can fasten this upon no body but upon some Monks which are called here The alone because of their solitary life who shall be punished by a King for having robbed the Church XIII French Le corps sans ame plus n'estre en sacrifice Jour de la mort mis en Nativité L'Esprit Divin fera l'ame foelice Voiant le Verbe en son Eternité English The body without the soul shall be no more admitted in Sacrifice The day of the death shall be put for the Birth-day The Divine Spirit shall make the Soul happy By seeing the Word in its Eternity ANNOT. The first Verse seemed to Prophecy the Reformation of Religion and the change of opinion concerning the Lords Supper which should be no more a Sacrifice as the Roman Church calleth the Mass of a body without a soul but only a commemoration of the Lords death as the second Verse confirmeth saying The day of the death shall be put for the Birth-day seeing that by the commemoration of that death we are renewed into a newness of life and as it were born again The last two Verse are easie XIV French A Tours Gien Gargeau seront yeux penetrans Descouvriront le long de la grande Sereine Elle sa Suite au Port seront entrans Combat poussez Puissance Souveraine English At Tours Gien Gergeau shall be piercing eyes Who shall discover along the great Syren She and her Attendans shall enter into the Port By a fight shall be thrust out the Soveraign Power ANNOT. Tours Gien and Gergeau are Cities upon the River of Loire which is called here the great Syren because of the length of its course the meaning then is that those Cities shall be watchful and stand upon their guard and shall fight against a King which if it hath already come to pass in the Civil Wars or shall happen hereafter I cannot affirm XV. French Un peu devant Monarque trucidé Castor Pollux en nef astre crinite L'Airain public par Terre Mer vuidé Pisa Ast Ferrare Turin Terre interdite English A little before a Monarch be killed Castor and Pollux shall appear and a Comet in the Ship The publick brass by Land and Sea shall be emptyed Pisa Ast Ferrare Turin Countreys forbidden ANNOT. The meaning of this is that a little before a Monarck be killed Castor and Pollux two Meteores so called as also a Comet in that constellation of the Heavens called the Ship of Argos and the Publick Brass that is the Canons by Land and Sea shall be emptied and these Towns of Italy viz. Pisa Ast Ferrare Turin shall be excommunicated by the Pope XVI French Naples Palerme Sicile Syracuse Nouveaux Tyrants fulgures feu Coelestes Force de Londres Gand Bruxelles Sufe Grand Hecatombe Triomphe faire Festes English Naples Palermo Sicily Syracusa New Tyrants Lightnings Celestial fires Army from London Ghent Bruxelles and Suse A great Hecatomb Triumphs and Feasts ANNOT. There is nothing difficult but the word Hecatomb which is a Greek word signifying a Sacrifice of an hundred Oxen. XVII French Le Camp du Temple de la Vierge Vestale Non esloigné d' Ethene Monts Pyrenées Le grand conduit est chassée dans la Male North gettez Fleuves Vignes mastinées English The Camp of the Temple of the Vestal Virgin Not far from Ethene and the Pyrenean Mountains The great Conduit is driven in the Clock-bag Rivers overflown in the North and the Vines spoiled ANNOT. There is so many faults in the impression of this and so hard to be rectified that I had rather leave it to the liberty of the judicious Reader then make my self ridiculous in not giving him satisfaction XVIII French Nouvelle Pluie subite impetueuse Empeschera subit deux excercites Pierre Ciel Feux faire la Mer pierreuse La mort de sept Terre Marin subites English A new Rain sudden impetuous Shall suddenly hinder two Armies Stone Heaven fire shall make the Sea stony The death of seven shall be sudden upon Land and Sea ANNOT. The first two Verses signifie that a sudden and impetuous Rain shall hinder two Armies from fighting The two last Verses foretell several Prodigies the which happening seven persons shall suddenly die upon the Sea and Land XIX French Nouveaux venus lieu basty sans defence Occuper place pour lors inhabitable Prez Maisons Champs Villes prendre a plaisance Faim Peste Guerre arpent long labourable English New comers shall build a place without fence And shall occupy a place that was not then habitable They shall at their pleasure take Fields Houses and Towns There shall be Famine Plague War and a long arable field ANNOT. This is so plain that it needeth no Interpretation XX. French Freres Soeurs en divers lieux captifs Se trouveront passer pres du Monarque Les contempler ses deux yeux ententifs Des plaisant vont Menton Front Nez les marques English Brothers and Sisters shall be made slaves in divers places And shall pass before the Monarck Who shall look upon them with attentive eyes They shall go in heaviness witness their Chin Forehead and Nose ANNOT. This is obvious to the meanest capacity XXI French L'Ambassadeur envoié par Biremes A my chemin incogneus repoulsez De Sel renfort viendront quatre triremes Cordes Chaines en Negrepont troussez English The Embassadour that was sent in Biremes In the midleway shall be repulsed by unknown Men From the Salt to his succours shall come four triremes Ropes and Chains shall be carried to Negrepont ANNOT. Bireme is a Galley that hath two ranges of Oares Trireme is one that hath three ranges The meaning then of this is that an Embassadour shall be sent in a Galley with two ranges of Oares and that he shall be met in his way by unknown men that is Pyrates there shall come to his succours from the Salt that is from the French four Triremes that is four Galleys every one having three ranges of Oares but they shall all be carried to Negrepont an Island belonging to the Turk XXII French Le Camp Ascop d'Europe partira Sadioignant proche de l'Isle submergee D' Arton classe Phalange partira Nombril du Monde plus grand voix subrogée English The Camp Ascop shall go from Europe And shall come near the drowned Island From Arton shall go an Army by Sea and Land By the Navel of the World a greater vice shall be substituted ANNOT. The Author hath darkned this Stanza with so many barbarous words as Camp Ascop drowned Island Darton Navel of the World that it is very like either he did not understand himself or would not be understood by others XXIII French Palaces Oiseaux par Oiseau dechassé Bien tost apres le Prince parvenu Combien qu'hors Fleuve ennemy repoulsé Dehors saisy trait d'Oiseau soustenu English Palais Birds driven away by a Bird Soon after that the Prince is come to his own Although the
which he Dedicated to his Brother John Nostradamus an Attorney at the Parliament of Aix Besides this he Translated from Latine into French the Paraphases of Galen upon the Exhortation of Menedotus which was Printed at Lyon by Antony du Rhosne in the year 1557. But before we conclude it will not be amiss to give some recreation to the Reader by relating a merry passage that happened to Nostradamus being in Lorrain for being in the Castle of Faim belonging to the Lord of Florinville and having in cure the Mother of the said Lord it chanced one day that they both walking in the Yard there was two little Piggs one white and the other black whereupon the Lord enquired of Nostradamus in jest what should become of these two Piggs he answered presently we shall eat the black and the Wolf shall eat the white The Lord Florinville intending to make him a Lyar did secretly command the Cook to dress the white for Supper the Cook then killed the white drest it and spitted it ready to be rosted when it should be time In the mean time having some business out of the Kitchin a young tame Wolf came in and eat up the Buttocks of the white Pig that was ready to be rosted the Cook coming in the mean time and fearing least his Master should be angry took the black one killed it and drest it and offered it at Supper Then the Lord thinking he had got the Victory not knowing what was befallen said to Nostradamus well Sir we are eating now the white Pigg and the Wolf shall not touch it I do not believe it said Nostradamus it is the black one that is upon the Table Presently the Cook was sent for who confessed the accident the relation of which was as pleasing to them as any meat In the same Castle of Faim he told many that in a little Hill that was near the Castle there was a Treasure hidden which should never be found if it were sought with design but that it should be discovered when the Hill should be digged for some other intent There is a great probability in this prediction for there was an ancient Temple built upon it and when they dig there many times several Antiquities are found All France telleth several Histories foretold by the Author but I am unwilling to write any thing without good warrant His Stanza's are sufficient to prove the extraordinary Talent he had in foretelling future things APOLOGY FOR Michael Nostradamus CHAP. I. IT is not unusual for Calumny to follow the best Wits and those whom God hath endowed with so extraordinary Talent upon weak and slight grounds It is not also unusual for Men to side easier with calumny against innocent persons then with those truths that justifie them therefore no body ought to wonder if Michael Nostradamus hath been so much cried down and defamed by several Authors being in the number of those extraordinary persons whom God had priviledged with that grace so much desired by curious Men viz. the knowledge of Future events Besides that there was four things in him which might have been the grounds of this diffamation The first was the vulgar life which he led in the Roman Catholik Religion which seemed to bear no proportion with such an extraordinary favour of God The second was his application to judicial Astrology which is condemned by many learned Men and detested by those that pretend to ignorant devotion The third was a suspition brought by his