Paris 'hospite insalutato'
[Latin: 'without bidding farewell to my host'], be assured that,
although you may be pleased to write thus, I was not thinking in that
way, and that it is not in me nor in my nature: I do not know how to
affront, nor to insult. Such imperfections I do not recognise within
myself and they do not belong to me, but are quite alien to my nature,
quality and condition. But I was ill: as a fine reward from the court,
I became ill there, His Majesty the King paid me a hundred crowns. The
Queen paid me thirty. And there's a fine sum for having come two
hundred leagues: having spent a hundred crowns, I made thirty. But
that is not the point. After I had arrived back in Paris from
Saint-Germain, a very honorable great lady, whom I do not know, but
who by her appearance showed that she was a very respectable and
honorable lady, whoever she was, came to see me the evening I returned
and spoke to me about this or that, I couldn't say what, and took her
leave when it was quite dark. And the next morning she came to see me,
and after Her Grace had conversed with me as much about her personal
affairs as about anything else, she finally told me that the Lord
Justices of Paris were proposing to come and see me in order to ask me
by means of what science I was predicting what I was predicting. I
told her by way of reply that they need not take the trouble to come
on such business, that I would cede place to them and that I had also
determined to leave the next morning to go back to Provence, which I
did. And that it might be in order to frustrate you never even
occurred to me. [Hee hee!] That this would disappoint you did not
occur to me at the time at all. But then you can have as sinister an
estimation of me as you like, I am certain that you will know very
shortly. And if I am very displeasing [sic!] that you did not write to
me sooner so that you might have been given satisfaction sooner, and
if I tell you that though I never saw you other than by letter, and if
I do not know you, yet 'conniventeis oculos' (Latin: 'when I shut my
eyes'] your physiognomy, your singular honesty, goodness, faith,
probity, learning and erudition... [end of sentence!] But you would
think that all these words that I am writing you would suffice to
satisfy you. Not so. I send you enclosed in this your letter two
little [credit-]notes which it will please you to cash as soon as they
are delivered to you. I am sure that your money will be handed over to
you, and promptly, too. One is on the acocunt of Mademoiselle de
Saint-Rémy and the other of My Lord de Fizes. And I beg you kindly not
to fail to hand them over to them. For afterwards I shall have word
from them as to whether, having received them, there was any error.
And there are many others in Paris and at the court who would not
refuse me a much greater sum, and if in any way in the world I can be
of service to you, I would beseech most earnestly that it might please
you to make use of me, whether it be for yourself or for various of
your friends [touting for business now!]. You may rest assured that
you can rely on me as much as on any man in this world. And were it
not for the disturbances that are happening daily on account of
religion, I should have taken to the road [ for Paris], and it would
not be without my inquiring about you fully. I await your letters most
anxiously, being sure that your reply that you will send that you are
satisfied [sic!]. I hope to go to court, as much to take my son Cesar
Nostradamus to his studies and [sic!] to satisfy several people who
are begging me to go there, which I will do. However, I beg you to
write to me with your news as soon as you please. And I will not fail
to employ in your favor all the services of which I am capable, and
you shall know more fully by deed how affectionately I commend myself,
My Lord de Morel, to your good grace. Praying God that he may give you
health, long life, increase of honor and the fulfilment of your noble
and heroic virtues. From Salon de Craux in Provence, this last day of
October [sic -- see top of letter!], 1561, Your humble and obedient
servant, ready to obey you,

M. NOSTRADAMUS

[in another hand...]

My Lord, I am sending you the two, although I am sure that the first
that you will ask for in the first instance, you will not fail to be
satisfied as is right and proper. Please write to me about it all.

