"I have held up a light in the obscurity of Philosophy, which will be seen centuries after I am dead. It will be seen amidst the erection of Tombs, Theatres, Foundations, Temples, Orders and Fraternities for nobility and obedience — the establishment of good laws as an example to the World. For I am not raising a Capitol or Pyramid to the Pride of men, but laying a foundation in the human understanding for a holy Temple after he model of the World. For my memory I leave it to Men's charitable speeches, to foreign Nations and the next Ages, and to my own Country after some Time has elapsed." -- Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning (1605), Bk II.

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Join me to explore the hidden tenets of arranged alignments of architecture and art. Structures as diverse as the Great Pyramid, Baalbek, The Tower of the Winds, Hagia Sopia, Basilica San Vitale, The Dome of the Rock, St. Peter's Square, Gisors, The Newport Tower, Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest, and the Georgia Guidestones all may have a common origin.

Three reproductions of the Tower of the Winds in England help to display how this age old value is viewed through time. Along the way many legends and myths associated with the Holy Grail and other relics are examined.

Treasure myths such as the Oak Island Legend and The Beale Treasure Legend may have a common origin and hidden meaning. The tale of The Bruton Parish Church Vault (a.k.a. "Bacon's Vault) may also be a copy of an already existent mystery at Stirling Castle.

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Lost Treasure Stories involving the Works of Nicolas Poussin and the Poet Virgil. Including the lost remains of of Rosicrucian lore.

Lost Treasure Stories involving the Works of Nicolas Poussin and the Poet Virgil. Including the lost remains of of Rosicrucian lore.

By Cort Lindahl 12/7/2020. 


 

Is there a way to link the theme of Arcadia and the Nicolas Poussin painting “The Shepherds of Arcadia” to the Oak Island Money Pit Legend? As it turns out the painting and theme of Arcadia may be more related to historical events in Virginia. Three great lost treasure legends and possibly more all point to a value of Poussin’s painting “The Shepherds of Arcadia.” This theme in art and literature had existed long before Nicolas Poussin expressed himself in this manner and was very popular among the literati of the age which included mainly wealthy and influential people. A little later in history it appears this theme became a kind of allegorical message that had to be understood in order to come to any conclusions about aspects of hidden or neglected history. The theme of Arcadia at Oak Island includes the Arcadian imagery of Philip Sidney and not Nicolas Poussin. Given that the painting is mostly associated with the famous Rennes le Chateau lost treasure story.

In this age the media of the day was literature. Beginning in the 13th century or so works of literature that were for entertainment started to develop. Many times as in today’s media these works included suggestions or events that were actually real or had influenced subsequent events. In some cases authors were even persecuted for including references to nobles and their activities. Painters like Poussin were members of artist’s and literary guilds that discussed the impact of their work on the public at large. In this way great works by those such as Leonardo, Dante, Poussin, Jacques Louis David and others took on political overtones. Movements such as iconoclasm in religious art displays that people were aware of the impact these images had on the public at large.

There are many aspects of the history of Nova Scotia or French Acadia that do link to the theme of Arcadia. As discussed, the pastoral poetry of Virgil is a central theme in many of Poussin’s works. In some ways this theme along with the work of Poussin was appreciated by an elite if not royal group of people. Some views indicate that much of European royalty believed they were descendant of the Trojans who in turn owe their origins to settlers from Arcadia in Greece that had colonized what would become Troy, now located in modern day Turkey.

The theme of Arcadia as applied by Virgil and later Nicolas Poussin and prior Philip Sidney is indicative of a long-standing fascination with the missing remains of important individuals often in tandem with a lost treasure story. In many cases the death of a famous or controversial figure resulted in their remains being hidden by their loyal followers so they would not be publicly displayed or desecrated. The value of the Poussin paintings that display the Arcadian theme is in some ways referring to who is in the tomb in his famous painting “The Shepherds of Arcadia.” This painting was in no way created to lead one to Oak Island or any other treasure story yet it is a classic example of expressing the Arcadian theme.

