Pirates: Behind the Legends

Episode 1

The Tale of Francis Drake

Sat, Jun 8, 2024

Francis Drake started out as junior business partner of his wealthy brother in law, sailing to West Africa to buy prisoners of tribal warfare -illegally sold by or extracted at gunpoint from Spanish colonists- to sell at tenfold the price in the Americas, where foreign traders were also illegal. Francis abandoned his in-law when the Spaniards seemed to has trapped him, only to find him escaping and dissolving the partnership. Francis starts on his own, even more ambitiously, to rob Spanish ships, an act of piracy semi-sanctioned by queen Elisabeth I, who craves her fat 'tax' share without openly challenging the superior Spanish military, yet most of the aristocracy refuses to accept him, even when knighted. He even raids the silver mules caravan at the Panama isthmus and on the Pacific coast, forced to return by Asia. When Philip II's unseen armada sails to return Albion to Catholicism, Drake gets admiral command of a gloriously triumphant defense, only to be discredited seven years after the disastrous counterattack on the Spanish ports. Returning to Caribbean piracy, he perishes.

Episode 2

The Tale of Grace O'Malley

Sat, Jun 8, 2024

Grace O'Malley, the Pirate Queen of Ireland. Her rise from wanted pirate to Chieftain is won through a warrior's sword and a woman's grit.

Episode 3

The Tale of John Ward

John 'Jack, Birdy' Ward grew up as fisherman in Portsmouth, England, and was press-ganged in the royal fleet. Unable to earn a living for his family, he ended up gathering a gang of rejects to steal a navy vessel and start a pirate life in the Mediterranean. Voted captain, he negotiated a deal with the nominally Ottoman ruler of Algiers to plunder Christian ships. Later falling out with him, John became the most prominent captain in the fleet of Tunis, another Turkish tributary on the Barbary Coast, converting to Islam as Yusuf Reis, like many captured Europeans to avoid sale into slavery, some joining his mixed crew. He attempted a deal with the English crown to plunder Venetian and Spanish ships as buccaneer and return home, but the king feared Habsburg reprisals. His fame made Ward stand model for Depp's lead character Jack Sparrow in the fictitious Pirated of The Caribbean film franchise..

Episode 4

The Tale of Henry Morgan

A brilliant strategist, Morgan takes humans, treasure and Spanish colonial towns with no mercy later becoming Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica.

Episode 5

The Tale of William Kidd

Seeking fortune in the Red Sea, Captain Kidd resorts to piracy when legitimate prizes elude him, transitioning from a pirate hunter to a pirate himself.

Episode 6

The Tale of Blackbeard

Blackbeard commands a diverse pirate crew seeking equality and riches on the stolen flagship The Queen Anne's Revenge, striking terror wherever they sail.

Episode 7

The Tale of Anne Bonny and Mary Read

Anne Bonny and Mary Read's fleeting pirate exploits depict their ruthlessness surpassing their male counterparts before arrest and prosecution.

Episode 8

The Tale of Bart Roberts

Bartholomew Roberts, a formidable pirate, disrupts West Indies trade until the English crown relentlessly pursues and apprehends him at the height of the Golden Age.