One Templar said under torture in 1308 that he saw a brother leading 50 horses and heard of 18 galleys, and that is the only medieval source for a Templar treasure fleet

After Philip IV arrested the Templars in France in October 1307, Pope Clement V heard Templar witnesses at Poitiers. In June 1308 a brother named Jean de Châlons testified after torture. He said the Order's leaders had fled when they learned what was coming. He said he himself met Brother Gérard de Villiers leading 50 horses, and that he heard it said Gérard put to sea with 18 galleys. He said another brother fled with the whole treasure of Hugues de Pairaud, the Order's visitor in France. The record is in the Vatican register Avenionensia 48, published by Heinrich Finke in 1907. It is the only medieval reference to a Templar fleet. The fleet is hearsay in his own words, and the port of La Rochelle, named in later stories, is not in it. Writers since have linked the treasure to Scotland, Rosslyn Chapel, the Money Pit on Oak Island in Nova Scotia, found in 1795, and Rennes-le-Château. Most historians call the Scottish voyage story fanciful. Rick Lagina, who searches Oak Island, said no find there is a definitive tie to the Templars.