Adam de Craponne was a French engineer. He built the eponymous Canal de Craponne to irrigate the Désert de la Crau. He was poisoned while fortifying Nantes for King Henry III of France during the French Wars of Religion

Michel de Nostredame, usually Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed seer, who is best known for his book Les Prophéties, a collection of 942 poetic quatrains allegedly predicting future events.