The Curse of Oak Island: NEW PROOF of Viking Connections to the Island (Season 11)

More than 3,200 miles to
the east in the Netherlands…
JACQUO: Right, guys. Welcome
to the Castle of Valkenburg,
one of the mightiest strongholds
in the Middle Ages
here in this region.
NARRATOR: …Rick Lagina,
his nephews Alex and Peter,
along with Doug Crowell
and Emiliano Sacchetti
are meeting
with author Corjan Mol
and historian Jacquo Silvertant
at a 12th-century fortress
known as Valkenburg Castle.
NARRATOR:
In 1307,
King Philip IV of France
and Pope Clement V
dissolved and prosecuted
the Templar order
on charges of heresy.
However, some believe
that the true purpose was to
obtain the priceless treasures
that they may have found
in the Holy Land
during the 12th-century
Crusades,
including the golden menorah
that once stood
in King Solomon’s Temple,
and the Ark of the Covenant.
(men screaming)
Hundreds of Templar Knights
were arrested and executed
in prisons across Europe
such as Valkenburg Castle.
However,
many others eluded capture
and their sacred treasures
have never been found.
–Mind your head. Corjan.
-Okay.
Yep. Thank you.
RICK:
Each of us in our own way
are trying to make these
very positive connections
between what we’re seeing
and doing in the Old World
and how it may relate
to Oak Island and the mystery.
JACQUO:
Watch your head.
RICK:
If we see that evidenced here,
I think it will be
quite impactful.
CORJAN:
Be extremely careful.
–JACQUO: Everybody here?
–ALEX: Yeah.
JACQUO:
Okay, people, uh, this
is what I wanted to show you.
We’re, uh, in a dungeon here,
under the Castle of Valkenburg.
Our interest goes
to these engravings
on this 14th-century, uh, wall.
If you look carefully,
uh, there is
a four-dot cross here,
-like you see.
–ALEX: Oh, yeah. Yep. Mm-hmm.
ALEX: We seem to see
these four-dot crosses
in a lot of places.
We’ve seen it on the H+O Stone,
uh, on Oak Island.
And we’ve seen it,
actually, throughout Europe.
It’s much more significant to us
because we’re kind of seeing it
crop up all along this trail
that we’re chasing
of the Knights Templar.
–Could this be a goose paw?
–Ah! No way.
That is a goose paw.
Remember when we saw
this symbol in Nova Scotia?
Yeah.
That is the,
the mark of the Masons
for the Knights Templar.
Incredible.
NARRATOR:
In 2022,
Corjan Mol showed Rick
and members of the team
a so-called goose paw,
that in addition
to other symbols
that are related
to the Templar Order,
was carved
into the rocky shoreline
in Liverpool, Nova Scotia,
just 50 miles southwest
of Oak Island.
CORJAL:
That’s-that’s just crazy.
–Doug, if you have a minute.
-Yup.
–CORJAL: This–
–DOUG: What are you looking at?
CORJAL:
This symbol here
I’ve seen
in Templar prisons before.
DOUG:
Oh, really?
DOUG:
Oh, I can see.
Yeah, I can see
what you’re pointing out.
I mean,
they are one of our primary
suspects this year…
Yeah.
DOUG:
…just because
of the convergence
of so many 1200s dates.
NARRATOR:
A possible Templar carving
of what may be
depicting a Viking sail?
There’s been thoughts
that this is a Templar treasure
on Oak Island, right?
We know
the suppression happened.
-Yeah.
–DOUG: We know
they had motivation
to maybe take something
to a sanctuary
far away from the troubles.
But how did they get there?
How did they know
about the New World?
CORJAN:
Yep.
So Templars used Vikings
for transportation to come
to a promised land–
North America.
NARRATOR:
Earlier this year,
retired professor
of psychology Dr. Doug Symons
presented the team
with his published research
detailing how
the Scandinavian Viking culture,
which is known to have explored
regions of North America
more than 1,000 years ago,
intermingled
with the Templar Order
during the 12th-century Crusades
and may have helped them
navigate across
the Atlantic Ocean
in order to hide
their sacred treasures
on Oak Island.
This might be a clue
that there’s a link
between Templar
and Viking technology.
