XX.

French.Lors que Serpens viendront circuir l’Air,Le sangTroienversé par lesEspagnes,Par eux: grand nombre en sera fait tare,Chef fuit, caché aux Marets dans les saignes.English.When Serpents shall come to encompass the Are,TheTrojanblood shall be vexed bySpain,By them, a great number shall perish,Chief runneth away, and is hid in the rushes of the Marishes.

Lors que Serpens viendront circuir l’Air,Le sangTroienversé par lesEspagnes,Par eux: grand nombre en sera fait tare,Chef fuit, caché aux Marets dans les saignes.

Lors que Serpens viendront circuir l’Air,

Le sangTroienversé par lesEspagnes,

Par eux: grand nombre en sera fait tare,

Chef fuit, caché aux Marets dans les saignes.

When Serpents shall come to encompass the Are,TheTrojanblood shall be vexed bySpain,By them, a great number shall perish,Chief runneth away, and is hid in the rushes of the Marishes.

When Serpents shall come to encompass the Are,

TheTrojanblood shall be vexed bySpain,

By them, a great number shall perish,

Chief runneth away, and is hid in the rushes of the Marishes.

By theSerpents, the Author being a Roman Catholick, meaneth the Protestants, who then began to appear numerous in the Reigns ofFrancisthe I. andHenrythe II. in whose time the AdmiralColignywas the chief among them, for his great feats in War.

These Serpents or Protestants begun to encompass theAre, that is to say, the Church and the Altar, which in Latin is calledAra.

And that happened whenthe Trojan-blood was vexed by Spain. By theTrojan-blood, the Author meaneth theFrenchblood, according to the vulgar opinion, that theFrenchare descended from theTrojans. TheFrenchwere then vexed by theSpaniards, at the Battle of St.Laurence, and at the taking of St.Quentin, and other places in the Year 1557.

The third Verse saithby them, that is, by the Protestantsa great number shall perish, that is to say, a great number ofFrench. Among whom the Admiral ofChatillonhaving done what was possible to be done at the defence of St.Quentin, and seeing the Town taken, run away with three more, and hid himself among the Rushes that are in the Boggs about the Town, where he was found, and carried Prisoner to the Duke ofSavoy, who received him very honorably, according to his valour and deserts.

Observe that the wordSaigneshere signifieth in oldProvencalaMarish.

French.Tours,Orleans,Blois,Angers,Renes&Nantes,Cités vexées par soudain changement,Par Langues estranges seront tendues Tentes,Fleuves, Darts, Rennes, Terre & Mer tremblement.English.Tours,Orleans,Blois,Angers,Renes, andNantes,Cities vexed by a sudden change,By strange Languages Tents shall be set up,Rivers, Darts,Rennes, Land, and Sea shall quake.

Tours,Orleans,Blois,Angers,Renes&Nantes,Cités vexées par soudain changement,Par Langues estranges seront tendues Tentes,Fleuves, Darts, Rennes, Terre & Mer tremblement.

Tours,Orleans,Blois,Angers,Renes&Nantes,

Cités vexées par soudain changement,

Par Langues estranges seront tendues Tentes,

Fleuves, Darts, Rennes, Terre & Mer tremblement.

Tours,Orleans,Blois,Angers,Renes, andNantes,Cities vexed by a sudden change,By strange Languages Tents shall be set up,Rivers, Darts,Rennes, Land, and Sea shall quake.

Tours,Orleans,Blois,Angers,Renes, andNantes,

Cities vexed by a sudden change,

By strange Languages Tents shall be set up,

Rivers, Darts,Rennes, Land, and Sea shall quake.

All the Cities mentioned in the first Verse are seated by the River ofLoire, and are threatned here of a sudden change, and that some strangers shall set up their Tents against them, and chiefly atRennes, there shall be an Earth-quake felt both by Sea and Land.

French.Profonde argile blanche nourrit rocher,Qui d’un abysme istra l’acticineuse,En vain troublez ne l’oseront toucher,Ignorant estre au fond terre argileuse.English.A deep white clay feedeth a Rock,Which clay shall break out of the deep like milk,In vain people shall be troubled not daring to touch it,Being ignorant that in the bottom there is a milky clay.

Profonde argile blanche nourrit rocher,Qui d’un abysme istra l’acticineuse,En vain troublez ne l’oseront toucher,Ignorant estre au fond terre argileuse.

Profonde argile blanche nourrit rocher,

Qui d’un abysme istra l’acticineuse,

En vain troublez ne l’oseront toucher,

Ignorant estre au fond terre argileuse.

A deep white clay feedeth a Rock,Which clay shall break out of the deep like milk,In vain people shall be troubled not daring to touch it,Being ignorant that in the bottom there is a milky clay.

A deep white clay feedeth a Rock,

Which clay shall break out of the deep like milk,

In vain people shall be troubled not daring to touch it,

Being ignorant that in the bottom there is a milky clay.

It is a Rock in the middle of the Sea, whose Roots are fed by a white clay, which is at the foot of this Rock, in the bottom of the Sea, and therefore called deep.

This clay being softned, and dissolved by the Sea-water, shall appear upon the superficies of it like milk about the Rock. Those that shall see this wonder,being ignorant that in the bottom there is a milky clay, shall in vain be troubled at it, and shall not dare to touch it.

French.Ce qui vivra & n’aura aucun sens,Viendra le Fer a mort son artifice,Autun,Chalons,Langres& les deuxSens,La Guerre & la Glasse fera grand malefice.English.That which shall live, and shall have no sence,The Lion shall destroy the art of it,Autun,Chalons,Langres, and bothSens,The War and the Ice shall do great harm.

Ce qui vivra & n’aura aucun sens,Viendra le Fer a mort son artifice,Autun,Chalons,Langres& les deuxSens,La Guerre & la Glasse fera grand malefice.

