The Curse of Oak Island, Season 5 Episode 9, first airing on January 9, 2018,
“The French Connection”
The S5 E9 O.I. was exciting to watch. Credible evidence linking Oak Island in Nova Scotia to a French noble family, with ties to the Knights Templar, should make anyone with a pulse, sit forward on their sofa!
You might be interested in my prior (hastily written) blog on this episode, which can be read here.
During the episode, Rick Lagina and co. travel to castle Rochefoucauld to meet the family representative and Curator, Sonia Matossian.
They discussed the Zena Halpern Map, as the ancient family name was scrawled across the top of the right-hand corner.
The map originally appeared in a book written by Zena Halpern. The Templar Mission to Oak Island and Beyond. ISBN 9781544744513 See Part IV page 259
While the cast of the documentary decoded the phrases in the upper right corner, I decided to have a look at the lower right corner of the map. To my knowledge, it had yet to be deciphered.
There are two lines of text:
The translation reads as “the Indians from the south work well”
And, “the little lion of Talmont”
The difficulty in translating the text is that it appears to be based on old French and not a modern usage of it. Alternately, my friend who lives in France suggested that it might be someone who uses French as a second language. The author of the map is perhaps able to speak it with far more accuracy than to write it, which is another ballpark. The map and associated documents that appear in the Halpern book, appear to have been copied in the 1970’s from an earlier source.
Briefly, as we’re talking about a transatlantic voyage dated 1347, which is the date associated with the map, knowing that ‘Indians from the south’ are inclined to be friendly is very important. Calling for backup is not an option in North America at this time. One needed to know exactly, if possible, what you were getting into with the local peoples!
Thankfully the tribe mentioned were not likely to be violent. It also indicates prior knowledge; that there is direct understanding of the area. A prior voyage! But when? How often were crossings made? As far as I’m concerned, voyages since at least the 10th century, from Western Europe, were occurring regularly. Zena Halpern’s book discusses one voyage, in particular, I recommend reading it.
But who is the “Young Lion of Talmont” – ‘Where’ must be the first clue…
Castle Talmont is on the coast, just north of La Rochelle, where the Templar fleet had been based prior to October 13, 1307. Proximity is of great significance.
Talmont castle was considered strong and able to withstand a siege as it could be supplied from the sea. Of course, waterways were the freeways for centuries and not a barrier as we consider them today.
Taking the date of 1347 helped rule out Richard the Lionheart (Reign 1189 – 1199) who also owned Talmont, or Talmond Castle, as ruler of the Duchy of Aquitaine via his famous mother, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.
I had another look at the ownership of the castle during 1347 and there is indeed a ‘Lion’ and in this case, ‘little’ is actually a reference to age, ‘young’. In other words, the Lion did something noteworthy when he was a young warrior. Training for knighthood began in pre-teens. There are accounts of boys as young as eight fighting in battle with their fathers.
After Richard I died, the castle passed to the Mauleons and with no male heirs, it then passed through marriage to the Vicounts of Thouars.
The Young Lion of Talmont
Louis I de Thouars, the Young Lion of Talmont was born in 1310 and died 1370, carrying ‘…the full arms of Thouars’. He is also within living memory of the Knights Templar, the Order having been criminalized in 1314 by King Phillip.
Lord Thouars engaged in the Battle of Poitiers in 1356 very near his own lands. Fighting alongside him was Sir Aimery de la Rochechouart. Sir Aimery was from a family branch through marriage to the Rochefoucauld’s in 1295 which produced nine children. Likewise, the family de la Roche also intermarried with the Rochefoucauld’s. They all knew each other or were related. It would be impossible for the Viscounts of Thouars and the Rochefoucauld’s not to have been associated. Pg. 184 Sir John Froissart’s Chronicles of England, France, Spain, Volume 6
The translation from the book in French where I found his seal:
“Louis I de Thouars, who was viscount from 1333 to 1370, carried the full arms of Thouars Or charged with 139. – Seal of Louis de Thouars, 1338. Flowers [fleur] of azure lily in canton gules. This coat of arms is on his bookmark affixed in 1338 (1094 Archives). It is round, 0.02, (Figure 139), and is very finely engraved; the shield is leaning, stamped with a helmet of face to shutters, crown of a lion between two horns of deer; his legend”
Pg. 214, The History of Archaeology 1892, De La Mayenne
The Fleur de Lis is also on House Thouars seal, which was first used by Clovis I of the Long Haired Sorcerer Kings, the Merovingian’s. Later the symbol was adopted as the national emblem of France.
It’s difficult to know at this point if the Viscount went on the voyage with the Templars or remained in France. He was under house arrest after the loss of Poitiers in 1356. But in years prior, it is possible he sailed to the new world with his Templar compatriots.
It is exciting to find the real men and women driving the events that took place in 1347 and a clearer, greater picture of the need to find a haven on Oak Island, Nova Scotia.
