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| The medieval portion of Iona Abbey, located on the Isle of Iona on the west coast of Scotland, where Macbeth is buried. Photo by Oliver-Bonjoch |
Macbeth's father was murdered when he was in his teens, and Macbeth's cousin Malcom, and afterward Gillecomgain took the title of mormaer. When Gillecomgain was murdered in 1032, the title of mormaer came to Macbeth. In 1033, he married Gruoch, Gillecomgain's widow, but they had no children.
Previous mormaer's of Moray had been very hostile toward Duncan I and the main royal line of the kings of Scotland, but Macbeth was more restrained in his hostility. He could afford to be, for Duncan was a poor strategist. He attempted to raid Northumbria to the south (to which his wife, Sybilla had strong family connections) in 1040 and was unsuccessful, so he turned his attention to Caithness and Thorfinn, the Earl of Orkney, to the north.²
Macbeth is believed to have a close relationship with Thorfinn, who is believed to have been his half-brother. When Duncan, whose raid on Caithness went poorly as he found himself outmaneuvered, Macbeth sent soldiers to supplement those of Thorfinn as Duncan retreated. Ultimately it was Macbeth that at encountered Duncan on the battlefield at Pitgaveny in August of 1040, where Duncan I was killed. Unlike the old man characterized by Shakespeare, Duncan was only 39 at the time of his death. His two young sons, including Malcom (who would become Malcom III) were sent away to safety. Macbeth was next in the line of succession, and he was elected to throne.²
In 1045 Crinan, Duncan's father and Macbeth's uncle+ staged a rebellion. The battle occurred near Dunkeld, where Crinan and his second son, Maldred were killed. In 1050, he was apparently secure enough in rule that he traveled to Rome for a papal jubilee.
In 1054 Duncan's son Malcom, supported by Kind Edward the Confessor of England and given the aid of Siward's (Earth of Northumbria) army, invaded Scotland. The two quite large armies met at Dunsinnan on July 27, 1054. This is believed to be the battle referred to in Shakespeare's play by the witches, though it was fought in the open and not with Macbeth hiding in a castle.¹,²
The battle was essentially a Scottish conflict, with Northumbrian (English) forces fighting on behalf of Malcom. Interestingly, most of Siward's army was comprised of Scandinavian troops, and much of Macbeth's army were Norman troops, the result of Normans taking refuge in Scotland after being expelled from England by King Edward. There was also a high probability that Thorfinn had sent men from Orkney, which would also have been largely Norse. Thus the battle was fought between old enemies--Danes versus Norse.²,³
Macbeth was defeated, but he was not deposed, and Siward had sustained large enough losses that he was forced to withdraw south to Strathclyde. He used this as a base of operations for continuing raids into Scotland, resulting in several years of civil war as his strength grew, and Macbeth's declined. In 1057 Macbeth found himself cut off from his main army during a retreat, and possibly wounded during a skirmish. He was then ambushed by at Lumphanan and killed. Indications are that support for Macbeth was quite strong, as his stepson Lulach was chosen to succeed him rather than Malcom, who had successfully defeated Macbeth.²
Sources
1. "Macbeth" Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/macbeth.shtml
2. Mike Ashley, (1998) The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens (pp393-395), New York, Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc.
3. "Macbeth" (n.d.) Wikipedia, Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbeth_of_Scotland
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