Your humble and obedient servant ready to obey you

M. NOSTRADAMUS

[English translation copyright (c) Peter Lemesurier 2000]

Lord Birague

Al molto illustre Signor ii Signor Birago Consigliero dal Consigho
secreto del Re di Francia, Governatore & Luogotenente Generale per sua
Maesta' nel paese di Lion & Beaugiolese in absentia del Signor
Principe & Duca di Nemours. Michel de Nostradamo Salute, huona &
felice vita. Tra viventi Monsignor non e' concesso di cercare & voler
saper i tempi & momenti, atteso che tale curiosita ingenera & partorisce nel
intelletto non altro che lungo & nocivo tormento per la difficulta di
non potersi mai assicurare di certezza: pur per ii mio destin ardisco
solamente promettere, non che dare certezza della minima parte, per Ia
mia investigatione & contemplatione, de quello che l'Astrologia
giudiciaria mi pro-metta & d~ quodammodo da conoscere, massimamente
per ammonitione, che le persone sapino qualmente sono menaciate delli
astri Celesti. Non che mai fu cosi scioccho che mi volessi stimare un
Profeta 6 altro Calchante, per vigor delli miei presaggi per avanti
messi in luce, & in parte gia successi, come in questi ultimi
contagiosi anni assai aspramente hauemo sentito. Perci6 non bisogna in
modo alcuno semper hiasimare l'augurij & predittioni, quali il Cielo
per certi segni discuopre & manifesta a quelli ch'hanno l'intelletto
atto a toccare & esser partecipi delle essentie perpetue. Prego dunque
Monsignor vogliate benignamente ricever questa mia Apologia 6 difesa
contr'alli Calonniatori & maligni, pronti a biasi-mare & maldire,
attribuendo le cause di tali discorsi venire (se Iddio vuole, cbi Solo
puo divertire & impedire) d'un Demonjo dismestico, del qual, dicono,
che insino al presente mi sono servito, cose certamente tanto discoste
della verita quanto sono cotali lontani della ragione & hon giudicio
havendo br affettione disordinata per invidia & ignorantia.
De Salon de Craux de Provenza A di i di Giugno. 1566.

To the most illustrious Nobleman, the Lord de Birague, Privy
Councillor to the King of France, Governor and Lieutenant General for
His Majesty in the Lyonnais and Beaujolais in the absence of the Lord
Prince and Duke of Nemours, Michel Nostradamus sends his greetings and wishes a good and happy life.

Among the living, Monsignor, it is not given to seek or try to know
the times and seasons [which the Father has put in his own power --
Acts 1:7], given that such curiousity engenders and produces but long
and ruinous torment, because of the difficulty of being unable to be
sure of certainty [sic]; so, following my destiny, I do but make bold
to predict (not that I guarantee the slightest thing at all), thanks
to my researches and the consideration of what judicial Astrology
promises me and sometimes gives me to know, principally in the form of
warnings, so that folk may know that with which the celestial stars do
threaten them. Not that I am foolish enough to pretend to be a prophet
or another Calchas by virtue of my previously published presages, and
in part already successful, as we have had somewhat bitter experience
of during this last year of contagion. That is why it behoves nobody
to blame the augury and prediction that Heaven reveals and manifests
by certain signs to those whose minds are apt to touch and participate
in the eternal essence.

I pray therefore, Monsignor, that you may deign to receive this my
Apology or defence against the calumniators and the mischief-makers,
who are quick to blame and to speak ill of me and say that 'such
pronouncements come from a familiar demon (if God wills, Who alone can
divert it or prevent it) -- a demon (they say) which has thus far been
in my service.'

Which is a thing assuredly as alien to the truth as they themselves
are for certain far from reason or good judgement, having their minds
deranged by envy and ignorance.

From Salon-de-Crau in Provence, 15th June 1566.

Pio IV

TO THE MOST HOLY FATHER POPE PIUS IV, Michel de Nostradame, his most obedient son, wishes peace and perpetual happiness.

