All language subtitles for Pirates Behind the Legends s01e05 William Kidd The Treasure Hunter.eng

[Narrator]
Captain William Kidd's life

is shrouded in mystery.

A pirate hunter turned pirate,

who was put to death
professing his own innocence.

The ballad of his life,
trial and tribulations

paints a picture of an evil
and ruthless operator.

[Historian] It basically told
the story of who he was.

He basically sold his soul
to the devil

in order to be able to become
the most powerful pirate ever.

[Narrator] But the truth
tells a different story.

Kidd was commissioned
by King William III

to hunt pirates in the Red Sea.

[Author] Madagascar became
famous as a pirate island.

[Narrator] But when his mission
starts to fail,

a tragic story of murder,
theft, hidden treasure

and lost evidence unfolds.

[Historian] Pirate trials
at the time were just a show,

it's pure humiliation.

[Narrator] Kidd is used
as a political pawn

in a scheme which would
ultimately find him on trial

claiming his innocence but
facing execution as a pirate.

? ?

? ?

William Kidd arrives
in New York in 1690,

already a decorated privateer
from Scotland.

He quickly climbs
the social ladder

within this bustling new city,

which is, for now,
a colony of England.

[Mark Hanna] We know that he had
a pew in Trinity Church,

so he was
a well-respected individual,

was a commercial captain.

[Rebecca Simon] He was
really great at telling stories

about the adventures he had.

So as a result, he was able
to get in with the social elite

who really loved hearing about
his adventures on the high seas.

Kidd was
a very upstanding gentleman.

He had a brilliant reputation of
working in the maritime world.

And from there, he would meet

a very wealthy widow
named Sarah Oort.

And he would marry her,

and this would really put him
into high society.

[Narrator] As part
of New York's social elite,

Kidd cultivates a reputation
as a fearless captain

and forges a successful career
in the maritime world.

? ?

[David Wilson]
With his partner in New York,

they travel to London

and they set up this partnership
with the Earl of Bellomont,

who was operating on behalf

of the most influential
politicians of the day.

[Narrator] Gripped by tales
of Kidd's adventures at sea,

the Earl of Bellomont is eager
to employ the Scotsman.

He commissions
a 34-gun privateering vessel,

the Adventure Galley,
for Kidd to captain.

[Oliver Finnegan] The scheme was

that they were going
to send Kidd

into the Indian Ocean
as a kind of pirate hunter.

[Simon] Pirate hunting
was a pretty lucrative career

in the late 17th
and early 18th centuries.

It was basically a job

where you were set out
to go find a specific pirate.

They're like bounty hunters,
in a way.

[Narrator]
Kidd's instructions arrive

in the form
of a letter of marque,

signed by the king of England,
William III;

Kidd's target,
the infamous Red Sea pirates.

[Finnegan] A letter of marque
will be issued

in the name of a king
or a queen,

and it gives the captain
of a ship and the sailors on it

the right to sail out
and to capture enemy shipping

as is defined
by that king or queen.

[Narrator]
As well as pirate ships,

a second target is detailed
in Kidd's letter of marque.

England is at war with France,
and he is given license

to go after any vessel
in service of the French.

Kidd now has two targets,

offering great potential
for wealth and plunder.

[Finnegan] This is quite
an unusual letter of marque

because it was granted
to William Kidd

and it gave him
very particular grounds.

It didn't just say
that he could sail out

and capture French shipping,

it also instructed him
to capture pirate vessels

and bring them in
to be condemned as lawful prize.

He would have got a share
of the goods on that pirate ship

for himself.

The Crown would get
a cut as well.

So it really was
a moneymaking scheme

designed to suppress piracy
in the Indian Ocean.

[people chatting]

[Narrator] Kidd trawls the
taverns and waterways of London

recruiting for this expedition.

? ?

[Hanna] You can imagine this
is really easy for him to do.

Kidd showed up with a commission
with the king's signature on it

and a picture of the king
on the commission.

So people flocked to his ship.

[Simon] He was giving them
a lot of promises,

saying, we're going to capture
a lot of pirates.

We're going to be able
to capture

a lot of other enemy ships.

You're going to become
extremely wealthy.

And not only that,
you're going to come home

and have a lot of high wages,

and so it really wasn't
difficult at all

for Kidd to get himself
a very large crew

who were pretty excited
about going onto these journeys

into the Red Sea.

[Narrator] Although Kidd was
respected by his investors

and making connections
in high society,

he now has a crew
of common seamen,

some of whom
were known pirates.

