"L'an mil neuf nonante neuf sept mois"
"The year one thousand nine hundred ninety nine seven months" - Generally taken to refer to July 1999, though it could equally refer to the old seventh month of September, the Julian Calendar (in use through much of Europe until 1582) starting the year in March. However, Nostradamus' almanacs invariably ran from January to December.
"From the heavens will come"
"a great King"
possibly a double homonym for "d'effrayer" (of fear) and "défrayer" (to defray). Taken in context of the whole line, the 'King of fear' is a likely pointer to the solar eclipse that occured around this time, and the 'defraying King' indicates some monetary or economic factor.
"Resusciter le grand Royd'Angolmois"
"to revive the great King of Angolmois" - Angolmois is popularly known as a near-anagram for "Mongolois", and hence was supposed to refer to some Genghis Khan-like figure, especially when considered alongside line two's 'King of Fear'. A far more likely explanation is a reference to Francis I, king of France 1515-1547. "Angolmois" is another double homonym, for "Angoumois" (a state in central France bought by Francis I in the same year as his accession to the throne) and for the anagramatic "Valois-Angoulême" (the historical French term for the third royal 'House of Valois', which started with Francis I, and ended with Henri III in 1589). The clincher is the use of the very term "le grand Roy": through his popularity with the masses, Francis was known "to his countrymen and to the succeeding generation" (i.e. Nostradamus' original audience) as "le grand roi François" [ Encyclopaedia Britannica ]. A modern parallel for the whole phrase might be a British crossword compiler using a clue such as "the Iron grocer's daughter" for Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady.
"Avant apres Mars regner par bon heur"
"Before (&) after Mars to reign fortunately" - Mars has popularly been taken in its 'God of War' vein here, but in the context of line two's apparent solar reference, this is more likely an indication of the astrology of the July/August period, which saw Mars vying with the Sun for the position of 'most powerful'. As the 'God of War', it could be argued that the conflicts in Kosovo and East Timor apply, but the latter is well outside Nostradamus' stated sphere of interest.
A solar eclipse was experienced across parts of Europe and Asia on 11 August 1999, running from Cornwall in south-west England through the heart of Europe to the Near East and India. In the old Julian Calendar, this date is 29 July and hence fits the date in line one. Traditionally, cultures all over the world have seen the solar eclipse as the worst omen imaginable, the very giver of light being blotted out by 'something dark'. In esoteric astrology, such an event provides an opportunity for evil forces to be poured from the Sphere of the Earth into the cosmos, acting as a sort of safety-valve.[ Gettings, Arkana Dict. of Astrology ]
Duke of Angoulême, and King of France from 1515. Famed for developing absolute monarchy throughout France, and for popularising it beyond his predecessors' wildest dreams, endearing himself to the common people through extensive domestic travel and through reforming the judicial system to stamp out its abuse by nobles. His adventurous and ambitious spirit was his downfall when it came to foreign policy; his prolonged rivalry with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V led to significant new developments in governmental finance and the levying of taxes [here it's interesting (though probably going a bit far) that the "Valois-Angoulême" ~ "Angolmois" anagram leaves the letters e,v,a,l,u,e, which together spell "evalué", French for "assessed".], but ultimately brought the country to the brink of ruin.
Thus, Nostradamus is evidently referring to a leader who has come to power around the time of the Solar Eclipse, who is idealistic, fond of reform and popularity, and who may well end up leading his state into financial ruin despite his best intentions. It's undoubtedly too early to judge the last qualification, but one person who fits the others is Romano Prodi.
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Italian-born President of the reformed European Commission (the European Union's governing body). He was appointed "President-designate" on 9 July 99, and the first informal meeting of his cabinet of new commissioners was on 17 July. Four days later came the first session of the new European Parliament. As the previous Commission had collapsed amidst financial irregularites and accusations of corruption & bureaucratic anonymity, Prodi used the run-up to the official sanctioning of the new Commission (in a vote on 15 September) to promise a "revolution in the way that the Commission works", vowing to "fight fraud... and put the E.C. back at the service of the European public", to cut bureaucracy and increase accountablilty, and to generally win back the confidence of the European public [ transcripts of the relevant speeches are available at the official EU website ].
How successful he is in these endeavours remains to be seen, but his intention to popularise the EU is clear. The prospect of financial implosion is everpresent in such a large organisation, especially with its coming expansion and its new single currency (Britain's delayed opt-in may yet prove to be a wise decision!). This is speculation though - obviously only time will tell if Prodi is our man (in the meantime, anagram enthusiasts might like to conjure with Roy d'Angolmois).
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