Ce qui vivra & n’aura aucun sens,

Viendra le Fer a mort son artifice,

Autun,Chalons,Langres& les deuxSens,

La Guerre & la Glasse fera grand malefice.

That which shall live, and shall have no sence,The Lion shall destroy the art of it,Autun,Chalons,Langres, and bothSens,The War and the Ice shall do great harm.

That which shall live, and shall have no sence,

The Lion shall destroy the art of it,

Autun,Chalons,Langres, and bothSens,

The War and the Ice shall do great harm.

This is a great Riddle, which was never found out till now; and had I not been born in the Countrey where the History did happen, it might have been unknown to this day, and buried in oblivion.

The History of a λιθοπαίδιον or petrified child.

In the year of the Lord 1613. which was that of my Birth. There was in the Town ofSensa Taylors Wife namedColumba Chatry, who presently after her marriage conceived, and for the space of 28. years persuaded her self to be with Child, had all the signs of it in the beginning of her impregnation, and having gone her compleat time, she begun to feel the pains of a woman in Labour, with great gripings in the Guts. The Urine was suppressed for a while, but at last it broke out with a strong current. This quantity of water not coming so much out of the Bladder as was supposed, as from the womb, by the breaking of the Membrane, calledAmnion, seeing that with those serous excrements, she avoided some conjealed blood. After that her breast begun to fall, and the Child had little or no motion, her pains being less than they were, which caused no small admiration to the Midwifes, who expected a safe deliverance. For the space of three years after, this woman kept her Bed, and was brought to Deaths door, complaining of gripings and a hard swelling, which she desired all the Physitians and Chyrurgeons to feel, having lost all appetite, but that little which she recovered by the use of sharp things, as Verjuice, Lemmons,&c.she was wont to say to her Neighbours, that she bare a Child that should be the cause of her death. After she was dead, her Husband got two experienced Chyrurgeons to open her body, who having opened the belly, and taken away thePeritonæum, saw the Womb of several colours, as the flesh that is about the head and neck of a Turky-cock, but as it were of a Horny substance. They begun to make an incision in it with a Rasour, but finding it resisted the edge, they begun to use their Incision knives with all their strength; at last one of them by chance hit the Scull, and after that some Ribs, and then the Shoulder bone, by which, knowing that there was bones contained in that lump, with greater strength they made a deeper incision, and having parted the edges of the womb, saw in the bottom of the womb a Child, wrapped in the membrane, calledAllantoides; at which the Chyrugeons wondering, sent for the Physitians to have their opinion in a thing that is almost beyond belief; in the mean time people flocking thither from all parts, and troubling the Chyrurgeons in their operation; they thought good to take away with their Instruments all that Lump, as a Tree from its Roots, and to carry it home, that they might with more time and leasure examine the whole Anatomy of it. In that hasty pulling out of the Child, they had no time to observe what Chorion it had, what umbilical Vessels, and what connexion there was of the Allantoides with the Womb, and with the Child, chiefly about the right hip, the Buttocks, and the Back-bone being all grown solid together.

The scituation of the Child was almostSpherical, the face leaning upon the breast, and the Nostrils upon the Knees; the bones of the Head were but thin, but very hard, and shining like Horn; the skin of the Head was hairy in many places; the head did hang so much upon the left arm, that the Ear, and part of the skull had given way to the Shoulder-bone; the Elbow was bent towards the Shoulder stretching only his hand, which was so close shut, and the fingers sticking so fast to the Palm of it, that although they did appear distinct one from another, nevertheless it was all but one and the same stone; the right arm did stretch its hand towards the Navel, which unadvisedly was broken by the wrist, and left in the Mothers Belly; the left Thigh, Knee and Leg were on the top of the right ones, with which they were so entangled, that the left heel, and the sole of the foot were planted upon the right foot,who seemed to have given place to them, and were almost inseparably joyned; for all such hardness of the matter, the body was not less than that of other Children of the same age, but kept a perfect fulness and proportion all the internal parts, as the Brains, the Heart, the Liver, had their natural shape, and were not altogether so hard as the external parts, so that to this very day this little body defieth all kind of corruption.

This Child was kept in my time by one Mr.Michela Chirurgion ofSens, who kindly shewed it to all the strangers that came far and near to see it. The Fame of it was so great, that DoctorMayernecoming fromSwitzerlandtoEngland, took his way throughSensto see it, and would have perswaded KingCharlesI. to buy it, as himself told me; since that I hear it was fallen into the hands of theVenetians. In this History there is two observable wonders. One, that the Child dying in the Womb, did not corrupt, and so cause the death of its Mother. The other, by what vertue or power of the body this child was petrified, seeing that the Womb is a hot and moist place, and therefore more subject to putrifaction. Those that will satisfie themselves with the reasons of it, and the truth of the History, may readJohannes AlibosiusPhysician ofSens, who was an eye witness of it, andSennertusin his book of Sympt.quam feminis in utero accidant.

Now this accident being so rare, and without parallel, our Author thought fit to foretel it, and to cover it in abscure tearms, that he might not appear ridiculous in so admirable an event. When therefore he saith,That which shall live and shall have no Sense, he meaneth this λιθοπαίδιον or child petrified, which had a Life while it was in the Mothers belly, being tied to it by the several Vessels and connexions, known to Anatomists, and yet was senseless in that it was petrified. When in the second verse he saith,The Iron shall destroy the art of it, he meaneth that it should be spoiled by the rasour, in the two last verses he saith, that the Towns ofAutun,Chalons,Langres, andSensthe Town in which this did happen should that same year suffer much damage by Hail and Ice, which did come to pass, as many persons may justify in that Countrey, that are alive to this day.