And already their behavior

begins to rub off
on the captain.

? ?

[Margarette Lincoln]
As they went past Greenwich,

they failed to do
the customary naval salute.

? ?

Warships there
reminded Kidd's crew

that they were supposed
to fire a cannon.

And worse,
what they did, actually,

was climb the masts
and pat their behinds,

which was very insulting.

[Narrator] A disgruntled
naval vessel chases the ship

towards the mouth of the Thames
to punish Kidd's arrogance.

They capture
some of his sailors.

Kidd is forced to return for
a second round of recruitment.

It takes months, but finally
he's ready to begin his crusade

against the Red Sea pirates.

[Wilson] In the Caribbean
by the 1690s,

pirates aren't making the same
sort of wealth they used to.

[Narrator] The Spanish
treasure fleet,

which had been
the largest target

of the pirate attacks
in the Caribbean,

now sails less often,

meaning their chances
for a successful ambush

were dwindling.

[Wilson] So instead,
they start to undertake

massive, long voyages
from North America

around the Cape of Good Hope
in southern Africa

and to the Indian Ocean.

[Hanna]
So, many English captains

began to sail
into the Indian Ocean

to plunder ships that belonged
to the Mughal Empire of India.

These ships would sail
from India

on their way
to the pilgrimage sites

of Jeddah and Mecca
in the Red Sea.

And they were
incredibly valuable.

Massive amounts of luxury items

like calico and silk,
jewels, gold,

and legend grew of the value
of these large ships.

[Wilson] The pirate target
this Mughal shipping fleet

because it's unprotected
at this point in time.

There is no convoys,
no armed convoys

with the Mughal pilgrim fleet.

So the pirates see it
as an easier target,

despite the costs involved
in terms of traveling

from North America
all the way to the Red Sea,

which is a substantial voyage.

[Narrator] Brutal attacks
by the Red Sea pirates

wreak havoc
across the Indian Ocean.

[cannon fire]

[Simon] The Mughal emperor
was so incensed by this

that they blockaded the ports

and they threatened
to block off all trade

and almost cause an all-out war.

[Hanna] This was
very frustrating in large part

to the king of England,

who had a long-standing
relationship

with the Mughal emperor.

It was more upsetting
to the East India Company,

which is a company
that had a full monopoly

on trade in the Indian Ocean.

[Narrator] Founded in England,

primarily to exploit

the lucrative spice trade,

the East India Company

is becoming a powerful presence
across Asia.

[Hanna] So, when
the Red Sea pirates came

and started plundering ships
belonging to the Mughal Empire,

this obviously created
a massive rift

between the East India Company
and the Mughal emperor himself.

? ?

In fact, the lives of employees
of the East India Company

were threatened because
obviously the Mughal emperor

saw no distinction between
East India Company employees

and pirates.

[Richard Blakemore]
So the East India Company

and the English authorities need
to respond to these pirates.

They need to repair
their international trade

and diplomacy and connection.

And William Kidd
is part of that.

? ?

[Narrator] William Kidd sets
sail with a motivated crew,

a state-of-the-art vessel

and royal permission
to hunt Red Sea pirates.

? ?

They are about to make
themselves very rich...

if they can find their prey.

[Hanna]
The Red Sea pirates originated

in the American colonies.

I think this is important.

One of the first to sail
to the Indian Ocean

actually came
from South Carolina.

But others came
from New York City,

some from Newport, Rhode Island,
one sailed from Bermuda,

and they began to join
each other in armadas,

and they based themselves
on the island of Madagascar,

which was essentially a base to
shoot out and attack those ships

as they made their way
to the Red Sea.

So Madagascar became famous

as a sort of pirate refuge,
pirate island.

[Narrator]
Kidd and his crew head north

towards the Gulf of Aden,

in search
of the Red Sea pirates

who have been terrorizing
the Mughal convoys.

[Lincoln] So, Kidd's crew
expected to attack

the Red Sea pirate ships
and gain riches.

And this is normally referred to

as a kind of no purchase,
no pay,

whereby you weren't given
any wages;

what you got was
what you managed to steal.

You got your share of the loot.

[Simon] So, this meant
that they really had no choice

but to stay with Captain Kidd
for as long as it took

for them to be able to rob
as many ships as possible,

or else they were
going to go home,

and they're barely going to have
any money given to them at all.

