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Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb and welcome welcome to Not Just the Tudors from History Hit,

the podcasts in which we explore everything from Anne Boleyn to the Aztecs,

from Holbein to the Huguenots, from Shakespeare to Samarise,

relieved by regular doses of murder, espionage and witchcraft.

Not in other words, just the Tudors, but most definitely also the Tudors.

Many of us have probably heard the name Captain Kidd, a privateer or pirate, depending on how you look at it,

whose legend inspired writers including Robert Louis Stevenson and Edgar Allan Poe,

and he's been played on film by the likes of Charles Lawton and Christopher Lee.

The truth is, Kidd was never meant to become a legend.

He was meant to be just, well, useful,

the front man for an enterprise backed by politicians,

including William of Orange,

that looked virtuous on paper,

but was actually a scheme to boost their own fortunes.

William Kidd's life began as little more than apprentice

aboard French pirate vessels

...