William Kyd ( fl. 1430–1453) was a 15th-century English

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

active in

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from the 1430s until the 1450s. He and others, such as John Mixtow, William Aleyn and Clays Stephen, acted under virtual immunity from the law for over two decades while under the protection of corrupt custom officials.

Biography

William Kyd first appears in a list of pirates published in 1431 as the master of the balinger ''La Trinite'' of

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. The previous year, he and a number of other pirates active in the

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seized a

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ship off the coast of Guernsey. Two years later, he joined William Aleyn and several others in capturing four ships carrying provisions to Rouen. In 1436, sailing into the harbour of

Saint-Pol-de-Léon Saint-Pol-de-Léon (; br, Kastell-Paol) is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France, located on the coast. It is noted for its 13th-c ...

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with eight

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

s and balingers, he sailed off with the ''Seynt Nunne'' which was under safe-conduct by local authorities. He returned to Plymouth with the captured ship as well as goods belonging to a Thomas Horewoode valued at £100. Continuing his exploits during the next decade, one of Kyd's most notable accomplishments included the capture of the ''La Marie'' of London in 1448. Taking the

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-bound ship off the coast of

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in the

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, he quickly sailed the ship to the

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where he sold his prize. In November 1453, in perhaps the biggest prize of his career, he captured ''The Marie'' of St. Andrews. When he brought the ship back with him to Exmouth, his prize was noticed by a Scottish knight Sir William de Kanete (or Kennedy). Kanete left to see Thomas Gille (or Gylle), the controller of customs of Exeter and Dartmouth, and pretended to be the brother of the

Bishop of St. Andrews The Bishop of St. Andrews ( gd, Easbaig Chill Rìmhinn, sco, Beeshop o Saunt Andras) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews ( gd, Àrd-easbaig ...

and owner of ''The Marie''. He and Gille then conspired to obtain a commission for the delivery of the ship in which Gille would get a share of the goods on board. Issuing a complaint with local authorities, a commission was granted to Sir William Bourghchier de FitzWaryn, Nicholas Aysheton, Sir Philip Courtenay, Sir John Denham, James Chudley, Nicholas Radford and Thomas Gylle on 3 July. Gille, along with James Chudley and Nicholas Radford, proceeded to Exeter where, after testimony by the mayor John Germyn and several others, they officially seized the ship ''"of Wm. Kenete de Scocia militis"'' on 10 August and delivered the goods on board to Kenete.Kingsford, Charles Lethbridge. ''Prejudice and Promise in Fifteenth Century England''. London: Routledge, 1962. (pg. 89-90)

Biography

References

Further reading