[Blakemore]
So, early in the voyage,

once they've reached
the Indian Ocean,

things start to go quite badly.

Kidd may well have intended
to attack pirates,

but it doesn't seem
like he can find any,

and tensions start to simmer
amongst his crew.

Some of the crew,
according to Kidd's account,

are really keen to start
attacking merchant ships

and to capture plunder.

And there also seem
to be personal arguments.

The crew are not a happy ship,

and Kidd doesn't seem
to have been particularly good

at managing these resentments
and hostilities.

[Simon] To the point
where eventually,

when they would land,

there would be people
who would abandon ship

and decide it wasn't
worth actually sailing

with Kidd anymore.

? ?

[Lincoln] You know, these crews

were incredibly difficult
to control.

What they wanted was loot.

They didn't want to be
lingering around

on the open seas
doing a lot of work.

[Simon] Some of the major risks
that would come about,

oddly enough, is boredom.

There are long periods of time

where they might be
in between attacks

or they're just really
far away from land,

and so boredom can set in,

and this could cause
tensions to rise.

It's very hot in the places
that they're going.

They are always at risk
of running very low on water.

And so this meant
they're always going to be

at risk for severe dehydration

because of the lack
of the water.

And so as a result,
you're getting a little weaker,

your immune system
might not be very good,

so you could get sick.

If there was going to be
an illness

that would sweep through a ship,

it would be either scurvy or it
would be an intestinal illness,

and this is because water can
get contaminated very easily.

? ?

[Narrator] A sickness ravages
the Adventure Galley's crew.

Kidd heads
for the Comoros Islands,

pausing his mission
for two months

whilst disease takes the lives
of many of his men.

? ?

[Finnegan] When Kidd gets
into the Indian Ocean,

the series of events
is in effect disputed,

because there are multiple
accounts of what happened.

[Narrator] Now leading
a skeleton crew,

Kidd sets sail.

Animosity continues to fester

between the captain
and his men.

They're yet to encounter
a single Red Sea pirate,

let alone claim the plunder
they were promised.

He sails towards
the Gulf of Aden,

hoping to find
the Red Sea pirates

in the same waters

where they target and attack
the Mughal fleet.

Kidd gets desperate;

he's been floating
around the Comoros Islands

for months with no result.

[Wilson] But once there,
he is seen to be voyaging

amongst the Mughal
pilgrim fleet.

And it seems like he's acting

just like
the Red Sea pirates are.

[Lincoln] As luck would have it,
he found this hugely rich ship.

[Narrator]
Kidd's crew spots the vessel.

They make their approach.

? ?

[Blakemore] There's an account
from an English sailor

who commands
an East India Company ship,

that a convoy of Indian ships,

together with English
and Dutch ships,

is sailing from Mecca to India,

and that Kidd's ship,
the Adventure Galley,

is spotted,

and that at that time Kidd
is flying a pirate flag.

[Narrator] But Kidd's target
is in convoy

with powerful warships
from the East India Company.

Outmatched, he must
rapidly make his escape.

[Blakemore] So it seems
that at that point,

even though he's scared off
by the East India Company ships

and he doesn't attack
the convoy,

he is deliberately signaling
his intentions.

[Narrator] An attack
on the East India Company fleet

would have been
in direct conflict

with his letter of marque.

His mission is
to repair the rift

between the king
and the Mughal emperor,

not make it worse.

[Wilson] Maybe he expected that
if he was able to take a prize

that was worth an extortionate
amount of wealth,

and he was able to bring that
wealth back to his investors,

maybe they would turn
a blind to it.

That seems to be
what he's doing.

[Narrator]
Having escaped the clutches

of the East India Company's
officers,

Kidd and his crew
are still empty-handed.

[Simon] The men on the ship
are threatening to mutiny

because they're so upset

that they haven't captured
any major prizes.

[Narrator] The growing animosity
between Kidd and his crew

is about to reach
breaking point.

[Simon] It all came to a head
when one of the crewmen,

William Moore, spotted
a ship in the distance

and told Kidd,
we should capture this ship.

[Hanna] They see a Dutch ship,
and the crew say,

well, there you go, there's
a ship, let's plunder it.

This sounds great.

And Kidd says, well,

did you notice the image
on my commission?

It was an image of William III.

And, you know, he's Dutch.

So I don't think
this is a good idea.

I think that's probably
a bad idea to attack a ship

that belongs to the same
nationality of our king.

[Narrator] The conflict
breaks out into a fistfight

between the gunner
and the captain.

