“Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble!”
The Tragedy of Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's shortest yet darkest and most action-packed plays.
Though the majority of the events in the play are fictitious, many of the characters are
based on real-life people who happened to play an important part in shaping up Scotland as we know
it today. In today’s video, Nutty History will tell you how bloody the real story of Macbeth was.
The play Macbeth portrays its titular character as a paranoid king who is cursed
with guilt and kills anyone and everyone on the slightest scent of distrust or betrayal.
His predecessor, the victim King Duncan is portrayed as a benevolent and kind
king who admires Macbeth like a son. In reality, it is actually quite the opposite.
Yes, Macbeth was an ambitious person who won the kingdom of Moray and then the entirety of
Scotland over the slain bodies of his enemies. But those enemies, including King Duncan, were
killed on the battlefield without any deception or underhand methods used by Shakepeare’s Macbeth.
Macbeth’s nearly two-decades-long rule of Scotland is considered strong, stable, and progressive
contrary to how things pan out in the play. King Macbeth was also internationally acclaimed
for his development of Scotland and putting the country on the European diplomatic map.
11th century Scotland was a patchwork made up of loosely connected kingdoms.
One of the kings of these kingdoms was considered above all the others. Kind of like in the game
Skyrim. The high king and his reign overarched all of Scotland. At the time of Macbeth’s birth,
his maternal grandfather King Malcolm the Second was ruling Scotland. Malcolm II
achieved the throne by routing the Normans and Vikings raiding Scotland and uniting the four
kingdoms of the nation under him. This was the first time the entirety of Scotland was united.
When Malcolm II died of natural causes in 1034 AD, he had no sons to pass down his crown. So instead,
one of his grandsons and Macbeth’s cousin Duncan became the new king of the entire Scotland.
Unlike his Shakespearean counterpart, real-life Duncan proved himself to be a disaster.
He was not a wise, strong, or competent ruler as Shakespeare portrayed him.
In reality young and naïve Duncan’s thirst for power and lack of battlefield prowess
turned out to be a dangerous combination. His first mistake was to counterattack Ealdred,
earl of Northumbria who had attacked southern Scotland two years ago.
Not too long after that, he also attacked Orkney. This plunged Scotland into a string of unnecessary
battles for the next six years, which did no good to the country or the popularity of Duncan
the first. Macbeth’s father Findley, earl of Moray, was murdered and overthrown by his cousin,
Gille Coemgáin. The usurper Gille then went on and married Scottish princess, Gruoch
who was a descendent of Kenneth the third, that’s the high King Malcolm II had overthrown to win the
crown of Scotland. This was a big deal because it would give Gille’s descendants a legitimate claim
to the High Kingship of Scotland in the future. However, years later, Gille Coemgáin found himself
mysteriously locked along with fifty of his closest followers in a hall that was set on fire.
As Gille and Grouch’s son Luloch was too young to ascend the throne,
Moray found its heir once again in Macbeth who was now a grown adult. Macbeth also married Gille’s
widow which strengthened his political power. A shrewd move Shakespearean Macbeth would be proud.
Macbeth was already ruling Moray when Duncan became the high king. As Duncan repeatedly
proved he wasn’t great for his ruling and military, Macbeth saw the opportunity to take
the throne for himself. But he didn’t just walk over and slaughter Duncan in his bed.
Instead, Macbeth got in the bed with Thorfin, Earl of Orkney, through an uneasy alliance.
See what I did there in bed? Whatever! Macbeth and Thorfin’s combined army defeated Duncan on
August 14, 1040. King Duncan was killed during battle and the path for Macbeth to become the
new King of Scotland was clear. Shakespeare’s Macbeth ruled Scotland only for a short year
but real Macbeth ruled prosperously and peacefully for almost 17 years.
Duncan’s father, Crinán tried to revolt against Macbeth but the new high king dealt with it
swiftly. During his rule, Macbeth enacted several good laws, many favoring women and orphan kids.
After completing a successful decade of his peaceful reign, both King and Lady Macbeth,
who was nearly as bad as Shakespearean lady Macbeth went on a pilgrimage to Rome for 2 years.
The fall of both real and fictional Macbeth happened for similar reasons,
a strong union of his enemies. In the play Macbeth’s paranoia drove his enemies together,
in reality, it was all done for political opportunism. In 1054 Siwarld, Earl of Northumbria
was back to invade Scotland one more time and as luck would have it, Malcolm III, son of Duncan
gathered English lords to annex Scotland. Unfortunately for Macbeth, the first battle
with Northumbrian forces ended inconclusively and he had to retreat to regroup his army.
Over the next three years, Macbeth’s rule was constantly threatened by Siwald and Malcolm’s
armies. Macbeth eventually ran out of his luck in 1057 and was killed at the Battle of Lumphanan.
His stepson Lulach ascended to the throne of the high king but failed to resist Malcolm III’s
advances and was killed only seven months later. While the play might not be exactly what happened,
the real events seem pretty dramatic on their own. So, what do you think?
Which version do you like better? History or Fiction? Let us know in the comments. And if
you’re looking for more incredible true stories behind insane events,
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