Macbeth of Scotland
Encyclopedia
Mac Bethad mac Findlaích (Modern Gaelic: MacBheatha mac Fhionnlaigh, anglicised as Macbeth, and nicknamed Rí
Deircc, "the Red King"; died 15 August 1057) was King of the Scots (also known as the King of Alba
, and earlier as King of Moray
and King of Fortriu
) from 1040 until his death. He is best known as the subject of William Shakespeare
's tragedy Macbeth
and the many works it has inspired, although the play presents a highly inaccurate picture of his reign and personality.
, Mormaer of Moray
. His mother, who is not mentioned in contemporary sources, is sometimes supposed to have been Donada, a daughter of the Scottish king Malcolm II
(Máel Coluim mac Cináeda).
Findláech was killed in 1020. According to the Annals of Ulster
he was killed by his own people while the Annals of Tigernach
say that the sons of his brother Máel Brigte were responsible. One of these sons, Máel Coluim mac Máel Brigte
, died in 1029. A second son, Gille Coemgáin
, was killed in 1032, burned in a house with fifty of his men. Gille Coemgáin had been married to Gruoch
with whom he had a son, the future king Lulach. It has been proposed that Gille Coemgáin's death was the doing of Mac Bethad in revenge for his father's death, or of Máel Coluim mac Cináed
to rid himself of a rival.
The origin myth of the kingdom of Alba traced its foundation to the supposed destruction of Pictland by Kenneth MacAlpin, and its kings were chosen from the male line descendants of Kenneth, with the possible exception of the shadowy Eochaid, said to be Kenneth's daughter's son. During the century in which the lists correspond well with the annals, the succession to the kingship of Alba was held in an alternating fashion by two branches of the descendants of Kenneth MacAlpin, one descended from Kenneth's son Constantín, Clann Constantín mac Cináeda, and one from Constantín's brother Áed, Clann Áeda mac Cináeda. Alternating succession is also seen in Ireland
, where the High Kings of Ireland come from two branches of the Uí Néill
, the northern Cenél nEógain
and the southern Clann Cholmáin
. Both systems have been compared with the concept of tanistry
found in Early Irish Law, although the political reality appears to have been more complex.
Both systems of alternating succession coincidentally failed in the early 11th century. In Ireland, the failure of the northern Uí Néill to support their southern kinsman Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill
against Brian Bóruma
, and the resulting end to the system of Uí Néill High Kingship appears to have been caused by political geography
. In northern Britain, the violent struggle between the various candidates for power seems to have removed Clann Áeda mac Cináeda from the contest, leaving only Clann Constantín mac Cináeda, in the person of Máel Coluim son of Cináed, to claim the kingship. Máel Coluim appears to have had rivals from within Clann Constantín killed during his reign.
It has been proposed that the base of Clann Áeda mac Cináeda's power lay in the north of the kingdom of Alba, beyond the Mounth
(eastern Grampians) in what had once been Fortriu
and which was now called Moray (in Irish annals of the period, MacBethad is occasionally referred to as King of Fortriu, as well as King/Mormaer of Moray, before his succession to the throne of Alba). It was in this region that Mac Bethad's kin appear to have been based. Later in the eleventh century, from the time of Gille Coemgáin's grandson Máel Snechtai
, a genealogy was compiled which traced Máel Snechtai's descent and Clann Ruadrí's origins to the Cenél Loairn founder Loarn mac Eirc
. Loarn was supposedly the brother of Fergus Mór
, whom the descendants of Kenneth claimed as an ancestor. The genealogy as it survives is apparently constructed by combining two distinct genealogies which are found attached to the Senchus fer n-Alban
, that of Ainbcellach mac Ferchair
(died 719), to which has been appended that of Ainbcellach's kinsman Mongán mac Domnaill. It is likely that this conception of Clann Ruadrí's origins predates Máel Snechtai and was prevalent in Mac Bethad's time or even earlier.
The extent to which Gaelic kingship rested on agnatic (male line) descent can be seen in the case of Kenneth MacAlpin's daughter's daughter's son Congalach Cnogba
. Congalach was the grandson of High King Flann Sinna
of Clann Cholmáin
and succeeded to the Uí Néill High Kingship in unusual circumstances on the death of his mother's half-brother Donnchad Donn
. Rather than proclaim his near kinship with recent kings—grandson of Flann, nephew of Donnchad and Niall Glúndub
—Congalach's propagandists preferred to advance his claim to rule as a male-line descendant in the tenth generation of Áed Sláine
(died circa 604). Like Congalach, Clann Ruadrí may have had a claim to the kingship in the female line which legal tradition would have considered to be of little importance. It is possible that Ruaidrí, or his father Domnall if he existed, may have married into Clann Áeda mac Cináeda and so inherited the allegiance of that family's supporters.
It is not clear whether Gruoch's father was a son of King Kenneth II
(Cináed mac Maíl Coluim) (d. 995) or of King Kenneth III
(Cináed mac Duib)(d. 1005), either is possible chronologically. After Gille Coemgáin's death, Macbeth married his widow and took Lulach as his stepson. Gruoch's brother, or nephew (his name is not recorded), was killed in 1033 by Malcolm II.