French.Au mois troisiesme se levant le Soleil,Sanglier, Leopard, aux champsMarspour combatre,Leopard lassé au Ciel esttend son œil,Un Aigle autour du Soleil voit sesbatre.English.In the third month at the rising of the Sun,The Boar and Leopard inMarthcamp to fight;The Leopard weary, lift his eyes to Haven,And seeth an Eagle playing about the Sun.

Au mois troisiesme se levant le Soleil,Sanglier, Leopard, aux champsMarspour combatre,Leopard lassé au Ciel esttend son œil,Un Aigle autour du Soleil voit sesbatre.

Au mois troisiesme se levant le Soleil,

Sanglier, Leopard, aux champsMarspour combatre,

Leopard lassé au Ciel esttend son œil,

Un Aigle autour du Soleil voit sesbatre.

In the third month at the rising of the Sun,The Boar and Leopard inMarthcamp to fight;The Leopard weary, lift his eyes to Haven,And seeth an Eagle playing about the Sun.

In the third month at the rising of the Sun,

The Boar and Leopard inMarthcamp to fight;

The Leopard weary, lift his eyes to Haven,

And seeth an Eagle playing about the Sun.

This signifieth a particular accident,viz.that in the third Month, which is that ofMarch, at the rising of theSun, theBoarand theLeopard, that is, two persons of quality hidden under these names, shall go into the fields to fight a Duel. TheLeopardone of them being weary, shall lift up his eyes to Heaven, calling upon God, and thereupon shall see anEagleplaying about theSun, that is, shall get the Victory, of which theEagleis the Emblem.

French.A Cité nevue pensif pour condamner,Loisel de proie au ciel se vient offrir,Apres Victoire a Captifs pardonnerCremone&Mantouegrands maux auront souffert.English.In the new City for to condemn a Prisoner,The Bird of pray shall offer himself to Heaven,After the Victory, the Prisoners shall be forgiven,AfterCremonaandMantuahave suffered many troubles.

A Cité nevue pensif pour condamner,Loisel de proie au ciel se vient offrir,Apres Victoire a Captifs pardonnerCremone&Mantouegrands maux auront souffert.

A Cité nevue pensif pour condamner,

Loisel de proie au ciel se vient offrir,

Apres Victoire a Captifs pardonner

Cremone&Mantouegrands maux auront souffert.

In the new City for to condemn a Prisoner,The Bird of pray shall offer himself to Heaven,After the Victory, the Prisoners shall be forgiven,AfterCremonaandMantuahave suffered many troubles.

In the new City for to condemn a Prisoner,

The Bird of pray shall offer himself to Heaven,

After the Victory, the Prisoners shall be forgiven,

AfterCremonaandMantuahave suffered many troubles.

This name of new City is appropriated to several ones in every Countrey. TheFrenchhave manyVilleneufuas, the Germans manyNewstads, theItaliansandSpaniardsmanyVillanovas, so that it is hard to guess which of them the Author meaneth. The missing of this dore makes the rest of the Prophecie so obscure, that I had rather leave it to the liberty of the Reader, than to pretend a true explication of it. I shall only say, thatCremonaandMantuaare two famous Towns inItaly, which are here threatned.

French.Perdu, trouvé, caché de si long siecleSera Pasteur demy-Dieu honoré,Ains que la Lune acheve son grand Siecle,Par autre vents sera deshonoré.English.Lost, found again, hidden so great a while,A Pastor as Deme-God shall be honoured;But before the Moon endeth her great Age,By other winds he shall be dishonoured.

Perdu, trouvé, caché de si long siecleSera Pasteur demy-Dieu honoré,Ains que la Lune acheve son grand Siecle,Par autre vents sera deshonoré.

Perdu, trouvé, caché de si long siecle

Sera Pasteur demy-Dieu honoré,

Ains que la Lune acheve son grand Siecle,

Par autre vents sera deshonoré.

Lost, found again, hidden so great a while,A Pastor as Deme-God shall be honoured;But before the Moon endeth her great Age,By other winds he shall be dishonoured.

Lost, found again, hidden so great a while,

A Pastor as Deme-God shall be honoured;

But before the Moon endeth her great Age,

By other winds he shall be dishonoured.

The Prophecie is concerning the body of a famous Churchman, which was lost, and shall be found again, and worshiped as aDemy-God, but before theMoonhath run her great age, which is of 13 Months, it shall be vilified and dishonoured.

French.Le grand du Foudre tombe d’heure diurne,Mal & predit par Porteur populaire,Suivant presage tombe d’heure nocturne,ConflitRheims,Londres,EtrusquePestifere.English.The great Man falleth by the Lightning in the day time,An evil foretold by a common Porter;According to this foretelling another falleth in the night,A fight atRhemes, and the Plague atLondonandTuscany.

Le grand du Foudre tombe d’heure diurne,Mal & predit par Porteur populaire,Suivant presage tombe d’heure nocturne,ConflitRheims,Londres,EtrusquePestifere.

Le grand du Foudre tombe d’heure diurne,

Mal & predit par Porteur populaire,

Suivant presage tombe d’heure nocturne,

ConflitRheims,Londres,EtrusquePestifere.

The great Man falleth by the Lightning in the day time,An evil foretold by a common Porter;According to this foretelling another falleth in the night,A fight atRhemes, and the Plague atLondonandTuscany.

The great Man falleth by the Lightning in the day time,

An evil foretold by a common Porter;

According to this foretelling another falleth in the night,

A fight atRhemes, and the Plague atLondonandTuscany.

This is concerning some great man, who being premonished by a common Carrier not to travel upon a certain day, did slight the advice, and was strucken by Lightning in the day time, and another in the night; at the same time there was a fight atRhemes, and the Plague atLondonand inTuscany, which in Latin is calledEtruria.

French.Des soubs le ChesneGuyendu Ciel frappé,Non loin de la est caché le Thresor,Qui par long Siecles avoit esté grappé,Trouvé mourra, l’œil crevé de ressor.English.Under the OakGuyenstrucken from Heaven,Not far from it is the Treasure hidden,Which hath been many Ages a gathering;Being found he shall die, the eye put out by a spring.