The great assurance, Most Holy Father, which I have had of your
humanity, accompanied with a parallel desire to show you how much
affection I bear towards your Most Sacred Holiness, whose feet I kiss
in all reverence and humility, has emboldened me to consecrate to your
said Holiness this my Ephemeris, in which is contained the world
explanation for the year 1562, according to the true and perfect
judgement of the stars. For, considering that the whole signification
of the said year lies and consists in the fact of the Christian
religion, I could not, nor durst address this my small labour to any
other than the Holiness whom that fact most touches, and who is the
sole support, the pillar, the Atlas of our Christian civilisation. The
which if I know to have been received in the same spirit as it is
presented, I shall address myself to the task of showing Him in clear
sight, in as few words as I am able, part of that which is most
evident to me from my astronomical knowledge concerning rumours,
tumults, wars, murders, homicides, treasons, schisms, sects, deaths,
illnesses, damages, destructions and other identifiable setbacks that
are hanging over our heads suspended only by a thread: such, and so
enormous, that he who is assessing it [Nostradamus?!] sees the whole
celestial engine conspiring towards our martyrdom, misery, affliction
and perdition, and the great and most omnipotent Creator conniving in
the sins of His people in past years in order, both in this year and
in the ones to come, to punish it most sharply [Ronsard, similarly,
writes, at the time, of heaven sending down both good AND evil on
humanity]. Thus the statement of the historian is more than true which
says: 'Tarde ad vindictam sui divina procedit ira, tarditatemque
supplicii gravitate compensat' [Latin: 'It is slowly that the divine
anger proceeds to its vengeance, and it is just as slowly that it
compensates through the gravity of suffering.'] Certainly it is not
possible to say aloud or to write in words the whole Iliad of ills
that I see astrologically, and with which the stars unanimously menace
us. For which reason it shall suffice to touch lightly on the major
and most urgent point, without going into any other more specific
detail. Which shall serve as a warning to the Christian princes and
sovereign rulers to be vigilant in this matter, who may by their
prudence, wisdom and good counsel deflect many of the miseries and
calamities that await us, and so act that the malign celestial
influences shall not exert their full effects. 'Tela previsa minus
feriunt' [Latin: 'Arrows foreseen have less effect'] None the less,
with the ineffable grace and goodness of God Ominpotent, Creator of
all things, who never permits us to endure and suffer more than our
human imbecility can bear. Certainly the conjunction of Saturn with
Mars (as I shall explain more fully in the |Preface to the present
work), with Jupiter being shut in, presages for matters spiritual many
unhappy and incredible events, in no way unlike the great conjunctions
of Saturn with Jupiter at the start of Aries which happen every 960
years; nor unlike the second type which happens at the start of each
triplicity, such as are those which succeed each other every 240 years approximately [compare Roussat of 11 years earlier!].
And such malign conjunctions occur altogether more or less twelve
times in each triplicity, and sometimes thirteen times as they pass
from one triplicity to the other. And truly such conjunctions always
presage great events to come and future calamities; but principally
this one for the property of the Church, great diminution and
reduction of power. Many cities of the country Italic shall rebel
against their monarchs and lords but, as far as matters of faith and
religion are concerned, the country of Italy shall be but little
molested by comparison with our own France. This and other things of
great importance and future calamity Your Holiness will be able to see
fully in the account and its contents that I have made for each month
of this said year 1562, as also in the summary which I have calculated
in the preface following for the period up to the year 1570 or
thereabouts. Which preface, at the beginning of my calculation, I have
communicated to her Most Serene Majesty the Queen Mother, regent of
France, a monarch of incomparable grace. Therefore, Most Holy Father,
making an end, may it please Your said Holiness to accept and take
cognizance of this my little annual labour; hoping shortly to bring
before His eyes a work somewhat longer-winded and of greater length,
with the help of God. In the meantime I shall pray the said Lord,
sovereign Creator and Moderator of all things, eternal,
incomprehensible, that by His divine mercy and goodness you shall be
seen long to govern, rule, dominate and reign over the universal
pacification of poor, afflicted Christendom; which, presently agitated
as it is with waves, billows, tempests, storms and most cruel winds,
has no other lighthouse, nor other recourse and hope but in the
infinite prudence of Your Holiness; which holiness, accompanied by the
favour of the Supernal, may reduce the world to peace, union, love,
concord and perpetual tranquillity; a thing as to be desired as it is
necessary in these days full of tears and indescribable calamities.
From Salon-de Craux in Provence, this 20 April 1561.

