05x09 - The French Connection

Episode transcripts for the TV show "The Curse of Oak Island". Aired: January 5, 2014 to present.*
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Follows brothers Marty and Rick as they search for the infamous treasure on Oak Island.
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05x09 - The French Connection

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NARRATOR: Tonight, on
The Curse of Oak Island...

This takes the information hunt
to another level.

On his shield,
he's got this cross,

-which is exactly like
the HO Stone. -Wow!

RICK: There was a reference
to your family name.

Are there Templar connections?

There obviously is a connection.

RICK: They're trying to relay
some sort of information.

The secret's behind that wall.
This is a Templar cross.

JERRY: These don't exist
anywhere else.

-They only exist here.
-It's what we came for, really.

NARRATOR: There is an island
in the North Atlantic

where people have been looking
for an incredible treasure

for more than years.

So far, they have found a stone
slab with strange symbols

carved into it,

th-century coins,

even pieces of human bone.

To date, six men have d*ed

trying to solve the mystery.

And, according to legend,

one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

After months of planning,

and weeks of exploratory
drilling,

the Laginas and their partners,

with the help of an expert team
from Irving Equipment, Limited,

are finally starting to dig
a large, -inch-wide hole

into what they believe is
the location

of the original
Oak Island Money Pit.

-Good morning.
-Good morning.

So, what's going on
today, Vanessa?

So, you can see right now
they're lining up the casing

so that they can
bolt it together.

And then, as soon as they get
this one on,

-we'll start excavating out.
-Great.

We have got the first
ten feet, so now I think

we're ready for Dave
in the loader.

-Well, that's good.
-Yeah.

MIKE: Coming down a little bit.
Good.

All right, well,
they got that can lined up,

-and gonna bolt it together.
-Yes.

NARRATOR: So far,
the shaft has reached a depth

of only ten feet,
slowed down by the size

of the massive steel caissons.

It will take at least another
four to five days

before the team is able to
reach its initial target depth

of feet...

roughly the same depth

where treasure hunters
Frederick Blair

and William Chappell
first discovered evidence

of an elusive wooden box
containing traces of gold--

a box which they dubbed
"The Chappell Vault."

This year my anxiety's
a little high.

-Yeah.

'Cause I know we're gonna
find something.

-Definitely.
-Oh, yeah.

Perfect.

NARRATOR: While waiting
for the team from Irving

to reach target depth,

Rick Lagina has journeyed

some , miles
across the ocean

to Paris, France.

I bet you guys never thought
Oak Island would

-No.

NARRATOR: Traveling with two
of his nephews--

Alex Lagina
and Peter Fornetti--

Rick is eager to get
a first-hand look

at some recently acquired
information...

information which he hopes
can help validate

an ancient treasure map
first presented to him

one year ago

by historian and researcher
Zena Halpern.

Rick's curiosity was
further piqued

when he recently received
information

linking the Rochefoucauld
family--

whose name appears in the upper
right-hand corner

of Zena's map--
and a genealogy of families

directly connected
to Oak Island.

DOUG: Rochefoucauld. This is
a really interesting family

because this is a family
of Crusader kings.

NARRATOR:
Following up on this clue,

Rick then hired
professional researcher

and translator Nichola Lewis

to further investigate
possible ties between

the Rochefoucauld family
in France,

the Knights Templar
and Oak Island.

I have been in touch
with Sonia Matossian,

who is a Rochefoucauld,
and she lives at the castle,

at La Rochefoucauld itself.

And I asked her
if she would be willing

to meet you
and to show you around.

I would very much
appreciate that.

Sounds great, Nichola.
Looking forward to it.

-RICK: Hi, Nichola.
How are you? -Hi, Rick.

-Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you in person.
-Yeah.

-Hello. -Nichola, nice to
finally meet you in person.

Yeah, exactly.

This is my nephew,
Peter Fornetti.

-Nice to meet you.
-Hi. Good.

So, look,
let's get on the train,

sit down, get comfortable,

and the three of us very much
look forward to what you have.

That will be great, so we should
go and get the train right now.

Absolutely.