NARRATOR:
Is it possible that Corjan has
just found more evidence
in Valkenburg Castle
that supports
Dr. Symons’ theory?
CORJAN:
That’s a boat with two masts.
NARRATOR:
If so, could that explain
not only the artifacts
and structures
discovered on Oak Island
that may be related
to the Templar Order
but also those that were
scientifically traced
to Scandinavia?
If there are Templar carvings
in this dungeon prison,
to me, that supports the idea
that they did flee to the north.
-Yeah.
–ALEX: Which-which is exactly
-what we suspected
may have happened.
–CORJAN: I agree.
And they traveled through lands
where they didn’t have
any holdings
so people wouldn’t be
looking for them.
RICK:
There was a need for refuge,
safe refuge.
So, where are you going to go?
You’re going to go
to the New World.
You have to cross the Atlantic.
So what we are
chasing now is that
east to west
voyage possibilities.
Did the Norse really have
the command of the oceans,
such that the Templars
could rely on them?
They went a more practical way
up north using the highway
of the Middle Ages–
-the river.
-Right.
That’s part
of this trip we’re making.
We’ll be off
to Denmark here soon.
Oh, it’s gonna be a lot more
interesting now we know this.
RICK:
Maybe there’s a missing clue.
NARRATOR:
The following morning…
–ANE JEPSEN NYBORG: Hello.
–RICK: Good morning.
–ANE: Good morning.
-Hi.
-How are you?
You are very welcome.
NARRATOR:
…Rick Lagina and the team
have traveled
to Kerteminde, Denmark
where they are meeting
with museum curator
Ane Jepsen Nyborg
at the historic
Ladby Viking Museum.
ANE:
So, do move in, guys.
This is gonna be
very, very small.
NARRATOR:
In the hopes of proving
more potential connections
between the Vikings
and the Oak Island mystery,
Rick and Doug
have brought a picture
of a believed
medieval crossbow bolt
that was found
on Oak Island back in the 1960s
by the late Robert Dunfield.
RICK:
As it turns out, we have
something we would like to show
that’s currently being
conserved and tested.
-So, Doug, I believe you
have a picture of it.
-I do.
RICK:
It’s a real, uh,
interesting item
and may have a story to tell.
That’s the best photo
I have of it.
ANE:
Wow!
Now we’re talking.
This is very interesting to me
because this is
the type of artifact
that I could find tomorrow
in-in an archaeological dig
around here.
in-in an archaeological dig
around here.
ANE:
This is very
quintessentially the way
that they made these artifacts
in the Viking age.
–Wow.
-And, fortunately,
I have a replica here.
We have here an artifact
which quintessentially
looks very, very much like
what we see here on the picture.
Right.
ANE:
This is an arrowhead
for what we would call
a long bow.
Okay.
ANE:
So, these types of arrowheads,
they come in around
the beginning of the Viking age,
so we’re talking about 800
we see this particular point.
And then it goes on
throughout the Viking age
and stops somewhere
around the middle
of the medieval period.
So, this is pre-1300.
–DOUG: That is really cool.
-Yeah.
So, this could have
been used through the 1200s?
–It could, yes. Yeah.
–Wow.
ANE:
So, the Vikings
were very keen archers,
both in war times
and for hunting.
So, this to me
is absolutely something
that belongs to a Nordic
or a Norse, uh,
sort of way of doing it.
Yeah.
NARRATOR:
If Ane’s assessment
of this arrowhead is correct,
could that help explain
who created the megalithic
structures on the island
such as the stone piles
on Lot 15
and Nolan’s Cross,
which are believed
to date back
to approximately 1200 AD?
Would it account for the other
artifacts the team has found,
which have been scientifically
traced to Scandinavia?
And finally,
does it offer more evidence
to support
Dr. Doug Symons’ theory
that Vikings assisted
members of the Knights Templar
in transporting
their sacred treasures
across the Atlantic Ocean
to Oak Island
as much as 800 years ago?
RICK:
So, Ane, we’re always trying
to put X through things, right?
Yeah.
We have a list
of “usual suspects”
for the activities on the island
regarding the mystery.
Yeah.
So, we just have to take
this information back
-and build on that.
-Yeah, absolutely.
–RICK: So, thank you.
–ANE: You’re very welcome.