enemies and many devout persons in his time that he was a Negromancer and had samiliarity with the Augel of darkness The fourth was the obscurity of his Stanza's which was made worse by the enormous faults of those that first Copied them and by the carelesness of the Printers CHAP. II. How the first Objection hath caused the Author to be reputed a false Prophet IN consequence of the first Objection calumny hath endeavoured to place him among the false Prophers because scarce any body can persuade himself that there being among the Faithful so many Illustrious persons in Holiness and Learning the Holy Ghost would have made choice of a common person and to reveal him so many rare secrets concerning the future Estate of his Church and of those Kingdoms that acknowledge her for their Mother seeing that the Holy Scriptures shew us that the knowledge of future things chiefly if it be extraordinary in its extent is a special Priviledge wherewith God honoureth his most faithful Servants And to say truth when the Holy Fathers and the Interpreters of the Scripture speak of the Prerogatives of the Apostle St. John they make the chiefest to be that by which being full of Prophetical Spirit he foretold the future Estate of the Church and in the Old Testament so many Prophets were so many Miracles and Prodigies of Holiness and the only name of Prophet in the Scripture is the most glorious Title that is given to those that were Gods most faithful Servants If we find in the Scripture that Balaam hath Prophesied notwithstanding his persidiousness and that the High Priest Caiâ—phas notwithstanding his wicked design of murdering Christ hath also Prophesied it was only for a few things and in such cases where God would singularly shew forth his Glory by those that would have smothered it How can we then believe the same of Nostradamus who had not so much as an extraordinary atom of Christian piety by which he might have been so much priviledg'd of God as to know by his Divine Light the future Estate of the Church her Persecutions and her Victories from the year 1555. to the end of the World Can it be possible that a Physician an Astrologer and one of the common sort of people should have been chosen of God among so many thousands his betters to impart unto him those Graces which have been the reward of the purity and holiness of his Apostles and of the faithfulness of St. John the Evangelist This seemeth altogether improbable to Christian piety CHAP. III. The second Objection hath ranked the Author among Dreamers and false Visionaries Some are more moderate in the censuring of this Author and being unwilling to call him maliciously a false Prophet would have him to be a foolish Dreamer who believed his own imaginations and took pleasure in his own fancies whence came that Latine Distick of the Poet Jodelle Nostra damus cum falsa damus nam fallere nostrum est Et cum falsa damus nil nisi Nostra damus This Distick was so pleasing to the Wits of the times that without further inquiry since that time Nostradamus went for a Dreamer and a doting fool This opinion increased more and more by his making of many Almanacks wherein every body may see how much he was taken with judicial Astrology and we see often in his Stanza's the decision of the times by the conjunction of the Planets with the Signs and by the Eclipses whence sometimes he doth infer
some events that were to happen But what did undo him most was the covetousness of the Printers and Booksellers of his time who seeing his Almanacks so well received did set forth a thousand others under his name that were full of lies and fopperies From that time the Author went for one of those poor Astrologers who get their living by foretelling absurdities and pretend to read in the Heavens that which is only in their foolish imagination CHAP. IV. The third Objection accuseth the Author of medling with the black Art of being a Negromancers and a Disciple of the Devil IF the precedents have been moderate in their censure others have been more severe in delivering their opinion accusing him to have kept acquaintance with the Devil as the Negromancers and other Prestigiators of the ancient times did The reason that made them think so is that seeing so many things come to pass just as the Author had foretold they could not attribute it to the knowledge of judicial Astrology nor to Divine Revelation and consequently concluded that it must of necessity come from Satan They could not attribute it to judicial Astrology either because they had no opinion of it or that the greatest defensors of that Astrology do agree among themselves that it cannot reach so far as to foretell a thousand peculiar circumstances which depend purely from the freedom of Men such as proper names are and the like which nevertheless our Author did foretell They could neither attribute it to Divine Revelation for the reasons alledged in the first objection moreover because he was accused of a thousand falsities and sopperies Printed in those Almanacks that went falsly under his name whence they concluded that it could not come by Divine Revelation seeing that the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Truth It followeth then say they that it must come from the Devil by the help of the Black Art the Lord Florimond de Raimond a very considerable Author was of that opinion in his Book of the Birth of Heresies Chap. 3. CHAP. V. The fourth Objection maketh him the Head of those Seductors and Impostors which are dangerous in a Common-wealth AS Fame doth increase by continuation of time so doth calumny increase by the multiplicity of opinions she was not contented to deflour slightly the Authors reputation by making him pass for some sottish Dreamer and to rank him amongst the false Prophets by accusing him to meddle with the black Art but must needs also sacrifice him to the infernal Furies by making him the Prince of Seductors and Impostors that ought to be banished out of every Common-wealth The fondamental reason of this was the obscurity of his Stanza's where there was neither rime nor reason the obscurity did proceed of abundance of gross fau t s which the Copisters and Printers have inserted in them from the omission of several words from the changing and altering of others and from the addition of some others which did destroy the sense From this great obscurity calumny draweth this argument to ruine utterly the Author charging him to be all at once a false Prophet a dotish Dreamer a Magician and an infamous Seductor of people If God had inspired him what he hath written he would have done it for the good of his Church and true Believers seeing he never granteth this Prophetical Grace to any but to that end as it appeareth in the Holy Scriptures This being so what profit can any body draw from him if the sense of his Stanza's be so obscure as not to be understood and although it should be granted that some accidens that have happened in Christendom may sometimes he found in his Prophecies what fruit hath the Church reaped of it seeing that those accidents that were foretold were never known till they had come to pass and that there was no avoiding of them It cannot therefore be believed that God should have been the Author of his Predictions but rather the subtle Spirit of Satan with whom he was acquainted by such like black Arts. According to those four Objections the Lord Sponde in the third Volume of his Annals made him this Epitaph in the year 1566. Mortâ—us est hoc anno nugax ille toto orbe famosus Michael Nostradamus qui se prâ—scium praesagum eventuum futurorum per astrorum influxum venditavit sub cujus deincept nomine quivis homines ingeniosisuas â—ujusmodi cogitationes protendere consueveruent in quem valde apposite lusit qui dixit Nostra damus cum falsa damus c. In English In the year 1566. died that Triâ—ler so famous through all the World Michael Nostradamus who boasted while he lived to know and foretell future things by the knowledge he had of the influences of the Planets under whose name afterwards many ingenious Men have vented their Imaginations insomuch that he that made that Distick Nostra damus cum falsa dâ—mus c. seemeth to have very well said CHAP. IV. Proofs setting forth evidently that Nostradamus was enlightned by the Holy Ghost IN consequence of these objections forged by calumny Nostradamus name hath been so câ—ied down that I have thought me self oblidged to make his Apology to give the greater credit to his Prophecy the exposition of which I do here undertake and to proove that effectually he was enlightned by the Holy Ghost first by writting the History of his Life as I have done in he beginning of this Book Secondly by answering to all the said Objections Thirdly by alledging the Elogies given him by several Grave and Authentical Authors First I maintain that he was enlightned by the Holy Ghost by an unanswerable reason drawn out the Theology but before we discourse of it let us suppose that Nostradamus hath foretold many things which absolutely depends from the free will of men and cannot be known neither by judicial Astrology nor by Satan himself such are for exemple the proper names of Persons which nevertheless he doth in his Prophecies He nameth the Lord of Monluc the Sprightful Gascon the Captain Charry his Camerade the Lord de â—a Mole Admiral of Henry the II. Galleys Entragues who was beheaded by order of Lewis the XIII the Headsman of the Duke of Montmorency named Clerepegne the Bassa Sinan destroyer of Hungary the Murderer of Henry the III. named Clement the Attorney David the Captain Ampus the Mayor of the City of Puy in Gelay named Rousseau under Henry the IV. Lewis Prince of Condé under Francis II. Sixtus V. calling him the Son of Hamont Gabrielle d'Estrie the Lord Mutonis sent to Paris by those of â—ix under Charles the IX the Lord Chancellor of France named Anâ—ony de Soudis the Queen Leuise Antony of Portugal the Governour of Cazal under Henry II. Secondly The number of things is of the same nature Nostradamus doth often calculate it he reckoneth fourteen Confederates for the service of Henry IV. in the City of Puy ten great Ships prosecuting extreamly the