The Templars fled to safe ports in multiple countries in Europe, including England. The political divides must have become an increasing source of hardship for the once neutral Templar brothers, now possibly facing each other in conflict across borders.
The Fleur de Lis and the Holy Grail
There has been much said regarding the true meaning behind the Holy Grail. In my own research, the marriage of Canna was the wedding of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
The priest-kings, the Merovingian’s, have become the flashpoint for this lineage. Instead of the Grail actually being a cup, the old French translation of Holy Grail actually reads as ‘Sangreal’ or Royal Blood. The cup is the perfect anatomical symbol for the line of kings, a direct representation of the womb of its ancestress, Mary Magdalene.
The male equivalent of this iconography would be the Fleur de Lis.
According to legend, King Clovis I was given the symbol of the Fleur de Lis by his wife, Queen and Saint, Clotilde (475-545). She had been inspired to give him the emblem of three fleur de lis for his shield by an angel. The number three is a possible reference to the number of children from Jesus’ own marriage.
The fleur de lis has been incorrectly explained as either a lily or an iris. If I may be so bold here, a two-dimensional representation of the symbol is rather ‘male’ in its attributes. It is the perfect pairing to the Holy Grail. Male and Female. And boldly hidden in plain sight. ‘God the father’, certainly takes on a new meaning here…
Domme Castle Prison Graffiti
The image on the left has its basis in a Judaic meditation, which aids in the explanation of the nature of God and our relationship to higher wisdom.
S5 E9 of O.I., displays a distinctive ‘tree of life’. Photo credit to History Chanel, S5E9 The Curse of Oak Island However, ‘the tree’ contains a further mystery. We are looking directly at the name of a famous and influential family. The Templar prisoner who carved it was a member of the Medici family of Florence Italy!
All Templar knights had to be from a noble family, this rule was written in their bylaws. The imprisoned man would have been related to the powerful Medici family.
The stylized Fleur de Lis was adopted by the powerful Medici family of Florence centuries before, whose coat of arms has always been a mystery. I cover the subject in my book, The Secret Dossier of a Knight Templar of the Sangreal.
The floriated Fleur de Lis is a distinction to the French variation. In plain English, they miniaturized the Fleur de Lis as a triangle, with branches flowing off the main center icon. In other words, a pictorial reference to a secret family tree flowing back the Royal House of David.
The Medici Fleur de Lis denotes a family tree springing from Jesus and MM. The city of Florence uses the device as its coat of arms due to the very influential family that ruled it.
The Medici’s brought about the Italian Renaissance through art, architecture, science. They were the patrons behind Leonard da Vinci, Botticelli and Fra Angelico to name a few. They were popes, dukes and their daughters married the kings of Europe. But perhaps more interesting, they were a powerful banking family! It’s hard to miss this connection as the Templars were also astute bankers, having developed systems which carried into Switzerland.
Below: the famous Medici Wedding Tapestry of 1589
Note the two different Fleur de Lis on Ferdinando’s wedding coat; one is the French version and the other is the Medici. The Medici family were granted use of the French symbol as they were sworn allies and Catherine de Medici (1519-1589) became the Consort Queen of France to Henry II.
Note the image of the floor of the Duomo Cathedral of the Medici coat of arms and the Templar cross within the triple circles of eternity. The triangle, of course, can be recognized as a symbol of Freemasonry. The alternating circles represent ‘punched’ coins. It is a heraldic device where the center of the coin is punched out. I believe this ties in with Zena’s pellets and the indents found in Templar graffiti marks and also is a code for the Cross of Jerusalem, as discussed in the S5E9 of O.I.
Photo Credit: The History Chanel, S5E9 The Curse of Oak Island
Photo Credit: The History Chanel, S5E9 The Curse of Oak Island
Please see my other blog which includes further info on the Medici shield.
… Back to the Young Lion of Talmont…
Viscount, Louis I de Thouars would have been about 37 years old in the year 1347.
The battle of Calais, the main city port on the northwest coast of France, was raging from 1336 through to 1347 against Edward III who finally took it. The important city remained in English hands until 1558. As an aside, the Scots sent troops to the French to fight the English at this battle.
Calais would have been out of reach for the French considering a transatlantic voyage. Not that there weren’t other ports in France but southern Talmont just makes sense.
In order to keep the journey a secret, it is likely that the Rochefoucauld’s would have formed an alliance with the Viscount Thouars and used the castle and its harbor as a staging point.
Note the fish next to the name across the bottom of Zena’s map. I believe the fish in this context, indicates the harbor of Talmont Castle. The castle is now 4 miles inland which probably happened about 400 years ago in the 1600s. Of course the fish also has Christian connotations. But this is not the typical Christian fish symbol. It is too complicated with the extra fin and eye. Christians would create an arc in the dirt or in the palm of someone they would meet on the road. If a reverse arc was responded with, the two would know they shared the same faith.
Many questions remain as to the people involved and the nature of the objects hidden on the island. I look forward to discovering more and sharing it…