Des soubs le ChesneGuyendu Ciel frappé,Non loin de la est caché le Thresor,Qui par long Siecles avoit esté grappé,Trouvé mourra, l’œil crevé de ressor.

Des soubs le ChesneGuyendu Ciel frappé,

Non loin de la est caché le Thresor,

Qui par long Siecles avoit esté grappé,

Trouvé mourra, l’œil crevé de ressor.

Under the OakGuyenstrucken from Heaven,Not far from it is the Treasure hidden,Which hath been many Ages a gathering;Being found he shall die, the eye put out by a spring.

Under the OakGuyenstrucken from Heaven,

Not far from it is the Treasure hidden,

Which hath been many Ages a gathering;

Being found he shall die, the eye put out by a spring.

The sense of it is, that some body (who is named hereGuyen) being under an Oak shall be strucken with the lightning, and that near that place there is a great Treasure, that hath been many years a gathering, and that he who shall find it shall die, being shot in the eye with a Fire-lock.

French.La Tour deBoukcraindra fuste Barbare,Un temps, long temps apres BarqueHesperique,Bestial, gens meubles tous deux feront grand tare,Taurus&Libra, quelle mortelle pique?English.The Tower ofBoukshall be in fear of a Barbarian Fleet,For a while, and long after afraid ofSpanishshipping,Flocks, peoples, goods both shall receive great damage,TaurusandLibra, O what a deadly feud.

La Tour deBoukcraindra fuste Barbare,Un temps, long temps apres BarqueHesperique,Bestial, gens meubles tous deux feront grand tare,Taurus&Libra, quelle mortelle pique?

La Tour deBoukcraindra fuste Barbare,

Un temps, long temps apres BarqueHesperique,

Bestial, gens meubles tous deux feront grand tare,

Taurus&Libra, quelle mortelle pique?

The Tower ofBoukshall be in fear of a Barbarian Fleet,For a while, and long after afraid ofSpanishshipping,Flocks, peoples, goods both shall receive great damage,TaurusandLibra, O what a deadly feud.

The Tower ofBoukshall be in fear of a Barbarian Fleet,

For a while, and long after afraid ofSpanishshipping,

Flocks, peoples, goods both shall receive great damage,

TaurusandLibra, O what a deadly feud.

The Tower ofBoukis a strong place seated by theRhosne, where it entereth into the Mediterranean Sea; it is said here that it shall be in fear of a Barbarian Fleet, and after that of aSpanishone, and that both theSpaniardand theFrenchshall have great losses in Cattle, People and Goods, and this shall happen when the Sun shall be in the Signs ofTaurusandLibra.

French.Quand le Poisson, Terrestre &Aquatique,Par forte vague an gravier sera mis,Sa forme estrange suave & horrifique,Par Mer aux murs bien tost les Enemies.English.When the Fish that is both Terrestrial and Aquatick,By a strong Wave shall be cast upon the Sand,With his strange fearful sweet horrid form,Soon after the enemies will come near to the Walls by Sea.

Quand le Poisson, Terrestre &Aquatique,Par forte vague an gravier sera mis,Sa forme estrange suave & horrifique,Par Mer aux murs bien tost les Enemies.

Quand le Poisson, Terrestre &Aquatique,

Par forte vague an gravier sera mis,

Sa forme estrange suave & horrifique,

Par Mer aux murs bien tost les Enemies.

When the Fish that is both Terrestrial and Aquatick,By a strong Wave shall be cast upon the Sand,With his strange fearful sweet horrid form,Soon after the enemies will come near to the Walls by Sea.

When the Fish that is both Terrestrial and Aquatick,

By a strong Wave shall be cast upon the Sand,

With his strange fearful sweet horrid form,

Soon after the enemies will come near to the Walls by Sea.

This signifieth no more but that after, a Fish, Terrestrial and Aquatick, that is which, liveth in Land and Water, called by the Greeks αμφίβιον, shall be cast upon the Sand by a storm, then a little while after, that Town which lieth near to that place where the Fish was cast, shall be Besieged by her Enemies, who shall come by Sea.

French.La Nef estrange par le tourment Marin,Abordera pres le Port incognu,Nonobstant signs du rameau palmerin,Apres mort, pille, bon advis tard venu.English.The Outlandish Ship by a Sea storm,Shall come near the unknown Haven,Notwitstanding the signs given to it with Bows,It shall die, be plundered, a good advice come too late.

La Nef estrange par le tourment Marin,Abordera pres le Port incognu,Nonobstant signs du rameau palmerin,Apres mort, pille, bon advis tard venu.

La Nef estrange par le tourment Marin,

Abordera pres le Port incognu,

Nonobstant signs du rameau palmerin,

Apres mort, pille, bon advis tard venu.

The Outlandish Ship by a Sea storm,Shall come near the unknown Haven,Notwitstanding the signs given to it with Bows,It shall die, be plundered, a good advice come too late.

The Outlandish Ship by a Sea storm,

Shall come near the unknown Haven,

Notwitstanding the signs given to it with Bows,

It shall die, be plundered, a good advice come too late.

It is a Forrein Ship which by a storm shall be driven to an unknown Harbour, and notwithstanding the signs that shall be made to it with Branches, by those that are upon the Land to beware of the entrance of the Harbour, it shall be cast away, and plundered; thus a good advice shall come too late.

French.Tant d’ans les guerres, enGauledureront,Outre la course duCastulonMonarque,Victoire incerte trois grands couroneront,Aigle, Coq, Lune, Lion Soleil en marque.English.So many years the Wars shall last inFrance,Beyond the course of theCastulonMonarque,An uncertain Victory three great ones shall Crown,The Eagle, the Cock, the Moon, the Lion having the Sun in its mark.

