It was so heavy that it required three men to carry it to Levasseur's ship. He died in 1977 before he could break the last piece of the code. This is the story of the one-eyed pirate Olivier Levasseur. Samuel Bellamy. During the War of the Spanish Succession which drew half of Europe into conflict from 1700, with the French crown looking for independent sailors to pursue their interests, he obtained a letter of marque from King Louis XIV and became a privateer. On his way to the gallows, Levasseur wore a necklace tucked under his shirt collar. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. What was the Deadly Cocoliztli Disease that Decimated Aztec Society? During the War of the Spanish Succession (17011714), he procured a letter of marque from King Louis XIV and became a privateer for the French crown. He is known for allegedly hiding one of the biggest treasures in pirate history, estimated at over 1billion, and leaving a cryptogram behind with clues to its whereabouts. The limited vision and affected depth perception he now had, did not have an impact on his ability to lead his men. Whilst Levasseur was a notorious and much-feared pirate during his days, his greatest legacy is the alleged treasure that he had hidden. During that time he hid his treasure, reputed to be 90,000,000 gold French francs and a hoard of other valuables. METTEZSURKEPATAIEDELAPERTOTITOUSN For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. The treasure chamber is somewhere underground and must be approached carefully, to avoid being flooded. Levasseur, who had no idea what was on the ship, was astonished with the haul. Born at Calais during the Nine Years' War (1688-97) to a wealthy bourgeois family, he became a naval officer after receiving an excellent education. Ready for a BIG treasure hunt? Hi.Im interrested in story about Le Vasseur almost all my life.It started when i was mayby 8 years old.At this time i have read articel about Cruise Wilkins ,his long tome search for treasure.At this time i had seen famous "kryptogam of Levasseur".Then i had interruption for 20 years.After it i started my carrer as a amateur treasure hunter,on theoretical base,because i have not enought money for practical hunt.Im daily in search for various documents about treasures around the world,but mainly in Indian ocean. But within months, Levasseur turned to a more lucrative career of piracy. It seems as though he had turned his life around, and just when he thought he had gotten away with his old acts of piracy, it all came crashing down. Which would seem to make it more likely that the 1933 translation of the Gold Bug was used as a basis for these lines than Baudelaires 1845 translation. These legendary riches turned out to be real, and are still waiting to be found. And with this, in one quick motion, he ripped the necklace from his body and threw it into the crowd of onlookers and exclaimed: Find my treasure, the one who may understand it!. In June of that year, barely two months after the loss of La Louise Levasseur resurfaced in the Caribbean in a smaller vessel that he had managed to steal on his way back from Brazil. It was reported that Levasseur told the executioner something strange during the walk over. Cruise-Wilkins searched for and dug in the island of Mahe until his death, but never found anything in a cave except antique rifles, a few scattered coins, and the desiccated bodies of long dead pirates. I can just visualise the hands going up, the fight, to meet the paper in the air, John said wistfully. This time by the HMS Scarborough under the command of Captain Hume, who was tailing the 60 man crew led by Levasseur. While La Buse was no saint by any stretch of the imagination, he was inspired by Every and wanted to get his piece of the loot for himself and crew. Various tasks, reflecting Herculess Labors, were to be completed in a precise order to access the treasure chamber. There are many strange mysteries that reside in history, but one of the most unsettling is that of the Octavius ghost ship. He also took their ship and left them with a smaller boat. Does he have the code? JavaScript is disabled. But I could not give them that satisfaction, John said. He stays 3 days. John explained that the fascinating tale of the treasure started in 1716 when Frenchman Olivier Levasseur, otherwise known as 'La Buse' (The Buzzard) because of the speed with which he would. The booty consisted of bars of gold and silver, dozens of boxes full of golden Guineas, diamonds, pearls, silk, art, and religious objects from the Se Cathedral in Goa, including the Fiery Cross of Goa, made of pure gold and inlaid