Episode Overview

Podcast: Who Did What Now
Host: Katie Charlwood
Episode: 173 – Olivier Levasseur: Hidden Pirate Treasure
Release date: December 23, 2025

In this engaging and irreverent episode, Katie Charlwood explores the life and legend of Olivier Levasseur, also known as La Buse (“the Buzzard”)—a notorious French pirate whose mysterious lost treasure has become the stuff of myth, lore, and international treasure hunts. Charlwood sets the historical scene, recounts Levasseur’s pirate exploits, and delves into the tantalizing cryptogram supposedly left behind by the pirate himself, while infusing her trademark wit and digressions. This episode is rich with pirate history, pop-culture references, and speculation on whether pirate treasures—and cyphers—are ever truly hidden, or simply a parting prank on posterity.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Pirates, the Docudrama, and Public Image

• Katie shares excitement about being featured on a new Titanic docudrama’s companion and discusses recent social media criticism about her appearance, addressing it with humor and self-awareness.
  • Memorable quote:

    "If my boobs are like that offensive to people as well, like, you can just listen to the podcast. Like, you don't see them there. Like, it's audio, you're fine." (06:11)

2. Pirate History Deep Dive: Golden Age of Piracy

• Defining the Golden Age of Piracy (08:05–12:30)
  • Timeframe: 1650–1720, broken into three periods:
    • Buccaneering Period (1650–1680): French “boucaniers” (wild game hunters) become pirates in the Caribbean.
    • Pirate Round (1693–1700): Pirates expand raids into the Indian Ocean, targeting East India Company vessels.
    • Post Spanish Succession (1716–1726): Privateers become pirates after the War of Spanish Succession ends.
• Pirates rarely hid treasure—map-buried treasure is more myth than fact, except, perhaps, for Levasseur.
  • Notable quote:

    "Cartography was not really part of this whole scenario. But what if maybe there was though? Because like, let's have a little fun." (08:00)

3. Olivier Levasseur: Origins and Path to Piracy

• Early Life
  • Born in Calais, France, between 1683–1695; second son of a freebooter, possibly from minor nobility (13:30–15:00).
  • Rumored to have been well-educated, trained as an architect, with possible ties to the Knights of Malta (15:00–17:00).
• Historical Context
  • Grew up during the perpetual European wars (Nine Years’ War, Spanish Succession).
  • Insightful anecdote:

    "If you'd seen [Charles II]'s chin. There's a reason we talk about the Habsburg chin. Your family tree should not be a wreath." (19:00)

4. The Pirate’s Progress: Plundering Around the World

• Early Piracy:
  • Joins alliances with famous pirates Benjamin Hornigold and Samuel Bellamy (27:50–31:00).
  • Known as "La Bouche" (The Mouth) for his boldness, and "La Buse" (The Buzzard), supposedly for his fighting style.
  • Becomes captain of the captured Portuguese frigate La Louise, converting it into a fearsome pirate ship (32:30).
  • Utilizes speed and cunning, favoring agile sloops for quick raids.
• Brutality and Notoriety:
  • Mixed reputation—for ruthlessness, but also for freeing enslaved peoples from a Portuguese slave ship off the coast of Brazil (36:15):

    "You may be a murderous pirate, but...you saved a bunch of people who were stolen from their homeland." (37:43)

  • Increasingly targeted by authorities, culminating in battles, losses, and the sinking of his flagship in 1718 (39:20).

5. The Indian Ocean Exploits & The Legendary Heist

• After Shipwreck:
  • Shipwrecked in the Comoro Islands (46:42), teams up with pirate John Taylor (47:10) and seizes "Victory"—sets course for Bourbon Island (now Réunion).
  • In 1721, Lavasseur and Taylor capture the Nossa Senhora do Cabo—a Portuguese carrack overloaded with treasure, clergy, and nobility (50:45).
  • The haul:
    • Massive quantities of gold, diamonds (notably the 120-carat “Great Mogul” diamond), silks, rare manuscripts, and the Fiery Cross of Goa—solid gold and gemstone-encrusted (52:30).
  • Each crew member supposedly receives 42 diamonds and a chestful of gold. Lavasseur takes the Fiery Cross, Taylor takes the Great Mogul diamond.