Tant d’ans les guerres, enGauledureront,Outre la course duCastulonMonarque,Victoire incerte trois grands couroneront,Aigle, Coq, Lune, Lion Soleil en marque.

Tant d’ans les guerres, enGauledureront,

Outre la course duCastulonMonarque,

Victoire incerte trois grands couroneront,

Aigle, Coq, Lune, Lion Soleil en marque.

So many years the Wars shall last inFrance,Beyond the course of theCastulonMonarque,An uncertain Victory three great ones shall Crown,The Eagle, the Cock, the Moon, the Lion having the Sun in its mark.

So many years the Wars shall last inFrance,

Beyond the course of theCastulonMonarque,

An uncertain Victory three great ones shall Crown,

The Eagle, the Cock, the Moon, the Lion having the Sun in its mark.

That is, the Wars shall last so long inFranceafter the death of one King ofSpain, till three great ones shall challenge an uncertain Victory, these three great ones are the Emperour designed by the Aigle, the King ofFranceby the Cock, and theTurkby the Moon, and this shall happen when the Sun is in the sign of the Lion. I suppose that came to pass in the time ofCharlesthe V.Henrythe II. andSoliman. For theTurkhad no great odds upon the Emperour, nor he upon the King ofFrance.

French.La grand Empire sera tost translaté,En lieu petit qui bien tost viendra croistre,Lieu bien infime d’exigue Comté,Ou au milieu viendra poser son Scepter.English.The great Empire shall soon be translated,Into a little place which shall soon grow afterwards.An inferiour place of a small County,In the middle of which he shall come to lay down his Scepter.

La grand Empire sera tost translaté,En lieu petit qui bien tost viendra croistre,Lieu bien infime d’exigue Comté,Ou au milieu viendra poser son Scepter.

La grand Empire sera tost translaté,

En lieu petit qui bien tost viendra croistre,

Lieu bien infime d’exigue Comté,

Ou au milieu viendra poser son Scepter.

The great Empire shall soon be translated,Into a little place which shall soon grow afterwards.An inferiour place of a small County,In the middle of which he shall come to lay down his Scepter.

The great Empire shall soon be translated,

Into a little place which shall soon grow afterwards.

An inferiour place of a small County,

In the middle of which he shall come to lay down his Scepter.

This is concerning the sameCharlesthe V. Emperour, who about three years before his death, being weary of the World, resigned his Dominions ofSpainand of theLow-Countries, to his SonPhilipthe II. and his Empire to his BrotherFerdinand, and retired himself into a Monastery ofCastile, called l’Escurial, which after his death, was much enlarged and beautified by his SonPhilip: and that is the meaning of our Author when he saith:

Into a little place which shall soon grow afterwards,An inferiour place of a small County,

Into a little place which shall soon grow afterwards,

An inferiour place of a small County,

For thisEscurialbeing seated in a Desert place of a County ofSpain, calledCastilia, which theSpanishvanity calleth a Kingdom, (whose Use, Fruit, or Revenues, the saidCharlesonly reserved for his maintenance) is now by theSpaniardsaccounted to be the eighth wonder of the World.

French.Pres d’un grand Pont de plaine spacieuse,Le grand Lion par force, Cesarées,Fera abatre hors Cité rigoureuse,Par effroy portes luy seront reserrées.English.A great Bridge near a spacious Plain,The great Lion byCæsareanForces,Shall cause to be pulled down, without the rigorous City,For fear of which, the Gates shall be shut to him.

Pres d’un grand Pont de plaine spacieuse,Le grand Lion par force, Cesarées,Fera abatre hors Cité rigoureuse,Par effroy portes luy seront reserrées.

Pres d’un grand Pont de plaine spacieuse,

Le grand Lion par force, Cesarées,

Fera abatre hors Cité rigoureuse,

Par effroy portes luy seront reserrées.

A great Bridge near a spacious Plain,The great Lion byCæsareanForces,Shall cause to be pulled down, without the rigorous City,For fear of which, the Gates shall be shut to him.

A great Bridge near a spacious Plain,

The great Lion byCæsareanForces,

Shall cause to be pulled down, without the rigorous City,

For fear of which, the Gates shall be shut to him.

The meaning of this is, that a great Captain, Commander of the Imperial Forces, shall cause a Bridge that was built near a spacious Plain to be thrown down. The City near the Bridge being terrified at it, shall shut up their Gates against him.

French.L’Oiseau de proye volant a la Fenestre,Avant conflict, fait auFrancoisparure,L’un bon prendra, l’autre ambigue sinistre,La partie foible tiendra pour bonne augure.English.The Bird of Prey flying to the Window,Before Battle, shall appear to theFrench;One shall take a good omen of it, the other a bad one,The weaker part shall hold it for a good sign.

L’Oiseau de proye volant a la Fenestre,Avant conflict, fait auFrancoisparure,L’un bon prendra, l’autre ambigue sinistre,La partie foible tiendra pour bonne augure.

L’Oiseau de proye volant a la Fenestre,

Avant conflict, fait auFrancoisparure,

L’un bon prendra, l’autre ambigue sinistre,

La partie foible tiendra pour bonne augure.

The Bird of Prey flying to the Window,Before Battle, shall appear to theFrench;One shall take a good omen of it, the other a bad one,The weaker part shall hold it for a good sign.

The Bird of Prey flying to the Window,

Before Battle, shall appear to theFrench;

One shall take a good omen of it, the other a bad one,

The weaker part shall hold it for a good sign.

It is a Hawk which in presence of two Armies ready to give Battle, shall fly to a window and perch upon it, in the presence of them all, one of the Armies shall takeit for a good sign; and the other, for an ambiguous and sinister one. In Conclusion, the weaker party shall get the Victory.