NARRATOR:
While making their way

by train
some miles southwest

to the town
of Charente, France,

Rick and his nephews fill
Nichola in on the progress

they have made on Oak Island
so far this year--

like the discovery
of th-century British coins;

bits of pottery
found at a depth of feet;

a piece of parchment,
along with what appears to be

a small sample of book-binding;

and two fragments
of human bone:

one whose ancestors
are European,

and another that traces back
to the Middle East.

But although the Laginas and
their partners on Oak Island

believe they are closer
than ever to finding

the original Money Pit,

they still don't know the
nature of what they may find,

or who put it there.

RICK: As pertaining to
Rochefoucauld Castle,

I mean we very much look forward
to going there,

but I think if you could fill us
in on what we might expect,

where your research has lead us,

-I think that's where
we should start. -Yeah.

The castle itself,
it's absolutely ancient.

There are these chambers
under the castle--

big chambers and tunnels
and stuff

with carvings and things
like that.

I think these two would love
to be down there,

-as would I.

RICK: Surely, I'm thinking,
there's something down there.

Carvings give you information.

Carvings are like a date
on a coin, if you will.

It's credible evidence

carved into a rock
that lasts centuries.

One of the most exciting things

would be a more solid connection

between the Templars
and Oak Island.

So, I think I did find
a connection.

So, that's the HO stone there

and the carvings.

NARRATOR: In , treasure
hunters working on Oak Island's

northern shore discovered
a large boulder

covered in mysterious carvings
and inscriptions.

Believing it to be
an indication

that treasure might lie
below it,

they blew it up with dynamite

so that they could dig
beneath it.

Unfortunately, nothing was ever
found underneath the stone,

and most of the carvings
that were etched on its surface

were lost forever.

Most, that is,
except for the one

generally referred to
as the "HO Stone."

I found two Templar chapels
in the Charente--

in the area where we are going,

and one has wall paintings.

It's a fantastic painting.

And this is a Templar
going off to fight.

But on his shield
he's got this cross,

which is exactly like
the HO Stone,

with the cross in the middle,
and dots around the cross.

-RICK: Oh, yes, very similar.
-ALEX: Absolutely.

NARRATOR:
Templar crosses?

Looking almost exactly like
the HO Stone?

Could these depictions,
found in th and th-century

Templar churches,
really be related to the one

found on Oak Island?

Now, a circle with a dot in it
can mean eternity,

but I wondered
if it could represent

the ancient Greek "O,"

and with the little dash
in the middle,

which is "theta."

And that's the first letter
of "Theos," meaning God.

It's a Christogram, in fact.

NARRATOR: Dating back
to the fourth century,

a Christogram is an
abbreviation or symbol

for Jesus Christ,
and was commonly used

in the Byzantine
and Medieval eras.

One of the oldest types is
the Chi-Rho cross,

which was later adopted
by the Knights Templar.

It is Nichola's belief
that the HO Stone

was written in Greek,

with the "H" being the symbol
for "Eta,"

and the "O"
representing "Theos."

Could it be possible
that the symbols

on the Oak Island's
mysterious HO Stone

were carved centuries ago by
members of the Knights Templar?

You're indicating this is an
ancient Greek representation.

This is not somebody who
wandered over to Oak Island

and for... on a lark, carved
these shapes into the rock.

You would have to know
what you're doing.

Yeah. It's actually quite
uncanny, really.

I think we are going to find
some very interesting

bits of information.
And for me,

this has always been
and it will continue to be

an information hunt,

every bit as much
as a treasure hunt.

I want some answers.
I think we all do.

-Yeah.
-Let's make that happen.

NARRATOR: As efforts to reach
target depth

continue at the Money Pit
drill site...

-Hey, Laird.

-Welcome back.
-Thank you.

Beautiful day to find something

-unique and powerful
and astounding. -Absolutely.

NARRATOR: Marty Lagina, along
with Oak Island team members

Dave Blankenship
and Gary Drayton,

have invited local archeologist
Laird Niven

to continue with their
recent investigation

of a strange stone foundation
on Lot ,

one of several lots once owned

by former American sl*ve
Samuel Ball.

So, what we thought is we'd head
back to the site over here

and take direction from you

-as, you know, how to
archeologically proceed. -Okay.

