pirate of the caribbean: the true story 20.00–21.00
In the 1660s the capital of piracy – Jamaica’s Port Royal – was richer than New York; but ever since the islands of the Caribbean have hidden Henry Morgan’s secrets well. Now new evidence discovered in a forgotten archive, and a groundbreaking expedition to find Morgan’s lost fleet, reveals the truth behind the most notorious pirate that ever lived. How did a Welsh sheepfarmer become a murderous pirate? Who were his secret paymasters? And why, in the biggest irony of all, was he made a Knight of the Realm? From the eyewitness accounts of one of Morgan’s own pirate crew-members, to the discovery of his lost fleet, this documentary uses dramatisations, computer graphic reconstructions and expert research to chart the fascinating story of how one man set the Caribbean ablaze.
When Henry Morgan seized the Spanish fortress of Porto Bello on the coast of Panama in 1668, he sealed his reputation as one of the most feared pirates in history. One of his comrades – the Dutchman Esquemelin – recorded Morgan’s brutality. But an even more incredible record of this raid survives: a democratic agreement between Henry Morgan and his men governing the distribution of the wealth they plundered. It reveals the names and signatures of the pirates of Porto Bello, and the contradiction at the heart of Henry Morgan – at once a cruel sadist and a democratic leader. In a further twist, Morgan’s bloody victory at Porto Bello did not make him a hunted man, but won him a hero’s acclaim in Britain and financial backing for his raids from the British Crown.
Over the next few years Henry Morgan ruled the seas around the Caribbean with an iron fist, but suffered his own share of set-backs, losing countless ships in the process. These losses are finally providing modern science with an extraordinary window into his world. Salvage expert Klaus Keppler has been on a decade long quest to trace the ships of Morgan’s lost fleet. He has found the remains of Morgan’s ships lying in only five metres of water, accessible and remarkably preserved –the first wrecks of their kind ever discovered.
This breakthrough leads Keppler on a search for Morgan’s real secret treasure island, a hideaway called Ile a Vache. Here Keppler finds another wreck, a ship that sank decades later when Henry Morgan returned there to seize his former secret lair for the Crown. Morgan’s abilities made him a perfect weapon in the British battle with Spain for control of the Caribbean. And for his victories, he soon became Sir Henry.
Returning to Britain in 1670, Morgan achieved celebrity status. His tales of derring-do wowed society and, displaying his chameleon-like abilities once more, he graduated from his pirate days to become a Knight and consort of King Charles II. When trouble began brewing in the West Indies three years later, the King had only one name on the list for the vice-governorship of Jamaica.
But the tails of his brutal past would not leave the aristocratic Sir Henry Morgan. In 1680 his old comrade Esquemelin published a salacious account of Morgan’s early career. For the first and perhaps the last time in history a pirate took a publisher to court for libel. Morgan won the case, but could never quite lose his reputation as the terror of the Caribbean.
Historian Robert Earle believes that many of the stories Esquemelin spread were little more than lies; wildly exaggerated tales of Morgan’s savagery penned with book royalties in mind. Earle’s research helps reveal the truth behind Henry Morgan’s life. A man who was a loveable rogue, tactical genius, successful businessman, and loyal servant of the British people. Revealing the truth behind the world’s most infamous pirate, this documentary tells a story that puts ‘Treasure Island’ in the shade –the true story of the Pirate of the Caribbean.
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