The murderous medieval king who inspired "Macbeth" - Benjamin Hudson

143,479 views ・ 2025-03-27

TED-Ed


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Of all Shakespeare’s plays, perhaps none is stranger than “Macbeth.”
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The piece opens on Scottish generals Macbeth and Banquo
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encountering a trio of witches.
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They predict Macbeth will become Scotland's king
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and that Banquo’s descendants will one day take the throne—
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a pair of conspiratorial prophecies that burrow into the men’s minds.
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Macbeth soon fulfills his role,
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killing both King Duncan and his fellow general in a murderous frenzy.
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Wracked with paranoia,
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Macbeth summons the witches for more arcane aid,
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and they predict he’ll be safe until a faraway forest
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lays siege upon his castle.
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Macbeth takes solace in this impossible prophecy.
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Yet by the play’s end,
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his keep has been sacked by an army disguised as trees,
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and Duncan's son Malcolm has reclaimed the throne.
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Even for Shakespeare,
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these are exceptionally odd elements for a parable on power.
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But according to at least six texts from the 11th century,
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this supernatural tragedy has its roots in reality.
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In 1040, a Scottish general named Macbethad
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was recorded to have killed a predecessor named Duncan
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to become king of Scotland.
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And in 1057, Duncan’s son, Malcolm Canmore,
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led a successful raid against this usurper.
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What's more, accounts from subsequent historians mention witches,
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prophecies, and arboreal armies.
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All of which raises the question:
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just how much of Shakespeare’s strange story is true?
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The answer lies in understanding what it meant to be a historian
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in the Middle Ages.
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In the five centuries between Macbethad’s death and Shakespeare’s play,
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various clerics, chroniclers, and poets wrote about this medieval Scottish king.
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But while some of these writers may have seen themselves
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as objective observers of history,
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they all operated more like storytellers.
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It was standard practice at the time
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to pull details from various historical accounts to craft new histories
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that reflected current cultural norms,
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argued moral positions, or commented on royal politics.
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For example, in 1380, Scottish cleric John of Fordun
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penned a history of Scotland that incorporated Macbethad’s rule.
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Written amidst a war with England and in the wake of a great plague,
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Fordun wanted to instill Scottish pride in his devout, educated readers.
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So he glorified the Canmore dynasty and denounced Macbethad as a villain
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who interrupted their rule.
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Decades later, the cleric Andrew of Wyntoun further demonized Macbeth.
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Writing for audiences enthralled by the occult,
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Wyntoun imagined the murderous usurper as the devil’s spawn,
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who hallucinated ghostly greyhounds
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and witches inspired by the Fates of Norse mythology.
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Wyntoun also introduced the rebels using branches to camouflage their attack.
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Renaissance scholar Hector Boece had slightly more sympathy for Macbeth,
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approaching him as a just ruler who descended into ruthless paranoia.
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This cautionary tale may have been intended as a criticism
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of tyrannical contemporary kings like Henry VIII or Francis I.
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An altered version of Boece’s Macbeth is likely what inspired Shakespeare
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to partake in the grand tradition of rewriting Macbethad’s history.
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When the Bard was writing “Macbeth,” England was ruled by King James I.
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James was a descendant of the Stuarts,
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a Scottish royal dynasty that included Macbeth's fictional friend Banquo.
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So it’s possible the Bard tried to flatter King James
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by giving Banquo a bigger role
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and introducing the prophecy that his descendants would take the throne.
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And then there's the witches.
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James hated witchcraft,
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so Shakespeare might have been playing to the throne
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by exaggerating the story’s sinister supernatural elements.
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Alternatively, the inclusion of the weird sisters
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may have been the Bard rebelling against the king’s censorship
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of other witchy plays.
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Either way, not all of his additions were influenced by the throne.
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More than any previous telling,
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Shakespeare’s Scot is tormented and confused.
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Is he a devil or a saint?
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Are these witches real or illusion?
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Is he in charge of his own destiny,
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or is his legacy determined by external forces?
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In asking these questions, Shakespeare’s Macbeth may be the truest of them all.
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Not because of similarities to his historical namesake.
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But because, just like those who’ve written about him,
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this Macbeth is also trying to determine his role
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in the ever-changing currents of history.
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