Nostradamus has predicted:

Richelieu, Prime-Minister of Louis XIII

According to my own method of interpretation,
only french lines in dark blue will be analysed and interpreted


Quatrain VIII-57

De soldat simple parviendra en empire
De robe courte parviendra à la longue:
Vaillant aux armes en Eglise ou plus pire,
Vexer les prêtres comme l'eau fait l'éponge..

From private soldier will rise to empire
From short soutane will rise to the long one,
Courageous in arms against the Church or even worst
He will squeeze the clergy as water in a sponge.


Analysis:
robe courte


robe longue
vaillant aux armes


en Église ou plus pire

vexer les prêtres
comme l'eau fait l'éponge

short dress. In the 17th century, the priests wore soutanes of various lengths according to the regions, usually above the shoe. Compared to that of a cardinal, it is, nevertheless a
A cardinal wore along dresstrailing on the ground.
a courageous soldier. Cardinal Richelieu was first destined to a military career, which served him admirably when he took the head of the troups at the siege of La Rochelle.
with the Church or worse. In fact, he did not hesitate to chase the pontifical garrisons
to upset the clergy.
as the water in a sponge.Just as the sponge absorbs water, so will Richelieu take from the coffers of the Church the riches the king needs to govern the country.

Interpretation

From chaplain of the queen, Richelieu becomes cardinal.
He does not fear to oppose the clergy and even the pope,
And he takes abundantly from the coffers of the Church to help the State.

History

Cardinal Richelieu
Being a noble, Richelieu was first destined to a military career which he abandoned for family reasons. Bishop of Luçon in 1607, deputy of the clergy at the General States in 1614, he is promoted shortly after as chaplain (la robe courte)of the young queen Anne of Austria that Louis XIII has just wed. He becomes one of the advisors of the regent who gives him a post of secretary of State. He is then promoted cardinal (la robe longue) in 1622 and, in 1624, Louis XIII, after many hesitations, made him join the Council; four months later, he becomes Prime-Minister...
...In order to ruin the Huguenot party that had organized itself and formed a State within the State, he undertakes and leads himself (vaillant aux armes...)the siege of La Rochelle, its main fortified town...
Richelieu affirms likely the sovereign rights of the State with regard to the Holy See. In spite of the storms it will create and the protestations of the pope, he taxes the clergy that must contribute financially (vexer les prêtres comme l'eau fait l'éponge), in spite of its antique exemptions, an amount to be fixed by the king in exchange for the use of the properties granted to them...
...He (Richelieu) occupies the Valteline with an army that chases the spanish and pontifical garrison (...en Église ou plus pire).
(Translation F.L. - Encyclopédie Universelle Illustrée - Georges Pascal)


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