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{{italic title The ''Mirabilis liber'' (''Mirabilis liber qui prophetias revelationesque, necnon res mirandas, preteritas, presentes et futuras, aperte demonstrat...'') is an anonymous and formerly very popular compilation of
prediction A prediction (Latin ''præ-'', "before," and ''dictum'', "something said") or forecast is a statement about a future event or about future data. Predictions are often, but not always, based upon experience or knowledge of forecasters. There ...
s by various
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...
s and diviners first printed in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
in 1522 (though purportedly published in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
in 1524, probably because it was the date of an important and long-anticipated planetary alignment) and reprinted several times thereafter. It is not to be confused with the almost contemporary ''Liber mirabilis''. Its unwitting contributors include: * Bishop Bemechobus (misprint for Pseudo-Methodius – Syrian, 7th century) * The Tiburtine Sibyl (Syrian, 9th century) * ‘
St Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...
’ (actually by the 10th-century monk Adso of Montier-en-Der) * ‘St Severus’ (in fact a 15th-century composition) * Johann Lichtenberger (an anthology of various named sources, first printed in 1488) * A set of papal prophecies (14th century) * Telesphorus of Cosenza (14th century) * Another anthology including St Brigid of Sweden, St
Hildegard of Bingen Hildegard of Bingen Benedictines, OSB (, ; ; 17 September 1179), also known as the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictines, Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mysticism, mystic, visiona ...
, the Cretan Sibyl, the Hermit Reynard, St Cyril and the celebrated Abbot Joachim of Fiore * Joannes de Vatiguerro (16th century) * Joachim of Fiore himself (12th century) * ‘St Vincent’ (actually a 16th-century compilation based on St
Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...
and others) * St. Catald of Taranto (actually a 16th-century text) * Jerome of Ferrara (
Savonarola Savonarola is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498), Italian Dominican friar and reformer * Michele Savonarola (1385–), Italian physician, humanist and historian {{Surname, 2=Italian-la ...
– late 15th century) * Fra Bonaventura (16th century) * Johannes de Rupescissa (Jean de la Roquetaillade – 15th century) * St
Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden, Bridgettines, OSsS ( – 23 July 1374), also known as Birgitta Birgersdotter and Birgitta of Vadstena (), was a Swedish Catholic Mysticism, mystic and the founder of the Bridgettines. Outside Sweden, she was also known as the ...
(14th century) plus, in French, an anonymous anthology including a collection of late 13th-century prophecies elsewhere attributed to ‘
Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...
’. As the above indicates, the book—whose only known complete translation (by Edouard Bricon) was published in French in 1831—had two parts, the first in Latin and the second, shorter, in French. It contained prophecies of fire, plague, famine, floods, earthquakes, droughts, comets, brutal occupations and bloody oppressions. The Church would collapse, the
Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
be forced to flee Rome. Such predictions made it extremely popular at the time of the French Revolution, when crowds besieged the French
Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...
to see it. Indeed, many nineteenth-century catalogues suggested that it had predicted the Revolution itself. But above all the book predicted a supposedly imminent Arab invasion of Europe, the advent of the
Antichrist In Christian eschatology, Antichrist (or in broader eschatology, Anti-Messiah) refers to a kind of entity prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ and falsely substitute themselves as a savior in Christ's place before ...
and the subsequent End of the World. The ''Mirabilis liber'' seems to have served as a major source for the prophecies of
Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinisation of names, Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French Astrology, astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed Oracle, seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéti ...
, and was placed on the
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
version of the Church's
Index of Forbidden Books The (English: ''Index of Forbidden Books'') was a changing list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former dicastery of the Roman Curia); Catholics were forbidden to print o ...
in 1581.


Sources

* Araujo, Fabio R., ''Selected Prophecies and Prophets'', 2007 * Britnell, J. and Stubbs, D., ''The Mirabilis liber, its Compilation and Influence'' in the Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Volume 49, 1986 * Lemesurier, P., ''Nostradamus – The Illustrated Prophecies'' (O Books, 2003) * Lemesurier, P., ''The Unknown Nostradamus'' (O Books, 2003)


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1522 books Christian apocalyptic writings Works published anonymously Anthologies 16th-century books in Latin