6. Decline, Disguise, and Death

• Pirate Crackdown:
  • Post-1721: Pirate amnesties are offered, with pardons in exchange for treasure.
    • Lavasseur refuses, flees to the Seychelles, changes identity, but is eventually captured (58:00).
• Dramatic Execution:
  • Captured after years in hiding and tried for piracy (60:45).
  • At his public execution on July 7, 1730, allegedly throws a necklace with a cryptogram into the crowd, yelling:

    "Find my treasure. The one who may understand it." (61:30)

  • His death cements the legend of a lost, coded pirate hoard.

7. The Lasting Mystery: The Cryptogram and Treasure Hunts

• Origins of the Cypher Legend:
  • In the 1930s, Charles de Laurencier claims to find the 17-line cryptogram linked to Lavasseur.
  • The code has inspired nearly a century of treasure hunts—none verifiably successful (62:40–65:30).
• Is there really treasure?
  • Katie speculates: Did Lavasseur hide it? Was it a distraction? Did someone get to it first?
  • On the cryptogram:

    "I'm trying to decipher a cipher here. And I'm like, that just seems incorrect." (66:53)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On pirate myth vs. reality:

  "There never is [hidden treasure], because it's not a thing. Cartography was not really part of this whole scenario. But what if maybe there was though?" (08:00)

• Explaining complex wars:

  "I'm sighing again, I'm like it's always some dude, isn't it? Fucking is." (15:50)

• On the loot from Nossa Senhora do Cabo:

  "This ship, there's like half a million pounds' worth in diamonds...the Fiery Cross of Goa, which is solid gold and encrusted with rubies and weighs 220 pounds." (52:33)

• On pirate “morality”:

  "You may be a murderous pirate, but...you saved a bunch of people who were stolen from their homeland." (37:43)

• The legend at the gallows:

  "Before he reaches the gallows...he throws a necklace with a cryptogram into the crowd and bellowed, 'Find my treasure. The one who may understand it.'" (61:30)

• Cryptogram skepticism:

  "I don't mean to ruin your fun, but I don't think that's right. Now, there are a couple words, but this is like, if you have infinite monkeys and infinite typewriters, they are going to create the works of Shakespeare." (66:26)

• Personal asides:

  "I'm not trying to teach people how to be international pirates. I think we've passed that stage. I'm just saying, this is what you do." (44:16)

Segment Timestamps

• [02:16] Introduction & BBC docudrama news
• [03:40] Social media controversies/humor
• [08:00–12:30] Golden Age of Piracy historical overview
• [13:30–15:00] Olivier’s origins—family background and upbringing
• [19:00] French politics and wars; lively historical digression
• [27:39] Pirate career begins: alliances, exploits, infamous ships
• [36:15] Encounter with Portuguese slave ship; freeing enslaved people
• [39:20] Loss of flagship La Louise in Brazil
• [44:16] Surviving, plundering, switching ships
• [46:42] Shipwreck in the Comoro Islands; the fateful alliance
• [50:45–54:10] Capture of the Nossa Senhora do Cabo—“the big score”
• [58:00–59:30] Rejection of amnesty, adoption of new identity
• [60:45] Capture and trial
• [61:30] Dramatic execution and the tossed cryptogram
• [62:40–66:30] The ongoing hunt and the puzzle’s allure
• [67:19–68:45] Theories on cryptograms and treasure; skepticism
• [72:30] Recommendations: the Goonies, The Abyss Surrounds Us, Hillbilly Heist podcast

Recommendations

• Movie: The Goonies (for pirate-y, treasure-hunting festive vibes) (73:22)
• Book: The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutsky—YA sci-fi, pirates included
• Podcast: Hillbilly Heist ("I love a heist.") (74:17)

Closing Thoughts

Katie Charlwood unpacks pirate history with a blend of humor, deep research, and modern skepticism. The saga of Olivier Levasseur raises questions about how much of pirate legend is accessible fact, how much is myth, and how much is a grand joke played on the determined treasure hunter. Ultimately, whether his treasure was ever real, the legacy of mystery, adventure, and cryptic clues lives on—and makes for one hell of a story.

For those looking for adventure, curiosity, and some laughs along the way, this episode proves—pirate legends remain alive and well.