-Well, let's go do it.
-All right. -Dig it.

And dig it, yeah.

-The dirt isn't gonna move
itself, is it? -That's right.

NARRATOR: Because Samuel Ball is
considered one of Nova Scotia's

most culturally significant
historical figures,

the team was discouraged
from digging on the site

until Rick and Marty could
first obtain the proper permits

from Nova Scotia's Department

of Communities,
Culture and Heritage.

That's it.

GARY:
What the heck is that?

I think we have to stop.

MARTY: All right, Laird,
we're ready to be coached.

-Okay. -This will be
my first archeological dig.

-Kind of excited about it.
-Me, too.

-Just the very beginnings
of one. -Yeah. -Yeah.

NARRATOR: As Marty and his team
on Oak Island begin

their archaeological
examination on Lot ...

Rick Lagina--
along with his nephews,

Alex Lagina
and Peter Fornetti--

have arrived
at Rochefoucauld Castle

with researcher Nichola Lewis.

They are hoping
to find evidence

linking
the Rochefoucauld family

with the mysterious map which
was given to Rick one year ago

by researcher Zena Halpern.

Do come in.

-Welcome to my home.
-Madame Matossian.

Representing the nd
of generations

of the Rochefoucauld family,

Sonia Matossian serves
as the curator

of Château de la Rochefoucauld,
and is also an authority

on her family's
ancient history.

Thank you for coming.
And I'm sure

that you'll appreciate the home,

because it really is
very remarkable.

And what else
is very, very interesting,

you'll go all the way down

underneath the castle.

It's built on a rock.

That's where
our name comes from--

Foucauld's Rock,
La Roche Foucauld.

And you'll find
that you can walk

underneath the whole castle.

It hasn't got any foundations.

It's just sitting on the rock.

Château de La Rochefoucauld

began as a large
wooden fortification

built in the year

as a means of protecting
its inhabitants

from Viking invaders.

Over the next years, it
would continue to grow in size,

and is now considered one

of the greatest achievements
of the French Renaissance.

RICK:
You're standing on ground

that people
have been walking on

for a thousand years.

As we're walking in,

I'm thinking, boy,

who has set foot
on this ground before me?

Kings, queens,
perhaps Knights Templar.

If stone could talk,
I could sit there for eons

listening to the stories.

Initially,
we came here because of a map,

a map that surfaced
in the s,

and there was a reference
to your family name.

And I have a copy.

You will see the reference

to your family's name at the top

of the page.

We think there might be
some sort of connection.

Well, there obviously is
a connection.

There obviously is-- well,
there can't... it can't not be.

Because otherwise the name
wouldn't be on the paper.

RICK: It begs the question
from us that...

within the Rochefoucauld family,
are there Templar connections?

I've never heard of Templars
in the family.

Doesn't mean
that there weren't any.

I've never heard of them.

I have heard of the Crusades.

They all went to the Crusades.

So one can imagine
that they had met each other

and that they knew who was what,

because of, obviously,
the reason for the Templars

was the Crusades.

But the Templars were
more m*llitary,

and the family was
more religious.

But it doesn't mean that
they didn't meet each other.

Yes.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible

that the Knights Templar knew
and fought alongside members

of the Rochefoucauld family
during the Crusades?

If so, could the Templars
have trusted this family enough

to reveal to them the location
of a vast collection

of valuable religious artifacts
rescued from the Holy Land,

and then, perhaps,
hidden far below the surface

of Oak Island?

RICK:
This family is a dynasty.

It's extremely powerful,
extremely influential,

and there's no way

that the family did not have

some sort of connection
with the Templars.

Might that interaction
have carried back

once they came back
from the Crusades?

I should think, yes.

So, this writing, then.

I'm just wondering what you
thought of the actual writing.

RICK: Is that translation
accurately presented there,

in your opinion?

SONIA: He would have
written it in slang.

If he hadn't been educated,
he would've written it in slang,

in his slang,
which comes from his country.

Here there's a certain slang;
ten miles away, it's different.

RICK: So you think the verbiage
on there is slang?

The important people,
the people... the nobility...

