Beginning of Essay
Once, while passing through Italy, bowed before a young Franciscan monk, addressing him as "His Holiness." Others around him did understand his strange behavior and the reasons as to why someone would call a mere monk by such a title. However, years later, and a ....

Middle of Essay
.... previously labeled incurable. He later went back to Montpelier to earn his doctoral degree in medicine. Although Nostradamus was very interested in medicine, he began reading books about the occult and took a fancy to predicting the future. In 1550, he published his first book which contained prophecies for the coming year. The almanac proved so successful and accurate that he began publishing them annually. After several years, Nostradamus developed the idea of writing a complete almanac, entitled Centuries. This book came to consist of prophecies ranging in time from his present to the end of the world. In Centuries there were ....