French.Le Lion jeune le vieux surmontera,En champ bellique par singulier Duelle,Dans Cage dor Lœil il lui crevera,Deux playes une puis mourir mort cruelle.English.The young Lion shall overcome the old one,In Martial field by a single Duel,In a Golden Cage he shall put out his Eye,Two wounds from one, then he shall die a cruel death.

Le Lion jeune le vieux surmontera,En champ bellique par singulier Duelle,Dans Cage dor Lœil il lui crevera,Deux playes une puis mourir mort cruelle.

Le Lion jeune le vieux surmontera,

En champ bellique par singulier Duelle,

Dans Cage dor Lœil il lui crevera,

Deux playes une puis mourir mort cruelle.

The young Lion shall overcome the old one,In Martial field by a single Duel,In a Golden Cage he shall put out his Eye,Two wounds from one, then he shall die a cruel death.

The young Lion shall overcome the old one,

In Martial field by a single Duel,

In a Golden Cage he shall put out his Eye,

Two wounds from one, then he shall die a cruel death.

This is one of the Prophecies that hath put our Author in credit, as well for the clearness as for the true event of it.

Cæsar Nostradamusour Authors son, in his History ofProvence, writeth that by thisStanzahis father intended to foretell the manner ofHenrythe second’s death.

TheFrenchHistories relate that this great Prince desiring to honour the Nuptial of his DaughterElizabeth, married toPhilipII. King ofSpain, did appoint a Tournament to be kept in St.Anthony’s street inParis, where himself would be one of the Defendants against all comers, and for that purpose chose for his companions and associatesDon Alfonso d’EsteDuke ofFerrara, andFrancisofLorrain, Duke ofGuise.

The Tornament being almost ended, in which the King had shewed much Valour being mounted upon a Horse of the Duke ofSavoy,Philibert’s,Emanuelhis Brother in Law, this Duke intreated the King to leave off, because he had got the Victory; and the weather was hot, and the night drawing on: But this Martial King would need break one Launce more, and commanded the CaptainGabriel de Lorgesto be called, a young and valiant Lord and Captain of theScottishGuard. Being come, the King commanded him to run against him, which he refused a great while; but the King waxing angry, he obeyed, and set Spurs to his Horse, he did hit the King in the lower part of his Beaver, the Launce was broken into shivers, and the mean stump lifting up the Beaver, a splinter got in, and wounded the King a little above the rightEye, where finding the Bone too hard, it went very deep under the saidEye, and broke some Veins belonging to the Membrane, calledPia Mater.

The blow was so violent that the King bended his head towards the lists, and fell, into a Swound, being presently disarmed, they perceived the splinter of the Launce in hisEye, and his face all bloody. He lived ten days after, and died with great Convulsions, because the Sinews were offended, whereupon he suffered grievous Torment.

His death was also foretold byLuke Gauricka great Astrologer, who being constrained by the QueenCatharineofMedicis, to tell her by what kind of death her Husband should end his days, told her it should be in aDuel, which made him to be hissed at, Kings being exempted of those accidents.

According to this Narrative the Author calleth the King an oldLion, and the CaptainLorges, since Earl ofMontgomery, theyoung Lion; because both fought likeLions. Theyoung Lionovercame the old one inMartial field, and in a fight of one against one, and consequently aDuel.

He overcame him by putting hisEyeout in aGolden Cage, that is, in his Gilded Helmet.

Of whichWoundthere came another, because the blood of some broken Veins, creeping into the Brains by the vehement agitation of the head, caused an Impostume there, which could not be remedied: therefore the Author saithtwo Woundsfrom one, that is, one wound made two: and the King died of a cruel death, as we have said before.

French.Tard le Monarque se viendra repentir,De navoir mis a Mort son Adversaire,Mais viendra bien a plus haut consentir,Que tout son sang par Mort sera deffaire.English.The Monarque shall too late repent,That he hath not put to death his Adversary;But he shall give his consent to a greater thing than that,Which is to put to death all his Adversaries Kindred.

Tard le Monarque se viendra repentir,De navoir mis a Mort son Adversaire,Mais viendra bien a plus haut consentir,Que tout son sang par Mort sera deffaire.

Tard le Monarque se viendra repentir,

De navoir mis a Mort son Adversaire,

Mais viendra bien a plus haut consentir,

Que tout son sang par Mort sera deffaire.

The Monarque shall too late repent,That he hath not put to death his Adversary;But he shall give his consent to a greater thing than that,Which is to put to death all his Adversaries Kindred.

The Monarque shall too late repent,

That he hath not put to death his Adversary;

But he shall give his consent to a greater thing than that,

Which is to put to death all his Adversaries Kindred.

The words of this are plain, though it be questionable whether the thing is come to pass already, or not.

French.Un peu devant que le Soleil sabsconse,Conflict donné, grand peuple dubieux,Profligez, Port-Marin ne fait responce,Pont & Sepulchre en deux estranges lieux.English.A little before the Sun setteth,A Battle shall be given, a great people shall be doubtful,Of being foiled, the Sea-Port maketh no answer,A Bridge and Sepulchre shall be in two strange places.

Un peu devant que le Soleil sabsconse,Conflict donné, grand peuple dubieux,Profligez, Port-Marin ne fait responce,Pont & Sepulchre en deux estranges lieux.

Un peu devant que le Soleil sabsconse,

Conflict donné, grand peuple dubieux,

Profligez, Port-Marin ne fait responce,

Pont & Sepulchre en deux estranges lieux.

A little before the Sun setteth,A Battle shall be given, a great people shall be doubtful,Of being foiled, the Sea-Port maketh no answer,A Bridge and Sepulchre shall be in two strange places.

A little before the Sun setteth,

A Battle shall be given, a great people shall be doubtful,

Of being foiled, the Sea-Port maketh no answer,

A Bridge and Sepulchre shall be in two strange places.

