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Au crustamin par mer Hatriatique,
Apparoistra un horride poisson,
De face humaine, & le fin aquatique,
Qui se prendra dehors de l’amecon.
The Crustamin is the old Latin name for the Conca, a river in Eastern Italy. The fish of line 2 sounds a lot like a submarine. The human face of line 3 is dubious to me, very likely it is a reference to the design of the front of the submarine in question. But as far as I know, the fourth line is nonsensical. Therefore, we have to wait for the future.
Six jours l’assault devant cité donné:
Livrée sera forte & aspre bataille :
Trois la rendront & à pardonné,
Le reste à feu & sang tranche traille.
The quatrain is quite self-descriptive. The key is to determine which city it is. Line 3 has traditionally been translated as: Three will surrender it and be pardoned. This does make sense, but the feel of the quatrain is changed. I suspect that the city is a rebel city and that three return it to its rightful government. The key is to determine which city it is.
Si France passés oultre mer lygustique,
Tu te verras en isles & mers enclos :
Mahommet contraire, plus mer Hadriatique,
Chevaux & d’asnes tu rougeras les os.
I like to think that some of the quatrains are not actually prophecies, but warnings. That the warnings would be given to his native France is quite understandable. This is obviously one of the warnings.
Nostradamus is here clearly warning against sending a fleet into the Ligurian Sea. This is the part of the Mediterranean that is north of the Isle of Corsica. The part of Mahommet being contrary is critical in the timing.
I would imagine that in the future a French fleet will send a fleet from Marseilles that will sail through the Ligurian Sea around the Italian boot. This should occur about the time when the Islamic countries will be in their future expansionistic quest for world domination. The last line indicates the fate of the fleet – it is doomed from the start.
I am certain that the event this quatrain illustrates is avoidable. If it is not, why would Nostradamus write it? French Admiral of the future, whoever you are, if you read this and recognize its significance, heed this warning from several hundred years ago. DO NOT SEND THAT FLEET!
De l’entreprinse grande confusion,
Perte de gens, thresor innumerable :
Tu’ny dos faire encor tension,
France a mon dire fais que fois recordable.
This is another of the warnings to France. Of course, it refers to France’s expansionary and colonial times, when the French did lose many lives and much wealth while trying to conquer greater lands. The key is that France lost a lot of people and a lot of treasure.
This was fulfilled during the early days of Napoléon Bonaparte. Napoléon had obtained the large colony of Louisiana from Spain and was intent on developing it. This would have resulted in the United States becoming enemies with France, for as Jefferson admitted, whoever owned the city of New Orleans, the gateway to Louisiana, was the natural enemy of the United States. But nothing was going to stop Napoléon from his designs. He intended to land troops in Louisiana to develop the vast lands right after he dealt with a minor uprising in Haiti.
Up to this time, Haiti had been the wealthiest of the French colonies in the New World. It supplied a huge amount of sugar and coffee sent to England and France. The owners there were wealthy beyond compare. Yet the whole economy was dependent upon slave labor to grow the cash crops. Under Toussaint L’Ouverture, the slaves had rose in revolt and had gained acceptance, in the end fighting with the French against the British. The French had agreed to grant all the slave soldiers their freedom if L’Ouverture integrated his army with the French army. He did so, but Le Clerc, the French leader, betrayed L’Ouverture, seizing him and sending him to France where he died in captivity.
Napoléon intended to reestablish slavery in Haiti, this lead to the final Haitian Revolt. This struggle proved to be a debacle for France. Le Clerc, the leader of French forces in Haiti died due to Yellow Feaver and his successor, Viscomte Rochambeau, the son of the great soldier who had aided the Thirteen Colonies in their revolt against the British Crown, was brutal. Officers wept while following their orders which were usually attrocities. Yet it quickly became apparent that France could not hold onto Haiti without a massive reinforcement from France. Since war with Britain was looming, Napoléon realized he could not develop Louisiana or hold onto Haiti. Of course, he may have read this quatrain and realized the truth behind Nostradamus’ words.
Napoléon abandoned Louisiana, selling it to the United States in 1803. He then gave up in Haiti, abandoning his efforts there. Haiti declared its independence in 1804, ending French expansionist dreams in the new world.
Qui au royaume Navarrois parviendra,
Quand de Secile & Naples seront joints :
Bigore & Landes par Foyx loron tiendra,
D’un qui d’Hespaigne sera par group conjoint.
Some information to understand the quatrain: When Nostradamus died, Sicily was part of the kingdom of Aragorn, and Naples had been under Spanish Hapsburg rule since 1503. Though officially separated, they were united. This lasted till 1713, when Sicily was transferred to the house of Savoy. The Austrians gained Napoles in 1714, then Sicily in 1720, reuniting the two under their crown. However, it was short lived, for in 1725 the Austrians ceded Napoles back to Spain through the treaty of Vienna. Spain regained Sicily in 1738 after the War of the Polish Succession, rejoining the two under Bourbon rule. The two were merged in the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, which lasted until 1848 when Sicily successfully revolted, creating the Sicilian Kindsom. Twelve long years passed until 1860 when Guiseppe Garibaldi invaided Sicily and forcibly joined it to Savoy, which was rapidly becoming the Kingdom of Italy. Naples was forced into Savoy within a few months. The two have been joined ever since.
