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His conviction may not be unjust but it is perhaps unfair and certainly unlucky. Kidd’s actions at sea clearly made the full use of the legal grey area that privateering occupied, an area that many men took advantage of, and most without feeling the full force of the Old Bailey tightening around their necks.

Through the accounts and diaries of Saladin’s closest advisers, the mysteries of the period are uncovered. Saladin’s fear at the imminent arrival of Richard and the opening of the Third Crusade, his indecision at the Siege of Acre and his failure to ensure the safe release of 3000 Muslim prisoners all paint a picture of a more complex man. Debunking many of the myths of the Crusades, and showing how the war changed both Saladin and Richard the Lionheart, leading them both to question the massive death toll of the conflict. In Saladin’s last days in Damascus, his spirit sapped by war, and of his last words, a denunciation of blood-shed.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Romanov family are at the heart of Russian life. Tsar Nicholas has been on the throne since 1894, married to a German-born princess, Tsarina Alexandra, and with five beautiful children, Olga, Tatiana, Anastasia, Marie and Alexei, they are seen as the perfect royal family. But by 1917, they are overthrown in a Bolshevik coup amidst the Russian revolution, taken prisoner and brutally executed by a communist firing squad. For more than ninety years the whereabouts of their bodies was unknown until a team of archaeologists uncovered a grave in some dense forest near Ekaterinburg. In 1991, after DNA testing and a sample retrieved from Prince Andrew, a relative of the Romanovs, scientists confirmed the authenticity of the bones. Aside from this important breakthrough, it was also discovered that two of the bodies were missing from the grave, fuelling the already common speculation that two of them may have survived, namely Alexis and Anastasia who amassed numerous impersonators over the years adding to the mystery already surrounding the tragedy.

How do we get close to a killer the police haven't been able to identify for over 100 years? With the help of renowned British crime historians and authors Applying modern techniques and trawling the archives Mystery Files unearths new evidence to eliminate an age old suspect, and discovers a new likely candidate was right under the policemen's nose.

We reveal an ambitious archaeological project in Southern Jordan, which is providing startling new evidence. The Great Arab Revolt Project (GARP) is one of the only archaeological investigations of a battlefield on this scale anywhere in the world. While the archaeological trace of Lawrence and the Bedouin guerrilla fighters is by its very nature incredibly scarce, the military structures of their opponents, the Ottoman Turks, are all too evident. The structures and scars from this battle are visible across the desert, in particular around the city of Ma’an, a key Hejaz station. On-the-ground analysis of surviving defences begins to reveal the style of warfare played out in this military arena.

Decades earlier, a popular writer in Mexico, Riva Palacio, was writing stories with a character called El Zorro, and a character called Guillen Lampart. Much of Palacio’s work was published in New York in 1908, where it could have partly inspired Johnston McCulley. Palacio’s fictional character of Lampart was based on meticulous research in to the real-life crime story of Guillen Lombardo from two hundred years earlier, when Mexico was a colony of Spain, and the Catholic world was in the grip of the Inquisition. Modern-day research in to the Inquisitions records reveals an intriguing fact; Lombardo was not Mexican, he was not even Spanish, he was Irish, and his real name was William Lamport. Posing as an aristocrat by day, Lamport was in fact a spy on a mission for the King of Spain. When he arrived in Mexico City he set about starting a revolution to liberate the local Indians from the tyranny of corrupt Spanish rulers. His actions got him arrested by the Inquisition who put him on trial, and from whose prison he made a breakout that would become legend. This programme examines the personal papers of Lamport, it reveals long-hidden reports from the Mexico archives, and investigates the daring prison escape, to open the Mystery Files on Zorro.

The Renaissance was the greatest flowering of art, mathematics, technology, architecture and astronomy the world has ever known. And at the centre of this new age, was the multi-talented artist and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci, the ultimate Renaissance man. Long credited as the inventor of such futuristic machines as the tank and the helicopter, new evidence seems to suggest that Leonardo may not have not have been the originator of these groundbreaking ideas after all. In this episode of Mystery Files, a team of Renaissance and Leonardo experts investigate the truth to the claims that Leonardo was a genius inventor, and use science to prove that he really was probably the greatest artist to have ever lived.

Michel de Nostradame, a 16th century astrology and seer, lived in Provence, Southern France. He wrote one of the most popular astrological books of all time, “The Prophecies”. This book contains 942 strange prophecies which foretell of bizarre events running far into the future. Since Nostradamus’ death, many people have attributed his predictions to major world events like the Great Fire of London, Hitler, Napoleon, the Atomic Bomb and the assassination of American President John F Kennedy. Such is the belief in Nostradamus’ popularity, he was even turned to soon after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on 11th September 2001. Mystery Files undertakes to investigate the man behind these prophecies, to test his astrological skills and to reveal the secret of his prophetic powers. We call on leading experts like Ian Wilson - Nostradamus biographer, Peter Lemesurier - translator of his prophecies and historical investigator, Monica Azzolini – Renaissance Historian and Paul Wade – professional astrologer.