Through time the works of Virgil came to be appreciated in a kind of bizarre way similar to the way Nostradamus is viewed today. As far back as Constantine people came to believe that his works had some sort of mystical power and could be used in divination. By executing bibliomancy or the random selection of a page of the work the questioner could then discern things about the truth or future of given questions.

There are many recorded instances of this including one notable use of the works of Virgil in this manner by ill-fated King Charles I in which the passage he selected foretold of his imminent doom only a few months later. As we know Charles I last words were from the pages of Philip Sidney’s book “Arcadia” that also includes a curious passage including a “money pit” with a graven stone at the bottom covering the supposed entrance to a tomb.  This is analogous to the legend of the 90-ft. stone in Oak Island lore.

The Eclogues of Virgil reveal that the Roman mythological character of Daphnis is who is located in the tomb in the painting “Shepherds of Arcadia” by Poussin. Daphnis like Virgil in real life was considered to be the creator of pastoral or Arcadian poetry. Daphnis was a male figure from Roman mythology that had a parallel in the Greek mythological character of Daphne in Greek mythology. Daphne was turned into a laurel tree by Zeus just as Apollo was preparing to rape her. This led to a value of the laurel wreath being used as a symbol of victory in ancient Greek tradition that still exists today. This also resulted in Emperor Constantine naming his royal palace in Constantinople “the Daphne.”

Through time some of the interpretations of the works of Virgil via bibliomancy later stated it was Julius Caesar in the tomb. Later there are accounts that even suggest Constantine believed that Christ was being represented by Daphnis in the poetry of Virgil. In this way the paintings of Poussin as applied to the historical mysteries of Rennes le Chateau, Shugborough Hall and Oak Island may now be interpreted in this fashion. It is clear that many of the historical figures that were involved in these stories were aware of what these themes really meant as there is other proof that they valued such things via the art they collected or appreciated.

In certain cases these tenets or themes seemed to have been left as a sort of initiation or quest left for those that did understand these things. There are a few classic examples of how the missing remains of important individuals were made into a kind of mystery school by the person whose remains were missing or subsequent admirers. There are myths and legends for example of Charlemagne having his own remains hidden with an appendent mystery as to where they were located. This mystery was designed for subsequent progeny or Holy Roman Emperors to identify. This myth also states that important documents and “treasures” were also included in Charlemagne’s tomb. This is an early example of the classic “man in the mountain” story told in many different ways over the centuries.

Indeed this story may have even inspired a central tenet of Rosicrucian thought in that a legend involved states that the remains of Christian Rosenkreutz are entombed in an unknown mountain in a seven sided chamber which includes treasures and lost documents. It is possible these myths and legends compelled later people to actually hide controversial people’s remains in this fashion. It may be that a Rosicrucian understanding of this concept was supposed to compel the seeker into finding the chamber in metaphor or reality. Others may have actually hidden lost items or treasures using this mythology. The fact that some Holy Roman Emperors and other nobles had different body parts such as their hearts embalmed and buried in different locations may be part of this tradition.

This same mythology has even been applied to the supposed missing papers of Sir Francis Bacon being located in a Vault in Virginia with others even speculating this vault is located on Oak Island. Many similar stories exist with regard to the lost Temple Treasure of Jerusalem along with golden riches and sacred stones. The story of Oak Island has come to include many of these concepts in a variety of ways. The notion that Bacon’s papers are hidden somewhere resembles a Rosicrucian point of view and also may refer to the classic story of the Temple Treasure.

Here we will examine the Oak Island story rationally with this tradition in mind and see if we can figure out what may be going on. As we have seen the legend of the Bruton Vault in Williamsburg may just be a folklore story having to do with the missing remains of colonial rebel Nathaniel Bacon. Is there a tomb of some important person on Oak Island as part of that story?