of Mind when he saith Sitting by night Because a troubled Mind cannot see clearly the Things it is busie about no more than tossed Waters can distinctly represent the Objects that are opposed to them Thus we read in the Scripture that the Prophet Elishah being transported with Zeal against Joram King of Israel and nevertheless willing to consult God concerning the event of the Warr against the Moabites called for a Minstrel that the Harmony of the Instrument might quiet his Mind as it did happen And it came to pass when the Minstrel played that the Hand of the Lord came upon him 2 Kings chap. 3. ver 15. The Author in his Dedicatory Epistle to his Son Caesar calleth this Tranquility of Mind A long Melancholick Inspiration because the Melancholick Humour and Mind sequestreth a Man from the concerns of worldly things and maketh him present to himself so that his Understanding is not darkned by a multitude of Species that troubles its Operation The Second Disposition was the Silence of the Night For Man who is compounded of Body and Soul doth notably intricate himself in External things by the commerce of the Senses with the Objects which obligeth him to withdraw himself from visible things when he intends to apply himself to some serious Study And as the silence of the Night causeth in the Universe a cessation of noises and clashings in Business Visits and Colloquies the Mind is then more at rest Besides that Night covering with her Darkness our Hemisphere our Senses are less distracted and our Internal Faculties are more united to serve the Operations of the Understanding Therefore the Author in his two Liminary Epistles makes often mention of his continual Nocturnal Watchings of his Sweet-smelling nocturnal Studies and of his Nocturnal and Prophetical Calculations The Third Disposition was Solitariness that is having no other Conversation then that of his Books being retired in his Study Alone For it seemeth that God commonly maketh use of Solitariness when he doth impart himself to Men and revealeth them his Oracles And the Sybils were chosen to be Prophets as much for their Solitariness as for their Chastity The Author saith that with those three Dispositions he raised himself to the knowledge of future things which is signified by those words Resting upon the Brazen Stool Servius in his Commentaries upon Virgil speaking of this Brazen Stool saith two things of it The First that this Stool was a Table set upon a Trevet called by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the Latines Tripus The Second is that the Sybils or the Priests of the Delphick Temple of Apollo got upon that Table when they went about to pronounce their Oracles Pliny in his 33. Book Chap. 3. saith that they called those Tables Cortinas and that some were made of Brass for the use aforesaid From the use of that Brazen Trevet is come the Proverb Ex tripode loqui When one speaketh like an Oracle Thus the Author willing to express that being in his Stuâ—y in the solitariness of the Night he raised himself to the Knowledge of Future things to write them and transmit them to Posterity he saith He was sitting or resting upon the Brazen Stool Thus raising himself and taking his Pen in hand to write what he should learn he saith in the Third Verse that A slight Flame or small Light did insinuate it self in his understanding by whose splendor and brightness he saw future things The Author in his Epistle to Caesar his Son expoundeth always this Prophetical Light by the comparison of a shining Flame and calleth it rather a Flame than a pure Light because this Light doth not only discover the Mysteries but more-over it lightens in us a certain Heat and Prophetical Power as himself terms it as if we should say a Sacred Enthusiasm even saith he as the Sun coming near us with his Light not only darteth upon all Elementary things the brightness of his Beams but withal infuseth in them a certain quickning heat which causeth the Vegetables to grow and upholdeth the Being of all other natural things Even so saith he this good Genius as the Ancients term it or as we Christians say that Divine Spirit of Prophecy coming near our understandings not only importeth a Light to them but moreover a certain heat and Prophetical Power which strenghteneth them in the knowledge of the aforesaid things and causeth them to breath out as by a Sacred Enthusiasm some Prophetical Verses Which happeneth to them saith the Author coming out of Solitude that is to fay when their Spirit stoopeth down and by degrees cometh down from that sublime Region and high elevation taking the Pen to write down the future time Therefore he with his dispositions participating of that slight flame coming out of his solitude began to write and to utter What is not in vain to believe The things that the Author hath written shall not be unprofitable as we have proved already and the time will come when by the means of Divine Providence the Church shall receive the fruit thereof at which we ought not to wonder seeing that God saith of himself in Isaiah Chap. 48. Ver. 17. I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit The Author foretelleth many wonders of which we ought to be certain by the verification of those that are already past seeing that it is the same Spirit that shewed them all The same Prophecies are also profitable in that every where the Author condemneth Seditious and Rebellious persons and Prophecieth the Churches Victory over her Enemies They are also profitable for particular Men that understand the meaning of them for by it they may provide for their own business according to the storm undertaking nothing but upon sure grounds following always the best party and disposing themselves to patience when the calamities are general and involve together the guilty and guiltless Therefore our Author saith well A slight flame breaking forth out of that solitude makes me utter what is not in vain to believe II. French La Verge en main mise au milieu des Branches De l'Onde je moüille le Limbe le Pied En peur j'escris fremissant par les manches Splendeur Divine le Divine prez s'assied English With Rod in hand set in the middle of the Branches With water I wet the Limb and the Foot In fear I writ quaking in my sleeves Divine splendor the Divine sitteth by ANNOT. Amongst the customs the Ancients observed before they pronounced their Oracles one was to take a Tuffie Branch of Laurel and with it dipt in water to sprinkle the edges and Columns of the Table that was upon the Brazen Trevet by which ceremonies they procured credit to their Oracles The Author willing to let us know that his Verses were not only a simple writing ing but also Prophetical and full of Oracles doth represent them to us by this Metaphore of the Ancients when they did amuse
the people with their ambiguous and many times fallacious Oracles Being then sitting and quiet in his solitariness coming out of that great devotion of mind animated by the virtue of his good Genius he putteth first the Rod into his hand that is the Pen and putteth it in the middle of the Branches putting it between his Fingers Secondly he dippeth this Rod into Water dipping his Pen in his Ink with this Pen dipt in Ink he wetteth the Limb and the Foot writing upon his paper from one end to the other and from the top to the bottom Which we must understand by this word Lymbe which is a Latin word signifying the long and narrow pieces of stuffe which women wore at the bottom of their Petticoats therefore the Latins called them Lymbos from the Latin Verbe Lambo which in matter of cloths signifieth to leek or sweep and because those pieces of cloath were in the bottom of their Garments the word hath been afterwards employed to signifie the brims of some things so that the Lymbs of a sheet of paper are the two margines and the top and the bottom as if it were the four ends of a Quadrangular Figure The third Verse sheweth the internal disposition of the Author after he hath described his external one that disposition was a Sacred quaking which putting his heart into a palpitation caused his hands and arms to shake as if he had been taken with some fit of an Ague This quaking is the disposition which the good Genius causeth in Prophets that they may be humbled and not be puffed up with pride when they come near the Majesty of God as we read in Daniel St. John and the 4th of Esdras Therefore the Author saith In fear I write quaking in my sleeves And because the Divine spirit after he hath cast down those to whom he will impart himself doth afterwards quiet them the Author therefore addeth that a Divine splendor did sit by him III. French Quand la littiere du tourbillon versée Et seront faces de leurs Manteaux couvers La Republique par gens nouveaux vexée Lors blancs rouges jugeront a l'envers English When the litter shall be overthrown by a gust of wind And faces shall be covered with Cloaks The Common-wealth shall be troubled with a new kind of men Then white and red shall judge amiss ANNOT. The two first Verses signifie that a great tempestuous wind was to happen in which a litter should be overturned and every one should muffle his face in his Cloak for the sierceness of the wind And that presently after the Common-wealth should be troubled with new Sects and Opinions which may be understood of the beginning of Reformation by Luther and Calvin which was about that time The last Verse by the white and red signifieth here as it doth thorough all the Book the French and the Spaniards because the French wear white Scarfes and the