Abraham Lincoln. The man who rises from obscurity to become the 16th American President and arguably it’s finest. But on April 15th 1865 he becomes the first US President to be assassinated, leading to the creation of a legend that obscures his true personality. Experts Michael Burlingame, James McPherson and Harold Holzer investigate Lincoln, exploring his less well-known early life and how it drives his later actions. He grows up on the American frontier and has a poor rural upbringing - a far cry from the glory of the White House. Our experts reveal Lincoln’s strong dislike of this agricultural lifestyle and his overwhelming ambition to get out, to move up and escape his father’s legacy. At every spare opportunity Lincoln read books - he was one of the greatest autodidacts of his age, for he had greater ambitions than those of his father. He became a Politician and soon after a lawyer as well.

Joan of Arc is one of the patron saints of France and a national and international icon; a young girl who lived in the earl 1400s in rural north eastern France. Her legend states that she hears the voice of God and embarks on a holy crusade to free France from English oppression. These actions finally lead to her downfall as she is captured, tried and burned alive as a heretic in 1431, aged just 19. Through modern psychological and historical investigation, Mystery Files reveals how such a young girl managed to overcome the hardships and obstacles to achieve so much. Joan grows up in a rural peasant household but her life changes dramatically when she claims at the age of 13 to hear voices inside her head. Psychologist Miguel Farias studies the historical accounts of Joan’s life and believes the voices could be thoughts buried deep in her unconscious mind. Joan’s belief in these voices is so strong that she undertakes an extraordinary mission.

This programme analyzes the very latest neurological research into Shell Shock and trauma, it retraces Hitler’s time as a frontline soldier, and examines the medical history of Hitler’s gas poisoning and his period at a psychiatric wartime hospital that the Nazi Party later tried to cover-up; and it explores an American top-secret report from 1943 to discover how Hitler’s war experiences led to him suffering what some historians believe to be an extreme psychological disorder, Hysterical Blindness, known today as Conversion Disorder.

We reveal that despite the book suggesting he spent 20 years in the court of the Chinese emperor, there is no mention of Marco in Chinese records. Marco Polo’s last will and testament remains unsigned and even the inventory of his possessions made on his death has question marks hanging over it. Our experts examine all the best evidence. Did Marco Polo, or any European, travel so far into China so long ago? Are the famous tales really based on Marco Polo’s travels? And did a man named Marco Polo even exist?

Newton was convinced that he alone had been given a gift to unravel the mysteries of the Universe, whether through science, religion or alchemy, and maintained an unrivaled cloak of secrecy over all three. But there must have been something that Newton was especially desperate to keep secret - taking it with him to the Grave. He burned boxfuls of papers just weeks before his death. What could he have been so desperate to destroy? Modern psychiatrists now suggest that this act, along with many of his other characteristics were driven by Asperger’s Syndrome and that in fact, he was the most classic case of Asperger’s Syndrome in history.

In 17th century France, King Louis XIV is perhaps the most powerful man on earth. Known as the Sun King, his court at Versailles is magnificent – the heart of Europe’s wealthiest nation. However, he is in constant fear of the threat to his throne posed by his twin brother. Louis orders for an iron mask to be cast and placed on his brothers’ head. His brother is threatened with death if he dares to remove the mask. Ever since, historians have argued over the truth behind the story of this unfortunate individual. For two hundred and fifty years, the questions have remained unanswered. In this episode of Mystery Files, a team of investigators try to find the truth. Visiting the darkest dungeons of imperial France, using modern scientific experiments, and researching long forgotten document, they build a compelling and scandalous account of true story behind the myth of the Man in the Iron Mask.

In fact only two of the four accounts of the life of Christ in the New Testament, the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew, tell of his birth. These Infancy Gospels, as they are known, both agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and today pilgrims and tourists mill in their thousands around the Church of the Nativity built upon the supposed site of Christ’s entry into the world, just as they have for centuries. But only Luke mentions the Census and the journey from Nazareth. Neither mentions the ox or the ass. The visitors from the east are nowhere referred to as Kings and nor is it mentioned that there are three of them. Both Gospels mention King Herod, but his dates do not correspond with the dates of a possible Roman census under the Governor Quirinus mentioned in Luke, which came ten years after Herod the Great’s death. And what census, then or now, would take you away from your main residence to be counted in a town which you or your ancestors have long since left? We reveal that even though we assume that Joseph is present at the birth of Christ, this is not mentioned in any of the gospels. In fact according to purification laws outlined in the Temple Scroll and in the book of Leviticus, under Jewish law the only people that may have been present at the birth would in fact have been women. With help from leading academics, archaeologists and Jewish and Christian theologians, we visit many of the locations mentioned in the Gospels to place the birth of Christ in its historical, cultural and Jewish and early Christian contexts and piece together the real story of The Nativity.

Robin Hood is one of the first super heroes. Stories of robbing the rich and giving to the poor are legend. Now evidence has been discovered to prove that Robin was a real person. Unpicking the folklore to separate fact from fiction, historians are exposing the man behind the myth. With new evidence culled from ancient manuscripts and historic sites this mysterious figure finally steps out of the shadows.