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Quant ceux du polle arctiq unis ensemble,
Et Orient grand effraieur & crainte :
Esleu nouveau, soustenu le grand tremble,
Rodes, Bisence de sang Barbare teincte.
Only the presence of Byzantium (Constantinople, modern day Istanbul) in the quatrain prevents this quatrain from being declared fulfilled. Remove Byzantium and we have the Second World War with the Grand Alliance of Britain, Soviet Union and United States (all Arctic nations or empires) qualifying, Japan being the eastern nation of line 2, Roosevelt being the newly elected of line 3 supporting the trembling by throwing his country wholeheartedly into the war, and Rhodes stained with barbarian (foreign, Italian in this case) blood.
But Byzantium is in the quatrain, so it, along with the isle of Rhodes, must be stained with the blood of invaders. This did not happen during the fury of the Second World War.
This has to refer to the future, to the upcoming war of the Antichrist.
Dedans la terre du grand temple celique,
Nepueu à Londres par paix faincte meurtry :
La barque alors deuiendra scimatiquem,
Liberte faincte fera au corn & cry.
To the best of my knowledge, this has not happened to the British royal household. It could refer to a dukedom, but I doubt it.
The closest this came to happening occurred during the English Civil War and the English Republic. The schism would be the English Civil War, the furious struggle between Cavaliers and Roundheads. Charles I was executed in London. Though he had opposed English liberties, in the end he died for them. The fake freedom was the absolute rule of Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England, with the power of the New Model Army to back him up. The hue and cry was the hue and cry of the New Model Army with the Puritans proclaiming the King dead, tyranny suppressed and the perfect freedom of Puritanism to correctly govern the country according to the divine will (England becoming the celestial temple in this way). Puritanism did govern the country, which was a freedom the Puritans had sought, the freedom to impose Puritanism upon the country, but it was little more than enforced slavery to the rest of the country. Of course, the country was fractured during the English Civil War and the Republic did nothing to settle the problems – in fact, Cromwell did all he could to enforce the English way upon the Scottish and the Irish, leading to further fractures. It is a nice interpretation. Unfortunately, the part about the nephew is not explained by the events.
There was a nephew who was killed in London. The Duke of Monmouth, illegitimate son of Charles II, was the nephew of King James II. But this was not a murder, but an execution. Monmouth had been captured by the forces of James following the Battle of Sedgemoor, which was Monmouth’s attempt to sieze the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland. He had failed and his death by execution was the result. But since it was an execution, not a murder, it fails the test. And the nation, rather than becoming schimsmatical, unified under James. It would be due to several years of misrule by James that the nation would turn from James and towards William of Orange. But even then the nation was not divided. There was no schism.
I strongly lean towards the English Civil War/Cromwell interpretation, but the question of the Nephew is what stops me. I am forced to leave this to the ingenuity of the reader.
D’esprit de regne munismes descriées,
Et feront peuples esmeuz contre leur Roy :
Paix, faict nouveau, sainctes loix empirées,
Rapis onc fut en sitresdur arroy.
The key to this quatrain is the word Rapis. It proved to be an anagram for Paris, which has the same letters.
In the spring of 1789 the French Assembly decreed the issuance of 400 million livres of notes, called assignats, secured by the properties which had been confiscated from the Church during the revolution. By the fall of 1789 the Assembly approved the issuance of 800 million of noninterest-bearing notes and decreed that the limit on such notes was to be 1.2 billion livres. Despite this stated limit, nine months later another 600 million livres was approved and in September 1791 another 300 million. In April of 1791 another 300 million was approved. By 1794, after the king had died, there were 7 billion livres in circulation.
This was a period of hyperinflation in France. The price of good shot skyward, the value of money plummeted. This was one of the reasons that people grumbled against the King.
The third line referred to the laws that the National Assembly passed, the laws concerning the Cult of Reason and the Cult of The Supreme Being. And the last line was a necessary consequence of all this.
Mars & le scepte se trouuera conioinct,
Dessoubs Cancer calamiteuse guerre :
Vn peu apres sera nouueau Roy oingt,
Qui par long temps pacifiera la terre.
A conjunction will occur in the astrological sign of Cancer. But the key is the interpretation of the scepter. It could be the sun, ancient symbol of the monarchy. Or it could be Jupiter, planet representing the ancient monarch of the Greco-Roman gods. Or, and this would be a typical Nostradamus statement, it could be both. A triple conjunction of the Sun, Mars and Jupiter.
Par mars contraire fera la monarchie,
Du grand pescheur en trouble ruyneux :
Jeune noir rogue prendra la hierarchie,
Les proditeurs iront jour bruyneux.
The first two lines refer to the trouble King Louis XVI had. Contrary Mars merely indicates a king with no martial instincts. The great fisherman is the Papacy, which also was in trouble as a result of the Revolution.