-Mm-hmm. -...knew how
to speak French perfectly.

So it means he knows
what he's talking about,

but he can't write it.

It is Sonia's assessment
that the writing

on Zena Halpern's map
is in slang--

or what is commonly referred to
as "Old French"--

which was widely spoken between
the th and th centuries.

This could mean
that if the translator

only knew modern French,

some of the English
translations on the map

may be incorrect.

Can you look
at this language on the map?

This is our understanding of it.

Is this correct in your
understanding of that verbiage?

Francois de la Ro...
Francois de la Rochefoucauld.

A little drink?

(Nichola and Sonia
speaking French)

Means "towards."

-It doesn't mean a drink.

What's that?
-Towards. -Towards.

(Nichola and Sonia
speaking French)

What... so, what does it say?

SONIA:
It's nothing to do with drink.

-Towards the west.
-Towards the west.

-SONIA: So, it says,

-"Towards the west."
-"Towards the west."

NARRATOR:
While searching for new leads

at the Rochefoucauld Castle

in Charente, France,
Rick Lagina

has just been informed
that the English translation

on the map given to him
by researcher Zena Halpern

is most likely incorrect.

Instead of reading:
"This drawing

"for Monsieur
Francois Rochefoucauld,

a little drink from Neustria,"

it states something
significantly different.

So, it says, "This sketch
for Mr. La Rochefoucauld.

"A little towards...

a little towards
the-the-the west."

Does this new translation
offer proof

that the source
of Zena Halpern's map

was not only very old,
but was quite possibly the work

of someone associated
with the Knights Templar?

And, if so,

does this validate
the legends and theories

that insist the Knights Templar
came to Oak Island

sometime in the th century

and hid
an incredible treasure there?

This takes the information hunt
to another level.

There's no question about that.

We're actually engaged
in the process.

Zena's map and her research,
I find incredible.

I want to prove
that it's authentic,

and to that end,

I think we've made
some strides here, uh, but...

I don't know
that we're there yet.

I'm going to give you the keys,

and you're going to go all
the way down to Foucauld's Rock.

-I'm not going to go with you.
-Mm-hmm.

I'll be waiting
with a cup of tea,

which is much more agreeable

than going down
to Foucauld's Rock.

You go down,
and I'll wait for you next door.

-We will be back.
-Thank you very much.

NARRATOR:
As Rick, Alex and Peter

make their way
to Foucauld's Rock,

back on Oak Island,
Rick's brother, Marty,

continues his exploration

of the mysterious area
recently discovered on property

once owned by the former
American sl*ve, Samuel Ball.

All right,
so here's the feature we found.

-Right. -There's a concentration
of stones, fairly deep.

That's what we're gonna reveal.

We're gonna err
on the side of caution

and take our time
and excavate down.

So remove the loose soil,
screen it,

-until we get what we hope is
an intact feature. -Okay.

While Laird carefully brushes
dirt and debris

away from the stones,

Marty and Gary
will set up a screen sifter

to search through the spoils.

So, we're just trying to
establish some solid walls here.

MARTY:
Just trying to define the dig.

LAIRD:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

MARTY: What do you think
you're unearthing here?

-Well...

Well, there was
a gravel level that we hit.

And now below that,
we're finding... rocks.

It doesn't look natural to me.

It looks deposited
by people, to me.

I would think maybe a floor.

NARRATOR:
A floor?

On property once belonging
to Samuel Ball?

In , Oak Island
was divided into lots,

each comprised
of four acres of land.

Because there was no causeway,

and the only way to reach
the island was by boat,

the land was not generally
thought of as a place to live,

but as a place to farm.

The absence
of natural predators

also made it an ideal place
to keep livestock.

Even to this day,

there are only three habitable
structures on the island,

so the finding of a foundation
on Samuel Ball's property

is highly unusual.

I don't see any metal, do you?

Oh.

Look--
a little piece of pottery.

-LAIRD: Oh, excellent.
-GARY: It's just a small piece.

You're not getting a lot
of information off this, but...

This might be early--
it looks like, uh,

what we call
Staffordshire slipware.

GARY:
When you say this is early,

what kind of time frame here?

