The Mysteries of North America; Bannerman’s Island to Oak Island. The Cremona Document and map.

 

How a later group of people intended to change history by suggesting Knights Templar and the Norse had come to North America and left the Ark of the Covenant and other “treasures.” How Ms. Halpern’s map even debunks the Kensington Rune. Genealogy of the Rochefoucauld family included on Ms. Halpern’s map. Mormons? Is there a real “treasure” at all?

About six years ago this author examined Bannerman’s Island in the Hudson River only because it included strange architecture that had been built by military surplus and arms dealer Scotsmen Francis Bannerman VI. Over the course of that six years I then realized that Bannerman was a close Scottish relative to the Alexander family and other powerful and influential families. At this point I had not heard of the work of Ms. Zena Halpern, the “Cremona document” or any of the strange objects associated so had I placed Bannerman and his island on the back burner of research. Even so it had all the earmarks of other lost treasure and vault myths I had been studying as part of books I had written “The Sacred Towers of the Axis Mundi,” “The Geographic Mysteries of Sir Francis Bacon,” and “The Arcadian Mysteries of Oak Island; Oak Island, Shugborough Hall, and Rennes le Chateau Revealed.”

These three books and especially the last hold the key to really understanding what is going on with Bannerman’s Island. In the end it appears as if a later group of people had an agenda to convince the rest of the United States that Knights Templar had come to America and had brought biblical relics with them from the Holy Land. These same overtones were applied to Norse coming to New England at an early date as well. The most popular item associated with both these legends and the fabled Knights Templar would include the Ark of the Covenant. Several popular lost treasure, vault, and tower stories including Newport, Williamsburg, and the Beale Treasure appear to have all been created by a common source. The story of Bannerman and his island as uncovered by Ms. Halpern appears to fit the mold of other things I had previously discovered. This is why I had noted it and researched it long before I had ever heard of her theories or book on this subject.

As it turns out a group of Knights Templar were involved with all of this intrigue but this group had originated in the nineteenth century and were inspired by the original organization. Coupled with the involvement of a type of Freemasonry developed by the exiled Stewart Kings of Scotland, England, and Ireland and other family fraternities and royal orders a mystery was created that may or may not actually lead to either golden treasures or biblical relics. The presence of treasures such as this have been inferred using similar methods at several different places including the Legend of J.C. Brown and Frenchman’s Tower in California that predates the exposure of even the Rennes le Chateau mystery to the public.

Recently I have even exposed how the original Money Pit story was present in a literary work entitled “Arcadia” not published until about 1580 over two hundred years before the story of the Money Pit was first exposed to the public. This tale of lost treasure in “Arcadia” or Acadia in French includes many Solomonic and Enochian overtones that would dovetail with the later exploits of James Bruce and the d’Abbadie family of Hendaye France. William Alexander would later amend and edit Sidney’s “Arcadia” just a few years prior to him being awarded the title of Baron of Nova Scotia. The Baron of Nova Scotia had edited “Arcadia” a work which included the English name for Acadia of the French. Acadia is “Arcadia” in French.

Little discussed is the very real associations between the Ark of the Covenant and Nova Scotia. Lord Halifax (Montigu-Dunk) in fact showed a keen interest in biblical stories and also played a role in the amazing recovery of three ancient copies of the book of Enoch by explorer James Bruce in the late 18^th century. James Bruce had travelled to Ethiopia and lived for a while there. He was even made a Calvary commander by the King there at that time. Bruce was even allowed to examine the Ethiopian Book of Kings known as the Kebra Negast.

At that time Bruce was stunned to have found an Ethiopian King named Brus who had ruled about 97 years before Christ! Bruce was then allowed to take three verified ancient copies of the Book of Enoch back to Europe with him when he left. One copy is said to have been given to Louis XV at that time. Bruce’s return to Scotland with these manuscripts including what would become the Pistis Sophia is the same time period during which the Oak Island Treasure was first exposed to the world. Both the Money Pit story in Sidney’s “Arcadia” and the story of the Money Pit’s discovery have Enochian overtones involving a nine layered chamber concealing both a vault and hidden treasure of relics and information. These are all concepts included in the Book of Enoch that Bruce had concerned himself with at that time.

After his travels Bruce compiled a book of his experiences based on letters he had written to Lord Halifax the namesake of Halifax Nova Scotia. Of course, we all know that there are legends of the Ark of the Covenant being taken to Ethiopia by the Queen of Sheba’s son with King Solomon named Malik. It may be in fact the exploits of James Bruce that had inspired this imagery in association with places like Oak Island and others in North America. What we may be seeing is the early seed of how this myth would have been exploited by the creation of associated folklore in these new lands. The Queen of Sheba and the Ark of the Covenant are shown in statuary on the north porch of Chartres Cathedral in France.

The story of Nova Scotia itself includes periods during which French and Scottish factions traded control of the region and often simply controlled different parts of it at different times or simultaneously. In fact, if one examines closely it is clear that at times the French and Scottish factions even included common family members such as the Alexander family of Scotland. Sir William Alexander was the first Scottish Baron of Nova Scotia and it is clear he was actually related to both Claude and Charles de La Tour early governors of Acadia or French Nova Scotia.