The last two lines deal with the end of it. The young black rogue refers to Napoléon Bonaparte, who took over and eventually become the imperial ruler of France. The last line refers to the coup of 18 Brumaire, or 18 Fog according to the Republican Calendar. And yes, there were three conspirators, traitors to the Directory. They were Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès, Paul Barras and Napoléon Bonaparte.
Quatre an le siege que peu bien tiendra,
Un surviendra libidineux de vie :
Ravenne & Pyse, Veronne soustiendront,
Pour esteur la croix de Pape envie.
The only pope I could find who reigned for four years was Paul IV, who reigned from 1555 - 1559. Admittedly, his reign was not one of the better ones. He tried to advance the fortunes of his family from the Holy See. However, his nephews, Antonio, Giovanni and Carlo Carafa, enjoyed themselves a bit too much; their conduct became notorious. In 1559, Paul had to banish his nephews from Rome. Carlo was a cardinal nephew of Paul and was officially disgraced. Carlo and Giovanni would be executed by Paul’s successor, Pius IV, on March 1561.
The final two lines refers to his anti-Spanish policies. He probably would not have accepted the pontificate, but Cardinal Mendoza declared that Emperor Charles V would never allow any member of the Carafa family to sit on the Holy See. This made it a personal matter. He accepted the seat and assumed the name of Paul IV. His policies were strongly anti-Spanish and constantly rose the cross against Spain in the interests of Italian liberty.
Even the Catholic Church considers the reign of Paul IV to be a remarkable failure in many areas. The scandal of his nephews and the opposition to Spain had disastrous consequences. About the only thing the Catholic Church thinks he did right was his strong support for the Inquisition, even in that there are those who believe his efforts went too far.
For those who are concerned about the timing of the quatrain, this first appeared in the 1557 Du Rosne edition. While it came out in the middle of Paul’s reign, nobody could have known through conventional means that Paul would die in just two years. Therefore, if Nostradamus did know about it, he had to have known about it through unconventional means.
Dedans les isles de cinq fleuves à un,
Par le croissant du grand Chyren Selin :
Par les bruynes de l’aer fureur de l’un,
Six eschapés cachés fardeaux de lyn.
The isle is the key to this. One of the rivers will have four tributaries (five in one). Chyren Selin definitely points this to the future. It looks as it six people are enemies of the great Selin, they manage to escape in the manner described. I do not know whether to applaud or condemn them for this deed. Only the future can tell.
Le grand Celtique entrera dedans Rome,
Menant amas d’exilés & bannis :
Le grand pasteur mettra à mort tout homme,
Qui pour le coq estoient aux Alpes unys.
The great Celt could be French, Scottish, Irish or even northern Italian. The great pastor who governs during the same time is obviously a pontiff. The coq refers to France.
The first candidate for the Great Celt was Napoléon Bonaparte. However, it cannot refer to him. While Napoléon did enter Rome, the pontiffs of the time, Pius VI and VII, never condemned those who supported France. In fact, Pius VII was one of the kindest of people, granting pardon to his oppressors.
The second candidate for the Great Celt was General Harold Alexander, an Anglo-Irish born soldier in charge of all Allied forces in Italy during the Second World War. The coq would in this case refer to Vichy France. However it also cannot refer to him. Pope Pius XII did not execute anyone.
Unless there is another candidate that I know nothing about, this almost certainly has to refer to the future.
La vesue saincte contendant les nouvelles,
De ses rameaux mis en perplex & trouble :
Qui sera duict appaiser les querelles,
Par son pourchas des razes sera comble.
The holy widow is Catherine de Medici; holy only because she was a very devout Catholic, a widow because her husband was dead. While Charles IX was in his minority, she tried to rule France as well as she could. Unfortunately, her offspring kept getting into trouble. The chief culprit was the religious wars; both Catholics and Huguenots were determined to have their way, killing anyone who opposed them. When Charles IX attained to his majority, Catherine still held sway the Huguenots were strong and there was every reason to believe that Charles was sympathetic to the Huguenot cause. Admiral Coligny, the chief Huguenot was attaining great power. This was deemed a threat to the Catholics, especially the ambitious Guise. The Catholic House of Lorraine met with Catherine and likely forced her to act. Coligny was assassinated. Charles was persuaded to support the resulting massacre, where he shot reputedly Protestants with his Arbuquus.
Par l’apparence de faincte saincteté,
Sera trahy aux ennemis le siege :
Nuict qu’on cuidoit dormit en seureté,
Pres de Braban marcheront ceux du Liege.
Braban could refer to the Brabant, of which there are several: There is Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant in Belgium, North Brabant in the Netherlands, East Brabant which is east of Brussels and Klein Brabant in the Antwerp province of Flanders.
The feel of the quatrain is martial in tone. Unfortunately, I do not know which war this refers to.