Spaniards red ones and consequently the troubles and jars that happened presently between those two Nations IV. French Par l'Univers sera fait un Monarque Qu'en paix vie ne sera longuement Lors se perdra la Piscature Barque Sera regie en plus grand detriment English In the World shall be one Monarch Who shall be not long alive nor in peace Then shall be lost the Fishing Boat And be governed with worse detriment ANNOT. That Monarch was Henry the II. King of France who did not Reign long but was unfortunately slain running at Tilt against the Earl of Montgomery as we shall see hereafter and almost during all his Reign had Wars with Charles the V. Emperour and his Son Philip the II. King of Spain the said Emperour in that time did sack Rome took the Pope Clement the VII prisoner which is signified here as also in several other places by the loss of the Fishing Boat the Roman Church being often compared to a Ship or Boat V. French Chassez seront fans faire long combat Par le Païs seront plus fort grevez Bourg Cité auront plus grand debat Carcas Narbonne auront coeurs esprouvez English They shall be driven away without great fighting Those of the Countrey shall be more grieved Town and City shall have a greater debate Carcas Narbonne shall have their hearts tryed ANNOT. Herein is nothing mystical the meaning is that some of the Protestant party intending to take or vex the Cities of Carcassone and Narbonne in Languedoc shall be easily repulsed and shall afterward fall upon the Countrey round about which shall suffer for VI. French L'oeil de Ravenne sera destitué Quand a ses pieds les aisles sailliront Les deux de Bresse auront constitué Turin Verceil que Gaulois fouleront English The eye of Ravenna shall be forsaken When the wings shall rise at his feet The two of Brescia shall have constituted Turin Verceil which the French shall tread upon ANNOT. This is a confirmation of the fourth Stanza concerning the loss of the Pope Clement the VII who is called here the eye of Ravenna because he is Lord of that famous City which was once an Exarchat of the Empire The wings that shall rise at or against his feet shall be those of the Eagle which are the Arms of the Emperour The two of Brescia were the Governour and Proveditor of Venice in that place who would at that time have endeavoured to seize upon Turin and Verceil the two chiefest Towns of Piemont but were prevented by the French VII French Tard arrivé l'execution faite Le Vent contrare Lettres au chemin prinses Les Conjurez quatorze d'une Secte Parle Rousseau seront les entreprinses English One coming too late the execution shall be done The Wind being contrary and Letters intercepted by the way The Conspirators fourteen of a Sect By the Red-hair'd Man the undertaking shall be made ANNOT. The sense of the whole is this there shall be fourteen Conspirators of one mind and their Ring-leader a Red-haired man who shall be put to death because their Reprieve could not come timely enough being hindered by cross winds and Letters intercepted I could find no particular things in History concerning this VIII French Combien de fois prinse Cité Solaire Seras changeant les Loix barbares vaines Ton mal s'approche plus seras tributaire Le grand Adrie recouvrira tes veines English How often taken O solar City Shalt thou be changing the barbarian and vain Laws Thy evil groweth nigh thou shalt be more tributary The great Adria shall recover thy veins ANNOT. It is hard to judge what he meaneth by the Solar City that shall be so often taken As by Adria it is certain he meaneth Venice that was so called anciently because of its scituation in the Adriatick Sea IX French De l'Orient viendra le coeur punique Fascher Adrie les hoirs Romulides Accompagné de la classe Libique Trembler Melites proches Isles vuides English From
made at Nantes the 1. of February 1560. whose chief Ring-leader was the Lord La Renaudie they presently got the King out of Blois and carryed him to Amboise caused the Town to be fortified and set strong Guards upon all the passages The day appointed for the execution of the conspiracy at Blois was the 10th of March But the King being got to Amboise the Conspirators went thither in such great numbers and under such specious pretences that had they not been betrayed no body would have suspected them All the Suburbs and the Countrey Towns thereabouts were full of them the Prince of Condé the Admiral d'Andelot and his Brother the Cardinal were all there Then the Guisians began to fall to work and to set upon the Conspirators on all sides Abundance were taken some in the City some in the Suburbs others in the Countrey round about Most of these were slain before they could come to Town or be carried to Prison And their process was so short that they were hanged in their Boots and Spurs The Scouts did every where kill those they met withall To conclude it proved a very Bloody Tragedy La Renaudie the Chief of the Conspirators was met with by the Lord Pardaillan a Gascon At the first approach La Renaudie killed him but himself was killed by Pardeillan's Servant and his dead body brought and hanged at Amboise The second History is concerning England which palpably makes this Prophecie good if we make reflection upon what hath happened in this last Century of years concerning banished people that have conspired against their King and Countrey as we may see through all the Life of Queen Elizabeth and by that famous Plot of the Gun-powder-Treason in King James's time which must be understood here by the Mine XIV French De gens esclave chansons chants requestes Captifs par Princes Seigneurs aux prisons A l'aduenir par Idiots sans testes Seront receus par divins oraisons English From slavish people Songs Tunes and requests Being kept Prisoners by Princes and Lords For the future by headless Idoits Shall be admitted by divine prayers ANNOT. This is a prognostication of the beginning and increase of the Protestants in France who began to sing their Psalms in French and from time to time presented their request for tolleration The Author being a zealous Papist calleth them Idiots and that notwithstanding the persecution that should be against them being put in Prison by Princes and Lords they should at last be admitted by reason of their often praying to God XV. French Mars nous menace par la force bellique Septante fois fera le sang respandre Auge ruine de l'Ecclesiastique Et par ceux qui d'eux rien ne voudront entendre English Mars threatneth us of a Warlike force Seventy times he shall cause blood to be shed The flourishing and ruine of the Clergy And by those that will hear nothing from them ANNOT. The Author having premonished us in his Preface that God having imparted to him the knowledge of many future things he was curious to know if his Divine Majesty had written the same thing in the Coelestial Book as concerning the States Empires Monarchies Provinces and Cities and he found that it was even so as it had been revealed to him so that the Book of Heaven written with Gods own hand in so many shining Characters might serve to studious men for a light and a Torch to discover very near the common estate of the world He then having learned from God in his solitariness the prosperities and afflictions of the Clergy from the beginning of the year 1555. to the end of the world he found that there was an agreement between his prophetical Knowledge and the motion of the Heavenly Bodies because having made the Systeme of the years after 1550. he found that Mars was in a dangerous Aspect to the Ecclesiastical estate and found that this Planet by its position did presage a long bloody and horrid Catastrophe in the world by which the Ecclesiastical estate should suffer much To make good this prediction the Author doth assure us in his Preface that he had considered the disposition of this Planet not only in the year 1555. but also in the years following and joyning together all that he had found in his Ephemerides he found that this Planet did on all sides presage most bloody actions Although saith he the Planet of Mars maketh an end of its course and is come to its last Period nevertheless it will begin it again but some gathered in Aquarius for many years and others by long and continual years As if he would say that his prediction ought not to be rejected because Mars ended his course and cometh to its late period for it would take again its Exaltation and Dominion with a worse conjunction having his Astronomical dignities with the Conjunction of other Planets in the Sign of Aquarius during many years and in the Sign of Cancer for many years more Which maketh the Author conclude that within the space of 177. years three months and eleven dayes the world shall be afflicted with Wars Plagues Famines and Innundations that scarce any body shall be left to Till the Ground By which prediction we learn that those evils began in the year 1555. the first of March which is the date of the Authors Book and shall last till the second of June 1732. abating the ten days of the Gregorian Calender During which time he saith that Mars threatneth us with bloody Wars that shall be reiterated 70 times This word seventy doth not signifie a determinate number but a great number indeterminated according to the Phrase of the Scripture which by the number of seven signifieth many times and by that of seventy incomparably many times more Thus the Scripture saith that the just man falleth seven times in one day that is many times and our Saviour saith to St. Peter that we ought to forgive our Enemies not only seven times but seventy times seven that is innumerable times We have found the truth of this Prophecie to this very day 1. In France by the Wars between Henry II. and Charles V. and Philip II. 2. By the Wars of Charles IX against the Protestants wherein so much blood was spilt on both sides 3. By Henry III. against the same Protestants and factions of his time and then against the Parisians and others of their league 4. Between Henry IV. and those of the league in his revolted Kingdom 5. By the Wars of Lewis XIII against the Protestants against the Duke of Savoy in the Valteline in Piemont in Lorrain in Alsatia in Catalonia in Franche-Conty in Flanders and for the defence of Portugal which have been continued by his successor Lewis XIV now Reigning Italy did also find the truth of this prophecie by the Wars between Paul IV. and the Spaniard between Pius V. and the Turks between Clement VIII and the Duke of Ferrara
