1 00:00:03,042 --> 00:00:07,208 - Tonight, a vast treasure of gold and sacred relics 2 00:00:07,208 --> 00:00:09,583 held by a medieval religious order. 3 00:00:09,708 --> 00:00:13,375 - The Knights Templar were the most charismatic, 4 00:00:13,458 --> 00:00:17,458 powerful order of warriors in the Middle Ages. 5 00:00:17,542 --> 00:00:19,625 - They're alleged to have the Holy Grail, 6 00:00:19,708 --> 00:00:22,333 the Ark of the Covenant, the piece of the True Cross, 7 00:00:22,417 --> 00:00:24,000 all this gold that they accumulate 8 00:00:24,042 --> 00:00:25,750 over a couple hundred years. 9 00:00:25,875 --> 00:00:29,333 - But in 1307 AD, the Templar treasure 10 00:00:29,417 --> 00:00:32,583 mysteriously vanishes, or does it? 11 00:00:32,667 --> 00:00:35,875 - They fell so quickly and so spectacularly, 12 00:00:35,958 --> 00:00:38,583 and we don't know what happened after that. 13 00:00:38,667 --> 00:00:40,042 Where did all the wealth go? 14 00:00:40,167 --> 00:00:42,333 - Now, we explore the top theories 15 00:00:42,375 --> 00:00:45,542 surrounding the Knights Templar and its secret hoard. 16 00:00:46,583 --> 00:00:50,167 - The place where they dig is called Oak Island. 17 00:00:50,250 --> 00:00:54,125 - He says that he saw the Templars smuggle this treasure 18 00:00:54,125 --> 00:00:57,083 and that it took 50 horses to move all of it. 19 00:00:57,167 --> 00:00:59,792 - There was interest in Templar treasure 20 00:00:59,875 --> 00:01:02,000 from a very sinister source, 21 00:01:02,083 --> 00:01:04,542 the Third Reich and Adolf Hitler. 22 00:01:05,875 --> 00:01:08,875 - Does the Templar's treasure still exist and if so, 23 00:01:08,958 --> 00:01:10,500 where is it? 24 00:01:10,583 --> 00:01:13,292 (dramatic music) 25 00:01:25,333 --> 00:01:30,375 November 1095, Pope Urban calls on all Christians 26 00:01:30,458 --> 00:01:35,000 to take up arms against Muslims who control the Holy Land. 27 00:01:35,125 --> 00:01:37,167 - Christian Army set off on what's going to be 28 00:01:37,250 --> 00:01:39,458 the first of eight crusades. 29 00:01:39,542 --> 00:01:43,083 They marched through modern day Turkey, Constantinople, 30 00:01:43,167 --> 00:01:45,583 and what is today, Syria, Antioch. 31 00:01:46,458 --> 00:01:48,333 - There was a massive response, 32 00:01:48,417 --> 00:01:49,833 probably about 100,000 people 33 00:01:49,875 --> 00:01:52,333 from all walks of life, mostly from the nobility, 34 00:01:52,417 --> 00:01:55,042 but the poor, even Churchmen left their monasteries 35 00:01:55,125 --> 00:01:57,625 in order to go on this Holy War. 36 00:01:57,708 --> 00:02:00,417 - Pope Urban II wants to liberate the Holy Land. 37 00:02:00,417 --> 00:02:01,833 He wants to liberate Jerusalem 38 00:02:01,958 --> 00:02:05,333 and the most holy sites for Christians from Muslim rule. 39 00:02:08,958 --> 00:02:12,208 - Then they set their sights on the holy city of Jerusalem. 40 00:02:14,042 --> 00:02:17,667 It involves a siege process that lasts about a month, 41 00:02:17,750 --> 00:02:19,458 and by July of 1099, 42 00:02:19,542 --> 00:02:22,083 they have breached the walls of Jerusalem itself. 43 00:02:23,708 --> 00:02:25,833 - [Laurence] The Holy Land and all its famed sites 44 00:02:25,917 --> 00:02:29,708 are now back in the control of the Catholic church. 45 00:02:29,833 --> 00:02:31,167 - This is a huge deal 46 00:02:31,292 --> 00:02:34,208 because these are the holiest places in Christian lore 47 00:02:34,333 --> 00:02:35,875 and people come from all over. 48 00:02:35,958 --> 00:02:39,167 They come from Italy, from England, from France. 49 00:02:39,208 --> 00:02:42,667 Pilgrims want to go now, to visit the holy places. 50 00:02:42,750 --> 00:02:45,500 - [Laurence] But that brings a new challenge. 51 00:02:45,500 --> 00:02:47,625 - Then as now, travelers were easy prey, especially 52 00:02:47,708 --> 00:02:50,333 in a world in which there's no such things as ATMs 53 00:02:50,375 --> 00:02:52,250 or travelers checks or credit cards. 54 00:02:52,333 --> 00:02:53,542 You're gonna need money. 55 00:02:53,625 --> 00:02:55,375 You're gonna need goods for several months. 56 00:02:55,458 --> 00:02:57,875 You're easy targets for robbers. 57 00:02:57,958 --> 00:03:00,708 There's no Motel 6, there's no local police forces 58 00:03:00,792 --> 00:03:01,708 or things like that, 59 00:03:01,792 --> 00:03:03,625 and so you have all sorts of pilgrims 60 00:03:03,708 --> 00:03:07,458 who now are being murdered on the way to Jerusalem. 61 00:03:07,542 --> 00:03:09,750 - I mean, literally the roads to Jerusalem 62 00:03:09,833 --> 00:03:13,292 are littered with the skeletons, the pilgrims. 63 00:03:13,375 --> 00:03:15,083 - [Laurence] In 1119, 64 00:03:15,167 --> 00:03:16,833 with the blessing of the Catholic church, 65 00:03:16,917 --> 00:03:18,375 a French knight in Jerusalem 66 00:03:18,500 --> 00:03:21,958 forms a security force to protect the pilgrims. 67 00:03:22,042 --> 00:03:23,333 They call themselves 68 00:03:23,417 --> 00:03:26,375 the Poor Knights of the Temple of King Solomon, 69 00:03:26,458 --> 00:03:30,833 but will soon become known simply as the Knights Templar. 70 00:03:32,375 --> 00:03:36,167 - This is a monastic order and they take the vow of poverty, 71 00:03:36,250 --> 00:03:39,625 the vow of chastity, the vow of obedience. 72 00:03:39,708 --> 00:03:42,625 So you have these Poor Knights, but that will create 73 00:03:42,708 --> 00:03:45,333 one of the wealthiest orders in the world. 74 00:03:45,417 --> 00:03:47,333 - This idea of fighting for God 75 00:03:47,500 --> 00:03:50,458 and the Holy Land really captures the imagination 76 00:03:50,542 --> 00:03:54,500 of the Christian world and the Templars embody that. 77 00:03:54,583 --> 00:03:57,792 They attract donations from all over Christendom 78 00:03:57,792 --> 00:03:59,458 and this transforms them 79 00:03:59,542 --> 00:04:03,000 into one of the most powerful forces of the period. 80 00:04:03,083 --> 00:04:04,583 - The Knights Templar were 81 00:04:04,583 --> 00:04:09,667 the most charismatic, powerful order in the Middle Ages. 82 00:04:09,750 --> 00:04:13,500 Both priests and the bravest soldiers in the crusades, 83 00:04:13,583 --> 00:04:16,958 they really capture the spirit of the age, 84 00:04:17,042 --> 00:04:19,167 and particularly in Rome 85 00:04:19,292 --> 00:04:22,833 where the Popes shower privileges on them. 86 00:04:22,875 --> 00:04:26,750 They're not answerable to kings, to princes, to dukes. 87 00:04:26,875 --> 00:04:30,833 They're only answerable directly to the Pope in Rome. 88 00:04:32,833 --> 00:04:34,500 - [Laurence] The Templars' fortune grows 89 00:04:34,542 --> 00:04:37,417 through their steady stream of donations. 90 00:04:37,542 --> 00:04:40,583 They also acquire vast estates, castles, 91 00:04:40,583 --> 00:04:42,917 and cathedrals all over Europe. 92 00:04:44,333 --> 00:04:45,958 - They're involved in all kinds of sectors 93 00:04:46,042 --> 00:04:47,958 of the European economy. 94 00:04:48,042 --> 00:04:50,667 They're in manufacturing, they're getting mills. 95 00:04:50,708 --> 00:04:53,833 They're getting all kinds of donations from wealthy donors, 96 00:04:53,875 --> 00:04:57,250 so they're not just a group of knights with swords. 97 00:04:57,375 --> 00:04:59,958 There's an entire intricate financial system 98 00:05:00,042 --> 00:05:01,583 that's supporting that. 99 00:05:01,708 --> 00:05:04,833 - It spans all sorts of countries, 100 00:05:04,958 --> 00:05:06,333 and it may be in fact 101 00:05:06,375 --> 00:05:08,542 the world's first multinational corporation. 102 00:05:08,625 --> 00:05:10,375 - [Laurence] The Templars have outposts 103 00:05:10,500 --> 00:05:11,875 throughout Christendom 104 00:05:12,042 --> 00:05:15,500 and go on to create the world's first modern banking system. 105 00:05:15,625 --> 00:05:18,042 - They set up a system of effectively banking 106 00:05:18,125 --> 00:05:19,625 in which if you were a pilgrim, 107 00:05:19,708 --> 00:05:22,500 you could make a deposit at a commandery or an outpost, 108 00:05:22,542 --> 00:05:24,458 and then you would have a script you could redeem 109 00:05:24,542 --> 00:05:25,833 when you get to Jerusalem, 110 00:05:25,917 --> 00:05:28,833 and you were good for it when you got there. 