NOSTRADAMUS, ASTROLOGY AND THE BIBLE
research results
Countries and cities in the Centuries
- T.W.M. van Berkel -

In the research upon which Nostradamus, astrology and the Bible is based, it is assumed that the countries, regions, cities and villages in which events occur which are predicted in the Centuries, are determined by means of judiciary astrology. According to the Preface to Cesar, the determination of the places where events will occur was done according to the heavenly signs.
The Centuries contain a lot of ancient geographical names. This means that the Centuries are compiled for the world as it was known in France in the 16th century. In that age, Italy did not exist, but was divided in several independent states. The borders of France were not the borders as we know them today. Whoever wants to interpret the geographical references in the Centuries, is obliged to interpret them according to the geographical concepts of the 16th century.
Contemporary astrological-geographical compendia are not suited to use in research regarding the Centuries. In the past centuries, the astrological ideas about which countries or cities are ruled by a zodiacal sign, were subject to change, and astrologers are not always unanimous in their ideas about this matter. Whoever wants to investigate geographical references in the Centuries, is obliged to use registers, written by e.g. Cyprianus Leovitius in Eclipsium omnium... or Ptolemy in the Tetrabiblos.

The territory of the Centuries
In the Epistle to Henry II, it is written that, because of astronomical calculations, the quatrains are valid for all Europe, Africa and a part of Asia. Stocktaking in Nostradamus, astrology and the Bible showed that the territory of the Centuries consists of Europe, from its west coast until the Moscow territory, of the Ottoman Empire and of the African countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. In other words, Norway, Sweden, Russia, the American continent, Australia, New-Zealand and most of Africa and Asia do not belong to the Centuric territory. 

Figure 2. The kingdoms in the Centuries

Scotland England Holy Roman Empire Poland France Switzerland Portugal Spain	Italy Ottoman Empire Morocco Fez Tunis Malta Persia

About 526 quatrains contain geographical references regarding the country, region and/or the city in which an event will occur. Many times, a quatrain contain several references. In the research upon which Nostradamus, astrology and the Bible is based, stocktaking showed that 212 of these quatrains deal with France, 173 with "Italy", 73 with the Ottoman Empire, 39 with the Holy Roman Empire, 29 with Spain, 23 with England, 14 with Switzerland, 6 with Malta, 5 with Europe as a whole, 3 with Persia, 2 with Portugal, 2 with Tunis, 1 with Fez, 1 with Morocco, 1 with Poland and 1 with Scotland. In the Centuries, France is the centre of gravity, followed by "Italy" and the Ottoman Empire.
Another peculiarity which has been brought to light, is the amount of geographic details. There are 212 quatrains which deal with France. Of these quatrains, 192 deal with French cities and villages,  20 deal with France as a nation. Of the 173 quatrains which deal with "Italy", 163 deal with cities in "Italy", 10 with "Italy" as a territory. Of the 39 quatrains which deal with the Holy Roman Empire, 22 deal with cities in this Empire; 17 with countries. Regarding the 29 quatrains which deal with Spain, 27 deal with Spanish cities, 2 with Spain as a nation. All 14 quatrains which deal with Switzerland, deal with Swiss cities. Of the 23 quatrains which deal with England, 15 deal with English cities, 8 with England as a nation. Of the 2 quatrains which deal with Portugal, one deals with a Portuguese city, the other one with Portugal as a nation. 
Regarding the Ottoman Empire, things are different. Only 29 of the 73 quatrains which deal with the Ottoman Empire, deal with cities in this empire; the remaining 44 quatrains deal with countries in this empire. The other countries (Fez, Malta, Morocco, Persia, Poland, Scotland and Tunis) are discussed as such, there are no references to cities in these countries. 
One might come to the conclusion that in the quatrains which deal with the Ottoman Empire and the African countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, there are significantly more references to countries than to cities; the situation is reversed regarding quatrains which deal with France, "Italy", the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Switzerland and England. The question is if this is in relation to the used astrological registers regarding cities and countries.

The Guide des Chemins de France (Charles Estienne)
In number 23 of volume 1986 of the magazine Réforme, Humanisme et Renaissance, an article has been published, entitled Les Prophéties de Nostradamus: suivez la Guide!, written by the French historian Chantal Liaroutzos. According to Liaroutzos, the travel guide La Guide des Chemins de France (Charles Estienne, Paris, 1553) was the source of a number of geographical names in a number of Century-quatrains. This would mean that these geographical names were not established by means of mundane astrology.
Many Century-scholars argue that in quatrain 09-20, the arrest near Varennes-en-Argonne on June 21, 1791 of the French king Louis XVI and his wife is predicted:

Quatrain 09-20
De nuict viendra par la forest de Reines,
Deux pars vaultorte Hene la pierre blanche
Le moyne noir en gris dedans Varennes,
Esleu cap cause tempeste, feu sang tranche.

In Les Oracles de Michel de Nostredame, Le Pelletier, who linked this quatrain to the fortune of Louis XVI and his wife in 1791, argued that the word forest in the first line was derived from the Latin word fores (door), pars was an allusion to wife, vaultorte meant crossroad and Herne was an anagram for Reine.[1] Liaroutzos' findings do not sustain these interpretations. The pages 137-140 of the 1553-edition of La Guide des Chemins de France contain the names Forest de Renes (quatrain 09-20: forest de Reines), Vaultorte, Heruee (quatrain 09-20: Hene), le depart (quatrain 09-20: deux pars), Varennes and la pierre blanche.[2]
The French Century-scholar Jacques Halbronn D.Litt. does not sustain the supposition that the Guide des Chemins de France was the source text. The names of a number of places lead him to the conclusion that Les voyages de plusieurs endroits de France et encores de la Terre Saincte, d’Espaigne, d’Italie et autres pays. Les Fleuves du Royaume, a travel guide, compiled by Estienne in 1552, was the principal source text.[3]

De Meern, the Netherlands, October 17, 2005
T.W.M. van Berkel
updated on October 19, 2008

Notes

1. Le Pelletier-1867-I, p.174-176.[text]

2. In the 1552-edition of La Guide des Chemins de France, in chapter La duché de Bretaigne in the paragraph A Vittray, premiere ville de Bretaigne, the names Vaultorte, Heruee and the words le depart can be found on page 128. On the same page, the paragraph A Renes le plus droict contains the names Vaultortu and Heruee. Page 129 contains the name forest de Renes. On the same page, the paragraph A Renes par Angers contains the name Varennes. On page 131, in the paragraph A Montfort, the name la pierre blanche is listed (Internet: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k102662d). [text]

3. Halbronn: Evaluation de la clef géographique des Centuries. See also chapter IV of Halbronn's thesis Le texte prophétique en France. Formation et fortune (Paris, 1999). [text]