Some have seen this as a sign of Macbeth's power, others have seen his presence, together with Iehmarc, who may be Echmarcach mac Ragnaill
, as proof that Malcolm II was overlord of Moray and of the Kingdom of the Isles
. Whatever the true state of affairs in the early 1030s, it seems more probable that Macbeth was subject to the king of Alba, Malcolm II, who died at Glamis
, on 25 November 1034. The Prophecy of Berchan
is apparently alone in near contemporary sources in reporting a violent death, calling it a kinslaying. Tigernach's chronicle says only:
Malcolm II's grandson Duncan (Donnchad mac Crínáin), later King Duncan I
, was acclaimed as king of Alba on 30 November 1034, apparently without opposition. Duncan appears to have been tánaise ríg, the king in waiting, so that far from being an abandonment of tanistry
, as has sometimes been argued, his kingship was a vindication of the practice. Previous successions had involved strife between various rígdomna - men of royal blood. Far from being the aged King Duncan of Shakespeare's play, the real King Duncan was a young man in 1034, and even at his death in 1040 his youthfulness is remarked upon.
Because of his youth, Duncan's early reign was apparently uneventful. His later reign, in line with his description as "the man of many sorrows" in the Prophecy of Berchán, was not successful. In 1039, Strathclyde was attacked by the Northumbria
ns, and a retaliatory raid led by Duncan against Durham
in 1040 turned into a disaster. Later that year Duncan led an army into Moray, where he was killed by Macbeth on 15 August 1040 at Pitgaveny (then called Bothnagowan) near Elgin
.
(a scion of the Scottish branch of the Cenel Conaill
and Hereditary Abbot of Iona
) was killed in a battle between two Scottish armies.
John of Fordun
wrote that Duncan's wife fled Scotland, taking her children, including the future kings Malcolm III
(Máel Coluim mac Donnchada) and Donald III
(Domnall Bán mac Donnchada, or Donalbane) with her. On the basis of the author's beliefs as to whom Duncan married, various places of exile, Northumbria
and Orkney among them, have been proposed. However, the simplest solution is that offered long ago by E. William Robertson: the safest place for Duncan's widow and her children would be with her or Duncan's kin and supporters in Atholl
.
After the defeat of Crínán, Macbeth was evidently unchallenged. Marianus Scotus
tells how the king made a pilgrimage
to Rome
in 1050, where, Marianus says, he gave money to the poor as if it were seed.
says that a dispute between Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Earl of Orkney
, and Karl Hundason
began when Karl Hundason became "King of Scots" and claimed Caithness
. The identity of Karl Hundason, unknown to Scots and Irish sources, has long been a matter of dispute, and it is far from clear that the matter is settled. The most common assumption is that Karl Hundason was an insulting byname (Old Norse
for "Churl, son of a Dog") given to Macbeth by his enemies. William Forbes Skene
's suggestion that he was Duncan I of Scotland has been revived in recent years. Lastly, the idea that the whole affair is a poetic invention has been raised.
According to the Orkneyinga Saga, in the war which followed, Thorfinn defeated Karl in a sea-battle off Deerness
at the east end of the Orkney Mainland
. Then Karl's nephew Mutatan or Muddan, appointed to rule Caithness for him, was killed at Thurso
by Thorkel the Fosterer. Finally, a great battle at Tarbat Ness on the south side of the Dornoch Firth
ended with Karl defeated and fugitive or dead. Thorfinn, the saga says, then marched south through Scotland as far as Fife
, burning and plundering as he passed. A later note in the saga claims that Thorfinn won nine Scottish earldoms.
Whoever Karl Hundason may have been, it appears that the saga is reporting a local conflict with a Scots ruler of Moray or Ross
:
between Godwin, Earl of Wessex
and Edward the Confessor
when he received a number of Norman
exiles from England in his court, perhaps becoming the first king of Scots to introduce feudalism
to Scotland. In 1054, Edward's Earl of Northumbria
, Siward, led a very large invasion of Scotland. The campaign led to a bloody battle in which the Annals of Ulster
report 3,000 Scots and 1,500 English dead, which can be taken as meaning very many on both sides, and one of Siward's sons and a son-in-law were among the dead. The result of the invasion was that one Máel Coluim, "son of the king of the Cumbria
ns" (not to be confused with Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, the future Malcolm III of Scotland) was restored to his throne, i.e., as ruler of the kingdom of Strathclyde
. It may be that the events of 1054 are responsible for the idea, which appears in Shakespeare's play, that Malcolm III was put in power by the English.
Macbeth certainly survived the English invasion, for he was defeated and mortally wounded or killed by the future Malcolm III ("King Malcolm Ceann-mor", son of Duncan I) on the north side of the Mounth
in 1057, after retreating with his men over the Cairnamounth
Pass to take his last stand at the battle at Lumphanan
. The Prophecy of Berchán
has it that he was wounded and died at Scone, sixty miles to the south, some days later. Macbeth's stepson Lulach mac Gille Coemgáin was installed as king soon after.
Unlike later writers, no near contemporary source remarks on Macbeth as a tyrant. The Duan Albanach
, which survives in a form dating to the reign of Malcolm III, calls him "Mac Bethad the renowned". The Prophecy of Berchán, a verse history which purports to be a prophecy, describes him as "the generous king of Fortriu
", and says:
Macbeth's life, like that of King Duncan I, had progressed far towards legend by the end of the 14th century, when John of Fordun and Andrew of Wyntoun
wrote their histories. Hector Boece
, Walter Bower
, and George Buchanan
all contributed to the legend.
