[MR] Wikipedia: Nostradamus

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1566, Michael de Nostradamus, astrologer, seer to France's
rich and famous, and unwitting subject of countless television
"documentaries", died at Salon-de-Provence in France.

Nostradamus' modern fame springs from his book *Les Propheties*, a
collection of cryptic predictions in quatrain form (still in print, though
overlooked by most best-seller lists). His predictions were deliberately
vague to avoid possible persecution by the Church. This work, issued in
several parts, reused the text from a number of previously published
almanacs.

His vague prophesies have been force-fitted to various world events almost
since the author's death, and continue to provide fodder to the
"infotainment" industry. One future event Nostradamus didn't predict was
his own popularity 450 years later.

Nostradamus died a very wealthy man for his time, thanks to income from his
books and patronage by the French ruling class. The seer died of dropsy
brought on by gout. The prediction of his own end, given the day before he
actually died, was posthumously rewritten by Nostradamus' secretary to
better fit the facts of his passing.

Whether you think Nostradamus was a real seer, a total fraud, or a
commercial genius, he remains an important figure from our period of
interest. More about his life can be found at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostradamus .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