in Land and Water called by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall be cast upon the Sand by a storm then a little while after that Town which lieth near to that place where the Fish was cast shall be Besieged by her Enemies who shall come by Sea XXX La Nef estrange par le tourment Marin Abordera ptes le Port incognu Nonobstant signs du rameau palmerin Apres mort pille bon advis tard venu English The Outlandish Ship by a Sea storm Shall come near the unknown Haven Notwitstanding the signs given to it with Bows It shall die be plundered a good advice come too late ANNOT. It is a Forrein Ship which by a storm shall be driven to an unknown Harbour and notwithstanding the signs that shall be made to it with Branches by those that are upon the Land to beware of the entrance of the Harbour it shall be cast away and plundered thus a good advice shall come too late XXXI French Tant d'ans les guerres en Gaule dureront Outre la course du Castulon Monarque Victoire incerte trois grands couroneront Aigle Coq Lune Lion Soleil en marque English So many years the Wars shall last in France Beyond the course of the Castulon Monarque An uncertain Victory three great ones shall Crown The Eagle the Cock the Moon the Lion having the Sun in its mark ANNOT. That is the Wars shall last so long in France after the death of one King of Spain till three great ones shall challenge an uncertain Victory these three great ones are the Emperour designed by the Aigle the King of France by the Cock and the Turk by the Moon and this shall happen when the Sun is in the sign of the Lion I suppose that came to pass in the time of Charles the V. Henry the II. and Soliman For the Turk had no great odds upon the Emperour nor he upon the King of France XXXII French La grand Empire sera tost translaté En lieu petit qui bien tost viendra croistre Lieu bien infime d'exigue Comté Ou au milieu viendra poser son Scepter English The great Empire shall soon be translated Into a little place which shall soon grow afterwards An inferiour place of a small County In the middle of which he shall come to lay down his Scepter ANNOT. This is concernig the same Charles the V. Emperour who about three years before his death being weary of the World resigned his Dominions of Spain and of the Low-Countries to his Son Philip the II. and his Empire to his Brother Ferdinand and retired himself into a Monastery of Castile called l'Escurial which after his death was much enlarged and beautified by his Son Philip and that is the meaning of our Author when he saith Into a little place which shall soon grow afterwards An inferiour place of a small County For this Escurial being seated in a Desert place of a County of Spain called Castilia which the Spanish vanity calleth a Kingdom whose Use Fruit or Revenues the said Charles only reserved for his maintenance is now by the Spaniards accounted to be the eight wonder of the World XXXIII French Pres d'un grand Pont de plaine spacieuse Le grand Lion par force Cesarées Fera abatre hors Cité rigoureuse Par effroy portes luy seront reserrées English A great Bridge near a spacious Plain The great Lion by Caesarean Forces Shall cause to be pulled down without the rigorous City For fear of which the Gates shall be shut to him ANNOT. The meaning of this is that a great Captain Commander of the Imperial Forces shall cause a Bridge that was built near a spacious Plain to be thrown down The City near the Bridge being terrified at it shall shut up their Gates against him XXXIV French L'Oiseau de proye volant a la Fenestre Avant conflict fait au Francois parure L'un bon prendra l'autre ambigue sinistre La partie foible tiendra pour bonne augure English The Bird of Prey flying to the Window Before Battle shall appear to the French One shall take a good omen of it the other a bad one The weaker part shall hold it for a good sign ANNOT. It is a Hawk which in presence of two Armies ready to give Battle shall fly to a window and perch upon it in the presence of them all one of the Armies shall take it for a good sign and the other for an ambiguous and sinister one In Conclusion the weaker party shall get the Victory XXXV French Le Lion jeune le vieux surmontera En champ bellique par singulier Duelle Dans Cage dor Loeil il lui crevera Deux playes une puis mourir mort cruelle English The young Lion shall overcome the old one In Martial field by a single Duel In a Golden Cage he shall put out his Eye Two wounds from one then he shall die a cruel death ANNOT. This is one of the Prophecies that hath put our Author in credit as well for the clearness as for the true event of it Caessar No stradamus our Authors son in his History of Provence writeth that by this Stanza his father intended to foretell the manner of Henry the second 's death The French Histories relate that this great Prince desiring to honour the Nuptial of his Daughter Elizabeth married to Philip II. King of Spain did appoint a Tournament to be kept in St. Anthony's street in Paris where himself would be one of the Defendants against all comers and for that purpose chose for his companions and associates Don Alfonso d'Este Duke of Ferrara and Francis of Lorrain Duke of Guise The Tornament being almost ended in which the King had shewed much Valour being mounted upon a Horse of the Duke of Savoy Philibert's Emanuel his Brother in Law this Duke intreated the King to leave off because he had got the Victory and the weather was hot and the night drawing on But this Martial King would need break one Launce more and commanded the Captain Gabriel de Lorges to be called a young and valiant Lord and Captain of the Scottish Guard Being come the King commanded him to run against him which he refused a great while but the King waxing angry he obeyed and set Spurs to his Horse he did hit the King in the lower part of his Beaver the Launce was broken into shivers and the mean stump lifting up the Beaver a splinter got in and wounded the King a little above the right Eye where finding the Bone too hard it went very deep under the said Eye and broke some Veins belonging to the Membrane called Pia Mater The blow was so violent that the King bended his head towards the lists and fell into a Swound being presently disarmed they perceived the splinter of the Launce in his Eye and his face all bloody He lived ten days after and died with great Convulsions because the Sinews were offended whereupon
beseeching the King to do him justice of those who went about to oppress him with unsufferable calumnies or to permit him to do himself reason The King carried him to the Tennis-court where the Duke took upon him to order the match and said that the Duke of Espernon and himself would hold it against the King and the Earl of Soisson the Duke of Espernon answered presently you play well but you do not make your matches well which was observed by the King and the standers by Supper time being come he did sup at the Table of the great Master to repare the fault he had done in the morning Every one did perceive that he was not contented for he eat little or nothing and no body spoke to him every one holding him already for a cast-away The King in the mean while was walking in his Chamber meditating some great resolution and he was heard to say these words be must either bow or break That evening past away so quietly that many thought it would be a Thunder with much noise and little hurt The King commanded the Earl of Soissons to go to the Duke of Biron and to do his best to break the hardness of his heart and to draw the truth out of him he went and intreated him to satisfie the King in what he desired to know from him and to be afraid of the Kings displeasure and indignation The Duke of Biron for answer told him that the King could not complain but of the good services he had done to him and that he himself had great occasion to complain of the King who mistrusted him after so many trials and experiments of his faithfulness and that he should never have more of him then he had at his first coming the Earl of Soissons seeing his obstinacy left him The next day early the King walking in the little Garden sent for the Duke of Biron and spoke to him a great while thinking to overcome his obstinacy and to give him means to escape the danger he was running into he was seen a great while with his Hat off his eyes lifted up to Heaven smiting his breast and making great protestations to uphold his innocency there appeared then in the Kings face a great deal of anger and in that of the Duke of Biron a great deal of fire and violence all his words were nothing but threatnings lightnings ruines and Hell against those that had spoken ill of him from thence he went to dinner and met with a man who brought him a Letter to advise him to look to himself he shewed it to the Captain of his Guards and made slight of it and said he would be beholding to his valour for his life and not to a flight all the afternoon the King stayed in the Gallery and spoke four hours to the Lord of la Curée the Queen being present and speaking never a word the King was in a great perplexity of mind before he could resolve himself The Lords of Vileroy Sillery and Geure were seen often to go to and fro which made