In Shakespeare's play, Macbeth
is portrayed initially as a valorous and good-hearted general to King Duncan who is corrupted by ambition. He persuades himself that killing his king to take the throne is the right thing to do. His ambition is fostered by three witches
whose prophecies however prove misleading, and his scheme is doomed to failure. His wife (Lady Macbeth) has gained fame along the way, lending her Shakespeare-given title to a short story by Nikolai Leskov
and the opera by Dmitri Shostakovich
entitled Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
. The historical content of Shakespeare's play is drawn from Raphael Holinshed
's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, which in turn borrows from Boece's 1527 Scotorum Historiae, which flattered the antecedents of Boece's patron, King James V of Scotland
.
In modern times, Dorothy Dunnett
's novel King Hereafter aims to portray a historical Macbeth, but proposes that Macbeth and his rival and sometime ally Thorfinn of Orkney
are one and the same (Thorfinn is his birth name and Macbeth his baptismal name). John Cargill Thompson's play Macbeth Speaks 1997, a reworking of his earlier Macbeth Speaks, is a monologue delivered by the historical Macbeth, aware of what Shakespeare and posterity have done to him. Scottish author Nigel Tranter
based one of his historical novels on the historical figure, MacBeth the King. David Greig
's 2010 play Dunsinane
takes Macbeth's downfall at Dunsinane as its starting point, with his just-ended reign portrayed as long and stable in contrast to Malcolm's.
He also appears as a character
in the television series Gargoyles
.
Rí
Rí, or very commonly ríg , is an ancient Gaelic word meaning "King". It is used in historical texts referring to the Irish and Scottish kings and those of similar rank. While the modern Irish word is exactly the same, in modern Scottish it is Rìgh, apparently derived from the genitive. The word...
Deircc, "the Red King"; died 15 August 1057) was King of the Scots (also known as the King of Alba
Kingdom of Alba
The name Kingdom of Alba pertains to the Kingdom of Scotland between the deaths of Donald II in 900, and of Alexander III in 1286 which then led indirectly to the Scottish Wars of Independence...
, and earlier as King of Moray
Mormaer of Moray
The Mormaerdom or Kingdom of Moray was a lordship in High Medieval Scotland that was destroyed by King David I of Scotland in 1130. It did not have the same territory as the modern local government council area of Moray, which is a much smaller area, around Elgin...
and King of Fortriu
Fortriu
Fortriu or the Kingdom of Fortriu is the name given by historians for an ancient Pictish kingdom, and often used synonymously with Pictland in general...
) from 1040 until his death. He is best known as the subject of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's tragedy Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
and the many works it has inspired, although the play presents a highly inaccurate picture of his reign and personality.
Origins and family
Macbeth was the son of Findláech mac RuaidríFindláech of Moray
Findláech of Moray was the King or Mormaer of Moray, ruling from some point before 1014 until his death in 1020....
, Mormaer of Moray
Mormaer of Moray
The Mormaerdom or Kingdom of Moray was a lordship in High Medieval Scotland that was destroyed by King David I of Scotland in 1130. It did not have the same territory as the modern local government council area of Moray, which is a much smaller area, around Elgin...
. His mother, who is not mentioned in contemporary sources, is sometimes supposed to have been Donada, a daughter of the Scottish king Malcolm II
Malcolm II of Scotland
Máel Coluim mac Cináeda , was King of the Scots from 1005 until his death...
(Máel Coluim mac Cináeda).
Findláech was killed in 1020. According to the Annals of Ulster
Annals of Ulster
The Annals of Ulster are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 to AD 1540. The entries up to AD 1489 were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa on the island of Belle Isle on Lough Erne in the...
he was killed by his own people while the Annals of Tigernach
Annals of Tigernach
The Annals of Tigernach is a chronicle probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish....
say that the sons of his brother Máel Brigte were responsible. One of these sons, Máel Coluim mac Máel Brigte
Máel Coluim of Moray
Máel Coluim of Moray was King or Mormaer of Moray , and, as his name suggests, the son of a Máel Brigte...
, died in 1029. A second son, Gille Coemgáin
Gille Coemgáin of Moray
Gilla Coemgáin was the King or Mormaer of Moray, a semi-autonomous kingdom centred around Inverness that stretched across the north of Scotland. Unlike his two predecessors, he is not called King of Scotland in his death notice, but merely Mormaer...
, was killed in 1032, burned in a house with fifty of his men. Gille Coemgáin had been married to Gruoch
Gruoch of Scotland
Gruoch ingen Boite was the daughter of Boite mac Cináeda son of Cináed III. She is most famous for being the wife and queen of Mac Bethad mac Findlaích . The dates of her life are not certainly known....
with whom he had a son, the future king Lulach. It has been proposed that Gille Coemgáin's death was the doing of Mac Bethad in revenge for his father's death, or of Máel Coluim mac Cináed
Malcolm II of Scotland
Máel Coluim mac Cináeda , was King of the Scots from 1005 until his death...
to rid himself of a rival.