The two first verses I believe are concerning the Battle of SaintDenis, which was fought in the Evening hard byParis, and where the Constable ofMontmorencywas kill’d, which made that great people ofParisto be doubtful.

The other two Verses I leave to the interpretation of the Reader.

French.Le Sol & l’Aigle Victeur paroistront,Response vain au vaincu lon asseure,Par Cor ne cris, harnois narresteront,Vindicte paix, par Mort lacheve a l’heure.English.The Sun and the Eagle shall appear to the Victorious,A vain Answer shall be made good to the vanquished,By no means Arms shall not be stopped,Vengeance maketh Peace, by death he then accomplisheth it.

Le Sol & l’Aigle Victeur paroistront,Response vain au vaincu lon asseure,Par Cor ne cris, harnois narresteront,Vindicte paix, par Mort lacheve a l’heure.

Le Sol & l’Aigle Victeur paroistront,

Response vain au vaincu lon asseure,

Par Cor ne cris, harnois narresteront,

Vindicte paix, par Mort lacheve a l’heure.

The Sun and the Eagle shall appear to the Victorious,A vain Answer shall be made good to the vanquished,By no means Arms shall not be stopped,Vengeance maketh Peace, by death he then accomplisheth it.

The Sun and the Eagle shall appear to the Victorious,

A vain Answer shall be made good to the vanquished,

By no means Arms shall not be stopped,

Vengeance maketh Peace, by death he then accomplisheth it.

This Stanza being full of Figures and Equivoques, I will not interpose my Judgement in it, lest I undertake too much, and perform too little.

French.De nuit dans le lit le supresme estranglé,Pour avoir trop suborné blond esleu,Par trois l’Empire subroge Exancle,A mort mettra, Carte ne Pacquet leu.English.By night in the bed the chief one shall be strangled.For having too much suborned fair Elect,By three the Empire subrogate Exancle,He shall put him to death, reading neither Card nor Packet.

De nuit dans le lit le supresme estranglé,Pour avoir trop suborné blond esleu,Par trois l’Empire subroge Exancle,A mort mettra, Carte ne Pacquet leu.

De nuit dans le lit le supresme estranglé,

Pour avoir trop suborné blond esleu,

Par trois l’Empire subroge Exancle,

A mort mettra, Carte ne Pacquet leu.

By night in the bed the chief one shall be strangled.For having too much suborned fair Elect,By three the Empire subrogate Exancle,He shall put him to death, reading neither Card nor Packet.

By night in the bed the chief one shall be strangled.

For having too much suborned fair Elect,

By three the Empire subrogate Exancle,

He shall put him to death, reading neither Card nor Packet.

The Author hath purposely obscured this Prophecie in the third Verse, to take away the Knowledge of it from the Reader; because the parties concerned were then alive,viz.PhilipII. King ofSpain, who caused his only sonDon Carloto be strangled in his bed, for suspicion of being too familiar with his wifeElizabethofFrance, and Daughter toHenryII. The last Verse saith, that he was so implacable, that he would read neitherCardnorPacket, that is, no requests.

French.La tourbe fausse dissimilant folie,FeraBizanceun changement de loix,Istra d’Ægyptqui veus que l’on deslie,Edict, changant Monnoys & alloys.English.The false Troup dissembling their folly,Shall make inBizancean alteration ofLaws.One shall come out ofÆgyptwho will have untiedThe Edict, changing the Coin and allay.

La tourbe fausse dissimilant folie,FeraBizanceun changement de loix,Istra d’Ægyptqui veus que l’on deslie,Edict, changant Monnoys & alloys.

La tourbe fausse dissimilant folie,

FeraBizanceun changement de loix,

Istra d’Ægyptqui veus que l’on deslie,

Edict, changant Monnoys & alloys.

The false Troup dissembling their folly,Shall make inBizancean alteration ofLaws.One shall come out ofÆgyptwho will have untiedThe Edict, changing the Coin and allay.

The false Troup dissembling their folly,

Shall make inBizancean alteration ofLaws.

One shall come out ofÆgyptwho will have untied

The Edict, changing the Coin and allay.

There is two things in this Prognostication, the first that inBizance, which isConstantinople, aTroopof tumultuous persons gathered together, and dissembling their folly, shall cause an alteration in theLaws.

The other, that someBassacome out ofÆgypt, shall perswade them atConstantinopleto alter theirCoin, and the allay of it.

French.Siege a Cité & de nuit assaille,Peu eschapez non loing de Mer conflict,Femme de joye, retour fils, de faillie,Poison & Lettres caché dedans le plie.English.A Siege laid to a City, and assaulted by night,Few escaped, a fight not far from the Sea,A woman swoundeth for joy to see her son returned;A poison hidden in the fold of Letters.

Siege a Cité & de nuit assaille,Peu eschapez non loing de Mer conflict,Femme de joye, retour fils, de faillie,Poison & Lettres caché dedans le plie.

Siege a Cité & de nuit assaille,

Peu eschapez non loing de Mer conflict,

Femme de joye, retour fils, de faillie,

Poison & Lettres caché dedans le plie.

A Siege laid to a City, and assaulted by night,Few escaped, a fight not far from the Sea,A woman swoundeth for joy to see her son returned;A poison hidden in the fold of Letters.

A Siege laid to a City, and assaulted by night,

Few escaped, a fight not far from the Sea,

A woman swoundeth for joy to see her son returned;

A poison hidden in the fold of Letters.

After the taking ofVulpian, theFrenchcame toMontcalvo, and in the night surprized it byScalado, andParadinsaith, that not a drop of Blood was shed on either side.

The Town being taken, the Citadel did hold out a good while, and at last did surrender,Don Arbre, who was in the place of the Marques ofPescaire, and of the Duke of d’Alva, knowing that the besieged had not made a sufficient resistance, caused the Captain, and eleven more of the chief ones to be hanged; because the place was of consequence, and those within had not made a sufficient resistance.