The story of Ethiopia and the Ark of the Covenant is also later inferred by a French family that had a great early impact on the development of French Acadia. Jean Vincent d’Abbadie St. Castin was an early French Military figure that married into the Ababenaki Tribe and went on to found what is today Castine, Maine. Castine Maine is the site on Mercator’s 1569 map that is marked “Norumbega.” Jean Vincent’s son Anselme would later claim his father’s baronetcy and become known of as the Count of Norumbega. One of his daughters would marry into the Bourbon family of French royalty.

Amazingly later in history during the mid to late nineteenth century we see the impact of the d’Abbadie family on one of the most well known landscape mysteries of Europe known as the “Great Cyclic Cross of Hendaye.” A man named Antoine d’Abbadie had grown up idolizing James Bruce and he and his brother Arnaud repeated Bruce’s sojourns in Ethiopia in a several year visit to that region during which they collected geographic data and ancient manuscripts.

Here we may begin to see how rival French and Scottish influences had valued Ethiopia and its associations with early Christianity and even the Ark of the Covenant. It may be that these rival factions would use these concepts against each other as part of a kind of spiritual warfare that has may similarities to the “spooking of the natives” by intelligence services. Bruce’s and d’Abbadie’s interest in Ethiopian Coptic and Christian literature may have had a huge impact of concepts valued by Freemason’s of the era and the public today such as Oak Island, The Newport Tower, The Legend of Bacon’s Vault, and even the famous Beale Treasure of Virginia.

Two families one Scottish and the other French seemed to have contributed to the lore and mythical overtones of whatever is going on at Oak Island and Bannerman’s Island in New York. Antoine d’Abbadie would go on to create “The Rosslyn Chapel of France” in the form of his estate Abbadia which also served as an astronomical observatory and included a windrose with compass directions similar to that seen at St. Peter’s Square of the Vatican. These people were intentionally creating folklore based on their beliefs coupled with astronomy thus generating what is known of as a landscape mystery.

This now brings us to the strange map presented in the theories of Ms. Halpern that she points to as having meaning with regard to “Knights Templar” having come to North America in the 12^th century with the Ark of the Covenant or other relics and treasure. This map is somewhat reminiscent of the Zeno narrative hoax in which the original information was said to have been destroyed and a narrative and map produced later based on the memories of someone that had seen the original. The entire story of this map could be simply a repeat of the scam of the Zeno narrative that many use to suggest that Lord High Admiral of Scotland Henry Sinclair had come to North America and interbred with the Native Population. This entire concept was likely crafted later by those that wanted you to believe this concept in my opinion.

This map includes the famous “Hooked X” that is present on the Kensington Rune and so named by researcher Scott Wolter who has studied runic inscriptions and advocates that the Kensington Stone in Douglas County Minnesota is related to an early incursion into Minnesota by a band of Cistercians that may have even been cloistered Knights Templar. As we may see a single name present on the very same map exposed by Ms. Halpern may display how the Kensington Rune is a later manifestation using older imagery that was intentionally left to confuse and possibly alter the common history of North America for political reasons.

Interestingly this strange map that appears to be a copy of what is said to have existed also includes a reference to the name “Rochefoucauld.” Amazingly this name links directly to the families of de La Tour and Lafayette as discussed in my book “Oak Island and the Arcadian Mysteries: Oak Island, Shugborough Hall, and Rennes le Chateau revealed.” It is the associations between these places that include the Arcadian theme that we are being told a strange story or “treasure” is present. The Rochefoucauld family’s intermarriage with the de La Tour d’Auvergne family links them to the Stewart family of exiled kings as well as a lineage stemming all the way back to Godefroy de Bouillon and his associations with the Knights Templar.

These same family ties also links them with Willliam of Orange a.k.a. William of King William and Mary namesake of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg Virginia also named for the king. The inclusion of William III in this family group in fact later tells the true story of the Kensington Rune in Minnesota (hint: Kensington Palace was first occupied by William and Mary and this is just a metaphorical hint w/ facts backing it up-the Rochefoucauld name connects the hooked x on the map to the KRS in a very real way). Some researchers link the legacy of the notion of a bloodline of Christ to this very family group including William of Orange.

In a very real way everything Ms. Halpern has uncovered also seems to have links to the Mormon faith. The Golden Tablets that Joseph Smith were said to have found were written in Egyptian hieratic script. This is sometimes referred to as “Theban script.” Joseph Smith recorded this script in his own hand and even sent it to be analyzed by a linguist confirming that is was indeed hieratic or “Theban.” Ms. Halpern claims to have found inscriptions on Hunter Mountain in New York that also include this type of script. Both the Golden Tablets and Ms. Halpern’s findings occur in the State of New York. We know Joseph Smith and his father were Freemason’s thus leading to the Mormon faith having many aspects of its ritual that are similar to those of Freemasonry. Is it possible that Joseph Smith the “treasure hunter” was aware of a story similar to what Ms. Halpern had discovered at an earlier date? Had he played a hand in creating the entire mystery. Alternately this entire scenario had been crafted to resemble something much older. Some people even suggest that the extended family of Joseph Smith had been to Oak Island and had created the entire legend. It is clear that Mormons believe ancient people had come to North America in the distant past.