The origin myth of the kingdom of Alba traced its foundation to the supposed destruction of Pictland by Kenneth MacAlpin, and its kings were chosen from the male line descendants of Kenneth, with the possible exception of the shadowy Eochaid, said to be Kenneth's daughter's son. During the century in which the lists correspond well with the annals, the succession to the kingship of Alba was held in an alternating fashion by two branches of the descendants of Kenneth MacAlpin, one descended from Kenneth's son Constantín, Clann Constantín mac Cináeda, and one from Constantín's brother Áed, Clann Áeda mac Cináeda. Alternating succession is also seen in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, where the High Kings of Ireland come from two branches of the Uí Néill
Uí Néill
The Uí Néill are Irish and Scottish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noigiallach , an historical King of Tara who died about 405....
, the northern Cenél nEógain
Cenél nEógain
Cenél nEóġain is the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Eógan mac Néill , son of Niall Noígiallach who founded the kingdom of Tír Eoghain in the 5th century...
and the southern Clann Cholmáin
Clann Cholmáin
Clann Cholmáin is the name of the dynasty descended from Colmán Mór , son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill — they were the kings of Mide — they traced their descent to Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall Cremthainne.Related dynasties descended through Conall...
. Both systems have been compared with the concept of tanistry
Tanistry
Tanistry was a Gaelic system for passing on titles and lands. In this system the Tanist was the office of heir-apparent, or second-in-command, among the Gaelic patrilineal dynasties of Ireland, Scotland and Man, to succeed to the chieftainship or to the kingship.-Origins:The Tanist was chosen from...
found in Early Irish Law, although the political reality appears to have been more complex.
Both systems of alternating succession coincidentally failed in the early 11th century. In Ireland, the failure of the northern Uí Néill to support their southern kinsman Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill
Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill
Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill , also called Máel Sechnaill Mór, Máel Sechnaill II, anglicized Malachy II, was King of Mide and High King of Ireland...
against Brian Bóruma
Brian Boru
Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, , , was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill. Building on the achievements of his father, Cennétig mac Lorcain, and especially his elder brother, Mathgamain, Brian first made himself King of Munster, then subjugated...
, and the resulting end to the system of Uí Néill High Kingship appears to have been caused by political geography
Political geography
Political geography is the field of human geography that is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures...
. In northern Britain, the violent struggle between the various candidates for power seems to have removed Clann Áeda mac Cináeda from the contest, leaving only Clann Constantín mac Cináeda, in the person of Máel Coluim son of Cináed, to claim the kingship. Máel Coluim appears to have had rivals from within Clann Constantín killed during his reign.
It has been proposed that the base of Clann Áeda mac Cináeda's power lay in the north of the kingdom of Alba, beyond the Mounth
Mounth
The Mounth is the range of hills on the southern edge of Strathdee in northeast Scotland. It was usually referred to with the article, i.e. "the Mounth". The name is a corruption of the Scottish Gaelic monadh which in turn is akin to the Welsh mynydd, and may be of Pictish origin...
(eastern Grampians) in what had once been Fortriu
Fortriu
Fortriu or the Kingdom of Fortriu is the name given by historians for an ancient Pictish kingdom, and often used synonymously with Pictland in general...
and which was now called Moray (in Irish annals of the period, MacBethad is occasionally referred to as King of Fortriu, as well as King/Mormaer of Moray, before his succession to the throne of Alba). It was in this region that Mac Bethad's kin appear to have been based. Later in the eleventh century, from the time of Gille Coemgáin's grandson Máel Snechtai
Máel Snechtai of Moray
Máel Snechtai of Moray was the ruler of Moray, and, as his name suggests, the son of Lulach, King of Scotland.He is called on his death notice in the Annals of Ulster, "Máel Snechtai m...
, a genealogy was compiled which traced Máel Snechtai's descent and Clann Ruadrí's origins to the Cenél Loairn founder Loarn mac Eirc
Loarn mac Eirc
Loarn mac Eirc was a legendary king of Dál Riata who may have lived in the 5th century.The Duan Albanach and the Senchus Fer n-Alban and other genealogies name Loarn's father as Erc son of Eochaid Muinremuir...
. Loarn was supposedly the brother of Fergus Mór
Fergus Mór
Fergus Mór mac Eirc was a legendary king of Dál Riata. He was the son of Erc.While his historicity may be debatable, his posthumous importance as the founder of Scotland in the national myth of Medieval and Renaissance Scotland is not in doubt...
, whom the descendants of Kenneth claimed as an ancestor. The genealogy as it survives is apparently constructed by combining two distinct genealogies which are found attached to the Senchus fer n-Alban
Senchus fer n-Alban
The Senchus Fer n-Alban is an Old Irish medieval text, believed to have been compiled in the 10th century. It may have been derived from earlier documents of the 7th century which are presumed to have been written in Latin...
, that of Ainbcellach mac Ferchair
Ainbcellach mac Ferchair
Ainbcellach mac Ferchair was king of the Cenél Loairn of Dál Riata, and perhaps of all Dál Riata, from 697 until 698, when he was deposed and exiled to Ireland....
(died 719), to which has been appended that of Ainbcellach's kinsman Mongán mac Domnaill. It is likely that this conception of Clann Ruadrí's origins predates Máel Snechtai and was prevalent in Mac Bethad's time or even earlier.