Kidd grabs a heavy bucket
and strikes Moore.

? ?

[Simon] And Moore dies the next
day from the head injury.

[Narrator] Having killed
one of their fellow crewmen,

Kidd's crew loses
any faith they had left

in his leadership.

But Kidd claims his actions
were justified.

[Hanna] If you actually
pay attention

to international law
at the time,

if you could perceive him
as threatening and mutinous,

I think many officers at
the time could have understood.

[Simon] Now that he's killed
a crew member,

he knows that he's pretty much
lost control of everything.

[Hanna] Really nothing about
Kidd's story makes any sense.

There's nothing about it

that seems logical
or smart or a good idea.

So you could see Kidd is
in a position

where he is not sure what to do.

His crew is being mutinous.

They haven't had any prey, and
he's getting very frustrated.

So he finally he sees a ship
in the distance

and they say, that's it,
let's go after it.

[Narrator] November 18, 1697,
Kidd spots another Dutch ship-

the Rouparelle.

Facing pressure from his crew,
Kidd agrees to attack.

? ?

Kidd needs to do
whatever he can

to bring his crew back on side.

With his letter of marque
in hand, he formulates a plan.

[Wilson] What's important to
remember at this point in time

is in the Indian Ocean

all the vessels that are
operating in the sea

are carrying multiple passes,

so any vessel can claim to be
French, Dutch or English.

The European powers
that operated

implemented this pass system,

so the first to implement it
were the Portuguese.

And what it meant
was that any vessel

passing by Portuguese waters,

or at least waters
that they claimed,

those vessels had to carry
what was called a pass.

Basically the merchants
had to pay for this pass

at the Portuguese port,

and it gave them protection

against any
Portuguese reprisals.

So if you didn't have
a Portuguese pass

and a Portuguese vessel
approached you,

they could claim you
as a legitimate prize.

Once the Portuguese
instituted that system,

the English quickly instituted
the system,

the Dutch instituted
the same system,

and the French instituted
the same system,

which meant
that most merchant vessels

operating in that region

had to carry a pass of every
single one of these nations

to stop them being claimed
as a legitimate prize.

? ?

But Kidd uses that system
as a means to dupe those vessels

to claim that they are French.

? ?

[Narrator]
Kidd runs a French flag

and sails straight
for the Rouparelle.

His disguise works.

The Rouparelle's captain
believes Kidd is an ally,

so presents a French Pass.

It's a fatal error.

[Wilson] They present
themself as French,

and then they fall
under his commission.

[Finnegan]
Because his commission says

he has the right
to seize French ships

or to seize pirates,

there are some grounds,
he believes,

that he can actually seize
that ship legally.

[Wilson] It's interesting

because it's not
technically piracy.

Kidd does have a commission
to take French vessels.

That vessel presented itself
as French,

so therefore it's legitimate.

[Narrator]
Kidd and his crew celebrate.

They have finally taken
a significant prize

using cunning
instead of violence.

Will they now stick
to their royal commission

and begin tracking down
Red Sea pirates?

Or will they attack any ship

Kidd believes is carrying
valuable goods?

[Narrator] Whilst traversing
the southern tip of India,

Kidd and his crew
face great temptation

when he spots
the Quedagh Merchant.

It's a legendary vessel
carrying priceless cargo,

belonging to one of the
wealthiest Mughal merchants.

[Simon] The Quedagh Merchant

was one of the largest
ships in the entire region.

It was one of those ships

known to have loads of coins,
gold and silver.

It's going to be carrying
tons of goods

such as linens and silks
and other textiles,

which were always
really desirable.

It's going to have
loads of sugar.

Sugar was one of the most
lucrative goods during the time.

It was intended to be
one of the largest prizes

that one could ever capture
in the Indian Ocean.

It was an Armenian ship that
was being used by the French.

So the ship had what were known
as French passes,

meaning that France
had given them jurisdiction

to sail wherever they could.

[Narrator] A French flag
hangs from the mast

of the Quedagh Merchant,
making it fair game for Kidd.

If he's able to repeat
his bloodless takeover

of the Rouparelle,
this could be easy pickings.

Kidd hoists a French flag,

once again identifying himself
as an ally.

If the captain
of the Quedagh Merchant

falls for the ruse,

he will present Kidd
with a French pass,

giving him legal authority
to take the ship.

[Simon] Pirate attacks,
for the most part,

were pretty orderly.