some suspect that it was to begin by the execution in so great a crime but the King was against that such proceedings had been blamed in his Predecessor he would have every body to know that he had authority and power enough to exterminate his enemies according to the Laws The resolution was taken to have him arrested and also the Earl of Auvergne the King would not have them to be taken in the Castle but in their own Lodgings the Duke of Biron who was in some suspicion of it and had prepared himself to what he could neither prevent nor hinder did imagine that there was no fear of any thing in the Kings Chamber and that all the danger should be at the going out and therefore by time had provided himself with a short Sword with which he promised to make himself room through all dangers They represented to the King that if he were Arrested any where but in the Castle it could not be done without bloodshed and that it was no matter where the Lyon was taken so that profit might arise of his prize It was perceived that in the same Gallery the King sent for Vitry and Pralin two Captains of his Guards and gave them the order he would have to be observed for the execution of his commands and then called for his Supper The Duke of Biron was at supper in the Lord Montignys Lodging where he spoke more highly and bravely then ever of his Deserts and of the friends he had made lately in Switzerland then began to fall upon the praises of the late King of Spain extolling his Piety Justice and liberality Montigny stopt him saying that the greatest commendation that could be given to his memory was that he had put his own Son to death for endeavouring to trouble his Estate this word stopt those of the Duke of Biron who answered only with his eyes and thought upon it with some amazement After supper the Earl of Auvergne and the Duke of Biron came to the King who was walking in the Garden the King making an end of his walk did invite the Duke of Biron to play at Cards they went into the Queens Chambâ—r the Earl of Auvergne passing by the Duke of Biron told him softly we are undone the Game begun at the primara the Queen was one of the Gamsters the Duke of Biron another and two more The King went into his Closet divided between two contrary passions the love he had formerly for the Duke of Biron the knowledge he had of his valour and the remembrance of his services excluded all thoughts of his Justice on the other side the fear of troubles in his Estate the horâ—id effects of so unnatural a conspiracy did accuse his Clemency of cruelty if he went about to prefer the particular good to the publick he prayed to God to assist him with his Holy Spirit to appease the troubles of his soul and to strengthten him with a Holy resolution that he might do what was for the good of his people upon whom he Reigned by his only Grace his prayer being ended all the difficulties that troubled his soul vanished away there remained only a firm resolution to put the Duke into the hands of Justice if he could not draw the truth out of him the Game went on still the King took sometimes the Queens Cards expecting the appointed time The Earl of Auvergne was gone to his Lodging the King sent for him and walked in the Chamber while the Duke thought upon nothing but his play De Varennes Lieutenant of his Troop faining to take up his Cloak whispered him softly that he was undone this word did trouble him so much that he neglected his play and oversaw himself the Queen gave him notice of it the King did bid them to give over playing and commanded every one to retire he went into his Closet and took the Duke of Biron
for what was and if there was need to ask for it again his knees were as supple and ply able as ever But a Letter which he had written to la Fin since the pardon of Lyon and the Birth of the Dolphin did spoil all for it was a manifest evidence of the continuation of his ill designs and the Chancellor having produced it he answered he would never deny his hand but that Imbert and Renazée Domestick Servants to la Fin could counterfeit it that though he might have had some ill thoughts he had always well done that although the King would not forgive him this fault it was not in the power of men to condemn him jusâ—ly for single words which were contradicted by the effects that his consolation was in his misfortune his Judges were not ignorant of the services he had done to the Kingdom which he had Sealed with five and thirty wounds that his body whose life and death was in the disposition of their Justice had not a vain but had bleeded for their service and to restore them into their places from whence the League had driven them that the hand which had written the Letters produced against him was the same that had done contrary to what it did write that he had written and spoke more then he ought but that it could not be proved he had ever ill done that there was no Law that punished with death the lightness of a single word or motion of the thoughts that anger and discontent had made him capable of saying and doing any thing but that his reason had not given leave to say or to do ought but what deserveth to be commended which words were as carefully considered as he repeated them often with several Oaths and Imprecations Upon that the Chancellor having asked him why then he did not open himself more to the King who desired him with great affection to do it at Fountain-bleau seeing he knew in his conscience to have done nothing against his duty since his pardon There he cut himself in his answer and said he thought la Fin had revealed nothing of what was between them and that he had lately assured him so with Oaths and fearful imprecations that he would never have thought la Fin had been such a damnable man as to reveal that which with so many deep Oaths and Imprecations they had promised to keep secret between themselves that having propounded the question to a Monk of the Order of Minimes at Lyon whether he might with a safe conscience reveal what was between tâ—em and what he had promised with Oath to la Fin to keep secret because he suspected that la Fin would deceive him and tell all to the King and so ruine him The Minime had answered that seeing they had no more intention to put in execution the things they had projected he was not to reveal them and if la Fin did it he should go to Hell and himself to Heaven that he did so firmly believe this that although the Archbishop of Bourges had visited him in Prison and alledged many reasons to the contrary yet his soul was so settled in that belief that he thought it was only the part of an Atheist to swear with intâ—ntion to deceive Upon this he begun to accuse la Fin of the most execrable crimes that a man is capable of saying that he made use of Renazée for Sodomy that he was a Witch and had ordinary communication with the Devils that he had so be witched him with enchanted Waters and Wax Images that spoke that he was constrained to submit himself to all his will that he never spoke to him but whispering and in unknown words and aâ—ter he had kissed him in the left eye and he could not deny but he had shewed him a Wax Image speaking and saying Rex impie morieris thou shalt die ungodly King and called him continually his Master Lord Prince and King that he was a false Coiner and had persuaded him manâ— times to attempt upon the King but that he would never hearken to it that the quality of the Accusators was to be considered who not only were partners but instigators of the Fact that certainly the Duke of Savoy was his mortal enemy for having since his pardon left of all his intelligences with him and seeing that after a long detention he had released Renazée to come and to be a witness against him that the King had forgiven him at Lyon and that upon his acknowledging many times to the King that the refusal of the Ciradel of Bourg had very much incensed him his Majesty did comfort him with these words Marshal never remember Bourg and I will never remember what is past that in 22 Months after he had not offended that if he had continued his ill designs he might have done it easily in England and Switzerland That above 100. Gentlemen shall be Witnesses of his first Embassy and for the second he desireth no other Witnesses than the Kings Embassadors themselves that if they would be pleased to consider how he was come and in what what case he had left the Province of Burgundy it was impossible to have an ill opinion of his designs for there was not one Souldier in all the Countrey and at his going away he gave no other charge to the Commanders and Captains than to serve the King faithfully that every one disswaded him to come to Court and in the way he received many Letters to that purpose that he was come upon the Kings word trusting upon his own Conscience and Innocency If the King be not pleased to consider my services said he to the Court and those assurances he hath given me of his Mercy I acknowledge my self guilty of Death and do not expect my life from his Justice but from yours my Lords who will remember better than he what dangers I have undergone for his service I confess I had a mind to do ill but I never proceeded to effects It would be a hard matter if I should be the first in whom thoughts should be punished Great offences require great ciemency I do implore that of the King and nevertheless I am the onely one in France that is made an example of his severity and that can have no hope in his clemency which he never denyed to those that had done worse However I trust more in you my Lords than I do in the King who having heretofore looked upon me with his Eyes of love looketh upon me now with those of his anger and thinketh it a Vertue to be cruel unto me and a Vice to excercise upon me the act of clemency Thus pleaded the Prisoner with so much eloquency and boldness that if his Judges had not seen evidently the truth of the fact under his own Hand and Seal the respect of his first condition might have perswaded them to believe his Innocency and to take compassion of his ruined fortune The Court did
