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Clergé Romain l’an mil six cents & neuf,
Au chef de l’an feras election
D’un gris & noir de la Compagne yssu,
Qui onc ne feut si maling.
Pope Paul V was pope from 1605 to 1623, so this quatrain did not occur. That said, it may have almost come to pass. Paul was reputedly extremely ill at the end of 1608. If he had died, there would most likely have been an election at the time Nostradamus specified. Nostradamus indicates that a very crafty pope would have been elected. There was certainly a lot of backstabbing and intriguing going on during the illness of Paul. However, there has yet to be a pope from the Campania province of Italy.
Not that Paul was very good, he was in many ways a fool who ultimately weakened the strength of the Catholic Church. That said, the people of that time can be glad he did not die in 1608-1609.
Not every quatrain will be fulfilled, not even those he dates, like this one.
Devant le pere l’enfant sera rué,
Le pere entre cordes de ionc,
Genevois peuple sera esvertué,
Gisant le chef au milieu comme un tronc.
All I can tell is that the people of Genoa are involved. Beyond that, I can say nothing.
Le barque neufue recevra les voyages,
Là & aupres transfereront l’empire,
Beaucaire, Arles, retiendront les hostages
res deux colomnes trouvees de porphire.
Beaucaire and Arles are in the southern part of France near the Mediterranean. The new bark sounds like a new papacy, a new church after the Islamic war.
De Nismes, d’Arles, & Vienne contemner,
N’obey tout à l’edict Hespericque :
Aux labouriez pour le grand condamner,
Six eschappez en habit seraphique.
Note on Translation: Contemner on line 1 is obviously modified to rhyme with condemner on line 3. Many commentators translate contemner as the English word contempt. This is quite understandable as the second line has the English word obey, translating into the French obéir. It is interesting that in this quatrain, Nostradamus uses the English and not the French. This is strongly indicative.
Hesperian can refer to either the Italian or American (i.e. United States). While the traditional translation from ancient times is Italian, Nostradamus has used this word to refer to the west - in doing so he was referring to the lands discovered by the Italian Christopher Columbus. Judging from the use of the English word, I would suspect the edict comes from the United States. France, referred to by the cities of the first line, refuses to comply.
The rest of the quatrain is curious.
Dans les Espaignes viendra Roy trespuissant,
Par mer & terre subjugant or midy,
Ce mal fera rabaissant le croissant,
Baisser les aisles à ceux du vendredy.
The timing of the writing of this quatrain is critical. Some people take this quatrain has having been written after Felipe II came to the throne, which would make this quatrain partially fulfilled when it was written. But two facts stand against this claim. First, it is well known that over 300 of the quatrains were written in a book that was released in 1555, the year before Felipe took the throne. Second, many of the later centuries were openly quoted in court before the final release of all the centuries in 1568, which was released under the auspices of the Church. Also, it must be stated that in all probability he wrote all of the Prophecies in the years 1550-1554, releasing only some of them, later more, and the rest only after his death.
Whether or not we accept that this quatrain it was written before 1566 (the year he died), it can only refer to Felipe II of Spain. The Midi is a region of France that borders Spain. Felipe occupied it for a while through an alliance with the Catholic League under the Duke de Mayenne. This region was returned to France though in the Peace of Vervins, which deprived Felipe of his long cherished desire of destroying Protestantism in France.
The rest of the quatrain deals with his dealings with the Muslims, a major concern to Felipe. He got the Holy League created in 1560, which waged war on the Turks by land and sea. The most notable success of the League occurred in 1571. Under the command of his half brother, Don Juan of Austria, at the Battle of Lepanto, the league decimated almost the entire fleet of the Turks B only a few escaped. The consequences of this battle were enormous. Though the Turks rebuilt their fleet within a year or two, still the great naval tradition of the Turks had been destroyed, its proud sailors and skilled naval leadership sunk and captured in that battle. The Turks never posed a serious naval threat to Western Europe again. The struggle continued until 1585, when a peace treaty was signed, ending the struggle.
As for him being evil, remember that Felipe was a Spaniard who warred in France. That alone would make Felipe an evil man in the eyes of the very pro-French Nostradamus.
Religion du nom des mers vaincra,
Contre la secte fils Adaluncatif,
Secte obstinee deploree craindra,
Des deux blessez par Aleph & Aleph.