So, say mid- th century to...

to, like, s.

-MARTY: What tells you
that that's old? -The body...

and the glaze.

That's the earliest stuff
we've found so far.

GARY:
Yeah, that's great.

MARTY:
I was impressed, honestly.

I mean, I was
kind of rolling my eyes

a little bit
when he gets down there

with that trowel and,
you know, makes us sift

all that dirt, but, you know,

by gosh, here comes
a piece of pottery--

there's just no way
we would've found it otherwise.

You can't metal-detect pottery.

What he's doing is working.

This is the layer

-where the ceramics
are coming from. -Yeah.

And that's sitting on top
of those large rocks.

-MARTY: Yeah.

LAIRD: That's unusual.
That's not glacial.

MARTY:
You know what's amazing?

The little bit of clearing
we did here,

look how pretty this lot is.

-Yeah. -MARTY: Explains why it
would be a nice homesite,

or encampment or staging area.

-And look at the command of the
mainland right up there. -Yeah.

-Yeah. -GARY: Maybe just
a crossing point,

where people came across here.

MARTY: That's what I mean,
if somebody's

-trying to get here, and you
needed to know about it, -Yeah.

this would be the place to be.

NARRATOR: Given that
the foundation on Lot

is n large enough to have
once been part of a house

or a dwelling...

Is it possible it was part

of some other,
less permanent structure,

like a lookout post?

One where someone on the island

could keep a watchful eye

on anyone approaching
from the ocean?

If so, could it have been
built by someone

who kept watch
over the Money Pit site?

Or someone who helped dig it?

For that answer, many more
hours will be needed,

and many more artifacts
will need to be uncovered.

-Well, we're doing it right,
I'm proud of that. -Yep.

NARRATOR: As Marty Lagina and
the Oak Island team

continue to search
for clues on Lot ...

Rick Lagina,
along with his nephews

and researcher
Nichola Lewis,

begin their exploration
of the caves

located beneath Rochefoucauld
Castle in France.

Rick is hoping to find carvings

or other physical evidence
linking the Rochefoucauld

family to the Knights Templar,
and possibly Oak Island.

-So, this must be...
-Foucauld's Rock.

Yeah. We're inside of it.

NARRATOR:
Foucauld's Rock is the name

of the natural stone foundation

that the entire
castle rests upon.

It gets its name from Fucaldus,

the first person to build
a structure on this site

in the year AD,

more than , years ago.

Oh, this is, this is...

the bottom.

NICHOLA:
Kind of eerie, isn't it?

RICK:
This is, this is, this what

the castle was built out of.

-Yeah. -Yes.
-This rock, limestone.

RICK:
I mean, literally, the castle

rises from that stone,
that rock.

And their family name
comes from that...

on the rock.

And, you know, you're standing
on the very rock

that her ancestors defended.

So it was a little piece
of history.

You know, you reach out
and touch it.

I'm not seeing any.

-PETER: No carvings.
-No.

PETER:
Keeps going.

ALEX:
No.

-We didn't find
any carvings, so... -RICK: No.

For something this old,
I find it quite strange

that there's nothing.

Well, you would think that

this is a perfect place.

You know, perhaps
with supplies down here,

people are gonna be down here.

Bottom line is, I'm mystified

there's no carvings down here.

Okay, should we head up?

-RICK: Yeah.
-ALEX: Okay.

So, how did you like

the famous Foucauld's Rock?

-It was impressive.
-It's amazing to think that he

-built his camp on the rock
in . -Mm-hmm.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

There's one thing,
uh, that we noticed.

We were looking for carvings in
the caves and we didn't see any.

You know why?

-No, I don't.
-Because in the th century,

the people that lived in
the town used to tan leather.

And to be able to tan leather,

they moved the bed of the river.

-and made it go
under the castle. -Oh.

And it's probably
washed everything off.

Per our quest,

you've been immensely helpful
and we're very,

very appreciative.

We hope that the information

you've-you've been kind enough

to give us will help us
in our discovery.

-We appreciate everything.
-Thank you for coming.

-Thank you.
-Thank you for coming, dear.

