Nostradamus

Timeline

1. 1503–1547Avignon · ProvenceNostradamus was born in Saint-Rémy, Provence, to a family of Jewish origin that had converted to Catholicism. He studied medicine in Avignon and elsewhere, practiced across Provence in the 1520s–1540s, took part in responses to plague, and studied astrology and classical esotericism, gradually forming a distinctive medical-astrological practice.
2. 1547–1555Salon-de-Provence · ProvenceIn 1547 he settled in Salon-de-Provence, opened a clinic and produced astrological almanacs. Using astronomical calculations and symbolic systems he wrote prophetic verses; in 1555 the first three books of the Prophecies were published in Lyon, their obscure quatrains predicting future events and provoking wide discussion and ecclesiastical scrutiny.
3. 1555–1560Paris · Île-de-FranceAfter the 1555 publication of the Prophecies his fame soared; in 1556 he was summoned to Paris to cast horoscopes for the royal princes. Between 1551 and 1560 he served as astrological advisor to Catherine de' Medici, playing a distinctive role in court politics on the eve of the Wars of Religion, while continuing to publish additional prophetic verses.
4. 1560–1566Salon-de-Provence · ProvenceIn the 1560s Nostradamus mainly lived in Salon, continuing to practice medicine and adding further books to the Prophecies. He fell gravely ill in 1566 and, according to tradition, accurately predicted the date of his own death on his deathbed. His prophetic verses were repeatedly interpreted after his death, becoming an influential textual tradition in modern popular culture.