The identity of Nostradamus’s first Antichrist seems indisputable to his countless students and fans: Napoleon Bonaparte, the emperor of France from 1799 to 1814, was born in 1769 on the island of Corsica, fifty miles from the coast of Italy. No one would disagree with the description of him as a “butcher” throughout his reign. And, for good measure, his imperial crest was the symbol of the beehive. Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba but escaped for one hundred days. After a defeat at Waterloo he relinquished all power and was exiled to the tiny island of St. Helena.

The second Antichrist was described by Nostradamus as a “great enemy of the human race” and a master manipulator:

Out of the deepest part of the west of Europe,

From poor people a young child shall be born,

Who with his tongue shall seduce many people.

His fame shall increase in the Eastern Kingdom.

He shall come to tyrannize the land.

He shall raise up a hatred that had long been dormant.

The child of Germany observes no law.

Cries, and tears, fire, blood and battle.

In a separate quatrain Nostradamus adds:

A captain of Germany shall come to yield himself by false hope,

So that his revolt shall cause great bloodshed.

Beasts wild with hunger will cross the rivers

The greater part of the battlefield will be against Hister.

It’s no surprise that this is widely believed to be Nostradamus’s prophecy of the rise of Adolf Hitler, who was born in Austria in 1889 to a poor family. References like “tyrannized” and “raised up a hatred” and “observed no law” and “seducing many people with his tongue” are understatements to describe the psychopathic, sadistic, inhuman monster that “child of Germany” proved to be.

However, critics of Nostradamus’s works are quick to point out that “Hister,” rather than being an uncanny reference to Hitler that was just one letter off, happened to be the name of the lower Danube River during Nostradamus’s time. This is one of countless quatrains in which the debate over the “true interpretation” isn’t likely to end.

As for the third Antichrist, Nostradamus was again both very descriptive and subject to exhaustive debate:

Out of the country of Greater Arabia

Shall be born a strong master of Muhammad …

He will enter Europe wearing a blue turban.

He will be the terror of mankind …

From the sky will come the great King of Terror.

He will bring back to life the King of the Mongols;

Before and after war reigns.

The sky will burn at forty-five degrees.

Fire approaches the great new city.

By fire he will destroy their city,

A cold and cruel heart,

Blood will pour,

Mercy to none.

Before September 11, 2001, it was widely accepted that the “great new city” was a reference to New York City, with the words “the sky will burn at forty-five degrees” referring to New York’s location near forty-five degrees latitude. After September 11, 2001, the “obvious” reference in Nostradamus’s prophecy was to the World Trade Center, consumed in flames, burning so high in the air before the towers collapsed that the flames were at a forty-five-degree angle to the horizon.

Which brings up an important point about Nostradamus and virtually every other prophet in history: their prophecies have to be put in the context of the times in which they were said or written. For example, one of Nostradamus’s most widely quoted quatrains in discussions about his doomsday prophecies reads:

In the Year 1999 and seven months

The Great King of Terror will come from the sky.

He will bring back Ghengis Khan

Before and after War rules happily.

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