The Theory That Connects Shakespeare To The Curse Of Oak Island

History's wildly popular treasure hunting series "The Curse of Oak Island" is in the middle of its 9th season, and at this point, it seems inevitable that brothers Rick and Marty Lagina will wind up hitting yet another dead end. The show is no stranger to this disappointing style of treasure hunting — despite the absurd amount of time and money the team has spent scouring the island, they're still no closer to finding the legendary treasure haul that's captivated explorers for over 200 years.

Not only that, but the team isn't even sure what that treasure actually is. Some theorize the island could hold the lost treasure of the infamous pirate known as Captain Kidd (via CBC Kids), or the missing jewels of Marie Antoinette. Others claim the treasure once belonged to the Knights Templar and that the island itself has connections to the Freemasons. Nothing is out of the question when it comes to the search for Oak Island's treasure, and over the years, the Laginas have listened to nearly every theory imaginable.

One of the wildest theories even asserts that the treasure is actually related to none other than William Shakespeare himself. As outlandish as that theory may seem, the Laginas actually followed up on this theory in the show's very first season.

In the Season 1 episode "The Secret of Solomon's Temple," the Laginas interviewed a man named Petter Amundsen, a modern-day Freemason (via History). Amundsen claimed that there are hidden messages and codes scattered throughout Shakespeare's writing and that if someone were to crack that code, they would find a map to Nova Scotia (and possibly to Oak Island itself).

Amundsen cited a variety of capitalization errors, misspelled words, and unorganized page numbering as evidence of this "code" and expanded upon the theory he presented in the documentary "Cracking the Shakespeare Code." Amundsen also speculated that the map might not lead to treasure in the conventional sense, but some of Shakespeare's lost manuscripts. All things considered, perhaps it's not the most outlandish theory that the Oak Island team has entertained over the years — though it certainly bases a lot of its evidence on this alleged "code" that might simply be a collection of Shakespeare's mistakes. Of the possible items hidden beneath the surface of Oak Island, a lost Shakespeare manuscript is definitely one of the more enticing options since it would be nearly priceless.