to me with a daughter of Savoy that the King would receive me with all Kindness What then the goings to and fro of many the reasons of those who advised me to come and the Kings Letters were they all baits to catch me I am well served to have trusted to much upon his Word I could have sought and got other securities if I had not trusted to my Innocency I am come upon the confidence of my integrity since his pardon Ah! doth he not know that he hath forgiven me I have hâ—d some evil designs I have hearkened I have written I have spoken I confessed them all at Lyon he did assure me never to remember it and did exhort me that from hence forwards I should commit nothing that might compel me to have recourse to his clemency Nevertheless I am now accused of things that are blotted out by his pardon I have not offended him since unless it be in that I desired War rather than Peace because my humour is not peaceable had not the King at that time reason to approve of it if this Crime deserveth death I fly to his clemency I implore his Mercy The Queen of England told me that if the Earl of Essex would have humbled himself and asked forgiveness he should have obtained it I do being Innocent what he would not do being guilty Ah! shall all Mercy be put out for me those that have done worse have found Grace and Mercy I perceive what it is I am not the more guilty but the most unhappy and the King who hath been so sparing of his Subjâ—cts lives hath a mind to be prodigal of mine To conclude he forgot nother of what might be said by a Soul pierced with grief spite anger and violent threatning in exclamations and revilings against the King and his Parliament in reproaches against the Chancellor that he had more contributed to his condemnation than to his absolution in words that are not fit to be spoken nor related His words ran so falt that the Chancellor could not stop them Nevertheless he took occasion to tell him his passion suggested him many things without appearance of reason and against his own jadgment that no body had known his deserts better than he and that he could have wished his faults had been as unknown as dissembled that the knowledge of them had been so visible and apparent that his Judges had more ado to moderate his punishment than to inflict it That Sâ—ntence was given upon the proofs of several attemps he had made against the Kings Person and his Estate and for having kept intelligence and correspondency with the Enemies of the Kingdom of which he had been found guilty that if he had concealed the truth in the answers to his accusations he should now reveal it being so near to his end and that for these causes the King did ask his Order of Knighthood and his staff oâ— Marshal of France with which he had formerly honoured him He pulled the Order out of his Pocket and put it into the Chancellors hands Protesting and Swearing upon the Salvation of his Soul that he never had broken the Oath he made in receiving it that it is true he had desired War more than Peace because he could not preserve in Peace the reputation he had got in War as for the Staff he never carryed it Nevertheless by the Oath that the Knights of the Holy Ghost take they are bound to take no Pension Wages nor Money from forrain Princes and to engage themselves in no bodies service but the Kings and faithfully to reveal what they shall know to be for or against the Kings service Aâ—ter that the Chancellor exhorted him to lift up his thoughts from Earth to Heaven to call upon God and to hear patiently his Sentence My Lord said he I beseech you do not use me as other men I know what my Sentence beareth my accusations are false I wonder the Court would Condemn me upon the Evidence of the most wicked and detestable man that is alive he never came near me without Witchcraft nor never went from me till he had bewitched me he did bite my left ear off and made me drink inchanted waters and when he said that the King had a mind to rid himself of me he called me his King his Benefactor his Prince his Lord he hath communication with the Devils and hath shewed me a Wax Image speaking these words in Latine Rex impie morieris ungodly King thou shalt die If he hath had so much power by his Magick as to make an inanimate body to speak it is no wonder that he should make my Will conformable to his Here the Chancellor stopt him and told him that the Court had well considered his answers and his Letters that he ought not to find fault with his Sentence that it had done him the same Justice as a Father should do to his son if he had offended in the like manner He had scarce spoken these words when the other answered what Judgment I have been heard but once and had no time to tell the fiftieth part of my justification if I had been heard at large I could have made it clearly appear that la Fin is such a one as I say what Judgment upon the Evidence of a Bougerer of a Rogue that hath forsaken his Wife of a treacherous and perfidious man that had Sworn so many times upon the Holy Sacrament never to reveal what was between us of a Knave that hath so often counterfeited my Hand and Seal It is true I have written some of those Letters that were shewed me but I never intended to put them in Execution and the rest are falsified Is there not many that can counterfeit so well the Hand and Seal of others that themselves can scarce distinguish them It is well known that the Lady Marchioness of Vernevil hath lately acknowledged that to be her own hand which she had never written My Heart and my Actions have sufficiently countervailed the faults of my Hand and of my Tongue Besides the King hath forgiven me I do implore his Memory for a Witness You say I have been found guilty to have attempted upon the Kings Person that is false that never came into my mind and I knew nothing of it till that la Fin did propose it to me before St. Katherines Fort six or seven days after the Siege if I had been thus minded I could have easily brought it to pass I was the only man that hindred the King to go before the Fort If my services had been taken into consideration I should not have been thus condemned I believe that if you had not been present the Parliament would not have judged me so rigorously I wonder that you whom I thought to be prudent and wise have used me so cruelly it would have been more honourable for your quality and old age to implore for me the Kings Mercy than his Justice There is Dungeons here
then shall be great commotions in France and Italy LII French Les deux malins de Scorpion conjoint Le grand Seigneur meurtry dedans sa salle Peste a l'Eglise par le nouveau Roy joint L' Europe basse Septentrionale English The two malignants of Scorpion being joyned The grand Seignor murdered in his Hall Plague to the Church by a King newly joyned to it Europe low and Septentrional ANNOT. This third position of the Celestial bodies foretelleth the death of the great Turk who should be murdered in his own Chamber as happened to Sultan Osman who was strangled in his Chamber by the command of Daout Bassa great Vizeir about the year 1622. vide the Turkish History The rest of the Prophecy is concerning a King who being newly joyned to the Church I suppose of Rome shall bring much mischief to it and in his time Europe shall be brought very low and in a manner confined to a corner of the North which hath relation to the foregoing 49. Stanza which see in its place LIII French Las qu'on verra grand peuple tourmenté Et la Loy Sainte en totale ruine Par autres Loix toute la Chrestienté Quand d'Or d'Argent trouve nouvelle Mine English Alas how a great people shall be tormented And the Holy Law in an utter ruine By other Laws all Christendom troubled When new Mines of Gold and Silver shall be found ANNOT. This is a true Prophecy of the mischiefs that have happened in the World by the finding of the Mines in America first to the Indians themselves called here a great People by the cruelty of the Spaniards and then to all Christendom besides by the evils that this Idol Mammon hath brought into it LIV. French Deux revolts faits du malin facigere De Regne Siecles fait permutation Le mobil signe a son endroit s'Ingere Aux deux egaux d'Inclination English Two revolts shall be made by the wicked Link-carrier Which shall make a change of the Reign and the Age The moveable Sign doth offer it self for it To the two equals in inclination ANNOT. This obscure Stanza must be interpreted thus Two revolts shall be made by the wicked Link-carrier that is Paris which is the Link-carrier of France and whose example the rest of the Towns follow shall revolt twice the first revolt was against Henry III. in the time of the Barricadoes the second against Henry IV. his successor Which shall make a change of the Reign and the Age This happened when the house of Valois was extinguished and the house of Bourbon came in and that is the change of the Reign The change of the Age was because this did happen about the end of the year 1599. and the beginning 1600. which was a change of Age. The moueable sign offers it self for it That is the position of the Heavens was such as to forward these accidents To the two equals in ambition That is to Henry III. and Henry IV. who both intended and went about to reduce Paris to obedience LV. French Soubs lopposite climat Babilonique Grande sera de sang effusion Que Terre Mer Air Ciel sera inique Sectes Faim Regnes Pestes Confusion English In the Climat opposite to the Babylonian There shall be a great effusion of Blood Insomuch that the Land and Sea Air and Heaven shall seem unjust Sects Famine Reigns Plague Confusion ANNOT. There is nothing difficult