111 00:05:28,917 --> 00:05:31,458 - These Templar commanderies, they are banks, 112 00:05:31,458 --> 00:05:33,167 but they're not ordinary banks. 113 00:05:33,292 --> 00:05:35,000 I mean, they're fortresses. 114 00:05:35,083 --> 00:05:38,583 Example, the Paris Temple looms over the city. 115 00:05:38,667 --> 00:05:40,625 I mean, it's enormous. 116 00:05:40,708 --> 00:05:42,625 The only thing I can think of to describe it 117 00:05:42,708 --> 00:05:44,833 is the castle of Disneyland. 118 00:05:44,917 --> 00:05:48,458 You know, it's that kind of presence in the landscape. 119 00:05:48,583 --> 00:05:50,667 - And so, its banking system 120 00:05:50,792 --> 00:05:54,208 that will allow pilgrims to travel without resource. 121 00:05:54,292 --> 00:05:57,000 That way, they're less attractive to robbers. 122 00:05:57,083 --> 00:05:58,750 Nothing to take. 123 00:05:58,750 --> 00:06:02,708 - Pilgrims from all over Europe feel safer 124 00:06:02,792 --> 00:06:05,708 because they're protected by the Templar Knights. 125 00:06:07,375 --> 00:06:09,542 - When the Templars established themselves 126 00:06:09,625 --> 00:06:11,500 as a presence in Jerusalem, 127 00:06:11,583 --> 00:06:15,500 they're given the Al-Aqsa Mosque as their headquarters 128 00:06:15,542 --> 00:06:17,458 built upon the Templar of Solomon. 129 00:06:17,542 --> 00:06:18,583 It's on the Temple Mount. 130 00:06:18,708 --> 00:06:20,417 It's one of the most holy places 131 00:06:20,500 --> 00:06:23,458 of all three major religions in the world. 132 00:06:23,542 --> 00:06:26,042 - This is the platform that was once the foundation 133 00:06:26,167 --> 00:06:28,375 for King Herod's massive temple. 134 00:06:28,458 --> 00:06:31,583 Underneath rumored to be lots of holy treasures. 135 00:06:31,667 --> 00:06:33,083 So having got there, 136 00:06:33,167 --> 00:06:36,625 the Templars start digging below to find that treasure. 137 00:06:37,625 --> 00:06:40,375 - During work in that area, the story goes, 138 00:06:40,500 --> 00:06:42,667 the Knights Templar discovered 139 00:06:42,750 --> 00:06:46,667 two extremely important items for the Christian faith, 140 00:06:46,750 --> 00:06:49,667 the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant. 141 00:06:50,708 --> 00:06:54,542 And so they had not only wealth, but relics. 142 00:06:55,958 --> 00:07:00,542 - [Laurence] But in 1187 AD, things change for the Templars. 143 00:07:01,458 --> 00:07:03,042 - Crusades continue for centuries 144 00:07:03,167 --> 00:07:06,708 and in 1187, the Muslims re-conquer Jerusalem. 145 00:07:06,792 --> 00:07:09,750 So those pilgrimage sites are now under Muslim control 146 00:07:09,833 --> 00:07:12,292 and Christians are forbidden from being there. 147 00:07:12,375 --> 00:07:14,917 And the function the Knights Templar had 148 00:07:14,917 --> 00:07:18,000 of protecting the pilgrims of the Holy Land 149 00:07:18,083 --> 00:07:19,833 shifts dramatically in 1187 150 00:07:19,917 --> 00:07:22,875 when you can't make that pilgrimage anymore. 151 00:07:22,958 --> 00:07:25,708 - [Laurence] The Templars are forced out of Jerusalem. 152 00:07:26,667 --> 00:07:28,083 - The Knights Templar flee 153 00:07:28,208 --> 00:07:31,875 and presumably take all of their treasure with them. 154 00:07:31,958 --> 00:07:35,333 That would've included perhaps the Ark of the Covenant, 155 00:07:35,458 --> 00:07:37,708 the Holy Grail, and gold. 156 00:07:38,708 --> 00:07:40,375 - [Laurence] They move their headquarters 157 00:07:40,458 --> 00:07:42,500 to the port city of Acre, 158 00:07:42,500 --> 00:07:46,000 about a hundred miles north in what is now Israel. 159 00:07:46,083 --> 00:07:47,792 - Acre is a tremendously important city 160 00:07:47,875 --> 00:07:50,208 because it's a meeting point between east and west 161 00:07:50,292 --> 00:07:52,042 on one of the major trade routes 162 00:07:52,125 --> 00:07:54,125 from all the way to China at the time. 163 00:07:54,208 --> 00:07:57,667 So it was a very wealthy city, and so it was well defended. 164 00:07:57,792 --> 00:08:00,750 - They have a massive fortification there. 165 00:08:00,833 --> 00:08:02,875 It's got 20 foot thick walls. 166 00:08:02,958 --> 00:08:05,875 It's the most formidable fortress 167 00:08:05,958 --> 00:08:07,792 on the Mediterranean at that time. 168 00:08:09,750 --> 00:08:12,208 - [Laurence] After a century based in Acre, 169 00:08:12,333 --> 00:08:15,042 in 1291, the Templar fortress 170 00:08:15,208 --> 00:08:17,833 is attacked by Muslim fighters. 171 00:08:17,875 --> 00:08:21,500 A servant to the Templars named the Templar of Tyre 172 00:08:21,583 --> 00:08:22,833 writes of the battle 173 00:08:22,917 --> 00:08:25,792 and even makes reference to the fabled treasure. 174 00:08:26,875 --> 00:08:29,542 - So the Templar of Tyre is one of the important chroniclers 175 00:08:29,667 --> 00:08:32,500 from the late period of the Templars. 176 00:08:32,583 --> 00:08:35,583 He does record the last battles the Templars have. 177 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:40,375 - He describes the chaos of a medieval siege 178 00:08:40,458 --> 00:08:43,167 as the enemy has now broken through. 179 00:08:44,250 --> 00:08:49,000 He describes a main tower with four golden lions 180 00:08:49,083 --> 00:08:52,583 at each corner, and then another older treasure tower, 181 00:08:52,667 --> 00:08:56,667 which clearly has been built to protect something. 182 00:08:56,750 --> 00:08:59,083 - [Laurence] The Templars' fortress may be strong, 183 00:08:59,167 --> 00:09:01,667 but they are cornered with no way out, 184 00:09:01,750 --> 00:09:04,875 and the treasure seems to be in imminent danger 185 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:06,542 of being seized. 186 00:09:06,625 --> 00:09:09,208 - If Templars brought the sacred treasures 187 00:09:09,292 --> 00:09:12,833 from Jerusalem to Acre, and if, at that battle, 188 00:09:12,917 --> 00:09:15,167 the Knights had to leave in such a hurry 189 00:09:15,208 --> 00:09:18,417 that they weren't able to take all that treasure with them, 190 00:09:18,500 --> 00:09:20,708 then there's the exciting possibility 191 00:09:20,833 --> 00:09:23,583 their treasure could still be there. 192 00:09:23,667 --> 00:09:25,958 (dramatic music) 193 00:09:29,917 --> 00:09:31,375 - One of the great things about the Templars 194 00:09:31,458 --> 00:09:33,167 is they're great builders, 195 00:09:33,292 --> 00:09:35,167 and this goes back to the Temple of Solomon, 196 00:09:35,292 --> 00:09:36,625 you know, this amazing structure 197 00:09:36,708 --> 00:09:39,750 that forms part of their name of the Knights Templar. 198 00:09:39,833 --> 00:09:44,833 - The Templar of Tyre describes how the Templars construct 199 00:09:44,875 --> 00:09:47,083 these magnificent castles, 200 00:09:47,208 --> 00:09:51,042 and presumably that is where the Templar treasure is stored. 201 00:09:51,167 --> 00:09:54,000 We know this because we have surviving examples. 202 00:09:55,083 --> 00:09:57,000 - Templar castles would shape the way 203 00:09:57,042 --> 00:09:58,917 castles were built all over Europe. 204 00:09:59,042 --> 00:10:01,708 Obviously Acre was a model of that, 205 00:10:01,833 --> 00:10:04,792 a fist of iron and stone right there on the coast. 206 00:10:04,875 --> 00:10:06,667 And the Templars didn't just build 207 00:10:06,792 --> 00:10:10,500 these elaborate fortifications up above ground 208 00:10:10,542 --> 00:10:11,958 to protect cities like Acre, 209 00:10:12,042 --> 00:10:14,708 but they also built tunnels underground 210 00:10:14,708 --> 00:10:16,625 as a part of their defense strategy. 211 00:10:18,875 --> 00:10:21,333 - [Laurence] Is it possible the treasure is still there, 212 00:10:21,375 --> 00:10:23,292 just underground? 213 00:10:23,375 --> 00:10:28,042 In 2019, a team decides to search using new technology. 