[English translation copyright (c) Peter Lemesurier 2000]

Comet

Just in case anybody here is interested in what Nostradamus actually
wrote about comets, meteors etc. (which seems rather doubtful at
present!), here's my translation of the German version (the only one
surviving) of Nostradamus's letter to the Governor of Provence
concerning the famous Salon meteorite of 1554 (one of the 'omens' that
appeared at about the time when he was starting to write his
Prophecies). To my knowledge this is the first time that it has been
translated into English -- subject, of course, to the indeterminacy of
parts of the 16th century Gothic German text:

A TERRIFYING AND WONDROUS SIGN WHICH
was seen by many people on (the Judaic [?]) Saturday on the tenth day
of March between seven and eight o'clock in the town of Salon in
France.

TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS, HIGH-BORN AND ALMIGHTY LORD CLAUDE, DUKE OF TENDE,
Knight of the order of Regents and of the King and Honorary Citizen of
Provence, Michael de Nostre Dame, his humble and obedient Servant bids
greeting and good fortune.

Gracious Lord

According to reports received, on the first day of February in this
year of 1554, a most terrifying and horrible sight was seen on [.....]
towards evening, apparently between 7 and 8, which I am told was seen
as far as Marseille. Then it was also seen at nearby St-Chamas by the
sea, such that near the moon (which at that time was near its first
quarter) a great fire did come from the east and make its way towards
the west. This fire, being very great, did by all acounts look like a
great burning staff or torch, gave out from itself a wondrous
brightness, and flames did spurt from it like a glowing iron being
worked by a smith. And such fire did sparkle greatly, glowing aloft
like silver over an immense distance like Jacob's road in the sky,
known as the 'Galaxy' [ = Milky Way], and raced overhead very fast
like an arrow with a great roaring and crackling which the poets do
call 'immensum fragorem' ['a thunderous din'] and as though it were
being blown hither and thither by the [raging and roaring?] of a
mighty wind.

Then slowly, over the course of 20 minutes, it turned until we saw it
passing over the region of Arles via what what we call the 'stony
road' [i.e. the Crau]. Then it turned towards the south, high over the
sea, and the fiery stream that it created retained its fiery colour
for a long time, and cast fiery sparks all around it, like rain [the
German renders N's 'pluye' as 'plus'!!] falling from heaven.

This sight was much more terrifying than human tongue could say or
describe. And I thought that it might have come from a mountain known
as a volcano. But on the 14th of this month I was sent for to go to
[Bry?], where I asked diligently of many people whether they also had
seen it, but not all of them had experienced it. But it did appear
only seven miles from there, and the Lord of that same place had seen
it, and desired that I should be his sponsor [= witness?] that he had
seen and wished to record it. Two days after the fire had been seen,
the Prefect [?] of St-Chamas came to me and indicated that he and
other townspeople had seen the same thing, and that it had taken the
shape of a half-[rain]bow stretching as far as the Spanish Main. And
if it had been low down rather than high up, it would have burnt up
everything and reduced it to ashes as it went by. They also said that
its breadth in the sky was around a [Pisan?] running-distance, or
stadium [about 200 yards], from which the fire sprayed and fell.

And so far as I can judge in the circumstances, it is [...] and very
strange to hear, and it would be much better had it not appeared. For
this apparition or comet gives certain indication that this Ruler of
Provence and other stretches by the sea shall encounter unexpected and
unforeseen calamity through war, fire, famine, pestilence or other
strange diseases, or otherwise shall be attacked and subjugated by
foreign nations [nothing like hedging your bets -- especially as he
doesn't say when!!].

This omen was seen by more than a thousand people, and I have been
bidden to confirm this and write to your Eminence about it, insofar as
I have in my own estimation seen and heard how it happened. And I pray
Jesus Our Lord that he may grant Your High Eminence long life, and
that he may richly multiply and extend your good fortune.

Given in France, at Salon-de-Provence, this 19th of March in the year
1554.

Your Eminence's most humble and obedient servant
Michael de Nostre Dame.

Translated from the French tongue and printed in Nuremberg by M.
Joachim Heller

English translation copyright (c) Peter Lemesurier 1999