NARRATOR: The next day, Rick
Lagina, along with his nephews,

Alex Lagina
and Peter Fornetti,


travel to the village
of Domme, France.

I'm Rick. -Hello, Rick.

NARRATOR:
They have arranged to meet

with Templar expert
Jerry Glover,

in hopes of finding carvings

or other physical evidence
linking Oak Island

with various theories
concerning the Knights Templar.

Jerry has offered to get Rick
and his nephews access

to a th-century French
fortress known as Domme Prison.

This is the guardhouse where
the Templars were imprisoned.

NARRATOR:
The fortified stronghold known

as Domme Prison was
founded in

by King Philip III of France.

After the king's
sudden death in ,

his son, Philip IV,
took the crown

and soon fell into substantial
debt to the Knights Templar,

who were, by then, a very
powerful group of warrior monks

who had amassed
a substantial fortune

while serving
as the paid bodyguards

for Christian pilgrims
visiting the Holy Land.

We were trying
to connect the Templars

with Oak Island.

Well, you've come
to the right place,

because it's always
been assumed that

there are no original
Templar writings

or artworks; their archive
in Paris was destroyed.

But, it happens,

that here at the, uh,
guardhouse in Domme,

they did leave, uh,
lots of traces

of, uh, thoughts and,
uh, sacred ideas

in the form of graffiti
on the walls here.

Great, can we take a look?

Absolutely, let's have a look.

RICK: The Templars
were imprisoned here.

They were not going to escape.

Their lives were to end here.

And the three of us
are quite excited to see

what type of carvings
and can they be

associated with Oak Island?

JERRY:
Come in.

Wow.

RICK:
It's an incredible structure.

So, were they housed here
for seven years?

Yes, they were, yes.

NARRATOR:
On Friday , ,

King Philip IV ordered that
the Templars be rounded up

and arrested
on charges of heresy.

The captured Templars
were brought to Domme

where they were imprisoned...

tortured...

and later ex*cuted.

And you can see lots of evidence
of how they passed their time,

which was by making carvings

in the walls
to sustain them, spiritually.

How would they have carved this?

They surely would not
have had implements?

It's said that,

because their weapons
would've been removed from them

when they were imprisoned,
they would've

had to have maybe
used their teeth,

or their fingernails.

This one has clearly been
worked on over many hours,

possibly by more
than one person.

Over here is some of the most
well-known carvings at Domme.

This way.

Deep carvings of the Virgin Mary
with, uh, the child Jesus.

Rather ordinary crosses.

Are these crosses with the...

What shall we call them?
Triangles on the end?

Is this solely
a Templar construct?

Because this is what we've come
to call a Templar cross,

but what is its origination?

I mean, is it
exclusively Templar?

It isn't exclusively Templar,

though it is closely associated

with the Crusading orders.

Still Crusaders,

but not-not exclusively Templar.

This one here, which is
one termed "The Grail."

It's a symmetric,
geometric design.

There seems to be the form,

possibly, of a chalice
in this section,

and the octagonal shape
on the top,

with a-a branching
form inside it.

There's something that I see in
it, and it may mean nothing.

What do you two see?

If you turn this around,
what is that?

Well...

It's reminiscent of the
Rochefoucauld family

-coat of arms.
-RICK: Exactly.

NARRATOR: The Rochefoucauld
family coat of arms?

Represented in a carving
of the Holy Grail?

Could this be evidence
of the close bond

that existed between
the Rochefoucauld family

and the Knights Templar?

Also, the special Domme cross,

with, uh, multiple arms

reflected, uh, horizontally,
and, uh,

splaying into branching forms,
most plant-like.

-Have you seen examples
of that before? -No.

These don't exist anywhere else.
They only exist here.

It's so unusual.

You have to think
of what other sources

of inspiration there
could have been for this.

And I think it's possible,

given their contacts
in the Holy Land,

that this might have
been inspired by

the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.

NARRATOR: At a th-century
Templar prison

in Domme, France...

Rick Lagina, along
with his nephews

Alex Lagina and Peter Fornetti,
have just been shown

an ancient Templar carving
of what appears to be

the ancient Hebraic symbol
known as the Tree of Life.

ALEX:
We've seen that before.