Most ships,
such as the Quedagh Merchant,

which as a merchant ship
is not going to have

very many weapons on it
for defense purposes.

Pirate ships,
on the other hand, will.

They're all going
to have pistols,

they're all going to have
swords and cutlasses,

and if they're lucky,

their ships are going
to have cannons.

So what a pirate is going to do

is eventually,
as they get close to the ship,

they're going
to identify themselves

by eventually raising up a flag.

And around the turn
of the 18th century,

there were two flags
a pirate might raise up:

a red flag, which means
we will take no mercy,

we are going to fight
to the death;

or a black flag,

and this meant that they
would be willing

to negotiate and give mercy
if the people surrendered.

And this was to give
the other ship kind of time

in order to prepare themselves.

[Narrator] Kidd stalks his prey

and suddenly raises
the black flag.

Grappling hooks are thrown
from the Adventure Galley

so Kidd and his crew can board.

? ?

Kidd demands to see
the captain's pass.

It's handed over.

Kidd's gamble is paying off.

But then something strange
happens.

[Lincoln] The so-called French
captain of the merchant ship

wasn't really the captain.

They had a captain underneath.

It was a double bluff.

And the captain
was actually English.

So Kidd had done
a terrible thing.

He'd actually captured a ship

that was captained
by an English person,

which wasn't what he
was licensed to do.

[Narrator] Despite this, Kidd
seizes the Quedagh Merchant,

along with all its treasures.

[Hanna] And Kidd kept
that French commission

and put it in his pocket
and held it

because he knew if he ever
got in trouble,

he'd need that commission.

? ?

[Wilson] The problem
is that he's taken a vessel

which is extremely rich
and extremely wealthy,

but is also owned by
an extremely influential figure.

[Simon] The value of these goods
in today's money

would be hundreds of thousands
of dollars or pounds,

or perhaps even going
into the millions.

This was the type of capture

that would set up every single
one of these sailors for life.

[Narrator] Kidd and his crew
ransack the ship

and take her to Madagascar,
where they split the prize.

[Wilson] You're not meant
to split up the plunder

until you get
to the admiralty court,

but Kidd does it anyway.

[Simon] Being the captain,
Kidd would get the lavish share

and then the next below him,

such as the quartermaster
or lieutenant,

would get
a slightly smaller share,

but still substantial, perhaps
maybe a share and a half.

And then you would have
the skilled workers

like the carpenter
and the surgeon,

the navigator, the gunner,

they might get
a share and a quarter,

and then everybody else
below them would get a share.

So because it was
so equally divvied up,

everyone looked forward

to being able to get
their portion of the spoils.

[Narrator]
Despite their newfound wealth,

many of the crew are growing
tired of Kidd's captaincy

and desert him on the pirate
island of Madagascar.

Left with a depleted crew
and three ships to command,

he abandons two vessels

including his original ship,
the Adventure Galley.

Keeping the Quedagh Merchant,

he renames it
the Adventure Prize

to avoid suspicion.

But word of his
legally murky behavior

finds its way back to England.

[Simon] Kidd is in Madagascar

looking to re-outfit his ship
and get more supplies

when he finds out
that he's wanted as a pirate

from the English government.

[Wilson] And it must have showed
Kidd at that point in time

how infamous his name had become
and how other individuals

were acting against him
and against his name.

[Simon] Now, Kidd adamantly
believed he was not a pirate.

He adamantly denied this.

He said that he was charged
to rob French ships

and that the Quedagh Merchant
had French passes on it.

And so what he did is he decided

he had to kind of offload
his goods.

So he sails to the West Indies,

and there he writes letters
to Lord Bellomont,

his friend and financier,

basically saying, I am being
falsely accused of piracy.

I need your help.

I need you to help me convince
the British government

that I did not betray anybody

and that I did not violate
the letter of marque.

? ?

[Narrator] Desperate to prove
his innocence,

Kidd sends the French passes
from the Quedagh Merchant

to his investor,
the Earl of Bellomont,

who is currently
visiting Boston.

[Hanna]
While Kidd was out at sea,

the Earl of Bellomont
was actually appointed

the joint governor
of New York and Massachusetts.

And Bellomont had heard
suspicious rumors

that Kidd might have been
a pirate.

? ?

[Lincoln] But while Kidd
had been away

for a number of months,

things had changed
back in London.

[Narrator] The two most
prominent political parties

are fighting for power
in England.

? ?