It was these family connections that contributed to why the exiled Stewarts would create their own version of the Knights Templar in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is this later Knights Templar that are likely responsible for this entire range of mysteries including Oak Island and even the Newport Tower. These organizations may have also included individuals that were involved in the the creation of the Mormon faith or took part in that faith at a later date.

There are clear allusions to people presenting false information to support the notion that a large settlement of Norse called “Norumbega” in New England. In fact this is only the result of this region being named so by Italian explorer Verrazzano working under the auspices of the French King naming this region during his voyage of discovery. Amazingly this same map lends the name “Arcadia” to the coastal regions of North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. There is also later ample evidence that this information was known of by American spies of the Society of the Cincinnati that would include authors Edgar Allan Poe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Samuel Morse, and Ralph Waldo Emmerson. Each of these  authors created works in the tradition of Sir Francis Bacon, Shakespeare, and Philip Sidney that were meant to instruct and inform using metaphorical, allegorical, and real historical information to inform one of the truth of early history in North America. This history does not in reality include pre Columbian settlement of any region south of L’ Anse Aux Meadows Newfoundland which they did not even know existed during the era in question.

In past works I have documented how the Arcadian theme is present at Stirling Castle in Scotland (octagonal Kings Knot), Shuborough Hall (home to the Shepherds Monument and a reproduction of the Tower of the Winds), and Rennes le Chateau (involving the Poussin painting “The Shepherds of Arcadia”). Now there is more than ample evidence that the Oak Island Treasure and this mystery surrounding Bannerman’s Island is coming from the same source and same group of families that I had already documented in my book about the Arcadian Mysteries.

The inclusion of the Rochfoucauld name on Ms. Halpern’s map also solidly links the question of Oak Island to other North American “mysteries” like the Newport Tower, Bruton Parish Church Vault of Williamsburg, The Frenchman’s Tower and Legend of J.C. Brown in California, the Kensington Rune, St. Paul’s Chapel of New York City, the Maryhill Stonehenge in Washington State, The Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, and the International Peace Garden on the border of the U.S. and Canada. The fact that the same themes and even families are involved in all of these mysteries at different times through history is very revealing and may suggest that something other than the standard story at each place is at play. What we are looking at is a treasure quest not unlike that depicted in the movie “National Treasure” in which the seeker is guided from place to place never really finding the promised treasure. It may be that the “treasure” is the hidden or neglected history that is exposed when one searches for the promised stash of riches. 

The Bannerman family also has a very interesting history with their name originally being MacDonald. As the story goes a member of Clan MacDonald saved the fallen standard of Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn thus earning the name “Bannerman” or Standard Bearer. This may be why one of the strange objects said to be found at Bannerman’s Island has a connection to the “Order of St. Andrew” which is another name for the Order of the Thistle of Scotland.

The branch of the Bannerman family that Francis Bannerman VI the builder of the Bannerman’s Castle comes from is from Ireland. The Bannerman’s fled to Ireland after supporting Charles II prior to him being dethroned. In association with what is known of as the Glencoe Massacre (1691) during that time elements of the Bannerman family fled to Antrim Ireland. Later Francis Bannerman VI’s father would make his way back to Dundee Scotland.

This era also gives us an amazing correlation to Nova Scotia as prior to the massacre a man named Patrick Bannerman was made a Baronet of Nova Scotia. This is very interesting in tandem with the map included in the so called “Cremona Document” that displays Nova Scotia. This map is associated by some alternative researchers to the Oak Island Money Pit mystery. This is no surprise as the Bannerman family had all the right connections to know the truth of what had happened at Oak Island to create this entire legendary story.

As part of what I have been advocating is really one mystery that involves Oak Island, the Newport Tower, Williamsburg, and the Kensington Stone we have seen the involvement and value of descendant members of the Bacon family. This has been hinted at by some evidence at Oak Island and the mysteries of Williamsburg that include members of the Bacon family as part of Nathaniel Bacon’s Rebellion and also those that worked for President Jefferson in managing his Monticello estate. Other members of the Bacon family were also part of the "Boston Brahmins" that seemed to have zealously promoted the existence of Norumbega or Norse colony in New England in the distant past. This group of New England elite may have been among the first to advocate the "Norse" origins of the Newport Tower. So do the Bannerman’s have any connections to the Bacon family of Sir Francis?

  

Indeed they do:

 

 Sir William Johnstone:

…M.  Mary daughter of John Bacon esq. of Shrubland Hall, co. Suffolk, lineally descended from the Lord Keeper Bacon, whose 3rd son was the great philosopher, Sir Francis Bacon, Lord Chancellor of England and Baron Verulam. By this lady who died in 1802 he had no issue….

He m. secondly Maria only daughter of John Bacon, Esq. of Fryern House, in the co. of Middlesex, the youngest son of a branch of the Shrubland family, settled in Cumberland in the reign of Henry VIII, which number amongst its ancestors the celebrated Friar Bacon of the 12th Century. By this lady he had three sons and four daughters: 

William Bacon present Baronet (at that time), 

D’Arcy who died in Bengal in service…..

