In this accident, the high-speed impact was hard and also fatal. But it could have been prevented, because there was a warning system in place. On June 30, 1559, King Henry II of France and the Earl of Montgomery met in a jousting match. A splinter from the Scottish nobleman's lance smashed the golden visor of Henry's helmet and passed through his eye into his brain. The king died ten days later in agony. Four years before a man had written the following lines: "… on the field of combat in a single battle; he will pierce his eyes through a golden cage, two wounds made one, then he dies a cruel death." The man's name was Nostradamus. …