The extent to which Gaelic kingship rested on agnatic (male line) descent can be seen in the case of Kenneth MacAlpin's daughter's daughter's son Congalach Cnogba
Congalach Cnogba
Conghalach Cnoghbha was High King of Ireland, according to the lists in the Annals of the Four Masters, from around 944 to 956...
. Congalach was the grandson of High King Flann Sinna
Flann Sinna
Flann Sinna was the son of Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid of Clann Cholmáin, a branch of the southern Uí Néill. He was King of Mide from 877 onwards and is counted as a High King of Ireland...
of Clann Cholmáin
Clann Cholmáin
Clann Cholmáin is the name of the dynasty descended from Colmán Mór , son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill — they were the kings of Mide — they traced their descent to Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall Cremthainne.Related dynasties descended through Conall...
and succeeded to the Uí Néill High Kingship in unusual circumstances on the death of his mother's half-brother Donnchad Donn
Donnchad Donn
Donnchadh Donn mac Flainn was High King of Ireland. He belonged to Clann Cholmáin, a branch of the southern Uí Néill.-Origins:...
. Rather than proclaim his near kinship with recent kings—grandson of Flann, nephew of Donnchad and Niall Glúndub
Niall Glúndub
Niall Glúndub mac Áedo was a 10th century Irish king of the Cenél nEógain and High King of Ireland. While many Irish kin groups were members of the Uí Néill, tracing their descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages , the O'Neill dynasty took their name from Niall Glúndub rather than the earlier Niall...
—Congalach's propagandists preferred to advance his claim to rule as a male-line descendant in the tenth generation of Áed Sláine
Áed Sláine
Áed mac Diarmato , called Áed Sláine , was the son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Legendary stories exist of Áed's birth. Saint Columba is said to have prophesied his death...
(died circa 604). Like Congalach, Clann Ruadrí may have had a claim to the kingship in the female line which legal tradition would have considered to be of little importance. It is possible that Ruaidrí, or his father Domnall if he existed, may have married into Clann Áeda mac Cináeda and so inherited the allegiance of that family's supporters.
It is not clear whether Gruoch's father was a son of King Kenneth II
Kenneth II of Scotland
Cináed mac Maíl Coluim was King of Scots...
(Cináed mac Maíl Coluim) (d. 995) or of King Kenneth III
Kenneth III of Scotland
Cináed mac Duib anglicised as Kenneth III, and nicknamed An Donn, "the Chief" or "the Brown", was King of Scots from 997 to 1005. He was the son of Dub...
(Cináed mac Duib)(d. 1005), either is possible chronologically. After Gille Coemgáin's death, Macbeth married his widow and took Lulach as his stepson. Gruoch's brother, or nephew (his name is not recorded), was killed in 1033 by Malcolm II.
Mormaer and dux
When Cnut the Great came north in 1031 to accept the submission of King Malcolm II, Macbeth too submitted to him:Some have seen this as a sign of Macbeth's power, others have seen his presence, together with Iehmarc, who may be Echmarcach mac Ragnaill
Echmarcach mac Ragnaill
Echmarcach mac Ragnaill was the Gall-Gaidhel King of the Isles, Dublin , and much of Galloway. According to Seán Duffy he was either a grandson or great-grandson of Ivar of Waterford, but an alternative exists. Benjamin Hudson has contended Echmarcach was a grandson of Gofraid mac Arailt...
, as proof that Malcolm II was overlord of Moray and of the Kingdom of the Isles
Lord of the Isles
The designation Lord of the Isles is today a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It emerged from a series of hybrid Viking/Gaelic rulers of the west coast and islands of Scotland in the Middle Ages, who wielded sea-power with fleets of...
. Whatever the true state of affairs in the early 1030s, it seems more probable that Macbeth was subject to the king of Alba, Malcolm II, who died at Glamis
Glamis
Glamis is a small village in Angus, Scotland, located four miles south of Kirriemuir and five miles southwest of Forfar. It is the location of Glamis Castle, the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.-History:...
, on 25 November 1034. The Prophecy of Berchan
Prophecy of Berchán
The Prophecy of Berchán, is a relatively large historical poem written in the Middle Irish language. The text is preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, as MS 679 , with a few early modern copies...
is apparently alone in near contemporary sources in reporting a violent death, calling it a kinslaying. Tigernach's chronicle says only:
Malcolm II's grandson Duncan (Donnchad mac Crínáin), later King Duncan I
Duncan I of Scotland
Donnchad mac Crínáin was king of Scotland from 1034 to 1040...
, was acclaimed as king of Alba on 30 November 1034, apparently without opposition. Duncan appears to have been tánaise ríg, the king in waiting, so that far from being an abandonment of tanistry
Tanistry
Tanistry was a Gaelic system for passing on titles and lands. In this system the Tanist was the office of heir-apparent, or second-in-command, among the Gaelic patrilineal dynasties of Ireland, Scotland and Man, to succeed to the chieftainship or to the kingship.-Origins:The Tanist was chosen from...
, as has sometimes been argued, his kingship was a vindication of the practice. Previous successions had involved strife between various rígdomna - men of royal blood. Far from being the aged King Duncan of Shakespeare's play, the real King Duncan was a young man in 1034, and even at his death in 1040 his youthfulness is remarked upon.