Anna-Maria (Bacon) m. to Patrick Bannerman Esq. of Elmsfield, Aberdeenshire. 

This is a very interesting connection to a family that seems to have created a mystery at Bannerman’s Island that may also be related to other similar questions such as Oak Island and the Newport Tower. Really the largest component of this linking to Oak Island is the map included as part of the Cremona Document that depicts Nova Scotia. It seems there is ample reason to assume that later members of the Bacon family could have been involved in developing the legendary nature of all of these places. The fact that related members of the Bannerman family had been made Baronets of Nova  Scotia also lends some legitimacy to this idea.

It is interesting that William Johnstone married two women from the same Bacon family though the citation above attempts to indicate the second marriage of William Johnstone was from a different
branch of the family not connected to Sir Francis Bacon but “Friar Bacon of the 12^th century.” The term “Friar Bacon” refers to philosopher and astronomer of the 13^th (1200’s) century Roger Bacon who indeed is a linear forebear of Sir Francis Bacon as well. It was the issue of William Johnstone  and Marie Bacon that gave us the union between Anna-Marie Bacon (Johnstone) and Patrick Bannerman. William Johnstone seemingly had intentionally married another member of the Bacon family after his first wife had died without issue. Eventually William Johnstone and Marie Bacon’s son would be styled William Bacon Johnstone.William Bacon Johnstone was a contemporary of Francis Bannerman VI who seemd to have created a mystery associated with his "Bannerman's Island."

Is it possible that this Bacon connection is involved in what we are seeing at Oak Island, Bannerman’s Island, Williamsburg, and Newport? It seems that at each mystery the same associated families are present. Did they leave actual treasures or are they trying to teach us something about themselves using landscape mysteries that also refer to cartography and geometry? Each of these mysteries also has strong ties to the very same Jacobite sentiments of the exiled Stewart monarchy that helped to create the United States of America.
 

In truth each one of these myths origins can be traced to Emperor Constantine. He may have left a mystery behind as to the location of his remains that was later repeated by Charlemagne and even Colonial era Rebel Nathaniel Bacon. This concept is key to Rosicrucian lore stating Christian Rosenkreutz’s (XP Christian) remains were hidden in a seven sided chamber in an unnamed mountain. This treasure is said to include not only golden relics but a library of Gnostic and hidden information. Does any of this sound familiar at all? 

All of this intrigue does also relate to the strange architecture of Pollepel Island also known as Bannerman's Island in the Hudson River near West Point. Military surplus broker Francis Bannerman VI was of Scots descent and was named in a succession leading from the original Francis Bannerman who had been made the Standard Bearer for King Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn. Other stories involve them in the same capacity of other Kings. Among collateral family members of the same descent are Bannerman Baronets of Nova Scotia that had been awarded to them by Charles II for support in defending his crown during those tumultuous times of the late seventeenth century in England and Scotland. There is no doubt that Francis Bannerman had come from this very family and valued the lore associated with the honor of Standard Bearer and Baronet of Nova Scotia. 

Given this it is interesting that the entire Cremona Document associated with this mystery also has very strong relations to the Bannerman's who were Baronets of Nova Scotia. The map in question depicts Nova Scotia along with the strange "hooked X" studied by geologist Wolter. This coupled with the Rochefoucauld name gives us some strong clues as to the authentic date range of this map. All of this evidence adds up to suggest this map was produced  no earlier than 1600 and more likely in the mid to late nineteenth century when Francis Bannerman was still alive. We may be looking at a mystery school adaptation with regard to political sentiments of this era that harken us back to people like Eben Horsford and poet Longfellow who promoted the existence of Norumbega or the Norse having come to America at an early date. 

Most of you who are familiar with my work know that I use Google Earth to test the hypothesis of how the Tower of the Winds of Athens inspired later people to build towers that "pointed to" other places using an octagonal scheme. Here above we have seen how Bannerman's Island, Oak Island, the Newport Tower and Williamburg may be linked together in mystery school fashion using treasure and lost relic myths.  

Given this it may not surprise some of you that Bannerman's Island and Castle also known as Pollepel Island in the Hudson River is 270 degrees true north from the famous and mysterious Newport Tower! The Newport Tower "points to" Bannerman's Island and the rest of the mystery! 

So we have the Bannerman family whose legacy includes a being Standard Bearers for Robert the Bruce and Baronets of Nova Scotia creating a mystery including Scottish Castle on "Bannerman's Island" that is "pointed to" by the Newport Tower that also includes a map of Nova Scotia with the "hooked X" and the Rochefoucauld name also including members of Sir Francis Bacon's descendant family. I could not make this stuff up if I tried.  

Below is a short video showing the geographic relationship of Bannerman's Island and the Newport Tower: 

More on this next week!! -Cort Jan. 15, 2018. 

PART II October, 15, 2018. 

Oak Island and the Meridian of the Holy Grail in France.