[Lincoln] And the Whigs
were losing power,

and the rival party, the Tories,
were gaining power,

and Bellomont was a Whig.

And he could see that he was on
a very dangerous position here.

[Simon] Bellomont knows that his
political standing and career

will be ruined if they know
that he is in cahoots now

with this accused pirate.

[Blakemore] So the people
who were protecting him before

are now trying
to disassociate themselves

from these accusations
of piracy.

? ?

[Simon] We have to go
back in time a little bit

to understand why.

In 1695, the English pirate
Henry Avery

captured loads of Mughal ships.

And the problem is

Britain was never actually able
to capture Henry Avery.

He disappeared.

And so, once again,
the Mughal Empire

basically tells
the East India Company

you have one chance
to go after Kidd

and you have to make
an example of him.

You have to capture him,

or else we will
cut off all trade

and consider this to be
an act of war.

[Narrator]
Kidd finds himself caught

in a clash of bureaucracies.

His capture is being used

to make an example
of the famous pirate

regardless of his innocence.

A manhunt is underway.

Hiding in the West Indies,

Kidd pens letters to Bellomont
pleading for assistance.

? ?

[Lincoln] He thought that
if he was able to talk to him

and explain that he thought
this was a French ship,

he could smooth it over.

[Simon] Bellomont writes
a letter back to Kidd,

promising him protection
if he comes to Boston.

[Narrator] Deciding to trust
his former patron,

Kidd sails for Boston.

Anxious to retain the fortune
he's risked everything to gain,

he devises a plan
to protect his loot.

[Hanna] And he stopped off an
island called Gardiner's Island.

Gardiner's Island was owned
by a man named Mr. Gardiner,

who is himself a former pirate.

And while he was there,
Kidd decided

maybe he would leave
some of his treasure.

[Blakemore] So that he then
has a bargaining chip to use

with the authorities in London.

If they let him go, maybe he'll
hand over some of the treasure

to the English government.

[Wilson]
And it's really from here

that this idea of Kidd's
buried treasure appears.

[Narrator] Kidd continues
his voyage to Boston,

expecting to be welcomed
by his old friend Bellomont.

[Simon] Once he steps on shore,

he is captured and thrown
into Stone Prison in 1698,

where he will spend
the next two years.

[Hanna] One of the most
important things

in the entire history of piracy

happened while Kidd
was in prison.

Kidd told the prison guard,
"I buried some of my treasure,

and if you let me out,
I'll give you some of it."

That seems like
a very small thing,

but the entire history of piracy
has changed

ever since that one moment.

[Narrator]
Having shared his secret,

rumors of Kidd's
buried treasure

soon escape the prison.

[Simon] And so Bellomont
actually did arrange

an expedition to go search
for all these goods.

And they were so desperate

to find all of these
really expensive items

that they even arrested
Kidd's wife

and all of their servants

to try to find out
where this might be.

[Hanna]
It becomes a massive craze.

And, in fact,
you could call it a mania.

[Simon] And so this has led

to all kinds
of treasure excavations

going all up and down
the American seaboard,

as far north as Canada,

and even going as far inland
into Upstate New York.

[Hanna] They come up
with all these strange

paranormal strategies
to find the treasure,

because the treasure isn't
just sort of something

sitting in the earth,

somehow has
mystical elements of it.

They had to use divining rods
to find the treasure.

There's other strategies,
you go in groups of three.

Somehow it's a magical thing.

You have to go
in groups of three.

And the best way
to find pirate treasure

is you find it around midnight.

You have to be silent,

because if you say anything,
the treasure can move.

[Narrator] In the weeks
following Kidd's arrest,

Bellomont tears up
Gardiner's Island,

desperately seeking
buried treasure.

[Wilson] Now a box of silver was
recovered from Gardiner's Island

by the Earl of Bellomont.

So it might be that
that was the box itself.

So it's already been recovered.

But regardless,
there was clear knowledge

that there was some treasure
buried in Gardiner's Island.

[Lincoln] Which actually
the Crown didn't dare keep.

It was so controversial.

Queen Anne dedicated it

towards the Greenwich Hospital
for seamen,

as if it was a patriotic act.

[Narrator] Nobody believes
this single box of silver

can be all Kidd left.

The search continues.

[Narrator]
Meanwhile, Kidd rots in jail.

The world outside is changing,

and not for the better
for a man accused of piracy.

[Blakemore] Around the time

of William Kidd's voyages
and trial,

the government is also
bringing in legislation

which gives British officers

the right to prosecute pirates
anywhere in the world.

