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There are a few animal types that reoccur in the Sixains. I have found that when the Sixains are applied to only the House of Capet that there is a consistency in what the animal types are used to represent:
The Wolf: Almost always this refers to the Duc de Mayenne.
The Elephant: I have not seen this refer to anything or anyone other than Felipe III of Spain.
The Leech: Usually Felipe II of Spain, who was known in France as the Leech of the Midi.
The Griffon: Henri IV of France.
The Crocodile: A servant of Spain, especially when operating against France. It first stood for Alexander Farnesse, the Duke of Parma and a loyal servant to Spain. Later it stood for the Jesuit Order, an order that for a long while operated more in the interests of Spain than in the interests of the Catholic Church.
There is also a single term, medicin which also applies. Usually it is medicine but it here finds a better expression as Medician, i.e. Marie de Medici.
L’autheur des maux commencera regner
En l’an six cens & sept sans espargner,
Tous les sujets qui sont à la sangsue,
Et puis apres s’en viendra peu à peu,
Au franc pays r’allumer son feu,
S’en retournant d’où elle est issue.
Garenciéres attributed this to the revolt of the Netherlands against their Spanish overlords. Nostradamus’ apparent zealousness in his Roman Catholicism lead him to condemn the Protestant forces of Holland for what they did. The Leach refers to Felipe II, who is dead, tying this to Spain. The last few lines refers to Henri IV, who interceded on behalf of the Hollanders, to their long term benefit.
Though we now know that Nostradamus’ arch Catholicism was actually measured, it was necessary for him to approach events during the time of the Inquisition as if he was. This Sixain would not give any reason for the Inquisition to question Nostradamus’ loyalty. And as the French monarchy was firmly Catholic, they would stand by the Inquisition.
Cil qui dira, découvrissent l’affaire,
Comme du mort, la mort pourra bien faire,
Coups de poignards par un qu’auront induit,
Sa fin sera pis qu’il n’aura fait faire:
La fin conduit les hommes sur la terre,
Guetté par tout, tant le jour que la nuit.
This sixain can be about nobody else. Henri II, Duc de Guise, was a proud, vain and ambitious person who had pretentions to the throne of France. His murderer was Henri III of France. The king was the official ruler, but the Duc was gaining control of all of France. He had gained control of the French royal court through his actions and planning leading up to the Saint Bartholomew Day Massacre. He had later signed the Treaty of Joinville with Felipe of Spain, taking steps that only a king should have taken. The king was forced to side with the Duc, yet the Duc would later disobey direct orders of the king and take over Paris, becoming the defacto King of Paris. Towards the end Henri the duc had become a direct threat to the monarchy. Henri the King decided on a bold stroke. He summoned the duc to Blois. There a note was delivered to the duc warning him of the intended assassination, but the duc haughtily disregarded the warning. He was assassinated the next day by henchmen of the king who wielded dirks. That night his brother, the Cardinal de Guise was similarly assassinated. But the end of the prophecy was not yet. Paris and many cities that openly sided with the Catholic League now abandoned the king, siding with the successor of the League, the Duc de Mayenne. Within a year, Henri III was assassinated and the crown had passed to Henri IV.
Quand la grand nef, la proue & gouvernal,
Du franc pays & son esprit vital,
D’escueils & flots par la mer secouée,
Six cens & sept, & dis cœur affligé,
Et des reflus de son corps affligé,
Sa vie estant sur ce mal renouée.
Henry IV of France was the main mediator of this peace agreement.
In 1606, Venice had passed laws that were considered obnoxious to Pope Paul V. They had insisted on a law that prevented real estate owned by the Church from being nontaxable. They had also insisted that all churches built be approved by the civil powers. In essence, this was a Venetian stance that the powers of the church must remain separate from those of the state. Paul responded by excommunicating the city leadership and placing the entire city on interdict. However, the clergy defied the pope and continued to perform mass.
The peace of 1607, the year named in the Sixain, basically gave Venice what they wanted, though they had to assure the Papacy that they would conduct their affairs with their accustomed piety. This was odious to Paul, but under French (and Spanish) pressure, he retracted the excommunication.
What does this have to do with the House of Capet? Simple. Henri IV of France negotiated the settlement, in favor of Pope Paul.
Le Mercurial non de trop longue vie,
Six cens & huit & vingt, grand maladie,
Et encore pis danger de feu & d’eau,
Son grand amy lors luy sera contraire,
De tels hazards se pourroit bien distraire,
Mais bref, le fer luy fera son tombeau.
The second line gives us the time of the Sixain: six hundred and eight and twenty. That is 1628, during the reign of Louis XIII.
Garenciéres claims that Louis fell dangerously sick with the Plague in 1628. This is possible, as the Plague was still not truly cured by that time, though I do have my doubts and suspect that a lesser sickness was involved. After this, he went into Savoy with an army, exposing himself to even greater danger. His great friend was Richelieu.
Six cens & six, six cens & neuf,
Un chancelier gros comme un bœuf,
Vieux comme le Phœnix du monde,
En ce terroir plus ne luyra,
De la nef d’oubly passera,
Aux champs Elisiens faire ronde.
A nave is normally the main portion of a church, though it is can also be an entire navy.
When I use the literal interpretations, 1606 & 1609, I could not make it fit. Garenciéres added 6 & 9 to get 15, i.e. 1615. In that year, Nicolas Brûlart de Sillery, a very corpulant man, was the Lord Chancellor. Unfortunately for Garenciéres interpretation, Brûlart was alive and in power till 1622.
Of course, it is possible I am missing something and that Brûlart is the individual in question. But with my limited knowledge of Frencyh royal history, I cannot be certain.
