Latest / The Story of Scotland: Clans, Crowns, and the Fight for Identity — Fexingo History / Macbeth: The Real King Behind Shakespeare's Villain
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Scotland's wars with England, the Jacobites, the Clearances—but today I want to go back further. Way further. To the eleventh century, to a king who ruled Scotland for seventeen years, who fought battles, made alliances, and then got turned into one of the most famous villains in all of literature. Luna: You're talking about Macbeth, aren't you? Lucas: Exactly. But not the Shakespeare version. I want to talk about the real Macbeth, the historical king—Mac Bethad mac Findlaích, in Gaelic. And the first thing you need to know is that he wasn't a usurper who murdered a sleeping king. He actually had a strong claim to the throne. Lucas: Macbeth was born around 1005, the son of Findláech, who was the Mormaer of Moray. That's like a regional king or powerful earl in the north. The kingdom of Alba—what we'd start calling Scotland—was in the middle of a dynastic feud. The House of Dunkeld held the throne, but the House of Moray kept challenging them. Luna: So it was more like a clan rivalry than a straightforward succession? Lucas: Exactly. The king at the time was Duncan I, who became king in 1034. Duncan was young, maybe in his early twenties, and he was the grandson of Malcolm II. His claim came through his mother, which was legitimate by Scottish law—but so was Macbeth's. Macbeth's mother was also a royal line, possibly a daughter of Malcolm II. So both had royal blood. Lucas: In 1040, Duncan launched a campaign into Moray, Macbeth's territory. We don't know exactly why—maybe to assert authority, maybe provoked. Macbeth met him in battle at a place called Bothnagowan, near what is now Elgin. And Duncan was killed. Macbeth didn't murder him in his bed; he defeated him in open combat. Luna: So Macbeth became king after that? Lucas: He did. He was crowned at Scone, the traditional coronation site, probably in 1040. And then he ruled for seventeen years—which is a surprisingly long reign for that time. He was also a capable ruler. He went on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1050, which was a huge deal. The chronicles say he 'scattered money like seed' to the poor. That's not the action of a tyrant. Luna: I had no idea he went to Rome. That's remarkable for an eleventh-century Scottish king. Lucas: It is. And it's recorded in the Marianus Scotus chronicle, an Irish source. So we have contemporary evidence. But Macbeth's reign wasn't peaceful. He faced challenges from Duncan's family. Duncan's son Malcolm—the future Malcolm III—was sent to England for safety. And Duncan's other son, Donald Bán, was also in exile. They wanted the throne back. Lucas: Macbeth also had to deal with the Norse. Thorfinn Sigurdsson, the Earl of Orkney, was a powerful figure. And here's where it gets interesting: some sources say Macbeth and Thorfinn were allies, maybe even cousins. Thorfinn's mother was a daughter of Malcolm II, same as Macbeth's possible mother. So they may have fought together against Duncan. Lucas: If you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode, you know we love diving into these lesser-known corners. And a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going—buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Luna: Yeah, it really does make a difference. Every bit helps keep the show ad-free and lets us explore stories like this. Lucas: Back to Macbeth. So in 1054, Malcolm III—with English support from Edward the Confessor—invaded Scotland. The English chronicle says there was a battle at a place called Dunsinane, which Shakespeare made famous. But the real battle was probably near the River Tay. Macbeth was wounded but survived. Luna: Wait, so the famous Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane scene is pure fiction? Lucas: Completely fictional. In reality, Macbeth held out for three more years. He was finally killed in 1057 at the Battle of Lumphanan, in Aberdeenshire. Not by Macduff, but by Malcolm's forces. And his stepson Lulach—nicknamed 'the Fool' or 'the Simple'—became king briefly, but he was killed a few months later. So the House of Dunkeld was restored. Luna: So how did Shakespeare come up with his version? Lucas: Shakespeare relied on the Chronicles of Holinshed, which themselves drew on earlier Scottish historians like John of Fordun and Hector Boece. And they had their own agendas. Fordun, writing in the 14th century, was pro-Dunkeld and portrayed Macbeth as a tyrant to legitimize Malcolm's line. So the character was already a villain before Shakespeare got hold of him. Lucas: Shakespeare added the witches, the prophecies, the sleepwalking, and the guilt. He also condensed time—Macbeth's seventeen-year reign became a few weeks in the play. And he made Duncan a saintly old king, when in reality Duncan was a young, aggressive ruler. Luna: So the real Macbeth was more like a competent warrior-king who got caught on the losing side of a dynastic struggle. Lucas: Exactly. And his wife, Gruoch, was no Lady Macbeth. She was the granddaughter of a previous king, Kenneth III, and she had her own claims and grievances. She'd been married before, to a man Macbeth killed—but that was part of the feud. She and Macbeth seemed to have been a partnership, not the murderous pair Shakespeare imagined. Lucas: There's also a fascinating artifact connected to this period: Sueno's Stone, near Forres. It's a huge carved stone, over 20 feet tall, dating to the 10th or 11th century. It shows a battlefield scene with decapitated bodies. Some think it commemorates a battle between the Scots and Norse, or maybe even the battle that brought Macbeth to power. It's a rare visual record from the time. Luna: What happened to Macbeth's reputation after his death? Lucas: He became a folk villain in Scottish tradition, but also a figure of tragedy. Some Gaelic sources refer to him as 'Macbeth the renowned' or 'the generous'. It's only after Shakespeare that he became synonymous with ambition and murder. And because Shakespeare's play is so powerful, it's almost impossible to separate the real man from the fictional character. Luna: It makes you wonder how many other historical figures have been rewritten by literature. Lucas: It's a good question. And that's why we do these episodes—to find the people behind the stories. Next time, maybe we'll look at another misunderstood figure. But for now, I think that's a good place to leave the real Macbeth.