This is a global expansion
of jurisdiction.

It is an enormous assertion
of authority and power.

It's a crucial part of the way
in which the empire

is expanding and
developing at this time.

[Narrator] As of 1700,

piracy trials are now allowed
to take place in America,

but Kidd's capture
predates the new law.

He's sent to London.

A trial there will be
a public spectacle

with a much larger audience.

[Wilson] And that's quite rare
because of the fact

that a lot of the times pirates
who are captured in the Americas

tend to escape
from imprisonment.

So Kidd is quite rare

in terms of actually a pirate
being taken back to London

for piracies
committed elsewhere.

Kidd is really a turning point

whereby you see
that crackdown on piracy

that is at least attempting
to be made by the English.

[Narrator]
1700, Captain William Kidd

is shipped home to London
in chains.

Many powerful people

have much to lose or gain
from his trial.

The leadership of both
the Whigs and the Tories,

the East India Company
and Bellomont;

everything is stacked
against Kidd.

[Wilson] Kidd is isolated

and kept in confinement
in Newgate Prison.

And the reason for that

is because both the Whig party
and the Tory party,

as well as
the East India Company,

are all trying to use Kidd
to advance their own interests,

either to clear their name.

The Whig party who had invested
in this voyage

are really wanting
a speedy trial

and execution of Kidd
to clear their own names

because they are now being
accused of supporting a pirate,

and the Tory party
are using this as a means

to undermine and slander
the Whig party as well.

And it's only after a year

that he's given
some of the evidence

that is put against him

and given access to materials
to start to make his case.

[Narrator] The trial
is fast approaching,

and Kidd realizes he's been
betrayed by his former allies.

He writes to Bellomont, begging

for the Quedagh Merchant's
French passes.

They may be his only chance
for freedom.

Bellomont doesn't respond.

Giving up hope, Kidd asks
the prison guards for a knife;

taking his own life
now his only way out.

His request is denied.

[Lincoln] His trial was held
in the Old Bailey,

and he was tried
for murder and for piracy.

? ?

[Simon]
Pirate trials at the time

were pretty much show trials.

By law in England, everybody
had to have their fair trial.

And so pirates got this as well.

But the thing is,
pirates were considered

to be kind of enemies
of humankind.

The idea is a pirate
robbed a ship,

and therefore they were trying
to destroy their country,

they're trying
to destroy their king,

and therefore they are
violating God in a way.

So it's really just a show.

It's pure humiliation.

[Narrator] Despite being labeled
as a pirate,

some of Kidd's
character witnesses

highlight his previous
military service.

However, this period
of Kidd's life

took place a long time ago.

The statements are dismissed
as irrelevant by the court.

[Simon] One might think
this would add to his character

and make it so he
could get off easy.

No, it had the opposite effect.

If anything,
he should have known better.

He should have been
setting the example.

[Hanna] Throughout his trial,
Kidd never said

that he was anything
but innocent.

[Simon] He is constantly
telling the prosecution

that he had a letter of marque

stating that he
could take French ships

and that the Quedagh Merchant
itself had French passes

and that he himself
had taken the passes

and they just needed to be
reproduced for the trial.

[Blakemore] Except that he left
the French passes

with Lord Bellomont.

These documents are never
produced in evidence

at Kidd's trial.

? ?

[Simon] And he is told
over and over in the trial

you had time
to get them together.

You didn't get them together.

There's no way we have them.

In fact, they've been lost.

No one can find them.

[Narrator] Kidd goes quiet,
refusing to name his investors,

confident that his silence
will be rewarded

once he's acquitted.

In this misplaced act
of loyalty,

he refuses to tell the court

that the passes
were sent to Bellomont.

[Simon] And then Kidd
thinks he's lucky

because several members of
his crew do come to the trial.

And so he thinks this will help.

But instead,
what actually happens

is they all speak out
against him.

We have to remember,

Kidd killed one of their
crewmates in a fight,

and no one is going
to forgive him for that,

even though they themselves got
a lot of wealth out of it.

It doesn't matter.
Kidd killed one of them.

[Narrator]
Enraged by their betrayal,

Kidd pushes back, claiming
his former crewmates

had threatened him
into carrying out the attacks.

It's his word, that of one man,
against all of theirs.

[Simon] Here's what's
really interesting.

Kidd is not actually found
guilty for piracy.

The evidence is just
a little too shaky to do that.