The imagery of the Poussin painting “The Shepherds of Arcadia” and at least five other works of Poussin infer the theme of Arcadia. In this way we may now view a value of this painting as having something to do with the lost remains of an important person which may also include relics and treasure. In the case of Oak Island who may that person be? Poussin has left us with some “clewes.” In some ways Poussin may have been inspired by this kind of hidden view of the poetry of Virgil and how it could be used to foretell the future or exposed a supposed truth about history. The “clewe” or ball of yarn used by Theseus to find his way out of the Labyrinth is also a concept we may want to pay attention to in this study.

The Poussin painting “The Shepherds of Arcadia” was commissioned by Cardinal Rospigliosi in 1638 and was eventually obtained by French King Louis XIV and was possessed by his descendants Louis XV and Louis XVI until the time of the French Revolution at which time it became the property of the people of France. The painting is today displayed on the Paris Meridian within the Louvre Museum. The display of The Shepherds of Arcadia is literally on the meridian that transects the museum itself. Note here the presence of the Paris Meridian and imagery of Poussin in the famous Rennes le Chateau lost treasure story as well. The fact that the Louvre was once the home of all French nobility fits the notion of the painting being displayed in such a manner. The association of the painting and the Paris Meridian is indeed an Arcadian overtone or suggestion.

It is likely that Rospigliosi was a member of the Pontifical Academy of Arcadia as Poussin was. This academy was an artist’s guild made up of poets, writers, artists, and architects that was in many ways the Vatican’s response to the many literary and artist’s guilds of Europe that were popular in that seventeenth century and later era. The Academy had been created by the exiled Queen of Sweden Christina. Queen Christina owned an extensive art collection that included other artist’s renderings of the Arcadian theme and she also may have owned a few Poussin paintings that later made it into the collection of the duc d’Orleans who eventually ended up with Christina’s collection in addition to his own.

Authors note: In past writing I have detailed how the family of the treasurer of Fortress Louisbourg in Nova Scotia, at the time of the both sieges ended up owning the art collection of Queen Christina for a short time. The treasurer Jean Laborde was actually accused of misappropriating monies from Louisbourg and the d’Anville expedition that were said to be worth over 100 million dollars in today’s money. The Laborde family later also had some associations with the Anson family of Shugborough Hall that are very curious. Another Laborde family member was a priest named Simon Laborde who was one of the accusers of Father Sauniere as part of the Rennes le Chateau story. Simon Laborde had accused Sauniere of not only taking money for masses but also having supplied a service by which local elites could later recover the bones of their dead relatives to be reinterred in a crypt or ossuary. This may be one reason Sauniere was seen at various times digging up graves at Rennes le Chateau.

In the past, I have discussed what may be an important clue related to why the painting is so important to treasure stories like Rennes le Chateau, Shugborough Hall, and by association with the work of Philip Sidney even the famous Oak Island Money Pit. If an arc on the globe is created that matches the east to west orientation of the Louvre Museum and its appendant I.M. Pei pyramids then this arc transects the Atlantic Ocean directly to Oak Island Nova Scotia.

It is as if the painting itself is leading us to Oak Island. Not only does this arc on the globe extend to Oak Island it matches the orientation of the famous feature known as Nolan’s Cross located there. Note again that the Louvre served as the residence of French monarchs prior to the French Revolution at which time it was deemed a national museum. It may be important to again remember that the painting is displayed on the Paris Meridian. This meridian was defined legally for the first time by the famous Cassini family of astronomers who seem to also be involved in different aspects of the Oak Island story as well as the story of Rennes le Chateau. Even Thomas Jefferson was a friend and correspondent of Dominique Cassini IV (the younger). 

Is it possible the Poussin painting is pointing us in the direction of Oak Island? Does this mean the remains of someone important were brought to what had once been known of as French “Acadia” which does translate to Arcadia? Here we should note that in fact the remains of one of the said owners of Poussin’s painting “The Shepherds of Arcadia” are indeed missing and have not been seen since his death.

