James’ ParentsMary, Queen of Scots Henry Stuart (Lord Darnley)

Mary was descended from Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII’s older sister. Darnley was Mary’s second husband. She wasn’t happy. She relied on her personal secretary, of whom her husband was jealous. He murdered him in front of his wife. When her husband mysteriously died while visiting a neighboring castle, she was a prime suspect, as was her third husband, James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell. Some believe she was forced into this marriage. She was certainly forced to abdicate.

There were four different ways that Darnley was related to his wife, Mary Queen of Scots. (This may explain the lack of real attraction between the two!) Both he and his wife, who were Catholic, were in line to ascend the English throne. There was some suggestion that he was a drinker, gambler, brawler and womanizer. His jealous streak caused him to kill the Queen’s advisor, David Rizzio. He himself may have been killed in retaliation. James was only a baby.

King James VI of Scotland James’ father, Lord Darnley, was murdered in

a country house when James was a year old. (He was blown up and strangled – this was no accident.) When his mother married the man accused of his murder a few months later, she was pressured to abdicate in favor of her infant son. She did, and he became King James VI of Scotland. (1567) His mother was imprisoned, and he never saw her again. (His mother briefly escaped from jail a year later and fled to London hoping that her cousin Elizabeth would help her. She was promptly placed in the Tower. LOL.)

In 1603 James succeeded Elizabeth as King of England. He and his wife, Anne of Denmark, moved to London and were fairly well-received in most circles. Although officially Protestant, he was feared by some to have Catholic leanings due to his parents. (The Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament by the Catholic, Guy Fawkes, probably helped cement James as a Protestant, though…”Remember, Remember the Fifth of November.”

King James I of England

The “Real” Macbeth Mac Bethad mac Findlaích (1005–

1057), known in English as Macbeth, was King of Scots (or Alba) from 1040 until his death. He did indeed succeed Duncan as King, although the action of Shakespeare’s play is not exactly correct. In the play he’s a terrible king who gets his comeuppance for killing Duncan. However, he was widely regarded as a good king, and he reigned for nearly 20 years, during a time of relative peace and prosperity in Scotland.

Historically, Holinshead’s Chronicles suggest that Macbeth and Banquo were buddies, and hatched the plot to kill Duncan together in 1040. Duncan had been regarded as a weak King who had inherited the title through a claim by marriage. His cousin, Macbeth, had an equal claim through his grandmother. After seven years of Duncan’s painful rule, Macbeth and Banquo challenged and killed Duncan…together.

That wouldn’t do for Shakespeare, because King James I claimed that the Scottish house of Stuart was descended from Banquo and his son Fleance. In the play, Shakespeare makes Banquo the character who is able to resist ambition, and Macbeth has him murdered. This was done in order to flatter the King. (Banquo may not have every existed to begin with, oddly.)

Banquo – Revisionist History Rears its Ugly Head

-The murder of Duncan in the play closely resembles the murder of James I’s father. This is the reason why Duncan is portrayed as a good and wise old king, which is not historically accurate.

- The use of witchcraft as a motif throughout the play was included because it was a particular interest of the King’s, who believed himself to be the victim of witchcraft.

-Banquo (if he existed at all) was not a foil to Macbeth, but in fact was his friend and helped him to depose King Duncan, to the delight of most Scots.

-Macbeth was not consumed by guilt and did not die within a year of being crowned. He ruled, quite successfully, for 17 years, before Duncan’s son, Malcolm of Scotia, killed him in battle and became King. Not everyone was thrilled by this, either.

So, to recap: