King Macbeth of Scotland with Knights and Squires

Macbeth, King of Scotland... more

by John Straton

Title

King Macbeth of Scotland with Knights and Squires

Artist

John Straton

Medium

Photograph

Description

Macbeth, King of Scotland
Mac Bethad mac Findla�ch (Modern Gaelic: MacBheatha mac Fhionnlaigh,[1] anglicised as Macbeth, and nicknamed R� Deircc, "the Red King";[2] 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.
The name Mac Bethad (or, in modern Gaelic, MacBheatha), from which the anglicized "MacBeth" is derived, means "son of life".[3] Although it has the appearance of a Gaelic patronymic it does not have any meaning of filiation but instead carries an implication of "righteous man"[3] or "religious man".[4] An alternative proposed derivation is that it is a corruption of macc-bethad meaning "one of the elect".[3]
Some sources make Macbeth a grandson of King Malcolm II and thus a cousin to Duncan I whom he succeeded. He was possibly also a cousin to Thorfinn the Mighty, Earl of Orkney and Caithness. Some historians[who?] claim, however, that Macbeth was Thorfinn's half-brother rather than his cousin. Much depends on whether Malcolm had three daughters or only two (one of whom married twice) - a point which is likely to remain uncertain.
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 Cr�n�n of Dunkeld (a scion of the Scottish branch of the Cenel Conaill and Hereditary Abbot of Iona) was killed in a battle between two Scottish armies.[14]

John of Fordun wrote that Duncan's wife fled Scotland, taking her children, including the future kings Malcolm III (M�el Coluim mac Donnchada) and Donald III (Domnall B�n 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, E. William Robertson proposes the safest place for Duncan's widow and her children would be with her or Duncan's kin and supporters in Atholl.[15]

After the defeat of Cr�n�n, 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.

Uploaded

October 2nd, 2014