214 00:10:28,167 --> 00:10:30,250 - What the LIDAR technology is able to do 215 00:10:30,333 --> 00:10:35,250 is to create a 3D image of the remains of the fortress 216 00:10:35,250 --> 00:10:37,667 underneath today's housing, 217 00:10:37,792 --> 00:10:39,750 so you get a much clearer picture 218 00:10:39,875 --> 00:10:41,833 of what was originally there. 219 00:10:41,958 --> 00:10:44,000 - [Laurence] The LIDAR technology helps plot 220 00:10:44,042 --> 00:10:46,917 what the Templar fortress originally looked like. 221 00:10:48,417 --> 00:10:52,875 - The team has been able to approximate, more or less, 222 00:10:52,958 --> 00:10:56,000 where the original Templar treasure tower stood, 223 00:10:56,083 --> 00:10:58,000 and we get a much clearer idea 224 00:10:59,042 --> 00:11:01,708 of where the Holy Grail may once have been kept. 225 00:11:02,708 --> 00:11:04,458 - [Laurence] But if gold and priceless relics 226 00:11:04,458 --> 00:11:05,833 are buried here, 227 00:11:05,917 --> 00:11:08,833 they won't be recovered anytime soon. 228 00:11:08,917 --> 00:11:11,917 - Governments can be finicky about digging under things, 229 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:13,833 especially a place like Israel 230 00:11:13,917 --> 00:11:15,667 where there's so much archeology 231 00:11:15,750 --> 00:11:17,667 and so much stuff has been dug up. 232 00:11:18,750 --> 00:11:22,042 - [Laurence] But another discovery, this one in 1994, 233 00:11:22,042 --> 00:11:25,042 reveals more about what's underneath Acre. 234 00:11:25,125 --> 00:11:26,542 - There's a blocked sewer pipe, 235 00:11:26,625 --> 00:11:28,708 they get a plumber to come, 236 00:11:28,833 --> 00:11:30,167 and he discovers this tunnel 237 00:11:31,333 --> 00:11:33,667 that no one's known about for 800 years. 238 00:11:33,792 --> 00:11:36,125 It's a tunnel from the fortress 239 00:11:36,208 --> 00:11:40,458 that goes almost 500 feet out into the city, 240 00:11:40,542 --> 00:11:43,708 which is a really good way of smuggling things in and out. 241 00:11:44,750 --> 00:11:46,542 - [Laurence] Could it be that at one time, 242 00:11:46,542 --> 00:11:48,875 the treasure was under Acre, 243 00:11:49,042 --> 00:11:51,875 but that it was on route to somewhere else? 244 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:53,958 - What we know from historical records 245 00:11:54,042 --> 00:11:56,250 is that the last Templar there, 246 00:11:56,333 --> 00:11:58,292 the Grand Master, Guillaume de Beaujeu, 247 00:11:58,375 --> 00:12:02,208 dies in that defense of the siege of Acre. 248 00:12:02,292 --> 00:12:04,667 - According to accounts, Thibaud Gaudin, 249 00:12:04,750 --> 00:12:07,000 the Deputy to the Templar Grand Master, 250 00:12:07,042 --> 00:12:08,500 Guillaume de Beaujeu, 251 00:12:08,667 --> 00:12:11,417 was told, get all that sacred treasure, 252 00:12:11,542 --> 00:12:13,708 take it into the tunnels, 253 00:12:13,833 --> 00:12:16,125 and for God's sakes, get it out of Acre. 254 00:12:20,042 --> 00:12:22,125 - [Laurence] The Knights Templar held immense wealth 255 00:12:22,208 --> 00:12:23,958 during their 200 year existence. 256 00:12:24,042 --> 00:12:25,875 But after their fortress in Acre 257 00:12:25,958 --> 00:12:29,292 falls to Muslim marauders in 1291, 258 00:12:29,375 --> 00:12:33,167 the Templar treasure seems to disappear, 259 00:12:33,292 --> 00:12:35,333 it's fate a mystery. 260 00:12:35,375 --> 00:12:38,125 Is it possible that they escaped with it? 261 00:12:38,208 --> 00:12:41,708 - The thought was that they could get these valuable items, 262 00:12:41,792 --> 00:12:45,208 meaning the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, 263 00:12:45,292 --> 00:12:47,333 or any of the other Templar treasure, 264 00:12:47,375 --> 00:12:48,917 out of the treasure tower 265 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:52,417 through one of these subterranean tunnels 266 00:12:52,500 --> 00:12:54,167 and spirit them away. 267 00:12:54,208 --> 00:12:57,000 - They're able to bring the treasures they have out of Acre 268 00:12:57,083 --> 00:12:58,333 because you have to remember, 269 00:12:58,375 --> 00:13:00,917 they have fortresses throughout Europe, 270 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:02,208 so they've got places, 271 00:13:02,292 --> 00:13:04,000 so does some of the treasure go here? 272 00:13:04,083 --> 00:13:05,792 Does some of the treasure go there? 273 00:13:07,500 --> 00:13:08,958 - [Laurence] As the legend goes, 274 00:13:09,042 --> 00:13:12,667 the Templars look to the next safest place for the treasure. 275 00:13:12,750 --> 00:13:14,667 - France is an obvious place. 276 00:13:14,708 --> 00:13:16,833 This is where their founders came from, 277 00:13:16,875 --> 00:13:19,875 and it's kind of the nerve center of the Templars. 278 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:22,000 - France has changed 279 00:13:22,125 --> 00:13:25,167 when the Templars return in the 13th century. 280 00:13:25,250 --> 00:13:27,500 King Philip IV was heavily in debt 281 00:13:27,583 --> 00:13:29,458 because of his war with England. 282 00:13:29,542 --> 00:13:31,042 It was a costly war, 283 00:13:31,125 --> 00:13:34,500 and Philip IV had actually looked to the Templars for help. 284 00:13:34,625 --> 00:13:36,458 He was deeply indebted to them. 285 00:13:37,708 --> 00:13:40,542 - This is sort of an uncomfortable situation 286 00:13:40,625 --> 00:13:42,250 as he's looking at this increasingly 287 00:13:42,333 --> 00:13:45,500 powerful organization within his own kingdom. 288 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,333 - King Philip says, oh, we should get rid of them. 289 00:13:49,458 --> 00:13:52,125 And by the way, that means my debt is canceled to them, 290 00:13:52,250 --> 00:13:53,333 and by the way, 291 00:13:53,375 --> 00:13:56,542 I can get their goods and take their treasure. 292 00:13:56,625 --> 00:13:58,958 - In the Middle Ages, if you want to discredit somebody, 293 00:13:59,042 --> 00:14:00,583 you say that they're a heretic. 294 00:14:00,667 --> 00:14:01,958 You say that they're a witch. 295 00:14:02,042 --> 00:14:03,917 And this is exactly what King Philip says 296 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:05,833 about the Templars. 297 00:14:05,875 --> 00:14:08,333 He says that they are worshiping Satan, 298 00:14:08,375 --> 00:14:11,333 that they are engaged in illicit sexual practices 299 00:14:11,375 --> 00:14:12,375 with each other. 300 00:14:13,625 --> 00:14:15,250 - The misinformation campaign 301 00:14:15,333 --> 00:14:17,833 against the Templars really does work 302 00:14:17,917 --> 00:14:20,333 because public support for these knights, 303 00:14:20,458 --> 00:14:24,375 which was once so strong, now completely craters. 304 00:14:25,958 --> 00:14:28,875 - [Laurence] On October 13th, 1307, 305 00:14:28,958 --> 00:14:31,708 King Philip IV gives orders to arrest 306 00:14:31,708 --> 00:14:35,417 and imprison all Knights Templar. 307 00:14:35,542 --> 00:14:38,000 - That order goes into effect throughout Christendom, 308 00:14:38,125 --> 00:14:39,542 but there is one place in France 309 00:14:39,625 --> 00:14:42,750 where the Templars are not arrested and imprisoned. 310 00:14:42,833 --> 00:14:44,125 - [Laurence] Could this be the place 311 00:14:44,208 --> 00:14:45,792 where they keep their treasure? 312 00:14:45,875 --> 00:14:48,292 (dramatic music) 313 00:14:50,375 --> 00:14:52,000 - The village of Rennes-le-Chateau 314 00:14:52,083 --> 00:14:54,250 has a very interesting history. 315 00:14:54,333 --> 00:14:58,208 The Templars have taken what they had in all of Europe, 316 00:14:58,292 --> 00:15:00,667 and this organization has been reduced 317 00:15:00,750 --> 00:15:02,667 to this isolated community 318 00:15:02,708 --> 00:15:06,542 that really is in many ways insulated from the church. 319 00:15:06,667 --> 00:15:10,667 And this relationship develops with the locals, 320 00:15:10,750 --> 00:15:12,708 even extending into a relationship 321 00:15:12,792 --> 00:15:14,625 with the Count of Barcelona. 