After the French Revolution, we know that Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded on the guillotine for all to see near the Egyptian Obelisk at what is today termed the Place de la Concorde. Of this there is no doubt. Their remains were said to have been hastily buried in what is known of as the Cemetery of the Madeleine in Paris. Later in about 1815 it became important for people to examine the remains of the King and Queen. At that time hundreds of victims of the guillotine were hastily buried in the Madeleine Cemetery.

One of the remaining claimants to the French crown Louis XVIII even had the grave excavated in order to ensure no other claimants to his crown. There were many reliable witnesses to the burials that occurred just after the executions of Louis and Marie. Yet the facts show that the remains of Louis XVI were never buried with those of Marie Antoinette. Her remains were quickly found and identified via her clothing some of which still remained in 1815 when this excavation took place. Since many of the remains had their skulls detached from their bodies there is no indication that any of them were associated with Louis XVI as none had also been found in direct association with those of Marie Antoinette.

If Louis had been buried with Marie then someone likely removed the King’s remains at some point. Either that or his remains had never been buried with those of his Queen’s. The witnesses that had seen the burials insisted that both the King and Queen were interred together. The French Revolution in fact did occur near the time of the development of the story of the “three young men” of Oak Island was taking place in reality. The timeline of all this certainly does fit the possibilities exposed here.

Stunningly no remains of Louis XVI were found at this time. Here an excerpt from a book on the subject may be enlightening:

“The excavations began, after 8 months of investigations, on January 18, 1815, in the presence of Father Renard, Danjou and Desclozeau.

One dug at the precise area indicated by the witnesses. At eight feet deep, the workers encountered a bed of lime thick of ten inches. Below appeared the imprint of a coffin five and a half feet long. Several intact pieces of plank were found there. One finds then "a large number of bones of woman" and a whole skull.

Bones still intact were placed into a box. The lime found in the coffin was raised and placed in another box. The two boxes were given to Louis XVIII.

To be certain that the king's body had been found, one dug on a twenty-five feet area, and more than thirteen feet deep: nothing.

For Marie-Antoinette, it was easier as a proof of her identity (a garter made by Marei-Antoinette herself) was found within her bones.”

So where are the remains of Louis XVI? The preponderance of the evidence here does suggest that someone had dug up the corpse of Louis and then had his remains taken to Oak Island and reinterred somehow. If this is true then Louis XVI was truly “Et in Arcadia Ego.” This could actually also be the reason why someone later applied the imagery of the Money Pit present in Philip Sidney’s book “Arcadia” to the Oak Island legend as told later. It could also be that those who knew the truth of this had promoted the entire thing as framed by the legends of Charlemagne and Christian Rosenkreutz as discussed above. Even if per chance Louis XVI remains were not brought to Oak Island the entire range of lore associated indicates this as a possibility that inspired the entire treasure legend there.

This also matches in a very real way what had likely already been done with the remains of colonial rebel Nathaniel Bacon over one hundred years earlier in Williamsburg, Virginia. The mystery of Nathaniel Bacon’s remains also include an appendant legend that includes the lost papers of Sir Francis Bacon his distant cousin. Some of the reasons this may have been done was to prevent the enemies of the king from obtaining his remains for use as a kind of negative memento mori. It was not uncommon in this era for even the skull of someone such as Louis to have been displayed in public by his enemies. His loyal followers likely were motivated to move his corpse for these reasons alone.

So does the Money Pit include the remains of Louis XVI that may also include treasure and sacred documents? This is indeed possible depending on what the people who actually had arranged this had access to. It is clear that after the French Revolution there was still a faction of people who had regard for the long-standing institution of the monarchy. There are already existent theories by others that the jewels of Marie Antoinette are hidden on Oak Island. We know that the jewelry of Marie Antoinette and the French Crown jewels returned to public view in 2019 and most of them were recovered not long after the French Revolution.

