C'est depuis le château Renaissance de Chaumont-sur-Loire, fréquenté par Catherine de Médicis, que Stéphane Bern se lance sur les traces de l'un des hommes les plus controversés de son époque : Nostradamus. Au XVIe siècle, tout le royaume connaît cet astrologue qui prédit l'avenir. Catherine de Médicis entretient une relation particulière avec lui. Qui est-il vraiment ? Un imposteur, dont le seul talent est d'écrire des évidences et de les livrer à des esprits incrédules ? Ou un prophète hors du commun, dont les prédictions continuent d'alimenter les esprits 450 ans après sa mort ? Ses adeptes affirment qu'il aurait prédit la mort du roi Henri II, mais aussi, la Révolution Française, la prise de pouvoir d'Hitler, le grand incendie de Londres et même jusqu'aux attentats du 11 septembre.
This issue focuses on Nostradamus, the famous 16th-century French apothecary and author.
The program looks at his Italian origins, his passion for the occult sciences, his arrival at the French court and his activities as royal physician to Queen Catherine de Médicis.
It paints a portrait of a man of many skills, an apothecary, herbalist, medical doctor and cosmetics manufacturer.
The program focuses in particular on his relationship with Queen Catherine de Médicis, who called him to the court of the Château de Blois in 1555, and whose bedroom adjoined his own.
Finally, the program focuses on his famous almanacs, as well as his relationships with crowned heads who asked him for horoscopes and predictions.
This is an update of a program which already dealt with this subject during the second season of the show in 2008, then in a one-hour format and broadcast on Sunday afternoons, entitled Nostradamus : prophète ou imposteur?