Because of his youth, Duncan's early reign was apparently uneventful. His later reign, in line with his description as "the man of many sorrows" in the Prophecy of Berchán, was not successful. In 1039, Strathclyde was attacked by the Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
ns, and a retaliatory raid led by Duncan against Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
in 1040 turned into a disaster. Later that year Duncan led an army into Moray, where he was killed by Macbeth on 15 August 1040 at Pitgaveny (then called Bothnagowan) near Elgin
Elgin, Moray
Elgin is a former cathedral city and Royal Burgh in Moray, Scotland. It is the administrative and commercial centre for Moray. The town originated to the south of the River Lossie on the higher ground above the flood plain. Elgin is first documented in the Cartulary of Moray in 1190...
.
High King of Alba
On Duncan's death, Macbeth became king. No resistance is known at that time, but it would have been entirely normal if his reign were not universally accepted. In 1045, Duncan's father Crínán of DunkeldCrínán of Dunkeld
Crínán of Dunkeld was the lay abbot of the diocese of Dunkeld, and perhaps the Mormaer of Atholl. Crínán was progenitor of the House of Dunkeld, the dynasty which would rule Scotland until the later 13th century....
(a scion of the Scottish branch of the Cenel Conaill
Cenél Conaill
The Cenél Conaill is the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history. They were also known in Scotland as the Kindred of Saint Columba....
and Hereditary Abbot of Iona
Abbot of Iona
The Abbot of Iona was the head of Iona Abbey during the Middle Ages and the leader of the monastic community of Iona, as well as the overlord of scores of monasteries in both Scotland and Ireland, including Durrow, Kells and, for a time, Lindisfarne...
) was killed in a battle between two Scottish armies.
John of Fordun
John of Fordun
John of Fordun was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th century; and it is probable that he was a chaplain in the St Machar's Cathedral of...
wrote that Duncan's wife fled Scotland, taking her children, including the future kings Malcolm III
Malcolm III of Scotland
Máel Coluim mac Donnchada , was King of Scots...
(Máel Coluim mac Donnchada) and Donald III
Donald III of Scotland
Domnall mac Donnchada , anglicised as Donald III, and nicknamed Domnall Bán, "Donald the Fair" , was King of Scots from 1093–1094 and 1094–1097...
(Domnall Bán mac Donnchada, or Donalbane) with her. On the basis of the author's beliefs as to whom Duncan married, various places of exile, Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
and Orkney among them, have been proposed. However, the simplest solution is that offered long ago by E. William Robertson: the safest place for Duncan's widow and her children would be with her or Duncan's kin and supporters in Atholl
Atholl
Atholl or Athole is a large historical division in the Scottish Highlands. Today it forms the northern part of Perth and Kinross, Scotland bordering Marr, Badenoch, Breadalbane, Strathearn, Perth and Lochaber....
.
After the defeat of Crínán, Macbeth was evidently unchallenged. Marianus Scotus
Marianus Scotus
Marianus Scotus , was an Irish monk and chronicler , was an Irishman by birth, and called Máel Brigte, or Devotee of St...
tells how the king made a pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1050, where, Marianus says, he gave money to the poor as if it were seed.
Karl Hundason
The Orkneyinga SagaOrkneyinga saga
The Orkneyinga saga is a historical narrative of the history of the Orkney Islands, from their capture by the Norwegian king in the ninth century onwards until about 1200...
says that a dispute between Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Earl of Orkney
Earl of Orkney
The Earl of Orkney was originally a Norse jarl ruling Orkney, Shetland and parts of Caithness and Sutherland. The Earls were periodically subject to the kings of Norway for the Northern Isles, and later also to the kings of Alba for those parts of their territory in mainland Scotland . The Earl's...
, and Karl Hundason
Karl Hundason
Karl Hundason, also Karl Hundisson, is a personage in the Orkneyinga Saga. The saga recounts a war between Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Earl of Orkney, and Karl, whom it calls king of Scots...
began when Karl Hundason became "King of Scots" and claimed Caithness
Caithness
Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...
. The identity of Karl Hundason, unknown to Scots and Irish sources, has long been a matter of dispute, and it is far from clear that the matter is settled. The most common assumption is that Karl Hundason was an insulting byname (Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
for "Churl, son of a Dog") given to Macbeth by his enemies. William Forbes Skene
William Forbes Skene
William Forbes Skene , Scottish historian and antiquary, was the second son of Sir Walter Scott's friend, James Skene , of Rubislaw, near Aberdeen....
's suggestion that he was Duncan I of Scotland has been revived in recent years. Lastly, the idea that the whole affair is a poetic invention has been raised.
According to the Orkneyinga Saga, in the war which followed, Thorfinn defeated Karl in a sea-battle off Deerness
Deerness
Deerness is a quoad sacra parish and peninsula in Mainland, Orkney....
at the east end of the Orkney Mainland
The Mainland, Orkney
The Mainland is the main island of Orkney, Scotland. Both of Orkney's burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island, which is also the heart of Orkney's ferry and air connections....
