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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.
La Ville qu’avoit en ses ans,
Combatu l’injure du temps,
Qui de son vainqueur tient la vie,
Celuy qui premier l’a surprist,
Que peu apres François reprist,
Par combats encor affoiblie.
I do not know about any Francis who was recaptured. There have been several Francis who were captured, but captured a second time is, as far as I know, not something that has happened.
La grand Cité qui n’a pain à demy,
Encor un coup la sainct Barthelemy,
Engravera au profond de son ame,
Nismes, Rochelle, Geneve & Montpellier,
Castrei, Lyon, Mars entrant au Belier,
S’entrebattront le tout pour une dame.
The great city is Paris. The coup that was Saint Bartholomew’s day was literally a coup. The Calvinist Admiral Gaspard de Coligny was rapidly becoming the power behind the throne. He had proposed a major French venture into Spanish Flanders, with Charles IX leading an army of both Catholics and Huguenots. This alarmed Catherine de Medici, the Queen mother, who immediately laid plans with the Duc de Guise to reverse the Huguenot influence.
On the early morning of Saint Bartholomew’s day, six men, most likely lead by Guise, assassinated Coligny. The signal was then given and Catholics throughout the city started to kill and murder Huguenots. It is estimated that when it was over, about two thousand Huguenots were dead. The coup was successful, Coligny was dead and the house of Loraine was in the ascendancy.
However, the terror was not over. It spread throughout all of France. In many cities where Huguenots had a sizeable number, including those listed in the Sixain, Huguenots were killed. It is estimated that when it was all over, over seven thousand had been killed.
Plusieurs mourront avant que Phœnix meure,
Jusques six cens septante est sa demeure,
Passé quinze ans, vingt & un, trente-neuf,
Le premier est subiet à maladie,
Et le second au fer, danger de vie,
Au feu à l’eau, est sujet à trente-neuf.
In the year 1617 Louis XIII was on the throne of France. He therefore is the phoenix of this quatrain. And the part about his being in his home till that year is quite accurate, it was in 1617 that he staged a palace coup d'état, deposed of his mother, assassinated her favorite Concino Concini and assumed control of the kingdom directly.
Nostradamus here indicates that Louis was threatened with three dangers. In 15 years, to a disease, in 21 years due to either assassination or war, and the last, at 39 years, due to fire and water. As he only lived till 1643 and had reined for only 33 years when he died, we cannot say that the count extends from his coronation. Therefore, they extend from his birth. Consequently the disease would happen in 1616, the risk of death due to assassination or war in 1622 and the risk from fire and water in 1640.
Louis was seized with a dangerous illness in 1629, but this is not consistent with the prediction that Nostradamus gives. And I cannot find any indications where Louis was threatened by death due to war or assassination, nor was he in peril of his life due to fire and water. That said, I do not doubt that Louis was in danger multiple times, such is the inevitable fate of a king and his minister Richelieu may have protected Louis better than we realize, especially in 1622.
I must therefore conclude that this is a partially successful prediction. Nostradamus caught onto the part about Louis living under his mother’s thumb till 1617, but the rest of the sixain seems to be erroneous.
Six cens & quinze, vingt, grand dame mourra,
Et peu apres un peu long-temps plouvra,
Plusieurs pays, Flandres & l’Angleterre,
Seront par feu & par fer affligez,
De leurs voisins longuement assiegez,
Contraints seront de leur faire la guerre.
615 plus 20 gives us 635. Who the great lady is that died in that year, I cannot say.
Un peu devant ou après tres grand Dame,
Son ame au Ciel, & son corps soubs la lame,
De plusieurs gens regrettée sera,
Tous ses parens seront en grand tristesse,
Pleurs & souspirs d’une dame en jeunesse,
Et à deux grands, le dueil delaissera.
The first four lines are a poetic reference to Marie Antoinette. No explanation is necessary. The lady in youth is her surviving daughter, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, known as Madame Royal. She was released from France only at the age of 17, an orphan who had seen too much death and misery.