Here we will examine how and why the Cremona Document map was likely drawn by a French person in the 18th century. There are many reasons this map may not be a copy of a much older map.

Two popular stories that involve the Holy Grail include the fortresses of Montsegur in Southern France and Montserrat Monastery in eastern Spain. The fortress of Gisors also has a legend and modern story that suggest a Knights Templar treasure was hidden there. Louis Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld the son of Jean Baptiste of the d’Anville expedition was arrested at Gisors during the French Revolution. He was eventually executed.

In the saga of the Cathars sometimes known of as “Albiginsians” the fortress of Montsegur served as a last bastion of hope for them when they were persecuted in the mid thirteenth Century as part of the Inquisition. Cathar faith had some Manichean overtones that didn’t mix well with the powerful Catholic Church and its landed patrons. A Crusade was enacted against them with the same fervor that the Church had against the Moors and Muslim occupants of the Holy Land. As this purge progressed a small group of Cathars and their supporters took refuge in the high fortress at Montsegur.

This story goes on to take on some mythical overtones. Many of the legends concerning this siege say that something of great importance was smuggled out of Montsegur before the remaining defenders surrendered themselves to the army of the French King waiting below. A monument today stands where it is said many of the persecuted threw themselves onto the funeral pyre rather than convert to Catholicism. This legend includes the fact that important items that may comprise the “Holy Grail” had been smuggled out of the fortress prior to this. No one knows where these items were hidden yet this incident has added an exciting air of mystery to the region that includes lost treasure and even the famous Knights Templar.

Though there is no corroborating evidence many of the legends of Montsegur include the fact that the Knights Templar had sympathized with the Cathars and that even some of them had helped to defend the fortress of Montsegur and had converted to the Cathar faith. While this is a noble notion from many perspectives there is absolutely no documented proof this is true. But it makes a good story and does indeed associate the Knights Templar to the story of Montsegur. Some associations between the Blanchefort family involved in the Rennes le Chateau mystery may indicate that they had Cathar family members and also members that were Knights Templar. Yet there is no historical documentation that states Knights Templar were present during the siege of Montsegur.

In reality many Knights Templar likely took part in suppressing the Cathar faith at that time. Many Knights who had previously been on crusade took part in the persecution of Cathars though it is possible that some of them did take pity or sympathize with these people of a different faith. What is important to this story is that during the siege of Montsegur something was sequestered in a hidden place after having been smuggled out of the besieged fortress.

This legend has made Montsegur into a place of pilgrimage today for those that sympathize the plight of the Cathars. In this modern age it is no longer a sin or questionable to hold the beliefs that the Cathars had including a stronger role for women in religious matters. The story of the Cathars and Montsegur in the modern age has been kind of wedded with the legend of treasure at Rennes le Chateau not far away. Some feel that what ever was taken from Montsegur clandestinely was then hidden in the environs of Rennes le Chateau. Other legends state that parts of the Temple Treasure are also hidden in association or that some of these items are what the Cathars had access to so long ago.

It is local folklore and legends of France similar to those associated with Montsegur that the Cassini family and those employed by them as surveyors had encountered while collecting geographic data for their famous Map of France. The map was produced over four generations of the Cassini family finally coming to completion under the auspices of Dominique Cassini  in the 1780’s, The accuracy of this map still holds up today with many sections of it closely matching Google Earth globe. It is interesting to speculate  that the Cassini family had noticed some oddities of space, time, and history when considering the spatial relationship of some historical sites and events. Some Cassini family members are noted as being Knights of Malta and not Knights Templar.

It would be interesting to see if they indeed had noticed some of the attributes that modern writer Henry Lincoln sees in the landscape of Southern France and other places. Many theorize that certain important places were arrayed in a way as to create large scale geometric designs. If true the Cassini’s would have been in a unique position to have noticed this in their accurate plotting of these locations beginning in the late seventeenth century. The Cassini Space Probe that recently ended its mission was named for this family.

Interestingly one of the surveyors and map makers that aided the Cassini family in their task was Francois Arago. Arago is famous for the brass medallions in Paris that mark the Paris Meridian which he also helped to define along with the Cassini family. Some records indicate that it may have even been Arago himself that had plotted the area around Rennes le Chateau and Montsegur himself. It is likely that this included him locating and marking the famous Paris Meridian that is indeed part of the story of Rennes le Chateau and Rennes le Bains.

While men like Arago were executing their land surveying and cartographic duties it follows that they were also exposed to a great deal of legend, lore, and truth with regard to the context of local history where they were working. It is via this close association with the land, people, and even older maps that these men came to learn about the lost treasure of Dagobert II at Rennes le Chateau or the last stand of the Cathars at Montsegur. Both of these incidents or concepts could have easily been lost to history prior to the time these men had made an effort to map France and by chance had also possibly revived some very interesting aspects of history that are still appreciated today.

What is clear as well is after the siege of Montsegur many Cathar refugees made their way to what is now Spain in the mountainous regions north of Barcelona and extending east to Girona, Spain as well.