322 00:15:14,708 --> 00:15:18,417 - [Laurence] Fast forward six centuries to the late 1890s 323 00:15:18,417 --> 00:15:21,417 and to a small church in Rennes-le-Chateau 324 00:15:21,417 --> 00:15:24,167 sitting in the shadow of the Templar Castle, 325 00:15:24,208 --> 00:15:26,375 high on the hill above. 326 00:15:26,458 --> 00:15:30,167 - There's a little church dedicated to Mary Magdalene 327 00:15:30,250 --> 00:15:34,958 and run by a parish priest called Berenger Sauniere. 328 00:15:35,042 --> 00:15:37,250 And he wants to renovate this church. 329 00:15:37,333 --> 00:15:40,542 And the story goes that when he's supervising 330 00:15:40,667 --> 00:15:44,708 the renovation of the area around the altar, 331 00:15:44,792 --> 00:15:47,250 he sees something incredible. 332 00:15:47,333 --> 00:15:51,000 - What he finds is sealed in wax in one of the pillars, 333 00:15:51,083 --> 00:15:56,458 and has three wooden cylinders with parchment inside. 334 00:15:56,542 --> 00:15:58,417 - [Laurence] The parchments are said to contain 335 00:15:58,500 --> 00:16:01,250 complex ciphers and coded messages. 336 00:16:01,375 --> 00:16:03,667 That's not the only strange discovery 337 00:16:03,708 --> 00:16:05,250 during the renovation. 338 00:16:05,333 --> 00:16:08,042 - Story goes, when construction workers 339 00:16:08,125 --> 00:16:10,000 are working on a hallway 340 00:16:10,042 --> 00:16:12,167 in an entirely different part of the church, 341 00:16:12,250 --> 00:16:15,208 they unearth this clay pot 342 00:16:15,292 --> 00:16:19,875 and within it are gold coins and a necklace, a bracelet, 343 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,708 and most intriguingly, a gold cup. 344 00:16:23,833 --> 00:16:26,333 - [Laurence] Could the Templars have buried their treasure 345 00:16:26,458 --> 00:16:30,042 in different parts of the Church of Mary Magdalene, 346 00:16:30,125 --> 00:16:32,250 and could the parchments provide clues 347 00:16:32,375 --> 00:16:35,000 as to where the rest of it might be? 348 00:16:35,083 --> 00:16:37,125 - He's really excited with the parchments 349 00:16:37,208 --> 00:16:38,667 that he's discovered, 350 00:16:38,750 --> 00:16:40,417 so he takes them to Paris 351 00:16:40,500 --> 00:16:43,417 to be deciphered by church officials, 352 00:16:43,500 --> 00:16:46,333 but then he returns and he's a different man. 353 00:16:46,375 --> 00:16:48,500 He's not talking about it anymore. 354 00:16:48,542 --> 00:16:51,167 - He doesn't say anything about the hidden meaning 355 00:16:51,167 --> 00:16:52,958 of these parchments, 356 00:16:53,042 --> 00:16:55,250 but all of a sudden, he's got a lot of money 357 00:16:55,333 --> 00:16:58,458 and he spends it on the renovations of the church. 358 00:16:58,583 --> 00:17:00,333 - [Laurence] After his return from Paris, 359 00:17:00,375 --> 00:17:04,125 Sauniere will spend almost 700,000 francs 360 00:17:04,208 --> 00:17:06,083 in two decades time, 361 00:17:06,167 --> 00:17:10,000 the equivalent of over $4 million today. 362 00:17:10,083 --> 00:17:11,875 - Not only did he spend thousands 363 00:17:11,958 --> 00:17:13,750 and thousands of francs just renovating 364 00:17:13,875 --> 00:17:15,792 the church at Rennes-le-Chateau, 365 00:17:15,875 --> 00:17:17,292 there's an estimate that says, 366 00:17:17,375 --> 00:17:21,000 well, he spends 36,000 francs building his own estate, 367 00:17:21,125 --> 00:17:23,792 which is an astronomical amount of money, 368 00:17:23,875 --> 00:17:26,083 especially in the 19th century. 369 00:17:27,458 --> 00:17:30,958 - The mystery of Sauniere's wealth continues to intrigue us 370 00:17:31,042 --> 00:17:35,208 because we just don't know if he had the Templar treasure, 371 00:17:35,292 --> 00:17:38,000 had access to part of the Templar treasure, 372 00:17:38,083 --> 00:17:41,167 or if he only sold the parchments 373 00:17:41,250 --> 00:17:43,583 that he found in the parish church. 374 00:17:45,667 --> 00:17:47,708 - [Laurence] Sauniere keeps his mouth shut 375 00:17:47,833 --> 00:17:51,250 until the end of his life when he entrusts the secret 376 00:17:51,375 --> 00:17:55,167 to his loyal housekeeper. Marie Denarnaud. 377 00:17:55,292 --> 00:17:57,667 - Marie Denarnaud is the only one that knows 378 00:17:57,708 --> 00:18:00,042 what's the secret to this fabulous wealth 379 00:18:00,125 --> 00:18:02,458 that this little parish priest has. 380 00:18:03,708 --> 00:18:05,292 But unfortunately, 381 00:18:05,375 --> 00:18:10,042 she dies in 1953 of a sudden and massive stroke. 382 00:18:10,125 --> 00:18:12,500 So the secret dies with her. 383 00:18:13,875 --> 00:18:16,958 Did Sauniere come by this wealth through the Templar treasure, 384 00:18:17,042 --> 00:18:20,583 or did he get his money in a very different kind of way? 385 00:18:20,708 --> 00:18:22,667 - [Laurence] Sauniere spent the last several years 386 00:18:22,708 --> 00:18:24,000 of his priesthood 387 00:18:24,083 --> 00:18:26,250 under suspicion by the church for a practice 388 00:18:26,333 --> 00:18:28,833 called selling masses. 389 00:18:28,958 --> 00:18:30,667 - So there is the possibility 390 00:18:30,792 --> 00:18:33,333 that what the priest was actually trying to mask 391 00:18:33,458 --> 00:18:36,000 was his own criminal activity. 392 00:18:36,042 --> 00:18:41,250 Selling masses, a church crime that goes back centuries. 393 00:18:42,250 --> 00:18:43,667 - When people are selling masses, 394 00:18:43,750 --> 00:18:46,083 the priest is charging, effectively, admission 395 00:18:46,208 --> 00:18:48,083 to come into the church and to be present 396 00:18:48,208 --> 00:18:50,000 when the miracle of the Eucharist happens, 397 00:18:50,125 --> 00:18:52,042 when the mass is celebrated. 398 00:18:52,125 --> 00:18:53,833 The church has been very clear in its teaching 399 00:18:53,958 --> 00:18:55,375 that this should never happen, 400 00:18:55,458 --> 00:18:57,167 but teaching and reality 401 00:18:57,292 --> 00:18:59,125 are very different things sometimes. 402 00:18:59,208 --> 00:19:01,458 - [Laurence] If Sauniere didn't get the treasure, 403 00:19:01,542 --> 00:19:04,333 could it still be here in the church? 404 00:19:04,375 --> 00:19:06,000 - It was purported that one of the things 405 00:19:06,042 --> 00:19:07,958 she said before her death 406 00:19:08,042 --> 00:19:10,333 was that the people of Rennes-le-Chateau 407 00:19:10,375 --> 00:19:14,083 were walking on gold and didn't even know it. 408 00:19:14,167 --> 00:19:17,042 Is that a cryptic indication 409 00:19:17,125 --> 00:19:22,750 it's the location of the Templar treasure? 410 00:19:22,750 --> 00:19:24,250 - [Laurence] At the height of their power 411 00:19:24,333 --> 00:19:25,750 in the 13th century, 412 00:19:25,833 --> 00:19:29,000 the Knights Templar hold fortresses across Europe. 413 00:19:29,083 --> 00:19:32,625 Experts believe any one of them could hold their treasure, 414 00:19:32,708 --> 00:19:37,167 but for some, clues point overwhelmingly to one. 415 00:19:37,250 --> 00:19:38,708 - Outside of France, 416 00:19:38,792 --> 00:19:41,458 the Knights Templar had influence in Portugal. 417 00:19:41,542 --> 00:19:46,292 And keep in mind that Portugal was an area of intense battle 418 00:19:46,375 --> 00:19:48,917 between Christians and Muslims, 419 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,458 and the Knights Templar were helping Christian fighters 420 00:19:53,458 --> 00:19:54,833 take back the area. 421 00:19:56,250 --> 00:19:59,167 - [Laurence] In 1160 AD, the small town of Tomar 422 00:19:59,250 --> 00:20:02,333 becomes the Templars' Portuguese headquarters. 423 00:20:02,417 --> 00:20:04,917 - There is a Templar Grand Master in Portugal, 424 00:20:05,042 --> 00:20:06,625 Gualdim Pais. 425 00:20:06,708 --> 00:20:10,167 His statue still dominates the main square in Tomar. 426 00:20:10,250 --> 00:20:12,458 And this battle scarred figure 427 00:20:12,542 --> 00:20:17,417 oversees the construction of a Templar fortress in Tomar. 