The Author saith in the first Verse, Siege was laid to a City, that is, it was resolved to besiegeMontcalvo, as the Martial ofBrissachad advised. In the execution it was assaulted by night, in the taking few escaped; for they were all taken,and yielded to the Victorious. There were none killed or wounded, all were taken, except few who ran away, and carried the news to theSpaniards.

At the same timea fight not far from the Sea, that is, at the same time there was another Battle by the Sea, between theSpaniardsand thePope, as we shall shew hereafter.

The third and fourth Verses are concerning a particular accident, which happened presently after the taking ofMontcalvo, which is, that a woman seeing her Son come back safe, fell in a swound, or died for joy, because knowing the danger wherein he was, she had lost all hopes of ever seeing him. This fellow had brought Poison in a Letter to give to one that had not rewarded him according to his desire. His wickedness being discovered, his Master put him in Prison, whence he escaped, and came back again toMontcalvo; the Author speaketh of the same in another place, which we shall set down in its order.

French.Les dix Calendes d’Avrilde faitGothique,Resuscité encor par gens malins,Le feu estaint, assemblée Diabolique,Cherchant les Os deDamant&Psellin.English.The tenth of the Calends ofApril,Gothikaccount,Raised up again by malitious persons,The fire put out, a Diabolical assembly,Shall seek for the Bones ofDamantandPsellin.

Les dix Calendes d’Avrilde faitGothique,Resuscité encor par gens malins,Le feu estaint, assemblée Diabolique,Cherchant les Os deDamant&Psellin.

Les dix Calendes d’Avrilde faitGothique,

Resuscité encor par gens malins,

Le feu estaint, assemblée Diabolique,

Cherchant les Os deDamant&Psellin.

The tenth of the Calends ofApril,Gothikaccount,Raised up again by malitious persons,The fire put out, a Diabolical assembly,Shall seek for the Bones ofDamantandPsellin.

The tenth of the Calends ofApril,Gothikaccount,

Raised up again by malitious persons,

The fire put out, a Diabolical assembly,

Shall seek for the Bones ofDamantandPsellin.

The tenth of the Calends ofAprilis the 23. ofMarch,Gothikaccount signifieth the old account of the Calendar, before the reformation of it by PopeGregorythe XIII. which old account is called hereGothik, because it is kept still by the Northern Nations, which do not acknowledge the Pope, asSweden,Denmark,Holland,England, &c. at that time saith our Author, a Magician shall be raised up by malitious persons; which fire or tumult being put out, that Diabolical assembly will go about to seek the bones of two famous Magicians,viz.DamantandPsellinthat were dead before.

French.Avant qu’aviene le changement d’Empire,Il adviendra un cas bien merveilleux,Le Champ mué, le Pilier dePorphyre,Mis, translaté sur le Rocher Noileux.English.Before the change of the Empire cometh,There shall happen a strange accident,A field shall be changed, and a Pillar ofProphyry,Shall be transported upon the Chalky Rock.

Avant qu’aviene le changement d’Empire,Il adviendra un cas bien merveilleux,Le Champ mué, le Pilier dePorphyre,Mis, translaté sur le Rocher Noileux.

Avant qu’aviene le changement d’Empire,

Il adviendra un cas bien merveilleux,

Le Champ mué, le Pilier dePorphyre,

Mis, translaté sur le Rocher Noileux.

Before the change of the Empire cometh,There shall happen a strange accident,A field shall be changed, and a Pillar ofProphyry,Shall be transported upon the Chalky Rock.

Before the change of the Empire cometh,

There shall happen a strange accident,

A field shall be changed, and a Pillar ofProphyry,

Shall be transported upon the Chalky Rock.

This will not seem incredible to those that have read theEnglishChronicles, who relates that in a County ofEngland(I think it isHerefordshire) there was an Earthquake, which transposed a large piece of ground in another place, with the Trees that were in it, and if I remember well, half a Chappel, those that have the Books may examine the truth of the History, and satisfie themselves better.

French.En bref seront de retour Sacrifices,Contrevenans seront mis a Martyre,Plus ne seront Moins, Abbez ne Novices,Le Miel sera beaucoup plus cher que Cire.English.Within a little while Sacrifices shall come again,Opposers shall be put to Martyrdom;There shall be no more Monks, Abbots, nor Novices,Honey shall be much dearer then Wax.

En bref seront de retour Sacrifices,Contrevenans seront mis a Martyre,Plus ne seront Moins, Abbez ne Novices,Le Miel sera beaucoup plus cher que Cire.

En bref seront de retour Sacrifices,

Contrevenans seront mis a Martyre,

Plus ne seront Moins, Abbez ne Novices,

Le Miel sera beaucoup plus cher que Cire.

Within a little while Sacrifices shall come again,Opposers shall be put to Martyrdom;There shall be no more Monks, Abbots, nor Novices,Honey shall be much dearer then Wax.

Within a little while Sacrifices shall come again,

Opposers shall be put to Martyrdom;

There shall be no more Monks, Abbots, nor Novices,

Honey shall be much dearer then Wax.

This is a true Prophecy of the miserable condition of the Church and Clergy in our Fore-fathers times, and chiefly ofHenrythe II. inFrance, andHenrythe VIII. inEngland, when in the beginning of the Reformation there was such a confusion of opinions, and such unsettledness in Ecclesiastical Government, that sometimes the Popish party prevailed, and put to death the Opposers; at another time the Protestants, who drove away the Monks, Abbots and Novices, as is expressed here, and proved true inHenrythe VIII. time. As for what he saith, thatHoney shall be much dearer than Wax. It is to be understood of the downfal of the Romish Religion, who maketh use of Wax Candles and Tapers in their superstitious ceremonies, as if he would say, that the Romish Religion being down, Wax shall be cheap, and Honey dear.

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