Amazingly that region is also home to one of the more popular theorized locations of the Holy Grail. Montserrat Monastery is thought by many historical analysts to have been the place where the Holy Grail was hidden in Wolfram Von Eschenbach’s literary work “Parzival.” This story in a large way even defines the historical value of the Grail even though many aren’t even sure what the “Grail” is. What may be of interest here is that both Montsegur and Montserrat do have legends of the Holy Grail having once been there yet both places had polar opposite associations with faith that dictates these stories. Or do they?

Montsegur is associated with the so called heretical notions of the Cathars and Montserrat Monastery is a bastion of Catholic ideals. Despite this is it possible that whatever was taken from Montsegur during Albiginsian Crusade was then hidden at Montserrat. The two place are only about 88 miles apart though via a difficult and rugged mountain terrain. It is noted that after the siege of Montsegur that many Cathars did flee to the area around Montserrat. It is also interesting that that two places are valued for similar reason by types of faith that opposed each other.

Amazingly Montsegur is nearly perfectly due north of the Monastery of Montserrat. This is kind of amazing when considering the legendary folklore of the Holy Grail being associated with both places. The spatial relationship of these two places may form what may be termed “The Meridian of the Holy Grail.”  Montsegur is due north of Montserrat along the same line of longitude. It is clear that people through time have valued such spatial associations and this is apparent in the ancient Greek and Egyptian cultures. Just exactly what does this have to do with Oak Island?

At this point in this story we now find ourselves in the early 21st century in our examination of what is known of as the “Cremona Document Map.” This is a map of Nova Scotia that was discovered as part of the investigative efforts of author Zena Halpern. Ms. Halpern recently passed away so I am hoping my analysis here does justice to her exhaustive efforts to study concepts of how the Knights Templar may have been involved in hidden or neglected aspects of North American history. Indeed some connections were found by this author yet they don’t extend to this history directly as many fans of Ms. Halpern’s work would believe. Yet there is still the inference of the legacy of the original Knights Templar of the Crusader era in what she had found no matter how much one would be critical of her belief that the Knights Templar had actually come to North America and established themselves with Native Americans at that time.

Without going into the entirety of Ms. Halpern’s work we will examine the map that she presented as evidence as part of her theories. This includes the strange map that includes the name “Rochefoucauld” written on the map that also displays Nova Scotia including a specific longitude designation for Oak Island. This map is not a secret as copies of it are available on the internet and it has been featured on the TV show “The Curse of Oak Island.” Other Templar pundits have also given their opinions based on the fact they believed the map was referencing the Paris Meridian.

The longitudes on this map do not conform to the Paris Meridian. My analysis includes this fact. The vertical lines of longitude on this map each have a series of two Roman numerals arrayed vertically along the designated longitudes. These include a notation of what is Degrees and Minutes of longitude in this analysis. The line of longitude that designates Oak Island reads LXVI or 66 degrees. This designation is followed by a space then the Roman Numeral VI or 6. This creates the image of 666 that is also interesting. Using the Paris Meridian this longitude designation does not even match the position of Oak Island on later maps that use the Paris Meridian. This longitude designation suggests that someone had created a meridian of their own to reference these things. How and why? Had the meridian that was used to plot Oak Island been used in the past and did it have meaning in the scheme of the overall history of Oak Island?

What may confirm that the longitude coordinates on the map are indeed degrees and minutes comes from examining the additional longitudes on the map. In each longitude notation the second group of numbers in each measurement do not include a number higher than sixty. This matches the use of a time based coordinates system similar to what is used today. This also matches the system of using the Paris Meridian as a place from which to measure but the portion marked for the location of Oak Island is over a half of a degree off from matching the use of the Paris Meridian.

These factors also indicate that a Nautical Chronometer was used to plot the longitudes seen on the what we may term the “C Map.” The Nautical Chronometer was invented in the mid 1600’s but its design and use were not common until the early to mid 1700’s. If the Knights Templar were responsible for the information displayed on this obvious later copy then they would not have used these kinds of coordinates to designate the position of Oak Island.

The use of the type of coordinates seen on the map does match the date of the d’Anville expedition led by Jean Baptiste de La Rochefoucauld duc d’Anville as well as other mariners of that era who had travelled to Nova Scotia. Jean Baptiste of course would have been referencing the Paris Meridian which was not established until 1667 if not slightly before that date. Jean Baptiste would have also have had the skills to have used any line of longitude in the world as his reference as he was a navigator and Admiral of the French Royal Navy.

So what meridian is being referenced on the “C map?” Why the meridian marked by the north to south spatial orientation of Montsegur Fortress in France and Montserrat Monastery in Spain of course! It does appear that this meridian was used on the C map as its baseline and not the Paris Meridian which is a half of an entire degree more to the west. In addition it appears that the Cassini family had also used this meridian as one of many lines of longitude they used as baselines to create their famous Map of France. The Meridian that Montsegur and Montserrat mark is also the division point of sections of the Map of France beginning at the Port of Calais in northern France extending south to and including the Fortress of Gisors then extending still further south to Montsegur. Of course the Cassini’s did not include the part of Spain where Montserrat is located on their famous map but their roles as master cartographers and astronomers would have made this apparent to them and they likely knew it was included on this meridian.

