Macbeth c.1005-1057
King of Scotland

He was M�rmaer (chief) of Moray (c.1031) and married Gruoch, granddaughter of Kenneth III. He became king in 1040 when he defeated and killed King Duncan I and drove Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donald B�n, into exile. He seems to have represented a Celtic reaction against English influence and he ruled for over a decade. Malcolm III, Duncan's son, ultimately defeated and killed him at Lumphanan. The conventional, Shakespearean view of Macbeth as a villainous usurper has little historical basis. His usurpation was a normal feature of Celtic succession struggles, his reign was a period of plenty, he was a friend to the Church and went on pilgrimage to Rome. Shakespeare took his material from the Chronicles of Holinshed, who drew on Hector Boece.

Bibliography: R J Steward, Macbeth: Scotland's Warrior King (1988)