Who was Olivier Levasseur and what did he do?

Print. Olivier Levasseur (known also by his nicknames ‘La Buse’, meaning ‘the Buzzard’, or ‘La Bouche’, meaning ‘the Mouth’) was a French pirate who was active during the 1st half of the 18th century. Whilst Levasseur was a notorious and much-feared pirate during his days, his greatest legacy is the alleged treasure that he had hidden.

How do you read a Levasseur cipher?

The Levasseur (La Buse) Cryptogram. From Charles de la Roncière. The first step is to translate the symbols into letters of the alphabet and numbers, if applicable. The second stage is to translate the cipher text and thereby reveal the plaintext.

How many attempts have there been to decipher Levasseur’s treasure?

Whilst attempts have been made over the years to decipher the coded message, and to track down Levasseur’s treasure, none of these have actually succeeded. Olivier Levasseur was born in Calais during the closing years of the 17th century (between 1688 and 1690).

What was the flag of pirate Olivier Levasseur?

Jolly Roger flag of pirate Olivier Levasseur (La Buse), described as a “white ensign with a figure of a dead man spread in it”. (TheLastBrunnenG/ CC BY SA 4.0 ) In 1718, Levasseur narrowly avoided capture by Captain Francis Hume of the HMS Scarborough off the coast of La Blanquilla in the Eastern Caribbean.

Is Levasseur’s treasure ever going to be found?

To date, Levasseur’s treasure has yet to be found. In spite of the numerous failed attempts to locate the treasure, there are those who have dedicated their lives to finding it and are not ready to give up just yet. However, there are some problems with the cryptogram itself.

Where did Levasseur launch his raids?

From 1720 onwards, Levasseur launched his raids from a base on the island of Sainte-Marie, just off the coast of Madagascar, together with pirates John Taylor, Jasper Seagar, and Edward England. The Great Mughal ‘s heavily armed but also heavily laden pilgrim ships to Mecca sailed these seas.

How many lines does Levasseur wear on his necklace?

Legend tells that when he stood on the scaffold to be hanged, Levasseur wore a necklace containing a cryptogram of 17 lines, and threw this into the crowd while exclaiming: “Find my treasure, the one who may understand it!”