Thursday, July 2, 2026

It is the 2nd of July 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

I have long been fascinated by 16th-century history- no kidding, you say, as I work for a company called “1517” and my earliest academic work was specializing in the Protestant Reformation.

But the 16th century, and one figure in particular, long intrigued me- even before the Reformation and Renaissance came to dominate my mental life. And I probably learned about this figure from a tabloid- alongside the bat boy and news about Elvis was this mysterious character whom I was told predicted everything from the Great Fire of London to the French Revolution, Hitler, and the bombing of Hiroshima. Since my youth, staring at the News of the World (or some such), I have learned he may have predicted both 9/11 and COVID-19. He was, of course, Nostradamus; Michel de Nostredame, and the “predictions” are easily debunked and discarded- but what has made him such an enigmatic character- so well known, even if for being a quack prophet (even though he never claimed to be a prophet). His is a story that parallels the Reformation, the rise of print culture, the inquisition, and the fear of heretics.

Michel de Nostredame was born in Provence, France, in 1503- his family had been Jewish. Around 1460, the family converted- likely under pressure from the crown and was able to continue the family tradition of grain dealing and medicine. It is believed that the family kept various Jewish traditions- perhaps the private use of Hebrew and mysticism from the Kabbalah. Most of this is conjecture, but young Michel would excel in languages and medicine from an early age. At 14, he was admitted to the University of Avignon but had to leave shortly after arriving when the plague shut the school down. He spent time as an itinerant apothecary until returning to University- this time at Montpellier in 1529.

But word that he had been an apothecary- practicing a lower manual type of labor got him kicked out of school, despite his intelligence. He would make a name for himself as a traveling apothecary and medicine man in plague-stricken areas- he was feted in humanist circles for his bravery as a plague fighter.

That is, until his own wife and children died from the plague- certainly the doctor who can’t keep his own alive isn’t worth the patronage. And that was that. He continued his itinerant travels before marrying a wealthy widow and settling down to have children and practice medicine.

But it was his interest in astrology- God’s words to us in the sky- as well as the mystical traditions being flamed by parts of the new Reformation movement that led to his first popular publication in 1550- and I’m proud to say- it was an Almanac.

Nostradamus- as he would then call himself- predicted weather patterns for planting, horoscopes, celestial events… he wasn’t inventing anything- he borrowed from others and the ancients. He began to include quatrains- 4-line cryptic poems which one could read as prophecy. As he began to publish new almanacs, he would include new cryptic poems- all in all, he made over 6,000 of them.

One, which seemed to be a veiled word about the assassination of the French Royal family, caught the attention of Catherine de’ Medici. This complicated woman, queen regent and at the center of the French Wars of Religion, invited Nostradamus to her court. He feared he was being called to his death, but was instead welcomed and asked to write personal horoscopes for her children.

His “prophecies” are more tongue-in-cheek than anything- filled with puns and anagrams- he himself wrote that he would never “claim to be a prophet”. He was interestingly never charged with heresy and never put under investigation for his prophecies. Yes, people were (and are) superstitious, and some tried to tell the future- there’s an argument to be made that Nostradamus was having fun; they are all vague enough to work for many events. His almanacs and prophecies made him popular, but also his recipes… Nostradamus had recipes for sweets and jellies… even a love potion that contained the blood of seven male sparrows.

Nostradamus lived a tragic life in many ways- in the face of plague, he attempted to use his knowledge to heal. In the face of religious tension amidst the Reformation and intrigues at the court, he wrote in cryptic couplets- he was a Renaissance man whose whole ruse- “I’ll sell you a horoscope for a penny” allowed him to finally settle down with a family and live out his days. Although it should be noted- it was on the first of July in 1566 that he informed his family and friends that this would be his last night… it was, and Michel des Nostredame- Nostradamus did indeed die on this, the 2nd of July in 1566. Born in 1503, he was 63 years old.

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Romans 7:

4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 2nd of July 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who has long known the secret of the blood of sparrows…. Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who knows if you just announce that today is your last… one day you’ll be right… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.