with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. The Hawk's Cryptogram: The Hidden Treasures of the Pirate. In 1729, despite trying to lay low at the end of a nice little piracy career, Levasseur was captured. Altogether, the ships loot is estimated at over 4 billion euros (or ~4.8 billion USD or like 3 bitcoins probably). We know that he amassed a ton of treasure over the years. As always, if you are looking to take a deeper dive into this story, the source material, as well as full transcripts used for this episode can be found on my website. Some of these stories may have inspired Forrest Fenn. Olivier Levasseur. They pillaged and took every last piece of treasure they could get their hands on. Copyrights 2020-2023 Alla rttigheter reserverade. No one except Levasseur now knew its location. Seated Silver Coins Galore! And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there existcountless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts thathave yet to be discovered and explained. In 1947 Engli Raid the port city of Ouidah, take all the the gold and gems they could find, and kill anyone that would dare get in their way. Top Image: Can you find Levasseurs hidden treasure? Im Bradley Hall, and youre listening to Episode 10 of Beyond the Harbor. "[7] The necklace has been lost, but treasure hunters have since tried to decode the cryptogram, hoping its solution will lead to a treasure. Hearing of this news, Levasseur sent a negotiator to the governor of the Island of Bourbon, which is present day Reunion Island to barter on his behalf. Henry Everys story deserves an entire episode dedicated to his life story as well. "There is a man who has spent a fortune using high-tech equipment searching for the riches. I dont care what they think, but a lot of them think Im crazy. Source: phopsak / Adobe Stock. The pirates then sailed further north preying on ships again. Unreliable citations may be challenged or deleted. Are there millions of dollars worth of pirate booty buried on beaches? Beginning in the 16th century, the Spanish treasure fleets (or West Indies Fleet from Spanish Flota de Indias) transported various metal resources and agricultural goods, including silver, gold, gems, spices, tobacco, silk, and other exotic goods, from the Spanish colonies to Spain. You. From there, he fell in with old associates and was once again chosen as captain of a ship. They had only three months in which to find the treasure before the spring tides would flood the workings a calamity which no one would be able to avoid. she found two chests with two dead pirates. From 1721 onwards he committed his raids from his base on the island of Saint Mary's, off the Madagascar coast. In 1730, Levasseur was captured and sent to Saint-Denis, on the island of Runion, where he was hung for piracy. They all have an opinion on the story, from the taxi driver who drove me to Bel Ombre, to the lady who runs the guest house where I was staying. His eyes twinkled and his smile was infectious. His son John inherited both the nickname and the quest. It is unclear, however, if this was indeed the cryptogram that Levasseur had thrown into the crowd watching his execution, as the deciphered text seems to have little to do with either Levasseur or his treasure. Though he already had a scar across one eye limiting his sight, Levasseur proved himself a good leader and shipmate. Born at Calais during the Nine Years' War (1688-1697) to a wealthy bourgeois family, Levasseur became an architect after receiving an excellent education. But more than likely, it was in fact true based on what we knew about his massive treasure haul. According to John, a historian described it as a floating treasure house, believed to consist of gold and silver bars, precious stones, uncut diamonds, guineas, church plate and goblets., Reginald Cruise-Wilkins, the Treasure Man, hunted the fortune for 27 years (Credit: Helen Soteriou). Born at Calais during the Nine Years' War (16881697) to a wealthy bourgeois family, Levasseur became an architect after receiving an excellent education. In reality, the pirates of old were lawless thugs who terrorized merchant shipping, taking advantage of the relatively unexplored and unpoliced seas around the Caribbean, reaching upwards towards Florida. Posted in Adventure, Historical articles, History, Sea, Ships on Thursday, 2 June 2011. This ended the twos reign together on the seas. In late 1718, Levasseur was elected Captain in place of William Moody, after his disgruntled crew tossed him aside. In his ship Le Victorieux, he met and joined forces with an equally disreputable Englishman named Taylor and his band of cutthroats on