The key will be in the name Adaluncatif. Judging it phonetically, part of the name sounds like Abdul. If so, we have “Abdul Uncatif” with the second part of the name not yet possibly understandable. Regardless of whether this guess is right or wrong, this refers to the future.
What is most notable about this quatrain is that the last word of the second line does not rhyme with the last word of the fourth line, even though the ends of the first and third lines rhyme. This indicates that there was no alteration on these two words, they are literally as Nostradamus wrote them.
Triremes pleines tout aage captif,
Temps bon à mal, le doux pour amertume:
Proiy à Barbares trop tost seront hastifs,
Cupide de veoir plaindre au vent la plume.
On May 13, 1939, the SS St. Louis left Hamburg bound for Havana. On board were over 900 Jewish refugees who were fleeing Germany. They had caught the warning of the Kristallnacht the previous November and were trying to escape the Nazi (barbarian) future. Each had valid visas to enter Cuba. However, as the ship approached Havana, the Cuban government rejected all of the visas. For a week the ship continued to sail, hoping that they would be allowed to land elsewhere, but even the United States closed its doors to their plight. Finally, several countries in Europe allowed the Jews to land and seek temporary asylum while permanent asylum was found. With few exceptions, only those allowed to seek asylum in Britain survived the war, most of the rest found their ways to the concentration and extermination camps after those countries were conquered. It was a very good time for evil, the mild or good person ended up suffering.
La splendeur claire à pucelle joyeuse,
Le luyra plus long temps sera sans sel :
Avec marchans, ruffiens, loups odieuse,
Tous pesle mesle monstre universel.
The wolves on line 3 make me think of Nazi Germany. But the last line is hard for me to interpret.
My thinking is that this refers to the Weimer Republic. The Germans certainly presented a cheerful front, and the government was a democracy, as represented by the maid. The salt indicates that the country had no real substance, that it was doomed. The traders would be the merchants who disliked the Republic. The ruffians would be the military that established itself secretly within German society. The wolves were, of course, the Nazis, the follower of the Noble Wolf, Adolf. All three sought the downfall of the Republic. I know the last line is garbled by me, but I suspect that it refers to the eventual rise of Hitler to power.
La fin le loup, le lyon, beuf, & l’asne,
Timide dama seront avec mastins,
Plus ne cherra à eux la dunce manne,
Plus vigilance & custode aux mastins.
The wolf is the key. Adolf means noble wolf. He is also the bull, being born while the sun was in the sign of Taurus. The mastiffs are the Russians. In the Epistle to Henri Nostradamus used the term to refer to Hitler and the Nazis but here he is referring to the people who replaced them, the Russian Communists. From these two facts, the rest of the quatrain falls into place.
The deer is the Polish government in exile, so named because of the stag reference from the fourth quatrain of the fifth century. During the Second World War, it remained in Britain. After the war, it ended up remaining there because the Soviets, under Stalin, created a new Polish Communist government.
Mussolini is the Lion, being born July 29 1883, when the sun was in the sign of Leo. Being what he was, and following the interesting pattern the prophet used, he was also the ass, a mule that is often used as a symbol for a fool. He certainly was a fool, especially towards the end of his days.>
The part about the sweet manna is a double meaning statement. In one way, it is a reference to the fact that Germany is divided, Poland is subsumed, and Europe is in confrontation because of the ambitions of the Soviet Union to communize the entire world. The manna of peace was denied Europe. In the other way, it is a reference to the fact that Europe is almost Jew Free. So many of the Jewish people were executed that the vast number of Jews had almost been exterminated. The Jewish manna would not fall on Europe anymore.
The last line refers to the new responsibility so many nations (including France) assumed in opposing the Soviet regime.
Le grand empire sera par Angloterre,
Le pempotam des ans plus des trois cens :
Graudes copiespasser par mer & terre,
Les Lusitains n’en seront pas content.
This quatrain has been spectacularly fulfilled. From the time of the Spanish Armada, which the English decisively defeated, the English ruled the seas. Not until the 20th century was there a serious threat to English sea power, and this was from German U-boats and the emergence of the United States as a naval power. The Portuguese were the competitors of England at the time of the writing of the prophecies, their naval power declined due to their participation in the Armada. For over 300 years, the British were alone in their command of the seas. This allowed them to thrust their power onto land wherever they wanted, and (in the 20th century) to develop and thrust their air power over land and seas.