Authors note: An interesting aside here is that this author contends a man named Edward Fitzgerald Beale is behind what is known of as the Beale Treasure of Virginia. Eventually his daughter Emily Truxtun (Beale) Mclain would come to own the Hope Diamond which was once part of the French Crown Jewels.

While this is possible it is also likely those items were looted by the masses during the revolution before eventually being found later. What is important to note here is that if sympathetic people later dug up Louis and moved him to Oak Island the jewels were then not a factor in this story. Given that it is still possible some jewelry or other valuables could be included in any burial of this type on Oak Island. The legends preceding this event all dictate that possibility as well.

Authors note: I found that during the time that the Beale Papers were first released to the public a man named Louis de La Tour lived only a few blocks from where the Beale Pamphlet was being sold. Louis de La Tour’s entry in “Men of Mark of Maryland” states that he was of direct descent from first French Acadian Governor Charles de La Tour. Eventually Charles de La Tour changed over to the Scottish and British side of the contentious history of Nova Scotia. At that time Charles accepted a Baronetcy of Nova Scotia as his father Claude had earlier. The de La Tour family are also directly related to the Stewart Dukes of Albany earlier in history. It may be that even Louis de La Tour of Lynchburg, Virginia was due the Baronetcy his ancestor had held. Louis de La Tour’s daughter married into the Clark family of Lewis and Clark Expedition fame. Louis de La Tour’s wife Alicia Gilmer was related to the family of Dr. Gilmer one of Jefferson’s physicians. There is a notation and fact that only exists within the pages of the Gilmer family genealogy book. Dr. Gilmer claims William Clark told him he and Lewis had found a gold mine in what is today Montana. Also of interest is that the jewels that were said to be part of the Beale Treasure had come from St. Louis which of course was recently prior a French holding.

Here we are presented with a different solution based on the true meaning of the Poussin painting and how it relates to the mysteries of Shugborough Hall and Rennes le Chateau. In fact, in both of those mysteries the imagery of Poussin does lead to the tombs of important people even in the folklore way those stories are told. The imagery of Virgil and Daphnis is challenging us to guess who is in the tomb. The Arcadian imagery of Poussin and Virgil have absolutely nothing to do with the Knights Templar or Ark of the Covenant. Poussin lived in Rome and was a member of the Pontifical Academy of Arcadia. He was in part educated by famed Jesuit academia figure Athanasius Kircher. 

At Rennes le Chateau it is suggested that the Tomb of Dagobert II is related to the mystery and lays hidden somewhere in the environs of Rennes le Chateau. This fits the theme of the Poussin painting and works of Virgil. Dagobert II is an important figure in the Merovingian mythos that states a relation to Mary Magdalene, Christ or both. The so called “blood of Christ” theory. A great treasure has also been added to this legend as well. This means that the famous star in the landscape of Rennes le Chateau first suggested by author Henry Lincoln is referring to Arcadia and possibly the Poussin painting. There are also legends of the Temple Treasure of Jerusalem having been hidden not far from Rennes le Chateau.

In the case of Shugborough Hall we may be seeing the Shepherds Monument including a bas relief mirror image of the Poussin painting also pointing us to the tomb of one of the most important people to consider in the mysterious saga of the Anson family at Shugborough Hall. As we will see this aspect of the mystery at hand also points us to the true meaning of the Poussin painting in relation to the works of Virgil and also includes the story of King Aristomenes who buried a “treasure” in Arcadia.  

In the past I have termed the Shepherds Monument a memento mori for beheaded Charles I. There are many connections between Charles I and an appreciation of the theme of Arcadia including his wife being the daughter of Henri IV King of France and Queen Marie d’Medici. The Medici family is also linked directly to the earliest  more modern appreciation of Virgil in that Lorenzo d’Medici was the first to print the Eclogues of Virgil in Italian. It is possible the Shepherds Monument is also referring to the Anson family itself. We know also Virgil is a character in Dante’s “Divine Comedy” and that Dante’s tomb in Ravenna is a copy of the Tomb of Virgil in Naples Italy. In fact Dante had been entombed in a city that is central to understanding the origins of an appreciation of Arcadia. Dante had also been exiled from his home in Florence with was at that time controlled by the Medici family.