428 00:20:17,500 --> 00:20:21,125 - And inside this fortress is the Convent of Christ Church, 429 00:20:21,208 --> 00:20:23,833 which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. 430 00:20:23,917 --> 00:20:26,750 - Gualdim Pais is famous in part 431 00:20:26,833 --> 00:20:29,000 because of this church he builds at Tomar 432 00:20:29,042 --> 00:20:30,833 called the Round Church. 433 00:20:30,917 --> 00:20:32,875 It has 16 sides, built that way 434 00:20:32,958 --> 00:20:35,792 so the Templars could attend mass on horseback. 435 00:20:35,875 --> 00:20:38,208 - And this was done so they could be ready 436 00:20:38,292 --> 00:20:41,458 to ride out at a moment's notice. 437 00:20:44,417 --> 00:20:46,500 - [Laurence] But in July 1190, 438 00:20:46,583 --> 00:20:49,208 Tomar is surrounded by Muslim forces 439 00:20:49,292 --> 00:20:51,375 determined to take the city back. 440 00:20:51,458 --> 00:20:55,583 - They are attacked, and during that battle, 441 00:20:55,708 --> 00:20:59,500 the Templars defend Tomar and they defeat them. 442 00:20:59,583 --> 00:21:03,042 So the defense of Tomar is a really important moment 443 00:21:03,125 --> 00:21:04,333 for the Templars, 444 00:21:04,417 --> 00:21:07,583 and it establishes Gualdim Pais as a hero 445 00:21:07,708 --> 00:21:09,208 in Templar lore. 446 00:21:09,333 --> 00:21:11,500 Tomar is a landmark site because of that victory, 447 00:21:11,625 --> 00:21:13,917 and many believe this would've been a place 448 00:21:14,042 --> 00:21:16,792 where the Templars would have kept their treasure. 449 00:21:16,875 --> 00:21:19,542 (dramatic music) 450 00:21:22,500 --> 00:21:25,167 - [Laurence] A major discovery in the 1960s 451 00:21:25,250 --> 00:21:28,167 might lend credence to that theory. 452 00:21:28,208 --> 00:21:29,625 - In the 1960s, 453 00:21:29,708 --> 00:21:32,125 you had all sorts of treasure hunters in Europe, 454 00:21:32,250 --> 00:21:34,250 but you didn't have the same kinds of laws 455 00:21:34,333 --> 00:21:35,958 that we have today about antiquities 456 00:21:36,042 --> 00:21:39,500 and taking antiquities out of one place to another place. 457 00:21:39,625 --> 00:21:41,250 And so they're essentially grave robbers 458 00:21:41,333 --> 00:21:44,042 looking for Roman artifacts. 459 00:21:44,125 --> 00:21:45,500 So you have these treasure hunters 460 00:21:45,542 --> 00:21:48,292 who are at the Convent of Christ Church in Tomar. 461 00:21:49,792 --> 00:21:53,667 They dig into a grave and they pull out two caskets. 462 00:21:53,750 --> 00:21:56,042 But what they find isn't Roman, 463 00:21:56,125 --> 00:21:58,208 it's something quite extraordinary. 464 00:21:58,333 --> 00:22:00,708 There's a chalice that's obsidian. 465 00:22:00,833 --> 00:22:04,000 There's a reliquary to hold relics. 466 00:22:04,083 --> 00:22:07,542 There's a sword that has a Templar design and a cross, 467 00:22:07,625 --> 00:22:09,458 but they don't know what it is, 468 00:22:09,542 --> 00:22:12,542 and so they sell it off piece by piece. 469 00:22:12,667 --> 00:22:16,667 But clearly what they find are Templar artifacts. 470 00:22:17,708 --> 00:22:21,167 - [Laurence] This collection, now known as the Tomar Hoard, 471 00:22:21,208 --> 00:22:25,042 is believed to be one of the only stashes of Templar relics 472 00:22:25,125 --> 00:22:26,542 ever found. 473 00:22:26,667 --> 00:22:29,417 - You have treasure hunters digging up the whole place. 474 00:22:29,542 --> 00:22:33,667 So, much of the hoard left Portugal, sadly, in the 1960s, 475 00:22:33,708 --> 00:22:36,958 but over the last decade, Templar hunters, 476 00:22:37,042 --> 00:22:40,333 Carl Cooksen and Hamilton White, have been striving 477 00:22:40,417 --> 00:22:44,750 to bring all these items back into one place, 478 00:22:44,750 --> 00:22:46,875 and they now have achieved that. 479 00:22:48,208 --> 00:22:50,000 - And so you have a scholar, Jonathan Tokley Parry, 480 00:22:50,083 --> 00:22:52,917 who looks at the Tomar Hoard to authenticate 481 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:54,958 where these things come from and says, 482 00:22:55,042 --> 00:22:56,375 yes, this is authentic. 483 00:22:56,458 --> 00:22:58,542 This actually does go back to the Templars, 484 00:22:58,542 --> 00:23:01,333 that this is part of the treasure the Templars had. 485 00:23:01,417 --> 00:23:03,417 - And we know that because due to aging, 486 00:23:03,500 --> 00:23:06,083 the items inside have a certain amount 487 00:23:06,167 --> 00:23:07,833 of calcium deposits on them, 488 00:23:07,875 --> 00:23:10,500 and this helps to date these items 489 00:23:10,583 --> 00:23:14,208 that do indeed date back to the Templar period. 490 00:23:14,333 --> 00:23:18,167 What we can't say with absolute certainty 491 00:23:18,250 --> 00:23:19,833 is that they were put in the ground 492 00:23:19,875 --> 00:23:21,792 by the Knights Templar themselves. 493 00:23:23,417 --> 00:23:25,000 - [Laurence] In their search for more evidence, 494 00:23:25,042 --> 00:23:28,417 Cooksen and White make a startling discovery. 495 00:23:28,500 --> 00:23:29,833 - During their research, 496 00:23:29,917 --> 00:23:33,417 Cooksen and White discovered that in the 1930s, 497 00:23:33,500 --> 00:23:36,542 there was interest in Templar treasure in Tomar 498 00:23:36,625 --> 00:23:39,500 from a very sinister source, 499 00:23:39,583 --> 00:23:43,792 the Third Reich and Adolf Hitler. 500 00:23:45,792 --> 00:23:48,333 - For Hitler, it was not only the wealth 501 00:23:48,333 --> 00:23:49,792 for a financing of war, 502 00:23:49,875 --> 00:23:51,583 but think of what these objects were, 503 00:23:51,708 --> 00:23:54,000 the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail. 504 00:23:54,042 --> 00:23:55,667 If you have those objects, 505 00:23:55,750 --> 00:23:57,333 you have control over people 506 00:23:57,458 --> 00:23:59,833 for whom those objects are valuable, 507 00:23:59,875 --> 00:24:01,667 and you know, the Germans were Christian. 508 00:24:01,750 --> 00:24:03,625 And so having the Holy Grail, 509 00:24:03,708 --> 00:24:05,417 the most important symbol for Christendom 510 00:24:05,500 --> 00:24:06,708 in Hitler's possession 511 00:24:06,792 --> 00:24:08,917 would've been a huge source of power for him. 512 00:24:09,958 --> 00:24:13,542 And so he sent basically Nazi treasure hunters to Portugal 513 00:24:13,625 --> 00:24:15,583 to try and find this treasure. 514 00:24:17,375 --> 00:24:20,625 And Hitler assigned some of his best people, 515 00:24:20,708 --> 00:24:23,125 including a troop led by Heinrich Himmler, 516 00:24:23,208 --> 00:24:27,000 and we have reports of them searching in Portugal. 517 00:24:27,042 --> 00:24:29,875 - But by all accounts, they came up empty handed. 518 00:24:31,542 --> 00:24:34,208 So it's another quarter of a century after the Nazis 519 00:24:34,208 --> 00:24:35,958 have been digging around in Tomar 520 00:24:36,042 --> 00:24:38,792 that we get these Templar hunters turning up. 521 00:24:38,875 --> 00:24:41,792 But neither party seems to have found 522 00:24:41,875 --> 00:24:44,208 the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, 523 00:24:44,333 --> 00:24:46,542 or any of the other Templar treasure. 524 00:24:46,625 --> 00:24:49,000 So as things stand today, 525 00:24:49,083 --> 00:24:51,333 it looks like the Templars 526 00:24:51,417 --> 00:24:56,125 either took whatever they had away or it's still buried. 527 00:25:00,542 --> 00:25:02,583 - In the eight centuries since the Knights Templar 528 00:25:02,708 --> 00:25:04,833 fled Jerusalem, many theories have surfaced 529 00:25:04,917 --> 00:25:07,625 about where their mysterious treasure could be. 530 00:25:07,708 --> 00:25:10,583 Some believe it remains in what's now Israel. 531 00:25:10,667 --> 00:25:13,500 Others suggest it could be in Portugal or France, 532 00:25:13,625 --> 00:25:16,417 all former Templar strongholds. 