. Then Karl's nephew Mutatan or Muddan, appointed to rule Caithness for him, was killed at Thurso
Thurso
-Facilities:Offices of the Highland Council are located in the town, as is the main campus of North Highland College, formerly Thurso College. This is one of several partner colleges which constitute the UHI Millennium Institute, and offers several certificate, diploma and degree courses from...
by Thorkel the Fosterer. Finally, a great battle at Tarbat Ness on the south side of the Dornoch Firth
Dornoch Firth
The Dornoch Firth is a firth on the east coast of Highland, in northern Scotland. It forms part of the boundary between Ross and Cromarty, to the south, and Sutherland, to the north....
ended with Karl defeated and fugitive or dead. Thorfinn, the saga says, then marched south through Scotland as far as Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, burning and plundering as he passed. A later note in the saga claims that Thorfinn won nine Scottish earldoms.
Whoever Karl Hundason may have been, it appears that the saga is reporting a local conflict with a Scots ruler of Moray or Ross
Ross
Ross is a region of Scotland and a former mormaerdom, earldom, sheriffdom and county. The name Ross allegedly derives from a Gaelic word meaning a headland - perhaps a reference to the Black Isle. The Norse word for Orkney - Hrossay meaning horse island - is another possible origin. The area...
:
Final years
In 1052, Macbeth was involved indirectly in the strife in the Kingdom of EnglandKingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
between Godwin, Earl of Wessex
Godwin, Earl of Wessex
Godwin of Wessex , was one of the most powerful lords in England under the Danish king Cnut the Great and his successors. Cnut made him the first Earl of Wessex...
and Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
when he received a number of Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
exiles from England in his court, perhaps becoming the first king of Scots to introduce feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
to Scotland. In 1054, Edward's Earl of Northumbria
Earl of Northumbria
Earl of Northumbria was a title in the Anglo-Danish, late Anglo-Saxon, and early Anglo-Norman period in England. The earldom of Northumbria was the successor of the ealdormanry of Bamburgh, itself the successor of an independent Bernicia. Under the Norse kingdom of York, there were earls of...
, Siward, led a very large invasion of Scotland. The campaign led to a bloody battle in which the Annals of Ulster
Annals of Ulster
The Annals of Ulster are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 to AD 1540. The entries up to AD 1489 were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa on the island of Belle Isle on Lough Erne in the...
report 3,000 Scots and 1,500 English dead, which can be taken as meaning very many on both sides, and one of Siward's sons and a son-in-law were among the dead. The result of the invasion was that one Máel Coluim, "son of the king of the Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
ns" (not to be confused with Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, the future Malcolm III of Scotland) was restored to his throne, i.e., as ruler of the kingdom of Strathclyde
Kingdom of Strathclyde
Strathclyde , originally Brythonic Ystrad Clud, was one of the early medieval kingdoms of the celtic people called the Britons in the Hen Ogledd, the Brythonic-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and northern England. The kingdom developed during the post-Roman period...
. It may be that the events of 1054 are responsible for the idea, which appears in Shakespeare's play, that Malcolm III was put in power by the English.
Macbeth certainly survived the English invasion, for he was defeated and mortally wounded or killed by the future Malcolm III ("King Malcolm Ceann-mor", son of Duncan I) on the north side of the Mounth
Mounth
The Mounth is the range of hills on the southern edge of Strathdee in northeast Scotland. It was usually referred to with the article, i.e. "the Mounth". The name is a corruption of the Scottish Gaelic monadh which in turn is akin to the Welsh mynydd, and may be of Pictish origin...
in 1057, after retreating with his men over the Cairnamounth
Cairnamounth
Cairnamounth is a crossing route of the Mounth in the Grampian Mountains of Scotland. It has served as an ancient military route at least from Roman times through the 13th century AD...
Pass to take his last stand at the battle at Lumphanan
Lumphanan
Lumphanan is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland located 25 miles from Aberdeen and 10 miles from Banchory. There is one pub in the village called "The MacBeth Arms", there is another bar located three miles from the village centre named "The Crossroads Hotel"...
. The Prophecy of Berchán
Prophecy of Berchán
The Prophecy of Berchán, is a relatively large historical poem written in the Middle Irish language. The text is preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, as MS 679 , with a few early modern copies...
has it that he was wounded and died at Scone, sixty miles to the south, some days later. Macbeth's stepson Lulach mac Gille Coemgáin was installed as king soon after.
Unlike later writers, no near contemporary source remarks on Macbeth as a tyrant. The Duan Albanach
Duan Albanach
The Duan Albanach is a Middle Gaelic poem found with the Lebor Bretnach, a Gaelic version of the Historia Brittonum of Nennius, with extensive additional material ....
, which survives in a form dating to the reign of Malcolm III, calls him "Mac Bethad the renowned". The Prophecy of Berchán, a verse history which purports to be a prophecy, describes him as "the generous king of Fortriu
Fortriu
Fortriu or the Kingdom of Fortriu is the name given by historians for an ancient Pictish kingdom, and often used synonymously with Pictland in general...
", and says:
Life to legend
Andrew of Wyntoun
Andrew Wyntoun, known as Andrew of Wyntoun was a Scottish poet, a canon and prior of Loch Leven on St Serf's Inch and later, a canon of St...
wrote their histories. Hector Boece
Hector Boece
Hector Boece , known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and first Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Aberdeen.-Biography:He was born in Dundee where he attended school...