This leads us to the question of whether the Knights Templar had anything to do with creating the C map and the Meridian of the Holy grail including these storied places. Though this is possible it would have also been the Cassini’s who noticed this alignment that fell along one meridian of many they created to draw their map of France. It was they who became privy to all the local folklore and legends of the places they and their surveyors worked in the production of this map. Their place in French Society would have also exposed them to all of the stories that include associations between the famous Knights Templar and the Holy Grail.

It is true that each of the places listed here as part of the meridian may have involved the Knights Templar at one time. Gisors is home to many historical events including the “Cutting of the Elm” and also a legend of a Knights Templar buried treasure. The Knights Templar only occupied Fortress Gisors for a short period but there are many characters that intertwine with the history of Gisors including the Rochefoucauld family. In fact during the French Revolution a man named Louis Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld would lose his life there as the French Revolution developed.

Louis Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld duc d’Anville was the son of Jean Baptiste de La Rochefoucauld duc d’Anville who had possibly gone to Oak Island and either created the Money Pit or had attempted to open it while he was there. Unfortunately Jean Baptiste lost his life on that ill fated expedition that is memorialized in the poem of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow “The Ballad of the French Fleet.”

It is ironic that Louis Alexandre was a supporter of the American Revolution and Republic at the time of his death at the hands of French Revolutionaries who valued the same concepts. Louis Alexandre’s close personal friend Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were likely saddened to hear that he had passed as part of the uprising in France. Jefferson and Franklin had even spent time at Rochefoucauld’s Chateau de La Roche Guyon not far from Gisors when they were Minister’s to France. Rochefoucauld had been such a fan of American Independence that he had been the first to print the American Constitution and Declaration of Independence in the French language and distribute them. It is sad that a concept that he ardently supported also led to his untimely and unfair death at Gisors.

The C Map has the Rochefoucauld name on it.  The C Map has longitude coordinates associated with a Nautical Chronometer. The meridian the C Map is referencing is not the Paris Meridian that had been created by the Cassini family but another somewhat hidden meridian that had been created by the Cassini Family as part of their Map of France. There is no evidence that suggests the Knights Templar had created a meridian that marked the north to south location of these places.

The Cassini’s were in a unique position to have noted this and it may be that they even speculated as to the truth of someone having aligned these places intentionally and they may have considered the Knights Templar or Knights of Malta. If the Templars did create an alignment or meridian it may have only included Montsegur and Montserrat. It is not out of the question that this was an older meridian but none of the notations on the C Map suggest this was an earlier manifestation.

If the later person who had created the C map had simply converted what ever geographic coordinate system that the Templars had used to a time based system that referenced a Nautical Chronometer then this could still be true. Even so this speculation then adds another layer of information that is only speculation and can’t be proven. If we are to go by what is available on the map then we may conclude that this was all done after the production of the Cassini Map and the d’Anville expedition. In a way the map does reveal real Knights Templar as the de La Roche ancestors of the Rochefoucauld’s include at least three individuals who were Knights Templar including one that was Preceptor of all of France in the order. Other de La Roche’s were involved in ruling the Principality of Athens that they had been awarded as part of the fourth Crusade. This actually leads to why the “hooked X” is present on the C Map and why the “hooked X” is also present in the Greek signature of Christopher Columbus.

The Cassini family are also mentioned by many researchers and scholars as having been involved in the mysteries of Perillos and Rennes le Chateau in France that are indeed connected together via the character of Father Sauniere. As stated above the Cassini family in France was in a unique position to have learned many stories similar to Rennes le Chateau and Perillos including the stories of Montsegur, Gisors, and Montserrat. I am sure at some point the Cassini’s had read or been exposed to the story of Wolfram Von Eschenbach’s “Parzival” for instance.

The Rochefoucauld’s and Cassini’s undoubtedly knew each other as Louis Alexandre was a practical minded scientist and agricultural experimenter. This is something he and Jefferson had in common. In fact a mutual friend of theirs was Condorcet who was married to a woman named Sophie de Grouchy who owned Chateau Villette that was later featured in the movie “The Da Vinci Code.” The crowd of literary salons and intellectuals also included Dominique Cassini who also corresponded with Jefferson and Franklin.

Thomas Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette and likely Rochefoucauld and his wife attended a literary salon at Chateau Villette so the next time you watch the “Da Vinci Code” keep this in mind as you watch the scenes that were filmed there. Indeed there is other architecture in the movie that is tipping us off as to the French value of Oak Island also leading us to the fact that the C document map was likely produced by a French individual after the time of the d’Anville Expedition and not by the original Knights Templar as many may be hoping.

The use of this meridian by the Cassini family in their geodesic calculation also has another factor as to why this meridian would be valued by them in addition to the many other meridians they had created to produce their Map of France. The Meridian (of the Holy Grail) begins to the north within the limits of the Port of Calais. Calais had been home to an observatory which they used in another experiment they did to calculate the exact size and shape of the earth. This experiment involved triangulating positions in Perillos, Calais, and Dunkirk, France. So in addition to being used as a baseline and point of division for sections of their map this meridian had extra significance to them in that regard. As stated before Perillos is a landscape mystery that is directly linked to strange goings on at Rennes le Chateau so the meridian of Calais was also of interest for two reasons. Philip Coppens wrote and speculated a great deal about Perillos and was a member of Society Perillos.