But instead, he is found guilty
of robbery,

having robbed many ships.

And he's also found guilty
for murder-

the murder of William Moore,
the member of his crew.

As a result, he was sentenced
to hang by the neck until dead

at Execution Dock in Wapping,
East London, on the Thames.

And this occurred May 23, 1701.

[Finnegan] This is a copy,
a speech that was given

by Captain Kidd
around the year 1700

when he was standing trial
for piracy.

And it really,
it's a very emotive statement

designed to pull
at the heartstrings

of the person receiving it,

who was perhaps the judge
of the High Court of Admiralty.

[Narrator]
Kidd pleads to the court:

"My Lord, it is
a very hard sentence.

For my part,

I am the innocentest person
of them all,

only I have been sworn against
by perjured persons."

? ?

[Finnegan] He states
that because of other events

such as the capture
of Mughal shipping

by the previous pirate
Henry Avery in the Red Sea,

because Henry Avery
was never captured,

Kidd implies that he
is being executed

to placate
the East India Company

and placate the Mughal emperor.

He also states in it
that he's being executed

so that other people who are
more powerful than him

can effectively be acquitted.

But the speech really, really
lays out Kidd's case

that he's a victim

of political circumstance
and misunderstanding

and the deliberate withholding
of evidence

rather than somebody that's
guilty of any kind of piracy.

? ?

? ?

[Narrator] May 23, 1701.

Kidd is taken from his cell,
transferred east

through the cobbled streets
of Wapping

to his fate,
at the rope of the hangman.

? ?

The noose is placed
around Kidd's neck;

his body drops,
but the cord snaps.

[Wilson] So for a split second,
Kidd escapes execution.

But he's quickly taken back up
the ladder and put off again,

and this time, is executed.

? ?

[Simon] There is
a wide amount of interest

amongst these pirate trials

because they were all
publicized very well.

Kidd's trial
was printed and published

the day after his execution,

and within another day
after that

they had to do a second printing
because that's how fast it sold.

[Lincoln] I think really
it's the print of Kidd

being hung at execution dock

that grabs the imagination

because whenever
you see pictures

of pirates being executed,

it's normally Kidd that you see.

[Narrator] It is not only
the image of Kidd

at the hangman's noose
that lives on.

His legacy and actions

continue to inspire writers and
storytellers across the world.

[Simon] Every single idea
we have to this day

about pirates burying anything

really stems from the rumors
that were put forth

by Captain Kidd.

A lot of this was inspiration

for Robert Louis Stevenson's
book Treasure Island,

which was published in 1883
and was an absolute smash hit.

It's about a treasure hunt,
and it was a smash hit

in Britain and
in the United States.

It's never gone out of print.

It's been adapted
many, many, many times.

So the novel Treasure Island,

which was inspired a lot
by piracy

and Captain Kidd specifically,

is also what inspired what we
think about in terms of pirates.

The eyepatch, the peg leg,
the parrot as a pet,

and of course,
the buried treasure and the map

and X marks the spot.

? ?

[Hanna] Ballads were sung
on board ships,

ballads were sung in taverns.

It's one of the more popular
musical cultures.

And Kidd's ballad
became incredibly famous.

The story of Kidd

is incredibly complicated
and complex and nuanced.

In reality,
by writing the ballad,

they made it uncomplicated.

They made it about him
giving up his soul,

which is not remarkably true
of the real story.

He bought a pew
in Trinity Church

where his daughters
prayed on Sundays.

The idea that he was
a hellish figure

who sold himself to the devil

was a mythology
of the 19th century

and it came out of the ballad.

The reality was
he was a successful person,

well-respected in New York,
had a family,

never thought he committed
an act of piracy.

He killed his gunner,
but his gunner was mutinous,

and he killed his gunner because
he was trying to keep his gunner

from forcing him
to attack allied shipping.

He was trying to do
the right thing.

I'm not saying it's okay
to kill his gunner,

but there's a reason
why he did it,

which had to do with him
trying to not be a pirate.

[Narrator]
Kidd is best remembered

as a murderous pirate
deserving of his execution.

But in reality, was he a man
trying to follow the law

caught in a tangle of politics

or a gentleman pirate,
corrupted by greed?

[Hanna] Whether he's
a pirate or not

we could argue to this day,

or you could say he had
a French commission,

but he lost it.

I think he would have
been exonerated

had he had the commission.

A historian in the 19th century
found the commission.

So we know it's true.

? ?

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