their vessel Defence. As he stood on the scaffold and looked out at the massive crowd that had gathered to witness this historic day, Im sure he was feeling a rush of emotions all at once. Under this system, two fleets sailed each year from Seville (Cdiz from 1707), consisting of galleons, heavily armed with cannons, and merchant carracks, carrying manufactured goods (and later occasionally slaves). Furthermore, even if the cipher is real it could be one last joke by a man doomed to die. Levasseur began his new career as part of the Flying Gang, a group of pirates who were based in Nassau, on the island of New Providence, in the Bahamas. Before the execution, he suddenly threw a note with a cryptogram into the crowd, shouting: "Find my treasures if you can !" The treasure has still not been found.<br>Wow ! He said he only has 2 more lines to complete before he finishes decoding the message. I happen to believe that its out there waiting to be found. They were left well alone until, that is, they captured two treasure-ships, La Duchesse de Noailles and La Ville dOstende, belonging to the French East India Company, and, for good measure, a Portuguese ship carrying the Bishop of Goa and his treasure. Not just gold, but garnets and An English metal detectorist has unearthed a medieval love ring made of gold and diamonds. Whatever the truth, funds ran out, but news of the finds spread far and wide. Vilka r vanliga biverkningar av blodfrtunnande lkemedel? Mah is a small island where everyone knows each other. So, what are your thoughts? Hornigold was an Englishman and refused to attack English vessels. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. He quickly put a plan together, but with a lack of meteorologist in 1718, the crew was engulfed in a severe storm. The two captains combined forces; Levasseur with his mostly French fleet, and Hornigold with his fleet, known as the Flying Gang. During his time sailing as a privateer, he spent most of his time in the Caribbean. But still, 50% of 100 million is a lot of money, and John is emphatic that he wont stop searching. 0. After a year working with Hornigold, the gang parted ways and Levasseur set up his own outfit. Levasseur's quartermaster at this time was Paulsgrave Williams, who had been Bellamy's quartermaster and fellow captain until Bellamy was killed in a storm off Cape Cod. Famous Pirate Treasure: Tales of great hoards of treasure hidden by Pirates are certainly persistent. After a year of successful looting, the Hornigold party split, Levasseur partnering briefly with Samuel Bellamy[1] before deciding to try his luck on the Brazilian Coast aboard a stolen 22-gun merchant frigate named La Louise. We discuss all the goods: mysteries, crime, and anything spicious. Has blackbeards treasure ever been found? The Lemminkinen Hoard, if found by the team, would be valued above 15 billion, making it the most valuable treasure trove ever discovered. After the split of the massive treasure trove Levasseur claimed, for the next couple of years he would lay low, and was supposed to have toned down his piracy. Before his execution, Levasseur supposedly revealed the whereabouts of his buried loot through a cryptogram. Easily the most famous buccaneer on the list and possibly the most terrifying pirate of all time, Blackbeard had a reputation of horrific magnitude in his day. You will find in this video the latest new. But there, Levasseur learned of an opportunity to turn his fortunes around: a wealthy French trader was anchored in the adjacent Paranagua Bay. The La Louise sank with 80 of Levasseurs men on March 9th, 1718, off the coast of Cotinga Island. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), he procured a Letter of Marque from king Louis XIV and became a privateer for the French crown. Over the last century a sword has been on display at the Field Museum in Chicago and dubbed a replica Bronze Age weapon.. Levasseur, who had no idea what was on the ship, was astonished with the haul. In 1730, the French pirate Olivier Levasseur was sentenced to hang. Before she died, Berthe met a one-time Grenadier Guardsman, whose sole claim to military glory was mounting guard outside Buckingham Palace on one occasion. Levasseur, known as La Buse ("The Buzzard") spent years pillaging his way across this corner of the Indian Ocean before settling on the Seychelles. His later allies would tell of the respect that his crew had for him, and the exceptional way he commanded them. One of the most popular and intriguing stories of a pirates hidden treasure in the Seychelles is that of Olivier Levasseur. . 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