Macbeth
Macbeth died in
1057 and he was King of Scotland from 1040 - 1057.
He was the person Shakespeare portrayed in his famous tragedy
"Macbeth". Shakespeare wrote his drama 500 years after the
real Macbeth was on the throne and the plot of the fictitious drama has
somewhat overshadowed the true life of Macbeth. In Shakespeare's play
Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to kill King Duncan. Macbeth becomes king and
his wife becomes queen. But they are not happy they live in fear.
Duncanīs son Malcolm flees to England and brings back an army to fight
Macbeth. To hide the size of his army Malcolm lets his soldiers carry
branches of trees from Birnam Wood. Macbeth cannot see the soldiers,
there is a battle and Macbeth dies.
(Link: www.shakespear-online.com)
Macbeth does not appear in monks' records as an evil figure. During his lifetime his title as "Warrior-Prince" seems to have caused panic in Scandinavia, Ireland and England. During Macbeth's 17 year rule, Scotland was a safe place and there was no fear of any uprisings.
According to
the historical records King Duncan was mortally wounded near Durham, he
was around 30 years of age - so Macbeth could not have murdered a kind
old man to become king himself.
Secondly Lady Macbeth had no part in killing King Duncan either. She
seems to have been a loyal and trouble-free person. She is said to have
donated land to a group of Celtic monks.