Oak Island Treasure - the world's greatest treasure hunt - Oak Island Treasure

Rennes le Chateau is a small, sleepy village in France with many secrets to hide. History dating back to pre-Christian times tells of a treasure, encompasing riches from Greece, Rome and Jerusalem which later vanished from all records.

This amount of wealth was on a scale of tonnes, something which could not simply be hidden. Various finds at Rennes, including both gold bars from the Holy Land and strange inscribed tablets, similar in nature to the Money Pit cipher stone propose a strong link. This, coupled with the Knights Templar's heavy presence in the area proposes a strong case that some, if not all of this treasure could have found its way to Oak Island.

The History of the Treasure

In the year 70 AD, the Roman emperor Titus attacked the religious city of Jerusalem. Its entire wealth was plundered including the Temple of Herod who was a renowned prodigious builder who had ordered the construction of innumerable fortresses and temples throughout his lands. Titus himself wanted to preserve the building which would make a splendid addition to the Roman Empire and an excellent base from which to dictate the empire.

When Titus attacked the Temple and the Jews who were guarding it the building was set alight. His army were consumed with hate and greed and in the end the entire temple was burned to the ground. Roman soldiers returned to the ruins when the fires had ceased and demolishing the blocks of masonry which had made up the walls and foundations in order to get the gold which had run in between the stonework.

Alongside the contents of the city of Jerusalem, the interior of the temple was also looted. The treasure of Jerusalem was taken back to Rome in triumph where initially at least, the greater part of it would have been stored.

Three hundred years later, in 394, Alaric I was proclaimed king of the Visigoths. This was originally a Germanic tribe where the Visigoths lived mostly in Eastern Europe. They mainly served the Romans as mercenaries. Upon the death of Theodosius I, Alaric was quick to renounce this allegiance to Rome.

Alaric led his troops into Greece where he conquered Sparta, Argos and Corinth. He would also have taken Athens itself but for a substantial ransom paid by the Greeks. It was not long after this impressive victory his army came into conflict with the Romans where he was to suffer defeat at the hands of the Roman General Flavius Stilicho. Alaric's motivation was the wealth of Rome, and he once again attempted to invade Italy and was again beaten by Stilicho.

Unfortunately for the Romans, Alaric took this as a sign of weakness and asked for almost 2000 Kilos of gold as a tribute upon payment of which he would he would renounce his plans to invade Rome. Alaric immediately invaded Italy, angered by this proposal and began a siege on Rome. A huge sum of money was paid as ransom but in 410 Alaric captured Rome regardless and sacked it.

Alaric's troops took six days to empty the city of its wealth. Not only did the Visigoths remove everything of value that the Romans possessed but also it is believed they also got hold of a large portion, if not all of the fabulous treasure of Jerusalem which had lain untouched in the vaults of the city.

The treasure thus changed hands and another conquering army to returned home with the spoils of war held aloft as a trophy of triumph. The quantity of treasure the Visigoths had in their possession must have been immense.

There was all the treasure they obtained from their expedition to Greece, including a huge ransom paid by the Athenians.
There was the entire wealth of the city of Rome
There was a large portion of the treasure of Jerusalem
The Visigoths quickly spread out from Italy capturing various regions throughout Spain, Portugal and France. In these early days they made Toulouse in France their capital.

The location of this vast treasure disappears until re-emerging at the end of the century when Alaric II finds himself under attack by Clovis. Not wishing his fortune to fall into enemy hands he moves it to his stronghold at Carcassonne. From this point onwards, not one single reference to the treasure appears anywhere in historical records. Today links with Rennes-le-Château, a sleepy little village in France provides possible answers to the whereabouts of this huge bounty.