If one creates an arc on the globe using the linear orientation of the Shepherds Monument this arc leads directly to the tomb of George Anson in Colwich, England only a few miles from Shugborough Hall and the Shepherds monument. Given the entire navigational theme of Arcas the namesake of Arcadia being cast into the sky as Ursa Minor (the little bear) makes sense. The tail of Ursa Minor contains the Pole Star which would be central to figuring out the directional attributes of how to figure this entire mystery out. The way the Louvre points to Oak Island and the way the Shepherds Monument points the way to the Anson family Crypt “bears” this theory out (no pun intended lol). This also means that in this scheme the five pointed star is an Arcadian symbol and nothing more sinister as some speculate. It is no surprise that Admiral Anson, an experienced navigator would be aware of this concept and how it involves the theme of Arcadia.

The octagonal Powder Magazine in Colonial Williamsburg includes a stained-glass portrait of Nathaniel Bacon and also points directly to where I believe his “hidden” grave is.

It looks like one of the secrets of Oak Island may include the burial or tomb of Louis XVI or that of another historical figure that is important to that era of history. “Et in Arcadia Ego.” His remains are missing and no one knows where they are. Here I am suggesting those remains are on Oak Island, Nova Scotia. Louis XVI is truly in Acadia a land once ruled by his direct forebears that is also named “Arcadia.” An entire and elaborate story has been woven in order to figure this out that does involve two distinct and powerful royal families who lost their crowns in revolutions. This would include Charles I and Louis XVI. Another possibility to the mystery of who may be entombed at Rennes le Chateau may include members of the Rochfoucauld or de La Tour family.

It is possible with all this in mind to speculate that the remains of Louis XVI could have been placed in the Money Pit that may have been built by the d’Anville Expedition in 1747 (Jean Baptiste Rochefoucauld duc d’Anville). Originally the Money Pit may have been built to house the treasury of the d’Anville Expedition as plague in the fleet prevented them from depositing this treasury at Fortress Louisbourg at that time. This also may be another reason the Rochefoucauld name has become associated with Oak Island.

The entire bogus Cremona Document may have in part been influenced by the Cassini family who may have been aware of this entire scheme. In fact the Cremona Document is not even need to associate the name Rochefoucauld with Oak Island. The d’Anville Expedition is a historical fact that accomplishes that goal with no chicanery. It is also important to note that Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and the Marquis de Lafayette were friends and associates of Louis Alexandre Rochefoucauld the son of Jean Baptiste and also duc d’Anville. Louis Alexandre has also been the first to publish Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence in French for the first time.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if a draft copy of the Declaration of Independence written in French was part of the secrets of Oak Island? The imagery of the Declaration does indeed surface in the lost treasure stories of the Bruton Vault and Beale Treasure in Virginia along with the imagery of Thomas Jefferson himself. Unfortunately Louis Alexandre Rochefoucauld had also been executed as part of the French Revolution which may also make him a prime candidate to have been entombed on Oak Island later.

This notion would also fit with the French alliance with the colonies previously in the American Revolution and subsequent attempts to make Nova Scotia part of the United States. This in a strange way would have also linked Louis Alexandre to the area where his father passed and is also entombed. Jean Baptiste died during the d’Anville Expedition and was first entombed on an island near Halifax Nova Scotia but his remains were later moved to Fortress Louisbourg to the north. If American’s had anything to do with the Oak Island saga then this solution would make great sense because Louis Alexandre’s association with Jefferson and Franklin along with the Declaration of Independence.

