Letter to King Henry II

The famous open Letter to King Henry II of France by Nostradamus is his dedicatory preface to the now-missing 1558 edition of his Propheties, as reprinted in the posthumous 1568 edition by Benoist Rigaud. After a formal introduction, it makes various claims about the sources of his inspiration and lists many cryptic prophecies (nearly all undated) that seemingly have little to do with those in the work itself. These include:

decadence and calamity threatening both Church and laity
the advent of French rulers who will cause Europe to tremble
the amalgamating of kingdoms and propagation of new laws
the confrontation of England and a bloody invasion of Italy
new alliances between Rome, Eastern Europe and Spain
the liberation of Sicily from the Germans
the persecution of the Arabs by the Latin nations
the advent of the Antichrist like Xerxes and his hosts
attacks by the Muslims on the Pope and his Church
an eclipse of unprecedented darkness
a great October upheaval lasting 73 years and seven months
renewal of the Church by one from the 50th degree of latitude
an attempt by peoples to free themselves which will result in even greater imprisonment
the advent of the Great Dog and an even Greater Mastiff
the rebuilding of the churches and restoration of the priesthood
a new disaster, with crooked leaders and generals who will be disarmed by a sceptical populace
a new military and regal saviour ruling from another 'little Mesopotamia'
the putting down of a former tyranny by a conspiracy
a powerful resurgence of Islam, with Western Christendom in decay and decline
an unprecedented persecution of the Church, with two thirds of the population wiped out by pestilence
desolation of the country and clergy, while the invading Arab military take over Malta, Mediterranean France and the offshore islands
a Western counterinvasion that will rescue Spain from the invaders and pursue the Arabs back to the Middle East
the depopulation of Israel, with the Holy Sepulchre turned into farm buildings
terrible retribution inflicted on the Orientals by the Northerners, whose tongues will have acquired an Arabic admixture
defeat of the Eastern leaders and seven-year triumph of the Northern Christians
the persecution of Christians until 1792, when a totally new era will begin
an extremely powerful Venice
vast naval battles in the Adriatic, destruction of many cities and persecution of the Church and Pope
a brief reign for the Antichrist, with a huge liberating army led into Italy by a 'Gallic Hercules'
vast floods wiping out the very knowledge of letters
universal peace toward the beginning of the seventh millennium after the Creation, and restoration of the Holy Sepulchre
some great conflagration
restoration of the papacy
sacking of the Holy of Holies by pagans and destruction of the scriptures
the reign of the Prince of Hell for 25 years after the Antichrist
premonitory birds
a new Golden Age of Saturn, the binding of Satan for a thousand years, and universal peace and harmony, with the Church finally triumphant

The letter also includes two different dates for the creation of the world.

Sources

Leoni, E., Nostradamus and His Prophecies (Wings, 1961–82)
Lemesurier, P., The Nostradamus Encyclopedia (Godsfield/St Martin’s, 1997)
Lemesurier, P., Nostradamus – The Illustrated Prophecies (O Books, 2003)
Wilson, I., Nostradamus: The Evidence (Orion, 2002)/ Nostradamus: The Man Behind the Prophecies (St Martin's 2007)

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