533 00:25:16,500 --> 00:25:19,833 But what if the treasure was taken somewhere more surprising, 534 00:25:19,875 --> 00:25:22,083 to a place where the Templars were certain 535 00:25:22,208 --> 00:25:23,667 that no one would look? 536 00:25:24,917 --> 00:25:26,250 - It's where they've believed 537 00:25:26,333 --> 00:25:29,250 they will be able to hide their treasure away. 538 00:25:29,333 --> 00:25:31,333 And unlike other parts of Europe, 539 00:25:31,458 --> 00:25:33,500 there weren't that many prying eyes 540 00:25:33,583 --> 00:25:35,750 looking at what the Templars were up to 541 00:25:35,833 --> 00:25:39,458 because it's very much on the fringes of the Templar world. 542 00:25:39,542 --> 00:25:42,208 (dramatic music) 543 00:25:44,583 --> 00:25:46,167 - There's a legend that the Templars 544 00:25:46,208 --> 00:25:49,250 had gone to Western Poland from Paris to seek safety, 545 00:25:49,333 --> 00:25:52,208 to seek refuge, both for the Templars and the treasure. 546 00:25:53,875 --> 00:25:56,667 - The Templars arrive in Poland in 1232 547 00:25:56,792 --> 00:26:00,250 when they're given land around the town of Chwarszczany 548 00:26:00,333 --> 00:26:01,708 on the Mysla River, 549 00:26:01,792 --> 00:26:04,917 which is just a stone's throw from the German border. 550 00:26:05,042 --> 00:26:08,042 And the Templars started building this chapel 551 00:26:08,042 --> 00:26:09,333 of St. Stanislaus, 552 00:26:09,375 --> 00:26:12,042 and it most likely took many decades to complete. 553 00:26:15,125 --> 00:26:17,042 - In the aftermath of these arrests, 554 00:26:17,125 --> 00:26:21,750 on Friday the 13th, 1307, there is sort of a ripple effect 555 00:26:21,833 --> 00:26:24,667 across the Templar realm of influence 556 00:26:24,708 --> 00:26:27,625 so that everywhere the Templars had extended influence, 557 00:26:27,708 --> 00:26:29,958 from Western Europe as far as the reaches 558 00:26:30,042 --> 00:26:33,917 of what is today, Poland, ceased to exist. 559 00:26:34,917 --> 00:26:36,708 Fearing for their own safety, 560 00:26:36,875 --> 00:26:40,708 many Templars fled and would've taken whatever treasure 561 00:26:40,792 --> 00:26:42,000 they had with them. 562 00:26:42,083 --> 00:26:45,042 What became of that treasure? 563 00:26:45,167 --> 00:26:46,375 That's the big question. 564 00:26:47,917 --> 00:26:50,792 - The story goes that the treasure 565 00:26:50,875 --> 00:26:55,458 found its way to Chwarszczany with a small band of Templars 566 00:26:55,542 --> 00:26:57,083 and medieval documents 567 00:26:57,167 --> 00:27:01,667 described the well near the chapel of St. Stanislaus, 568 00:27:01,792 --> 00:27:04,833 and it's rumored that the chapel has an entrance 569 00:27:04,917 --> 00:27:06,292 to a secret tunnel. 570 00:27:09,542 --> 00:27:11,667 - Friday the 13th is significant. 571 00:27:11,708 --> 00:27:14,875 That's the date the arrest take place. 572 00:27:14,958 --> 00:27:17,875 So facing arrest, the Knights Templar, 573 00:27:17,958 --> 00:27:21,333 under the cover of darkness, took the Holy Grail 574 00:27:21,375 --> 00:27:23,292 and other valued materials 575 00:27:24,583 --> 00:27:26,417 and sunk them in a nearby lake. 576 00:27:28,167 --> 00:27:29,917 - [Laurence] The lake dried up long ago, 577 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,167 and no treasure has been found there, 578 00:27:32,250 --> 00:27:35,000 but the theory that the treasure made it somewhere 579 00:27:35,125 --> 00:27:38,583 in Chwarszczany continues to attract attention, 580 00:27:38,667 --> 00:27:41,708 including interest from a local archeologist. 581 00:27:41,792 --> 00:27:43,625 - Fast forward 700 years, 582 00:27:43,708 --> 00:27:48,000 in 2004, an archeologist, Przemyslaw Kolosowski, 583 00:27:48,083 --> 00:27:50,542 brought a team of archeologists 584 00:27:50,542 --> 00:27:53,500 to conduct tests and excavations 585 00:27:53,625 --> 00:27:55,667 at the Chapel of St. Stanislaus. 586 00:27:55,792 --> 00:27:57,833 What the team were hoping to discover 587 00:27:57,875 --> 00:28:01,208 was a Templar fortress underneath this chapel. 588 00:28:01,292 --> 00:28:05,667 What they found instead was a cobbled floor, 589 00:28:05,750 --> 00:28:07,875 and that was pretty much it. 590 00:28:07,958 --> 00:28:09,792 - [Laurence] But then, one of the archeologists 591 00:28:09,875 --> 00:28:12,708 notices a small rectangular depression 592 00:28:12,792 --> 00:28:14,833 beneath the cobblestone. 593 00:28:14,875 --> 00:28:17,250 The team brings in ground penetrating radar 594 00:28:17,333 --> 00:28:18,833 for a better look. 595 00:28:18,875 --> 00:28:21,750 What they find shocks them. 596 00:28:21,750 --> 00:28:24,625 - They find seven vaulted crypts 597 00:28:24,708 --> 00:28:27,625 that could date back to the Templar times. 598 00:28:27,625 --> 00:28:29,000 These vaults are empty, 599 00:28:29,083 --> 00:28:31,667 which of course leads people to wonder, 600 00:28:31,750 --> 00:28:33,292 what could have been there? 601 00:28:35,125 --> 00:28:37,042 - Then another discovery is made 602 00:28:37,125 --> 00:28:40,583 of a secret tunnel under the town of Mysliborz, 603 00:28:40,667 --> 00:28:43,833 not far from the chapel of St. Stanislaus. 604 00:28:43,917 --> 00:28:46,750 And between this tunnel at Mysliborz 605 00:28:46,833 --> 00:28:49,167 and the chapel of St. Stanislaus 606 00:28:49,208 --> 00:28:51,833 is the dry lake bed where some believe 607 00:28:51,958 --> 00:28:53,958 the Templars hid their treasure. 608 00:28:54,042 --> 00:28:56,167 So we have this chapel, 609 00:28:56,250 --> 00:29:00,958 we have the entrance to a subterranean medieval vault. 610 00:29:01,042 --> 00:29:03,333 We have the lake where the treasure 611 00:29:03,375 --> 00:29:05,292 may have been buried under cover of night, 612 00:29:05,375 --> 00:29:10,583 and then in a nearby town, we have this inexplicable tunnel. 613 00:29:10,708 --> 00:29:13,750 So local people are absolutely convinced 614 00:29:13,875 --> 00:29:16,833 that there is a secret that the Knights left there. 615 00:29:18,875 --> 00:29:20,750 - [Laurence] But despite these discoveries, 616 00:29:20,875 --> 00:29:24,000 no treasure has been found in Poland to date. 617 00:29:25,042 --> 00:29:27,167 - What these discoveries point to is the tremendous 618 00:29:27,250 --> 00:29:30,208 building abilities of the Knights Templar. 619 00:29:30,292 --> 00:29:32,917 But what these tunnels and what these locations 620 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:36,167 were actually used for is a matter of speculation. 621 00:29:42,042 --> 00:29:44,083 - [Laurence] Most of the Knights Templar brought to Paris 622 00:29:44,208 --> 00:29:46,667 after the arrests in 1307 623 00:29:46,792 --> 00:29:49,333 refused to talk under interrogation. 624 00:29:49,375 --> 00:29:51,208 But one did, 625 00:29:51,292 --> 00:29:54,833 and he paints a vivid picture of the treasure's movement. 626 00:29:57,375 --> 00:30:01,167 - Confessions were extorted under terrible torture 627 00:30:01,250 --> 00:30:03,875 from individual Knights Templar. 628 00:30:03,958 --> 00:30:06,167 One of them, Jean de Chalons, 629 00:30:06,292 --> 00:30:10,458 claimed that the treasure was taken from the Paris Temple 630 00:30:10,542 --> 00:30:14,000 was extremely strongly fortified building, 631 00:30:14,083 --> 00:30:17,917 undercover of night, down to the Port of La Rochelle. 632 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:20,417 And there were waiting ships. 633 00:30:20,500 --> 00:30:24,500 - He says that he saw the Templars smuggle this treasure 634 00:30:24,583 --> 00:30:27,583 and that it took 50 horses to move all of it. 635 00:30:27,667 --> 00:30:28,833 When they arrived at the port, 636 00:30:28,958 --> 00:30:31,458 they had 18 ships waiting for them, 637 00:30:31,542 --> 00:30:34,833 and the treasure was loaded up and they sailed off. 638 00:30:36,042 --> 00:30:39,333 - Because of where they were in eastern France, 639 00:30:39,375 --> 00:30:42,417 historians speculate that the ships leaving there 640 00:30:42,417 --> 00:30:44,125 would've gone to Scotland 641 00:30:44,208 --> 00:30:46,667 as a place that they could defend easily, 642 00:30:46,750 --> 00:30:48,250 because of course, it's an island. 