Catherine de Medici, believed to have psychic powers herself, was a great believer in astrology. In addition to consulting Nostradamus, she had ongoing advice from her astrologer Cosimo Ruggieri.
It is often stated that she summoned Ruggieri to Chaumont on her last visit before handing it over to Diane de Poitiers.
He used a mirror to predict the future which was not overly encouraging for Catherine or her sons. There is a dispute whether it was actually Nostradamus who made the prediction as he had already prophesied the death of Henri II.
Ruggieri is mainly credited with warning Catherine de Medici that she would die “near Saint Germain”. At the time, as Queen Mother, she was no longer occupying the Queen’s apartment at the Louvre and was building her own palace at the Tuileries. As this was near the St Germain de l’Auxerrois church, she decided to abandon the idea of having this as her principal residence. She built a lavish new palace in the parish of Saint Eustache.
More than 15 years later, Catherine was ill at the Chateau of Blois. A priest was called and she asked his name. He told her it was Julien de Saint-Germain. She knew her time had come.
All that still exists of Catherine’s residence in Paris is the Medici Column, next to the Bourse de Commerce near Les Halles. This was the perfect place for Ruggieri to observe the sky. It is also where we can see Catherine’s version of Henri’s coat of arms with the extended “C”
