Introduction

The Prophecies of the Nun of Dresden begins with an introduction, which shows the few historical notes of the prophetic manuscripts. These writings, according to Baschera's novel, were mentioned for the first time by a certain Abbot Nicolas Holb in 1808 in Vienna. The author of the manuscripts, written in the form of letters, was a German nun and clairvoyant whose actual name is not known. Of her, it is only known that she was “a pious Religious born in Dresden in 1680 and died in 1706” and that “ . . . her convent was on the banks of the Elbe” River.^[1] Some of the letters were written in German, some more in Latin and the others in both languages. This is surprising, especially considering the humble origins of the nun, who is thought to be illiterate.^[2]

In the third edition of the novel, the author adds a premise which claims to interpret the contemporary events (1986) in the light of the writings of the Nun, expecting the fulfillment of the predictions by the end of the 20th century.^[3]

Analysis of the letters

In the main section of the novel, the author analyzes the documents in his possession, a series of thirty-one letters written to the people who lived at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. Some of them are in good condition, some are very damaged and others are copied. The analysis is divided into three groups:

Letters to the Kings and Popes:

• Pope Clement XI^[4]
• Victor Amadeus II of Savoy^[5]
• Charles XII of Sweden^[6]
• Peter I of Russia^[7]
• Frederick I of Prussia^[8]
• Philip V of Spain^[9]
• Anne of England^[10]
• Louis XIV of France^[11]

Letters to the Cardinals:

• Rinaldo d’Este^[12]
• Francesco Maria de’ Medici^[13]

Letters to other Religious of the Catholic Church:

• A certain abbot Argoth^{[14][15][16][17][18]}
• The sister (or consorella) Marta^{[19][20][21][22][23][24][25]}
• A certain abbot Koldan^{[26][27][28][29]}
• A theologian Bruks^{[30][31][32][33][34]}

In letters to the historical figures several major events are predicted to happen to them and later their descendants or their country. In letters to the others, religious events are predicted general concern that some historical developments, some disasters and some technical progress. Letters of the Nun of Dresden prophesy events through a period of time from the end of the 17th century to the end of the 30th century.

Conclusion

The paper ends with a brief analysis of a particular aspect: the characters speak in a voice that suggests to the nun almost all of what to write.^[2] At first, the authority of the nun is posted with this entry, as is the case for most of the clairvoyants; subsequently, unlike the others that kept the detachment from all their visions, the woman accepted more and more the presence of what became the “sweet voice” letters, even when it promised catastrophe.^[35]

Prophecies for the Popes of the Catholic Church

According to the author, like the Prophecies of St. Malachy, the Nun of Dresden even gives a motto for the Popes, but only for the last eleven of them:^[4]

The author points out that the name chosen by each of the several popes is connected to the sign prophesied by the motto. The author also notes a link between the color of the horses, according to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and the historical period in which the pope lived:

• white horses correspond to the victory of the spiritual power of the Church;
• black horses correspond to a period of justice and balance;
• yellow horses correspond to death
• red horses correspond to the rider who takes away peace and represents a period of preparation for war.^[36]

In a letter to Frederick I of Prussia, the nun predicts that “the last Peter will come from your land”.^[8] Prussia is the name of a historical region that now lies between the borders of Lithuania, Russia and Poland with parts of eastern Germany.

Prophecies for the House of Savoy

In her letter to Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, the visionary German made several prophecies about the House of Savoy. The letter is divided into three parts. In the first part, the nun warns the Duke about his conduct and is more a moral poem than a prophecy. The second part contains the prophecies about the Duke himself: already at the beginning, the nun turns to Victor Amadeus II, calling him the "future king", as he would very soon become the “king of an island” (that did really happen in 1713, in Sicily), then the king of another island (that happened in 1720, in Sardinia), and the “king of the mountains” (which, however, did not happen).^[37]

In the third part of the letter, the prophecies of the House of Savoy are contained. Savoy's reign is likened to a parade of horse-drawn carriages. There are actually two. In the first of them, each carriage was pulled by eight smaller horses (i.e., the Kingdom of Sardinia) and, in the second, each carriage had five larger horses (i.e., the Kingdom of Italy). So far, the total of the rulers of the House of Savoy is eleven. Eight of them were the Kings of Sardinia, from Victor Amadeus II to Victor Emmanuel II, and the other four were the Kings of Italy, from Victor Emmanuel II to Umberto II. According to the author, the total would be eleven, if one counts twice Victor Emmanuel II, who was both the King of Sardinia and the King of Italy. The nun predicts that, between the fourth and fifth “big horse-drawn carriage” (i.e., between the fourth and fifth Kings of Italy), there would be a pause, during which the carriage was driven by “black horses”, which the author interprets as a republican or oligarchic government. According to the interpretation of this prophecy by Baschera, Italy would now be in this moment of pause so, in the future, there could be a fifth King of Italy, the twelfth and last king of the House of Savoy. He would be represented by a horse with a white cross and reign for a short time.^[37]

The nun gives an indication of the duration of both the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of Italy, before the Republican break: the first would have a duration of “twelve times twelve years” (144, three years more than the actual total of 141 years), while the second would have a duration of "the year upside down" for the first king of Italy (who died at the age of almost 58 years, after the reign of little more than 85 years). The nun also includes, for the five Kings of Italy from the House of Savoy, how they would die:

She, as interpreted by the author, also prophesied that the fifth and last king of the House of Savoy of Italy would die in exile, a natural death.^[37]