643 00:30:49,292 --> 00:30:50,583 - [Laurence] According to the story, 644 00:30:50,708 --> 00:30:53,000 when the Templars arrive in Scotland, 645 00:30:53,042 --> 00:30:55,333 a war of independence is underway. 646 00:30:55,458 --> 00:31:00,042 They find an ally in the Scottish king, Robert the Bruce. 647 00:31:00,125 --> 00:31:02,167 - And there's a legend that Robert the Bruce 648 00:31:02,250 --> 00:31:05,375 fought alongside the Templars at the Battle of Bannockburn, 649 00:31:05,458 --> 00:31:07,792 and it was a major victory for Scotland 650 00:31:07,875 --> 00:31:09,917 in the war for independence. 651 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,667 - It's said that Robert the Bruce was so grateful 652 00:31:12,708 --> 00:31:16,083 to the Templars for helping him to defeat the English, 653 00:31:16,167 --> 00:31:18,458 that he gave them privileges, 654 00:31:18,458 --> 00:31:21,167 he gave them titles, he gave them lands, 655 00:31:21,250 --> 00:31:24,417 he helped them to regroup, reassemble, 656 00:31:24,500 --> 00:31:27,292 and find their strength again in Scotland. 657 00:31:28,625 --> 00:31:30,500 And one of the places associated 658 00:31:30,542 --> 00:31:35,000 with the Templars in Scotland is the small town of Rosslyn, 659 00:31:35,083 --> 00:31:37,750 and it's there that the Sinclair family, 660 00:31:37,833 --> 00:31:40,000 an aristocratic family in Scotland 661 00:31:40,083 --> 00:31:43,375 who developed close bonds with the Templars 662 00:31:43,458 --> 00:31:48,042 also built this intriguing, fascinating chapel. 663 00:31:49,208 --> 00:31:51,083 - The Sinclair family is also connected 664 00:31:51,208 --> 00:31:52,417 with Robert the Bruce. 665 00:31:52,542 --> 00:31:55,083 So you have a direct lineage of this family 666 00:31:55,208 --> 00:31:58,000 with the Templars and the chapel that they built. 667 00:31:58,167 --> 00:32:00,917 And so you get this story beneath this chapel, 668 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,125 there is a secret vault that contains 669 00:32:03,208 --> 00:32:05,292 those treasures of the Knights Templar. 670 00:32:05,375 --> 00:32:07,417 (dramatic music) 671 00:32:11,208 --> 00:32:15,375 - Some refer to Rosslyn as a Grail Chapel. 672 00:32:15,500 --> 00:32:18,000 What they mean by that is it was a place 673 00:32:18,042 --> 00:32:20,667 where the Templars brought the Holy Grail. 674 00:32:21,708 --> 00:32:25,375 And the story goes that it was buried under the nave, 675 00:32:25,542 --> 00:32:26,917 under flags stands, 676 00:32:27,042 --> 00:32:31,917 and kept in place with sand brought from Jerusalem, 677 00:32:32,042 --> 00:32:35,958 and that it may also include the True Cross 678 00:32:36,042 --> 00:32:39,833 upon which Jesus Christ was crucified in Jerusalem. 679 00:32:39,917 --> 00:32:42,458 (tense music) 680 00:32:42,542 --> 00:32:45,542 - It is an amazingly detailed little chapel 681 00:32:45,667 --> 00:32:47,042 with the kinds of iconography 682 00:32:47,125 --> 00:32:49,042 that you would expect to the Templars. 683 00:32:49,875 --> 00:32:51,250 In the chapel, 684 00:32:51,333 --> 00:32:53,208 there are marvelous images of singers and musicians, 685 00:32:53,292 --> 00:32:55,167 and so there's a story that says 686 00:32:55,250 --> 00:32:56,833 if you stand in front of this wall, 687 00:32:56,875 --> 00:33:00,625 which is believed through the wall that leads to the vault, 688 00:33:00,708 --> 00:33:03,625 and you play a particular note on that instrument, 689 00:33:04,833 --> 00:33:06,958 that will cause the wall to open. 690 00:33:08,458 --> 00:33:10,750 - [Laurence] No one has yet cracked that code 691 00:33:10,833 --> 00:33:12,625 or found any treasure. 692 00:33:13,833 --> 00:33:16,000 - This whole idea about Rosslyn 693 00:33:16,083 --> 00:33:19,000 being central to the story of the Templar treasure 694 00:33:19,042 --> 00:33:22,000 really only gained traction in the 1980s 695 00:33:22,125 --> 00:33:24,208 with the publication of a bestseller 696 00:33:24,292 --> 00:33:26,375 called Holy Blood Holy Grail, 697 00:33:26,500 --> 00:33:29,333 and then 20 years later, of course, The Da Vinci Code. 698 00:33:30,375 --> 00:33:32,375 - Rossyln Chapel is actually the final setting 699 00:33:32,375 --> 00:33:34,708 for the closing chapter of The Da Vinci Code. 700 00:33:34,792 --> 00:33:38,458 This is where the entire conspiracy comes unraveled, 701 00:33:38,583 --> 00:33:42,833 where it is realized that the Holy Grail 702 00:33:42,917 --> 00:33:45,500 is in fact not located at Rosslyn Chapel, 703 00:33:45,542 --> 00:33:47,667 but the Holy Grail actually represents 704 00:33:47,708 --> 00:33:49,333 Mary Magdalene herself. 705 00:33:49,417 --> 00:33:51,792 - The Da Vinci Code is a really compelling story, 706 00:33:51,792 --> 00:33:55,875 but I think we need to remember, it is ultimately fiction. 707 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:57,375 - [Laurence] But even if Rosslyn Chapel 708 00:33:57,458 --> 00:33:59,458 doesn't hold the treasure itself, 709 00:33:59,542 --> 00:34:02,833 could it hold the key to where it is now? 710 00:34:02,917 --> 00:34:06,792 - One of the images that appears in stone at Rosslyn 711 00:34:06,875 --> 00:34:09,042 are ears of corn. 712 00:34:09,125 --> 00:34:11,833 You may think, that's unspectacular. 713 00:34:11,875 --> 00:34:15,667 But what you'd remember is that corn didn't arrive in Europe 714 00:34:15,750 --> 00:34:19,917 until Christopher Columbus got to the Americas in 1492, 715 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:21,917 and crops that had never been seen before 716 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:23,958 suddenly arrived in Europe. 717 00:34:24,042 --> 00:34:26,625 So how does the Sinclair family, 718 00:34:26,708 --> 00:34:31,250 when they're building Rosslyn Chapel in the 1450s, 719 00:34:31,375 --> 00:34:34,750 decades before Columbus gets to America, 720 00:34:34,833 --> 00:34:37,167 how do they know about corn? 721 00:34:38,542 --> 00:34:41,542 So consider this, going back to the Sinclair family, 722 00:34:41,542 --> 00:34:44,583 so Henry Sinclair, a friend of the Templars 723 00:34:44,708 --> 00:34:48,167 and also an able seaman in his own right, 724 00:34:48,208 --> 00:34:50,500 he helps the Templars take the treasure 725 00:34:50,583 --> 00:34:54,500 out of Rosslyn Chapel, and using his fleet of 12 ships, 726 00:34:54,625 --> 00:34:58,750 they set sail, bound for the Americas. 727 00:35:02,792 --> 00:35:04,208 (dramatic music) 728 00:35:04,375 --> 00:35:06,417 - [Laurence] After traversing the Middle East and Europe 729 00:35:06,500 --> 00:35:09,750 in search of the fabled treasure of the Knights Templar, 730 00:35:09,875 --> 00:35:13,750 could searchers be looking on the wrong continent? 731 00:35:13,833 --> 00:35:16,667 A discovery centuries after the Templars disbanded 732 00:35:16,708 --> 00:35:19,833 suggests the possibility that the treasure 733 00:35:19,917 --> 00:35:24,250 could be thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean. 734 00:35:26,542 --> 00:35:31,167 - In 1795, on an island off the coast of Nova Scotia, 735 00:35:31,208 --> 00:35:34,250 a man called Daniel McKinnis and his friends 736 00:35:34,375 --> 00:35:37,667 stumbled upon something on a particular spot 737 00:35:37,708 --> 00:35:41,750 that piques their curiosity and they go to discover further. 738 00:35:45,125 --> 00:35:47,167 And so they start excavating 739 00:35:47,250 --> 00:35:49,792 with a great deal of enthusiasm. 740 00:35:49,875 --> 00:35:53,167 And the place where they dig is called Oak Island. 741 00:35:53,208 --> 00:35:55,792 (dramatic music) 742 00:35:58,750 --> 00:36:02,250 - As they dig, they uncover stones on top of planks. 743 00:36:02,375 --> 00:36:03,667 They continue to dig 744 00:36:03,750 --> 00:36:06,750 and they find more stones on top of planks. 745 00:36:07,917 --> 00:36:12,167 They understood this to be a human construction. 746 00:36:12,250 --> 00:36:14,208 - They go as far as they can, 747 00:36:14,292 --> 00:36:15,708 but then, you know, their technology, 748 00:36:15,792 --> 00:36:17,292 they can't go any further. 