here but what Climat is that is opposite to the Babylonian of which every body may satisfie himself by perusing the Globe LVI French Vous verrez tost ou tard faire grand change Horreurs extremes vindications Que si la Lune conduite par son Ange Le Ciel sapproche des inclinations English You shall see soon or late great alterations Extreme horrours and revenges The Moon leaden by her Angel The Heaven draweth near its inclinations ANNOT. I conceive there is some things omitted and corrupted by the Press in this Stanza which rendreth it so difficult therefore I had rather leave it to the decision of the impartial Reader than venture my opinion upon it LVII French Par grand discord la trombe tremblera Accord rompu dressant la teste au Ciel Bouche sanglante dans le sang nagera Au Sol la face ointe le loit Miel English By great discord the Trumpet shall sound Agreement broken lifting the head to Heaven A bloody mouth shall swim in blood The face turned to the Sun anointed with Milk and Honey ANNOT. The words and sence are plain and I cannot believe that there is any great mystery hidden under these words LVIII French Trenché le ventre naistra ave deux festes quattre bras quel qu'ans entiers vivra Jour qu'Aquilare celebrera ses festes Fossan Thurin chef Ferrare fuiera English Slit in the belly shall be born with two heads And four Arms it shall live some years The day that Aquilare shall celebrate his Festivals Fossan Thurin chief Ferrare shall run away ANNOT. In the first Verse the Author speaketh of a Monster that had two heads and four Arms and the Belly slit that is to say it was a female His Son Caesar in his History of Provence saith that in the Town of Senan in Provence a Child was born with two heads and that it was foretold by some that were skilful in Astronomy by which words I guess he spake of his Father sith the Astrologers cannot foretel the birth of a particular Monster and therefore Nostradamus only was able to do it in those days He faith in the same place that it was born in February 1554 and was brought to Salon to be shewed to his Father and thence was carried to Claudius Earl of Savoy Governour of Provence who commonly had his residence at Salon He maketh no mention if he had four Arms nor what Sex it was of it may be that being in swadling cloths no body took notice of the Arms or Sex The Author Prophecieth that it should live some years it may be two or three and that is was preserved to see whether in time it should have the use of its Senses of the Tongue and understanding of its two Heads to see whether there were two Souls or onely one and to say the Truth I think that in such an accident both Heads ought to be Baptized that in case there should be two Souls both should partake of the blood of Christ for their Eternal Salvation I do not find in the same History how long it lived it being a thing not much material to History In the third Verse he marketh The day that Aquilare shall celebrate his Festivals and in the fourth he saith that Fossan Thurin chief Ferrare shall run away To understand this one must suppose here that the Town of Cazal is called here the chief of Ferrare because it is the chief City of Montferrat and as Paradin saith is called Cazal St.
Bas a handsom and strong place honoured with many Nobles and antient Families as of the Earls of St. George and of Biandratte Secondly We must suppose that in the year 1554. the Lord Figuerol Lieutenant to the Governour of Milan did command in that place Of this Figuerol I find in the Author of the four Volumes of the States and Empires when he speaketh of Spain that the House of Figueroas was the root of that of Aquilar which hath several branches out of which came the Duke of Feria and the Marquess of Pliego so that Figuerol and Aquilar is the same thing If it be objected that Figueroas and Figuerol are not the same Paradin teacheth us that this Figuerol was bred up amongst the Genoeses and the corrupted Italian of Genoa may have named the Captain Figuerol in stead of Figueroas Thirdly We must suppose here that Cazal was taken in the night that is between Shrove-Tuesday and Ash-Wednesday and that from Shrove-Sunday to that day there were great rejoycings because of a famous Marriage that was made between two persons of quality where the Lord Figuerol was one of the chief persons invited Fourthly That these rejoycings were the occasion of the taking of Cazal because the Lord Salvaison Governour of Verrue hearing of this Feast resolved to be among them though with a different intention He had before hand made himself sure of one Fontarole who under pretence to sell fruit went up and down the Town to spie what was a doing Fifthly The resolution of surprizing Cazal was agreed upon and the time appointed to be the night between Shrove-Twesday and Ash-Wednesday when the Governour Inhabitants and Souldiers should be buried in sleep weary of debaucheries committed the day before Sixthly This resolution was so happily put into execution that Figuerol hearing the noise of the French being in Town came out of his house having only his night Gown upon him and a Halbert in his hand to quiet those whom he only thought to be some drunken persons but hearing the cry of France Fraence he presently retired into the Castle with all those that were come to the Nuptials Seventhly The Marshal of Brissac coming about seven of the Clock in the Morning caused the Tower of Cazal to be assaulted which was taken with a considerable loss of the French and after that the Castle which held out 12 days All this being supposed mark what the Author â—aith in the third Verse The day that Aquilare shall celebrate his Festivals that is the day that Figuerol of the house of Aquilare shall celebrate his Festivals not only one Festival but his Festivals that is of three days Fossen Thurin saith the fourth Verse Chief Ferrare shall run away Fossen Thurin doth not signifie two Towns but one onely for although Fossen and Thurin be two Towns of which Fossen in the time of the Wars in Italy under Henry 11. belonged to the Spaniard and Thurin to the French These two Towns signifie but one which is that of Fossen to which to distinguish it from Marseilles he giveth the Epithete of Thurin so much as to say that he speaketh of Fossen a Town of Piemont the chief Town of which is Thurin and not of Fossen which the Author taketh often for Marseilles Which the Author maketh plain when he saith in the singular number that Fossen Thurin chief Ferrare shall run away to shew that it is onely one Town of which he speaketh otherwise if he had intended to speake of two he would have put it in the plural number which is more manifest by the History wherein we learn that Fossen belonged to the Spaniards and Thurin to the French and consequently being of contrary parties they could neither follow nor fly from a Town which belonged to one of them If any one should object that the sense of the fourth Verse is that the Chief Ferrare shall fly or follow these two Towns the preceding reason is repugnant to that sense because a Town that is of one party cannot be friend to two â—owns one of which is of its party and the other of the contrary The reading of this work shall convince every body that the Author setteth down sometimes two Towns for one to distinguish them from others as he nameth Paul Mansol to distinguish that Town of St. Paul which is three Leagues from the Rbosne over against Pont St. Esprit from that St. Paul which is in Provence Now that Fossen in Piemont shall run from Cazal the chief City of Montferrat because that being taken by the French Fossen could not expect but perpetual damages from it But why will you say doth the Author speak rather of Fossen than of other places that held for the Spaniards I answer because Fossen was the strongest place that the Spaniards had in Piemont and which could not be taken by the French though her neighbour Saviliane was as we shall shew hereafter In the Vulgar impression of this Stanza there is two saults one is that in the first Verse it puts Aquileya which is a Town that is not in Italy truth it is that there is Aquilee a little above Venice but this hath no correspondency with Fossen Thurin nor the Chief of Ferrara In the fourth Verse the impression setteth down shall follow which maketh non-sense and therefore I put shall run away which is a word in French near the other and maketh a compleat sense to which agreeth the birth of that Monster in February and the taking of Cazal in the Month of March In that year John Statius setteth Shrove-Twesday upon the 16 of February and consequently we must say that the Town was not taken that year 1554. for the Citadel was taken 12 days after which should have been the 19 of February and notwithstanding the History marks that it was taken upon the 14 of March. Therefore we must conclude that it was taken the year following 1555. and to say truth in that year Ash-wednesday was the 27. of February in that day the Town was taken and two days after the Tower of Cazal after which the Citadel was besieged the second of March and the first Saturday of Lent and was taken twelve days after which was the 14. of March which convinceth me that Cazal was taken in the year 1555. upon the 27. of February and therefore that this Stanza is wholly Prophetical LIX French Les exilez deportez dans les Isles Au changement d'un plus cruel Monarque Seront meurtris mis dans les Scintilles Qui de parler ne seront este parques English They banished that were carried into the Islands At the change of a more cruel Monarque Shall be murdered and put in the sparks of fire Because they had not been sparing of their tongues ANNOT. This is very plain and signifieth no more but that some persons that were banished into Islands and could not hold their tongues upon the coming of a Monarque more cruel than his Predecessor shall