Thanks to Shakespeare, Macbeth is remembered as a murderous tyrant unhinged by ambition and prophecy. The real Macbeth – Mac Bethad mac Findlaích, King of Scots from 1040 to 1057 – was a very different figure: a capable ruler who held the throne for seventeen years and felt secure enough to leave his kingdom on pilgrimage to Rome. This is the true story behind the legend.
Key facts: King Macbeth
- Reign: 1040–1057 (seventeen years)
- Came to power: By defeating and killing King Duncan I in battle in 1040
- Power base: The province of Moray, in the north
- Notable act: Made a pilgrimage to Rome in 1050, where he was said to have scattered alms ‘like seed’
- Death: Killed in 1057 by the future Malcolm III, traditionally at Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire
- Reputation: Remembered by contemporaries as a generous and effective king
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The real Macbeth
Macbeth was a powerful lord, or mormaer, of Moray, one of the great provinces of the north, and he had a legitimate claim to the throne through his own and his wife's royal descent. In 1040 he defeated King Duncan I – not, as Shakespeare imagined, by murdering a frail old man in his bed, but in battle. Duncan was in fact a young and rather unsuccessful king, and Macbeth's seizure of power was within the rough-and-ready norms of eleventh-century Scottish kingship.
A successful reign
Far from the guilt-wracked tyrant of the play, Macbeth ruled Scotland competently for nearly two decades. The surest sign of his confidence came in 1050, when he travelled all the way to Rome on pilgrimage – something no insecure usurper could have risked. A chronicler recorded that he gave money to the poor there as if scattering seed. His reign appears to have been stable and even prosperous.
The fall of Macbeth
Macbeth's end came at the hands of Malcolm Canmore, son of the Duncan he had defeated, who returned with English support to claim the throne. Macbeth was killed in 1057, traditionally at Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire, and his stepson Lulach briefly succeeded him before Malcolm III took the crown for good. You can read more about the dynasty that followed in our story of Malcolm III and Saint Margaret.
Macbeth and the clans
Macbeth's heartland of Moray gave rise to powerful Highland kindreds. The MacDuffs, Earls of Fife – cast by Shakespeare as Macbeth's nemesis – were a genuinely great family who would later hold the ancient right to crown Scotland's kings. The Shakespearean title Thane of Cawdor also links the legend to the lands of Clan Calder and Cawdor Castle, though the real castle was built long after Macbeth's death.
Frequently asked questions
Was Macbeth a real king?
Yes. Macbeth was a real King of Scots who reigned from 1040 to 1057, centuries before Shakespeare dramatised his life.
Did Macbeth murder King Duncan?
Macbeth killed Duncan I, but in battle in 1040, not by murdering him in his sleep as Shakespeare's play depicts.
How long did Macbeth rule Scotland?
He ruled for about seventeen years, a relatively long and stable reign for the period.
How did Macbeth die?
He was killed in 1057 by the forces of the future Malcolm III, traditionally at Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire.
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