749 00:36:18,333 --> 00:36:21,500 And so they build a company with these partners 750 00:36:21,583 --> 00:36:23,500 to help continue on digging. 751 00:36:26,958 --> 00:36:28,875 - [Laurence] The digging continues 752 00:36:28,958 --> 00:36:30,542 and at the 90 foot mark, 753 00:36:30,667 --> 00:36:35,292 they find a large stone engraved with strange symbols, 754 00:36:35,417 --> 00:36:38,667 their meaning, as yet, unknown. 755 00:36:38,792 --> 00:36:41,667 - This area becomes known as the money pit, 756 00:36:41,750 --> 00:36:44,250 and you can see that in two very different ways. 757 00:36:45,583 --> 00:36:47,333 Is it the money pit because at the bottom of this pit, 758 00:36:47,417 --> 00:36:49,292 is the money, the treasure? 759 00:36:49,375 --> 00:36:50,583 Or is it the money pit 760 00:36:50,667 --> 00:36:52,583 because you've poured so much money 761 00:36:52,667 --> 00:36:54,500 into this trying to find the treasure 762 00:36:54,500 --> 00:36:57,292 that you're never gonna get your money back? 763 00:36:57,375 --> 00:37:01,292 - Since Daniel McKinnis's discovery two centuries ago, 764 00:37:01,375 --> 00:37:04,250 a long line of researchers and explorers 765 00:37:04,333 --> 00:37:07,042 have invested resources on Oak Island. 766 00:37:07,125 --> 00:37:09,292 - A whole range of people 767 00:37:09,375 --> 00:37:12,458 have turned up looking for treasure in the money pit, 768 00:37:12,542 --> 00:37:16,833 and they include a young Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 769 00:37:16,875 --> 00:37:19,292 future President of the United States. 770 00:37:21,542 --> 00:37:23,750 - [Laurence] It isn't until the 1980s 771 00:37:23,833 --> 00:37:27,833 when a big discovery begins to point to Templar origins. 772 00:37:28,875 --> 00:37:33,333 - In the 1980s, there's a real game changer of a discovery. 773 00:37:33,417 --> 00:37:37,333 And that is a series of boulder-like stones. 774 00:37:38,458 --> 00:37:42,708 And when seen from above, they're shaped as a cross. 775 00:37:42,833 --> 00:37:45,542 Now this points to Templar activity. 776 00:37:46,500 --> 00:37:47,958 - [Laurence] More wooden structures 777 00:37:48,042 --> 00:37:49,333 are then found underground 778 00:37:49,375 --> 00:37:51,875 in the second half of the 20th century. 779 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,708 Chisel marks indicate the work was completed 780 00:37:54,833 --> 00:37:58,042 before the invention of modern tools. 781 00:37:58,125 --> 00:37:59,333 - If we think about it, 782 00:37:59,375 --> 00:38:02,667 the Knights Templar were crushed in 1307. 783 00:38:02,792 --> 00:38:07,375 Now, Christopher Columbus arrives in the Americas in 1492, 784 00:38:07,458 --> 00:38:09,292 so we've got a big gap. 785 00:38:10,375 --> 00:38:12,250 - Columbus was certainly not the first European 786 00:38:12,375 --> 00:38:14,583 to set foot on American shores. 787 00:38:14,667 --> 00:38:16,208 There was a Viking presence there, 788 00:38:16,333 --> 00:38:18,000 probably for like, a hundred years 789 00:38:18,083 --> 00:38:19,750 in the midst of the Middle Ages. 790 00:38:22,583 --> 00:38:26,583 - Going back to the Henry Sinclair around 1398, 791 00:38:26,667 --> 00:38:30,875 some accredited Sinclair was discovering Nova Scotia, 792 00:38:30,958 --> 00:38:32,958 which is New Scotland. 793 00:38:34,208 --> 00:38:36,792 So it's possible that the Sinclair family 794 00:38:36,875 --> 00:38:40,500 held on to the Templar treasure at Rosslyn Chapel, 795 00:38:40,542 --> 00:38:42,333 which they built for that purpose, 796 00:38:42,458 --> 00:38:44,625 before then, at the right moment, 797 00:38:44,708 --> 00:38:47,000 setting sail with it for the Americas. 798 00:38:48,042 --> 00:38:52,417 The timeline, the geography make this all feasible, 799 00:38:52,542 --> 00:38:56,333 that the Templar treasure was taken from Scotland 800 00:38:56,417 --> 00:38:59,667 and then eventually deposited into the money pit. 801 00:39:04,208 --> 00:39:06,625 (dramatic music) 802 00:39:06,708 --> 00:39:09,500 - [Laurence] In 2006, search intensifies 803 00:39:09,542 --> 00:39:12,208 when brothers Rick and Marty Lagina 804 00:39:12,292 --> 00:39:15,208 purchase controlling interests of Oak Island. 805 00:39:15,292 --> 00:39:17,667 They begin following the old clues 806 00:39:17,708 --> 00:39:19,875 and discovering new ones of their own. 807 00:39:22,625 --> 00:39:24,875 - One of the more compelling discoveries 808 00:39:24,875 --> 00:39:28,417 was a lead cross with a kind of loop at the top 809 00:39:28,500 --> 00:39:31,458 that has been scientifically analyzed and dated. 810 00:39:34,500 --> 00:39:38,000 And they do date back to the Knights Templar period. 811 00:39:40,417 --> 00:39:43,333 And it's a period of history on Oak Island 812 00:39:43,375 --> 00:39:44,458 when there's not known 813 00:39:44,542 --> 00:39:46,542 to have been any other human activity. 814 00:39:46,625 --> 00:39:49,542 - I mean, Oak Island does seem to be kind of the place 815 00:39:49,625 --> 00:39:52,125 where you go to look for things that shouldn't be there, 816 00:39:52,208 --> 00:39:53,375 but maybe they're there, 817 00:39:53,458 --> 00:39:55,042 so who knows what they'll find next. 818 00:39:57,042 --> 00:40:00,250 - [Laurence] It's that dazzling array of possibilities 819 00:40:00,333 --> 00:40:01,958 that has kept the treasure hunters 820 00:40:01,958 --> 00:40:05,500 coming back to the mystery of the Templar treasure. 821 00:40:06,542 --> 00:40:08,000 - I think one of the things 822 00:40:08,042 --> 00:40:10,792 that people find fascinating about the Templars, 823 00:40:10,875 --> 00:40:14,625 even to this day, is the fact that they fell so quickly 824 00:40:14,625 --> 00:40:16,542 and so spectacularly, 825 00:40:16,667 --> 00:40:19,417 and we don't know, kind of what happened after that. 826 00:40:19,542 --> 00:40:21,333 It seems like it should have continued, 827 00:40:21,458 --> 00:40:22,625 or there should have been something 828 00:40:22,708 --> 00:40:24,000 that happened afterwards 829 00:40:24,125 --> 00:40:26,667 or some sort of resistance or something there. 830 00:40:26,750 --> 00:40:30,167 And so we're just wondering, where did all the wealth go? 831 00:40:30,208 --> 00:40:32,542 - The Templars captured the imagination of Europe 832 00:40:32,667 --> 00:40:36,042 at the time, and continues to be both revered and reviled 833 00:40:36,167 --> 00:40:37,333 down through the centuries. 834 00:40:37,375 --> 00:40:39,792 Authors have made them villains and heroes 835 00:40:39,875 --> 00:40:42,583 like some of the Robin Hood legends and things like that. 836 00:40:42,667 --> 00:40:44,917 - The Templar treasure is so powerful 837 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:48,292 because you're dealing not just with physical treasure, 838 00:40:48,375 --> 00:40:50,583 with gold, silver, jewels. 839 00:40:50,667 --> 00:40:52,625 You're dealing with people's faith. 840 00:40:52,708 --> 00:40:55,292 You're dealing with religious matters, 841 00:40:55,375 --> 00:40:57,833 not just simply worldly goods. 842 00:40:57,917 --> 00:40:59,792 - They were this huge organization, 843 00:40:59,875 --> 00:41:01,500 commanderies all over the place. 844 00:41:01,542 --> 00:41:03,333 They had a massive number of people. 845 00:41:03,458 --> 00:41:05,500 They had massive influence across Europe, 846 00:41:05,500 --> 00:41:07,625 and then it was suddenly gone. 847 00:41:07,708 --> 00:41:10,125 We have a hard time wrapping our heads around that. 848 00:41:12,542 --> 00:41:15,667 - Is the treasure of the Knights Templar still out there? 849 00:41:15,792 --> 00:41:18,000 And what priceless relics does it hold? 850 00:41:18,083 --> 00:41:21,458 For now, the search continues for this mysterious 851 00:41:21,583 --> 00:41:24,042 and allegedly vast hoard. 852 00:41:24,125 --> 00:41:25,625 I'm Laurence Fishburne. 853 00:41:25,708 --> 00:41:29,833 Thank you for watching History's Greatest Mysteries. 854 00:41:29,875 --> 00:41:32,667 (dramatic music)