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Biographic research on
Nostradamus is quite complex. For example, one must be able to
distinguish the truth from the legend, one must have the energy to look
ardently through old archives, one has to be familiar with the
circumstances in France during 1400-1700 and the jewish culture,
traditions and habits in that era. One also must be acquainted with
old-French.
Research on the ancestors and children of Nostradamus is still going on.
From time to time, new findings add to knowledge.
No biographic research on Nostradamus by means of examining archives is
done in the research project Nostradamus, astrology and the Bible. The
biographic information on this site is the result of the study of
biographic literature on Nostradamus.
This page contains a
survey of the most important sources about the life of Nostradamus.
Autobiographic
material
This category contains material which, whether or not edited prior to
publication - is written by Nostradamus or attributed to him. Two
important sources:
-
Excellent et moult
utile Opuscule... (Lyon, 1555).
Besides recepies for medicins and beauty devices, this publication
contains notes by Nostradamus regarding his wandering in the period
1533-1544.
-
Lettres inédites
(Dupèbe (ed.), Geneva, 1983).
This book contains 54 Latin letters, written in the period February
1556 - December 1565. Twelve of them are written by Nostradamus, the
remaining ones are adressed to him. Dupèbe, the compiler of this
book which was published in 1983, wrote that Cesar, Nostradamus
eldest son, kept these letters and in 1629 handed them over to a
certain Peiresc. At that time, the letters were not published. The
collection of letters got lost, but was found again in 1961 by the
Frenchman E. Lhez.
L'astrologie de Nostradamus - dossier (Amadou (ed.), Poissy, 1991)
contains a French translation of these letters by Bernadette
Lécureux.
Biographic
material, written by family
This
category contains:
-
Jehan
de Nostredame: La Chronique de Provence (Carpentras
manuscript, 2nd half 16th century). Jehan de Nostredame (1507-1577) was
one of Nostradamus' brothers.
-
César
de Nostredame: Histoire et chronique de Provence (Lyon,
1614). César (1553-1630) was the oldest son of Nostradamus and Anne
Ponsarde, his second wife. In Histoire et chronique de Provence
he included material, which was published previously by Jehan de
Nostredame in La Chronique de Provence.
-
Palamède
Tronc de Coudoulet: Abrégé de la vie de Michel Nostradamus (Aix,
1701) and Abrégé de l'histoire de Michel Nostradamus
(manuscript, 1722). The manuscript seems to be an elaboration of the
booklet which went into circulation.
Tronc de Coudoulet (1660-1722) was a great-great
nephew of Nostradamus. His mother, Jeanne Roux, was a daughter of
Thomine Roux and Bertrand de Nostredame, one of Nostradamus'
brothers. In 2001, Robert Benazra published both works by Tronc de
Coudoulet in one booklet, entitled Abrégé de la vie et de
l'histoire de Michel Nostradamus.
Biographic
material, written by contemporaries of Nostradamus
The most
important publication in this category is:
-
Brief
discovrs svr la vie de M. Michel de Nostredame, iadis Conseillier
& Medecin ordinaire des Rois tres Chrestiens Henry II, dv nom,
Francois II. & Charles IX. This is a part of La
premiere face dv Janus François (Lyon, 1594), written by Jean Aimes de Chavigny,
about who some say that he was Nostradamus' secretary.
Contemporary
biographic research
This
category contains the following publications:
-
Nostradamus
- ses origines, sa vie, son oeuvre (dr. Edgar Leroy, Saint-Rémy
de Provence, 1993 [1972]).
Leroy (1883-1965) was the first to do research on Nostradamus'
ascendants. He started his research in the '40's. In the '70's,
his compatriot E. Lhez Ph.D continued research and precised and
corrected some of Leroys findings.
The text of Nostradamus - ses origines, sa vie, son oeuvre
dates from May 1948. It was in 1972, seven years after the decease
of Leroy, that the manuscript was published for the first time (Trillaud
printers, Bergerac). In 1993, Laffitte
reprints, Saint-Rémy de Provence, published a re-edition to which a
preface was added,
written by Sylvain Gagnière, conservator; a biography on the
occasion of Leroy's 100th birthday, written by Jean Delrieux, the
husband of Marguerite-Marie Leroy, a daughter of Leroy; a survey of
Leroy's publications, dedicated to Nostradamus; an explanation of
the compilation of the 1993-re-edition, written by Jean and
Marguerite-Marie Delrieux; six genealogic tables and a number of
illustrations. In some cases, the text which was published in 1972
was actualized, due to advanced research results.[1]
-
The
section Ascendance on the website Espace
Nostradamus, in which Robert Benazra extensively describes the
ascendancy of Nostradamus.
De
Meern, the Netherlands, January 19, 2005
T.W.M. van Berkel
Notes
-
Robert Benazra explained the
origins of Nostradamus - ses origines, sa vie, son oeuvre
(Benazra to Van Berkel, January 17, 2005). [text]
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