Well, we've-we've heard theories

about that before.

NARRATOR:
It is widely believed

that the Knights Templar
were in the Middle East

not only to protect Christian
pilgrims during the Crusades,

but to search for and secure

sacred religious objects
and records.

According to researchers,
the Templars,

while in the Holy Land,
studied and adopted imagery

from the Kabbalistic order
of Judaism,

including that associated
with the "Tree of Life,"

which defines God and creation
as an interconnected series

of ten intellectual
and emotional attributes,

otherwise known as sefirot.

It is this same symbol
that many researchers believe

can be found on Oak Island,

in the form of a mysterious
collection of large boulders

known as Nolan's Cross.

Jerry referenced a carving,
which he thought

was a Tree of Life design,

and, for me,
I believe we have found

some evidence on the island
that perhaps represents

the Tree of Life.

So there's
a direct connection there.

NARRATOR:
But could this carving,

found on the walls
of a th-century prison,

also be connected
to Oak Island another way?

Could it offer a clue
as to how a human bone,

found to be
of Middle Eastern origin,

was recently discovered
in Borehole H- ,

some feet deep
below ground?

If this is the Tree of Life,

then one could posit
that they're trying to relay

some sort of information here.

They know they're in trouble,
they're imprisoned,

they know that the Templar
community is under siege

by the pope and the king.

Now, they obviously wanted
to keep that symbolism alive.

I mean,
you're in dire straits here,

you're not gonna record
something on these walls

that doesn't associate
with your belief system.

Absolutely.

The Templars have nothing
to lose at this point,

so what you have here

is pure, unfettered thoughts.

NARRATOR: It is widely believed
that the Templars,

having no hope
of escape or survival,

were convinced that their
beliefs and traditions

would die with them.

For this reason, they carved
symbols and effigies

all over the walls
of Domme Prison,

often using their own teeth
as tools.

We'd like you to take
a look at that stone.

The HO Stone,
which was found on Oak Island.

This was part
of a much larger stone,

with many carvings on it.

Unfortunately, in the s,

this stone was blown up
by locals

looking for treasure
underneath the stone.

But these glyphs,
what do you make of them?

It's certainly interesting

that the cross at the center
with the pellets

is indicative
of graffiti crosses carved

by Crusading knights.

You see similar ones here
in the guardhouse at Domme.

Really

There's some over here.

Here's a good example.

ALEX:
Oh, yeah.

One, two, three, four.

-Well... -You can see it
better on the top one.

RICK:
Oh, yes. Yes.

Isn't that a Templar cross?

NARRATOR:
While numerous stone carvings,

believed to have been left by
members of the Knights Templar,

have been found
on and near Oak Island...

On the face of the stone,

you can see the cross
of the Knights Templar.

...the carvings
at Domme Prison,

which depict a cross
with four pellets,

are nearly identical to those
found on the HO Stone.

Based on what is referred to
as a Jerusalem crucifix,

this so-called Templar cross
also features

four smaller crosses,

which are said to represent
the four evangelists,

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Once the Knights Templar
adopted this symbol,

they changed the images
of the four smaller crosses

to four coins,

which were meant to represent

their established
banking system.

RICK: The symbology
we're seeing on the walls,

and the HO Stone--
very, very similar.

I mean, they couldn't be
more similar.

So, it's a direct connection,
but what does it mean?

Does that mean
that Templars did both?

I don't know.

I mean, it's a clue.

It-it surely opens the door
to possibilities.

I just think that there's...

there's more here
than I thought.

-Yeah.
-I am surprised, I really am,

that you've got
the Tree of Life,

you've got the pellets on the
crosses that look similar,

very similar, in my opinion,
to the HO Stone.

I mean, it's what
we came for, really.

We tried to connect, with some
clarity, some definition,

the possibility that Templars
had come to the New World,

maybe to Oak Island.

I mean there's a lot
of connective tissue here.

RICK:
I think France was important.

I think we had to follow up.

I think the connections

with Zena's map
needed to be followed up,

and we now have
these connections.

So we need to do more research.

That's really what
I walk away with.

We're not done.

We've got our homework.

And to that end, Jerry, we thank
you very much for all your help.

