Nostradamus: Prophet or Phony?

In the immediate aftermath of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, articles have flooded the internet claiming that the legendary French astrologer Nostradamus predicted her death and other events related to the British royal family.

So, what should we make of all this? Is there any validity to these astounding claims? Who was Nostradamus?

Michel de Nostradame, better known as Nostradamus, was born in St. Remy, Provence, France in 1503 and died in 1566. Nostradamus was an apothecary (a medieval pharmacist) as well as a popular astronomer and seer. His best-known book is Les Propheties (The Prophecies). Nostradamus began to write his prophetic verses in 1554. They are divided into ten sections, called Centuries, which were published in 1555 and 1558 and have been in print continuously ever since.

The famous predictions he recorded are written in a “coded format” called quatrains, which are mysterious verses or poems with four lines.