, Walter Bower
Walter Bower
Walter Bower , Scottish chronicler, was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian.He was abbot of Inchcolm Abbey from 1418, was one of the commissioners for the collection of the ransom of James I, King of Scots, in 1423 and 1424, and in 1433 one of the embassy to Paris on the business of the...
, and George Buchanan
George Buchanan (humanist)
George Buchanan was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. He was part of the Monarchomach movement.-Early life:...
all contributed to the legend.
In Shakespeare's play, Macbeth
Macbeth (character)
Macbeth is the title character in William Shakespeare's Macbeth . The character is based on the historical king Macbeth of Scotland, and is derived largely from the account in Holinshed's Chronicles , a history of Britain. Macbeth is a Scottish noble and a valiant military man. He is portrayed...
is portrayed initially as a valorous and good-hearted general to King Duncan who is corrupted by ambition. He persuades himself that killing his king to take the throne is the right thing to do. His ambition is fostered by three witches
Three Witches
The Three Witches or Weird Sisters are characters in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth . Their origin lies in Holinshed's Chronicles , a history of England, Scotland and Ireland...
whose prophecies however prove misleading, and his scheme is doomed to failure. His wife (Lady Macbeth) has gained fame along the way, lending her Shakespeare-given title to a short story by Nikolai Leskov
Nikolai Leskov
Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov was a Russian journalist, novelist and short story writer, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique writing style and innovative experiments in form, held in high esteem by Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Maxim Gorky among others, Leskov is...
and the opera by Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
entitled Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (opera)
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District is an opera in four acts by Dmitri Shostakovich, his Op.29. The libretto was written by Alexander Preis and the composer, and is based on the story Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov. The opera is sometimes referred to informally as Lady Macbeth...
. The historical content of Shakespeare's play is drawn from Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....
's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, which in turn borrows from Boece's 1527 Scotorum Historiae, which flattered the antecedents of Boece's patron, King James V of Scotland
James V of Scotland
James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss...
.
In modern times, Dorothy Dunnett
Dorothy Dunnett
Dorothy Dunnett OBE was a Scottish historical novelist. She is best known for her six-part series about Francis Crawford of Lymond, The Lymond Chronicles, which she followed with the eight-part prequel The House of Niccolò...
's novel King Hereafter aims to portray a historical Macbeth, but proposes that Macbeth and his rival and sometime ally Thorfinn of Orkney
Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Earl of Orkney
Thorfinn Sigurdsson , called Thorfinn the Mighty, was an 11th-century Earl of Orkney. One of five brothers , sons of Earl Sigurd Hlodvirsson by his marriage to the daughter of Malcolm II of Scotland...
are one and the same (Thorfinn is his birth name and Macbeth his baptismal name). John Cargill Thompson's play Macbeth Speaks 1997, a reworking of his earlier Macbeth Speaks, is a monologue delivered by the historical Macbeth, aware of what Shakespeare and posterity have done to him. Scottish author Nigel Tranter
Nigel Tranter
Nigel Tranter OBE was a Scottish historian and author.-Early life:Nigel Tranter was born in Glasgow and educated at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh. He trained as an accountant and worked in Scottish National Insurance Company, founded by his uncle. In 1933 he married May Jean Campbell Grieve...
based one of his historical novels on the historical figure, MacBeth the King. David Greig
David Greig (dramatist)
David Greig is a Scottish playwright and theatre director.Greig was born in Edinburgh in 1969 and was brought up in Nigeria. He studied drama at Bristol University. He has been commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company amongst others.His...
's 2010 play Dunsinane
Dunsinane (play)
Dunsinane is a 2010 play by David Greig. It premiered in a Royal Shakespeare Company production at the Hampstead Theatre from 10 February to 6 March 2010, directed by RSC Associate Director Roxana Silbert and with leads including Siobhan Redmond and Jonny Phillips.Its narrative is formed by the...
takes Macbeth's downfall at Dunsinane as its starting point, with his just-ended reign portrayed as long and stable in contrast to Malcolm's.
He also appears as a character
Macbeth (Gargoyles)
Macbeth is a fictional character from the Disney animated television series Gargoyles, voiced by John Rhys-Davies. Macbeth is one of several characters in the show based on characters from plays by William Shakespeare , though in fact his back-story is closer to the historical story of Macbeth of...
in the television series Gargoyles
Gargoyles (TV series)
Gargoyles is an American animated series created by Greg Weisman. It was produced by Greg Weisman and Frank Paur and aired from October 24, 1994 to February 15, 1997. Gargoyles is known for its dark tone, complex story arcs and melodrama...
.
Further reading
- Tranter, Nigel MacBeth the King Hodder & Stoughton, 1978.
- Aitchison, Nick Macbeth Sutton Publishing, 2001 , ISBN 0750926406.
- Dunnett, Dorothy King Hereafter Knopf, 1982 , ISBN 0394523784.
- Ellis, Peter Berresford Macbeth: High King of Scotland 1040-57 Learning Links, 1991 , ISBN 0856404489.
- Gregg, William H. Controversial issues in Scottish history Putnam, 1910.
- Marsden, John Alba of the Ravens: In Search of the Celtic Kingdom of the Scots Constable, 1997, ISBN 0094757607.
- Walker, Ian Lords of Alba Sutton Publishing, 2006, ISBN 0750934921.