Deux frères sont de l’ordre Ecclésiastique,
Dont l’un prendra pour la France la pique,
Encor un coup si l’an six cens & six,
N’est affligé d’une grande maladie,
Les armes en main jusques six cens & dix,
Guerres plus loin ne s’étendant sa vie.
The two brothers are the Protestant Henri de Navarre and the Catholic Duc de Mayenne, both of whom fought for control of France. After Henri won the duel, he proclaimed that he ruled “on a le bras armé et le cul sur la selle” (With a weapon in the hand and the arse in the saddle). Henri’s reign was full of sorrow, as friend after friend betrayed him. Doubtless, though, Henri endured a personal blow or two in 1606, one of them being his having to deal with the Duc de Bouillon, who gave up when Henri brought the army with cannon to besiege his home. He recovered sometime in 1608, but was unable to complete his preparations for war in 1610 due to his being assassinated.
Céleste feu du costé d’Occident,
Et du Midi, courir jusques au Levant,
Vers demi morts sans pont trouver racine,
Troisième âge, à Mars le Belliqueux,
Des Escarboucles on verra briller feux,
Âge Escarboucle, & à la fin famine.
There are several different definitions for Carbuncle, any of which can be involved. The first, and most likely, is a specific type of device on a shield. But it also refers to a tumor, an abscess, often very contagious, or a precious fiery red stone.
Garenciéres attributes this to the general times of trouble that befell France from 1620-1628, with a special emphasis on the famine of the year 1626. He could be right, but I am uncertain. My question is: How does this tie to the house of Capet and the ruler of the time, Louis XIII? It is possible that Nostradamus included this because Louis would have need to know of this, and it is likely that Richelieu, his minister, dealt with it to a certain degree.
L’an mil six cens & neuf ou quatroziesme,
Le vieux Charon fera Pasques en Caresme,
Six cens & six, par escript le mettra,
Le Medecin, de tout cecy s’estonne,
A mesme temps assigné en personne,
Mais pour certain l’un d’eux comparostra.
Medecin is capitalized by Nostradamus. Because of this, there is another interpretation other than the standard doctor, medician; one of the house of Medici. This is also true for Sixain 30 where it refers to Marie de Medici. So the Medician has to be Marie de Medici. The part about Charon is interesting. In Greek mythology, he was the ferryman of the dead, carrying souls across the river Styx to the land of Hades, the realm of the dead. The quatrain seems to indicate some death that occurs in 1609, its roots beginning in 1606.
Le Griffon se peut aprester
Pour à ennemy resister,
Et renforcer bien son armée.
Autrement l’Elephant viendra
Qui d’un a bord le surprendra,
Six cens & huict, mer enflammée.
This is an either-or quatrain. The griffon is Henri IV. Nostradamus here warns that he has to prepare for the attack by an enemy. If he does, there will be no attack. If he does not, he will allow the elephant to attack. The attack will be a surprise, with possibly deadly consequences. Therefore, it should be avoided.
It is obvious that Henri was unusually wary in 1608. This was during the time of the embassy of Don Pedro de Toledo. He had officially come to work out the triple marriages of the children of Felipe III of Spain to the children of Henri IV of France. He failed most spectacularly, yet he remained; staying so long it was obvious he was staying on the order of his king. One of Henri’s chief advisors and friends, Jeannin, observed that no nation sent an emissary except for one of two reasons, to either conclude a secret treaty that was already well advanced or to deceive. Since there was no treaty, the court was very aware of the possible deception. Henri was therefore on guard and kept the troops in a well armed state. The marriage of his daughter Christine Marie to the son of the Duca di Savoia was eventually concluded and the Duque promptly retired in disgrace.
This shows that the Elephant in question was none other than Felipe III of Spain. It also shows that if Henri had not been careful, war could have resulted. And it is true - if Henri had not been careful, Filipe would have marched on the Lowlands, forcing the hand of France in a general war.
Dans peu de temps Medecin du grand mal,
Et la sangsue d’ordre & rang inegal,
Mettront le feu à la branche d’Olive,
Poste courir, d’un & d’autre costé,
Et pastel feu leur Empire accosté,
Se r’alumant du franc finy salive.
The leach here is not Felipe II of Spain, as he is in other sixains. The leech of order is one who believes in disorder. He tries to suck out the existence of order, creating confusion and anarchy in its wake. The Doctor is one who commits surgery. The fact that the doctor is of great evil and is tied to the leach indicates something very bad.
The doctor here is a Medici, specifically Marie de Medici, wife of Henri IV of France. The leech of order, a person who was of unequal rank, was Concino Concini, the unscrupulous husband of Maria’s loyal lady in waiting, Leonora “Galigai” Concini. Within a few days of Henri’s death, they had dismissed Henri’s loyal, faithful and skilled finance minister, the Duc de Sully. She then reversed Henri’s foreign policy, deliberately tying France to Spain, a very evil act according to the very French Nostradamus. They literally performed a leaching surgery on all that Henry had wrought, ruining much that Henri IV had carefully built up. Under the lax rule of the Regency, the nobility got extremely irritated. Finally, they had enough and revolted. This revolt was only ended by Marie’s agreeing to call the Estates General, the supreme legislative body of France.
The Olive Branch has multiple meanings; here it means peace and prosperity. Peace was destroyed by Marie’s lackadaisical attitude. So was the prosperity of the monarchy. The message runners were absolutely necessary for the nobility to not only start their revolt, but to make it principled enough that they would willingly end it once Marie agreed to call the Estates General. The pastel fire indicates how minor the revolt was, especially compared to the fury of the Religious Wars that Henri had succeeded in ending.