All right.
Thank you very much, Rick.

All the best of luck
with your search, guys.

-RICK: Thank you.
-JERRY: Bye, fellas.

NARRATOR: It is the start
of another exciting day

on Oak Island,

as Rick Lagina,
along with Marty's son, Alex,

have just returned from their
incredible trip to France.

MARTY: Gentlemen, our traveling
investigators are back

from the old country,

and we're eager
to hear what you found.

Well, as you know,

that we had hired
a researcher, Nichola Lewis.

She brought us up to speed
about her research.

The focus of it
really was the pellets

around the cross
on the HO Stone.

Get the picture of the cross
with the four pellets.

Ah, yeah, we'll get there.

RICK:
Up there around the cross,

you can see the four pellets

in the four quadrants
of the cross.

And here we have it,

a representation
on the HO Stone.

You have the four pellets
and the cross.

That is virtually identical
to this symbol on the HO Stone.

-Virtually identical.
-ALEX: Mm-hmm.

MARTY:
I find it amazing.

They're identical.

They're not close,
they're identical.

-Right.
-MARTY: I find that interesting.

I don't know what the connection
is to Oak Island,

and why these things
always can have

some sort of tenuous connection
to Oak Island

is really one of the greatest
mysteries we have here.

RICK:
As we were leaving,

Nichola suggested
that we go to Domme,

and meet up with
a fellow who's an expert,

if you will, on Domme.

And this fellow,
Jerry Glover, is a...

has done ten years worth
of research on the symbology

within these towers.

ALEX: So here's a look
at these carvings that we saw.

That looks like a Templar cross.

So does that.

So, here's where we're at.
I mean, we're in this room

that was used
to imprison Templars,

and they were making
these carvings to do

with their belief system.

They don't think
they're gonna get out.

And so we thought,
this is a good place to look

for any connections
to Oak Island, if there are any.

What we found
really interesting,

according to Jerry,
this carving down here

is meant to represent
the Tree of Life.

MARTY:
It's not the Tree of Life

that we're using here though,
right

We have an understanding
of the modern representations,

and this could be
a very early depiction.

I do know this.

The Templars were influenced

by many cultures
in the Middle East,

and thus, that may be
how they came to be connected

to the Tree of Life.

What does this mean
in our search?

We now garnered some truths,
if you will,

from the walls at Domme,

that the Templars did believe
in the Tree of Life.

And that it was important enough

to carve into stone
to pass onto future generations.

And I believe that Nolan's Cross
has something to do

with the swamp
and the Tree of Life.

MARTY: So all this
that you went and found

leads us back into the swamp?

No, not just the swamp.

I go back to the find one thing
that is irrefutable evidence,

be it Templars or not,
it's "find the one thing."

And there's only one way
to do it.

Get back out there,
and get after it.

Okay. Done.

RICK:
You know, my brother brings

a healthy skepticism
to the pursuit.

I mean,
I'm eternally optimistic,

and I hope to find the one thing

that turns him
from skeptic to believer.

MARTY: I think, Rick,
he makes a very good case.

I mean, you can see
the similarities.

He's adding some evidence.

NARRATOR:
At the Money Pit drill site,

the large rotating oscillator
continues grinding the caisson

deeper and deeper
into the ground.

Within a few days,

it will have reached its first
target depth of some feet.

But what lies below
is still a burning mystery,

fueled by imagination,

along with bits of paper
and ragged chunks of bone.

Will the Laginas
and their partners find

a lost pirate treasure?

Precious religious artifacts?

Or will they discover
something more?

Perhaps a history more profound
than any yet recorded--

a history
not only of Oak Island,

but of all mankind.

Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...

We're , we are definitively
sitting on something.

RICK: The oscillator
is on a flat, hard surface.

Could this be the vault?

DOUG:
I found your ship's log.

"It has been agreed
that a deep pit be dug,

"and treasure securely buried.

"The pit to have
a secret entrance

by a tunnel from the shore."

There's a trail now, to follow.

It fits in every aspect.

GARY:
Whoa, whoa, whoa!

Holy...

I've seen that shape before.

In the Templar prison in France.
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