According to the views of Abbot Johannes Trithemius (1462-1516), the historical process occurs in cycles of time: seven planetary spirits (also called secondary intelligences) alternately control periods of time lasting 354 years and 4 months. The book presents a periodization of history according to such cycles and shows that the nature of historical events occurring during the reign of the planetary spirit is determined by the astrological properties of the corresponding planet. The book contains brief descriptions of the historical figures and events mentioned by Trithemius, and an extensive chronological table of events that occurred before the writing of the book (1508), which allows the reader to draw independent conclusions about the validity of the proposed system. In addition, a brief overview of other occult systems of historical periodization is given. It is shown that these systems complement each other and make it possible to obtain more accurate characteristics of various historical periods. Published in Russian for the first time.