Only the last line needs an in-depth explanation. The two great ones were Louis Stanislas Xavier, Compte de Provence and the head of the main line of Bourbon after Louis XVI and Louis XVII, and Louis Philippe II, Duc de Orléans, leader of the cadent Bourbon branch of Orleans. The Compte was a very conservative reactionary while the Duc was a very liberal person who had some pretentions to the throne. He supported the common people whereas the Compte did not. He also sided with the Republican government where the Compte opposed it with all his will. When Louis XVI had been brought to trial, Duc Louis Philippe had voted to condemn him to death. The Compte was in exile in Austria and was trying to get Austria to support an armed attempt to forcibly destroy the new Republican government. The feud between the two was very great and very real. But it ended due to the death of the Duc.
Tost l’Elephant de toutes parts verra
Quand pourvoyeur au Griffon se joindra,
Sa ruine proche, & Mars qui toûjours gronde:
Fera grands faits aupres de terre faincte,
Grands estendars sur la terre & sur l’onde,
Si la nef a esté de deux freres enceinte.
The Elephant is Felipe III of Spain. The Griffon is Henri IV, and the provider is the Duca di Savoia. The time is 1608. The marriage between Savoy’s son Victor Amadeus, to Henri’s daughter Christine Marie, took place. Thanks to Duque Don Pedro de Toledo’s emissary to France, the machinations of Felipe III were seen by all. His purpose had been to isolate France from the Netherlands so Spain could forcibly control those rebellious lands. Mars, who always rumbles the threat of war, was readily apparent. If France had acceded to the Spanish designs, it might have spelt the end of the Dutch resistance to Spanish rule. It might have ended up causing major war between various countries, though this is doubtful. Yet though it remained threatening, it did not happen. The last line is curious. I suspect that this refers to Henri IV and an important cleric of the church.
Peu après l’alliance faîte,
Avant solenniser la fête,
L’empereur le tout troublera,
Et la nouvelle mariée,
Au franc pays par fort liée,
Dans peu de temps après mourra.
If one ignores the precept that the Sixains must apply to the royal house of Capet or of things of interest to them, this would be one of those prophecies that could be applied to multiple incidents that have already happened. For instance, it could applied to the later years of the reign of Napoléon I, his divorce from Josephine and his marriage to Marie Theresa, along with his inevitable death. But keeping to the principle that the Sixains must deal either with the royal House of Capet or with something of interest to them, it most accurately applies to the marriage that cemented the peace that ended forever the Valois Hapsburg wars.
The alliance was the marriage alliance between Felipe II and the daughter of Henri II, Elizabeth of Valois. The Emperor is, of course, Felipe II of Spain, who ruled a vast empire stretching from the Americas to Italy and the Netherlands. He was troubled by the increase of Protestantism and was determined to stamp it out wherever he could. Elizabeth was, of course, tied to the French, being the daughter of Henri II and Catherine de Medici. The marriage was a very happy one. Felipe was charmed by his bride and sent away all his mistresses. She was proud to have such a good, loving and noble husband. But she died while still young, much to Felipe’s sorrow.
Sangsue en peu de temps mourra,
Sa mort bon signe nous donra,
Pour l’accroissement de la France,
Alliance se trouveront,
Deux grands Royaumes se joindront,
François aura sur eux puissance.
Felipe II of Spain, the leech of the Sixains, died in 1598. He had failed in all of his plans. England was securely Protestant. France was united and strong. The Netherlands were still in revolt. His successor, Felipe III, signed a peace accord with both England and France, allowing him to focus on the Netherlands. Later on, two of Henri’s children were married to the descendants of Felipe II. Louis XIII was married to Anne of Austria, the Infanta of Spain, and his sister, Elizabeth was married to Felipe IV of Spain. In this way, France and Spain were joined by marriage.