All of this does add up to a value of the theme of the Poussin painting which includes overtones of both the memento mori and the Arcadian theme. Both of those concepts were valued for a long period of time prior to the life and works of Nicolas Poussin. In some ways he has simply become the posterchild attached to this subject. In actuality, this concept goes far back in time to Constantine and other Byzantine Rulers. The history of Ravenna Italy especially exposes an early appreciation of how the memento mori and Arcadian ideas shaped society and even architecture. Ravenna may even be a “New Jerusalem” array of architecture that predates the array of architecture we see on the Temple Mount today. (another story for another time).

It is in the minds of many it is crazy to think someone would go to all the trouble of hiding the remains of Louis XIV or anyone else in a remote location such as Oak Island. This idea is presented here as a speculative theory based on the folklore that has been associated with Oak Island. In more realistic terms this is also suggested by the way Philip Sidney’s book includes a story of a Money Pit and is entitled “Arcadia.” If someone had applied the imagery from the book to the Oak Island story intentionally then they may have also been telling an allegorical tale in which the listener would have had to figure out what the real meaning of the entire thing is. One of these conclusions given the history behind it all is that the remains of an important historical figure are part of the reason the story was told that way.

In this case it seems that someone had taken a story written by a popular figure in literature that was also somewhat of a spy and observer of different peoples and culture. The part of Sidney’s book that refers to Pamela’s lodges has a real connection to the stories of Star Castle on the Isles of Scilly and the famous Newport Tower. Two different interests had real reasons such a thing would have been done. They took a fictional story and used parts of it to craft a reality. This in itself is a form of memento mori meant to venerate Sir Philip Sidney that goes beyond the fact that he was a known author. He was also a military hero who had given his life for England while fighting in the Netherlands.

For instance, it is clear that Star Castle on the isles of Scilly was built in memory of Philip Sidney and the octagonal Pamela’s lodges referenced in his book Arcadia. The second octagonal lodge in this story is the Newport Tower. Even the Governor of the Isles of Scilly Francis Godolphin was descendant of a forebear of Philip Sidney named Thomas Sidney. Godolphin was the Governor of the Isles of Scilly when it had been Queen Elizabeth who had influenced the building of Star Castle in a form that had been part of Sidney’s book “Arcadia.” It is not only this author saying this is true but a number of literary historians have also made this connection.

The use of his work in this way was valued first by the Elizabethan faction of which Sidney was a part of. Secondly the Stewart family of the fallen kings came to appreciate the Arcadian theme likely via their relations to French Nobility including the de La Tour family and royal family of France who had gained this value from the famous d’Medici family of Florence. The theme of Arcadia represents a rare crossover in the cultures of these two different interesting regimes of English royalty.

Another crossover in cultural appreciation also includes people like Sir Francis Bacon and his writing as well as the works of William Shakespeare which are timeless themselves. Bacon’s “New Atlantis” echoed many of the themes of an appreciation of a utopian Arcadia where life was simple and all the castes of society were well defined. This is yet another reason nobility was attracted to the ideal of Arcadia. In Bacon’s mind though he was suggesting something much different in the form of promoting a Republic that valued science and rationality above all other factors. In this way Bacon’s vision was somewhat of a threat to the nobility via his version of what “Arcadia” was.

At the time of Louis XIV and Louis Alexandre Rochefoucauld’s execution Nova Scotia was solidly controlled by the British who had fortified it even further after the American Revolution. At that time, there was a popular sentiment in Nova Scotia that it could or should be part of the United States. Understandably the British weren’t too keen on this idea. It is for reasons such as this that we should be cautious when ascribing a certain conclusion to a story like Oak Island.

What if the story was applied to a cache of pirates booty and not some great relic like the remains of Louis XIV, the papers of Sir Francis Bacon, and other seemingly outrageous ideas? What if these concepts had simply been applied to a popular lost treasure story in order to teach you something that may have otherwise never been uncovered or made sense? Alternately someone may have decided to entomb one of the noble people at a location that already had a lost treasure story attached to it.

 

As this author always says. If someone tells you they know what happened at Oak Island they don’t.

 


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