Bigorre is in the Gascony region of France. There are several Landes, all in France. Foix, or Fois in the French, is also in France though close to the Spanish border. Loron is indecipherable, unless it is Oloron-Sainte-Marie.
The easiest and most obvious interpretation concerns Henri de Bourbon, the future Henri IV of France, who became Henri III of Navarre in 1553 while Naples and Sicily were joined under Spanish Rule. Yet there are two problems. First, Henri IV was not joined to the Spanish, and second, the nature of the quatrain seems to indicate that it would be fulfilled during the time when Naples and Sicily were under different rulership. One could make a case for the cities being under control of Charles the duc de Lorraine, but he never controlled Gascony where Oloron is located; Gascony was for Henri from the beginning.
The only two rulers who this could apply to were Louis XVI and Charles X. Both could be said to be tied to Spain because in those days Spain was ruled by the Spanish Bourbons. Of these, Charles is the more likely candidate because it is more likely he supported the forced restoration of the Spanish Bourbons by the French armies under Louis XVIII.
Unless this refers to some incident in the future, which is highly unlikely, it is probable that this is a failed quatrain. Still, I must leave this to the reader to figure out.
Des Roys et princes dresseront simulachres,
Augures, creuz eslevés aruspices :
Corne, victime dorée, et d'azur, d'acres
Interpretez seront les exstipices.
This makes no sense, unless line 1 refers to imitation money (i.e. money not backed by gold or silver). If this is an economic prophecy, then line 2 would have to refer to the predictions of economists who make all sorts of predictions, usually false. Line 3 is beyond my understanding, I must admit that. But line 4 – Could it be the interpretation of the Epistle to Henri which I have done, if imperfectly?
Prince Libyque puissant en Occident
Francois d’Arabe viendra tant enflammer,
Scavans aux lettres fera condescendent,
La langue Arabe en Francois translater.
Note on Translation and Interpretation: Libya is either the region of North Africa now known by that name, or it was, as during the Roman time, all of northern Africa, excluding Egypt. If we hold to the latter interpretation, then it makes sense because we can include the French colonies of Algeria and Morocco. Also, the last line can possibly have two meanings, the Arabic into French, or the French into Arabic. Knowing Nostradamus, both is possible.
The French of Arabia refers to the French colonists. They were inflamed only a few times. During the Second World War, when they fought the Axis, and after the famous plebiscite of 1952 in Algeria, when the native people voted for complete independence. The prince is Ben Balla, the leader of the Organisation Spéciale, which was the predicessor to the Front de Libération Nationale. The ideas were Arabic, but the words were French, fulfilling the fourth line in one way. Then, after independence, the language of Algeria was shifted to from French to Arabic, fulfilling the fourth line in the other way. Ben Balla was elected President in Algeria, in an uncontested contest. But his rule became increasingly autocratic (by which it became prince-like, as Nostradamus would accurately point out). He also became condescending to his people, alienating many of his former supporters. This would eventually result in a coup that overthrew him (though that is not part of the quatrain).
De terre foible & pauvre parentele,
Par bout & paix parviendra dans l’empire.
Long temps regner un ieune femelle,
Qu’oncq en regne n’en survint un si pire.
I can forgive Nostradamus his jab at Elizabeth on line 4. His need to divert the dread Inquisition lead him to condemn one of England’s truly great monarchs, one who ranked with Henri II and Alfred the Great. He saw her influence in establishing the Protestant Church of England – he had to condemn it in order to protect his work. That said, he saw enough to recognize her other traits. Though Elizabeth’s father was Henri VIII, her mother was Anne Boleyn, a relatively poor woman. Elizabeth herself was subject to poverty while she was a child, she was forced to bide her time, embracing a public Catholicism while her half sister, Queen Mary I, was on the throne executing Protestants. Finally, Mary died and Elizabeth assumed the throne. She reigned for 44 years, a very long time to reign in those days. Before she died, she transformed England from a tiny provincial kingdom to the ruler of the seas establishing the beginnings of what would become the first British Empire.
Les Deux nepveus en divers lieux noutris:
Navale pugne, terre, peres tumbés :
Viendront si hault eslevés enguerris,
Venger l’injure, ennemis succombés.
Unfortunately, I am unable to determine if this is fulfilled or not. The nephews could be individuals or they could be nations. The rest of the quatrain is self-explanatory.
Celuy qu’en luite & ser au sait bellique,
Aura porté plus grand que lui le pris,
De nuit au lit six luy seront la pique,
Nud sans harnois subit sera surpris.
I could place this with several instances, but the key to the quatrain is the six who affront the one in line 4 while he is in his bed. The naked could be a literal naked, or it could be a military naked, i.e. without armor or weapons.