Let’s examine the chronology of the creation of the places along this meridian we are discussing. 

Montsegur: In 1204 the fortress was rebuilt and noted to have been in ruins for more than forty years at that point. This takes us back to 1164 a time during which the Knights Templar existed but there is no record or suggestion of their involvement there until the mid 13th century in association with the Cathars and there is no documentation to back up the fact that any Knights Templar were present at the siege of Montsegur. This also suggests that the original fortress there had been built prior to the existence of the Knights Templar if it had been in ruins in 1164. The Knights Templar had not selected the site of Montsegur

Montserrat Monastery:  Has been valued as the home of “La Morinita Virgin” or little dark haired virgin since the ninth century long before the existence of the Knights Templar. Von Eschenbach’s “Parzival” is the inspiration of the notion that the Holy Grail is at Montserrat. It was written in the early 1300’s so this is almost too late for the Templars to have valued Montserrat due to this association. Alternately the story of Parzival took place at an earlier date than the year the story was published and the Templars knew of and valued this though only speculation with no proof. Nothing has even been found with regard to the Holy Grail at Montserrat though the sandstone pillars there do resemble the motif of the Shepherds Monument at Shugborugh Hall. The Knights Templar had not selected the construction site of Montserrat.

Gisors: The first construction of this site was in the 11th century prior to the creation of the Knights Templar. The Knights Templar were said to have occupied Gisors for a short while though references are scant that prove this. It is true that during the 20th century a legend of a Knights Templar treasure only seen by one man and no other was stashed at Gisors. Subsequent efforts to find treasure there have all failed. The Knights Templar had not selected the construction site of Gisors fortress.

Port of Calais: Calais is noted at the time of Julius Caesar as a staging ground for the invasion of Britain. So this too is long before the Knights Templar though there may have been a Knights Templar Commandery there later in the 13th century. The Knights Templar had nothing to do with the selection of the site of the City of Calais.

The chronology of the above places that are included on this meridian may mean that it was the Cassini family who valued it because these places were present prior to the advent of the Order.

This again may lead us to the conclusion that the C Map was not produced in association with the Knights Templar unless they somehow noted the same thing the Cassini’s did as these places had significance prior to the establishment of the order. Really the logic involved here suggests that the meridian was valued but by the Cassini Family and not the fabled Knights Templar.

If the Knights Templar were aware of this meridian there is absolutely no documented proof that this is true. Unfortunately the C Map can’t be used as evidence that they knew this was true either. The C Map more points to the Cassini’s and Rochefoucauld’s who were aware of this meridian prior to the d’Anville expedition. The Rochefoucauld name is not on that map for no reason. Whomever put it there was aware of this meridian and its association with the Cassini family and not the Knights Templar. Bless Ms. Halpern for helping to expose all of this.

None of this actually closes the door with regard to the fact that the Knights Templar could have noted that these places were aligned and used it in mapping or mentally noting where they were situated within French territory which of course looked a lot different from plan view at various times in history. It is equally possible that the Cassini’s were the first to note this as they used this meridian for both mapping the country and in experiments designed to define the size and shape of the earth. The earth is six miles shorter over the poles than around the equator and this would have been important in to understand in long range navigation and plotting things in relation to a meridian in France or any home country.

Some of what is presented above may also indicate that the Money Pit was not constructed prior the execution of Charles I of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Even more so evidence suggests the Money Pit may have been built by the d’Anville expedition. What is needed in part is to test the paper the map is printed on as well as the ink it was drawn with in order to establish its date of creation. It is likely this map was presented to Ms. Halpern as a copy of an older map to intentionally muddy the waters of what ever the truth is with regard to Templars in America and the Oak Island saga.

I will add some info here with regard to Joseph Smith after I am allowed to examine the rest of the Cremona Document. J. Smith actually had a collection of authentic Egyptian papyri from the Roman period. The golden tablets he claimed to have found included a script that is very similar to Egyptian Hieratic or “Theban Script.” If the Smith family of Oak Island is originally from the first families of Hartford Conn. then they are at least related to J. Smith Mormon Prophet. It is also strange that Mormon originated in New York and Hunter Mtn. NY is the place that includes rock carvings depicting “Theban” characters. Strange indeed. And oh yeah…Joseph Smith was a professional “treasure hunter.” lol. None of that means he was associated with the C Document but does display how notions like this and the Egyptian culture were popular at various times through history. Even the son of Louis Alexandre the next duc d’Anville after him had a dog named “Cartouche.” Napoleon had gone to Egypt etc.

It is interesting that a “Mr. Roche” is part of the plot of the how the Cremona Document got into the hands of Ms. Halpern. 

The above map is the famous Cassini Map of France. The Meridian from which the "Cremona Document Map" references is marked with the arrows. This Meridian includes Montserrat Monastery, Montsegur Fortress, Gisors, and Calais, France.