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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: a show that discovers something new about history every day

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Speaker 1: of the week. I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this episode,

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Speaker 1: we're looking at the lesser known story of the real

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Speaker 1: life Macbeth, the Scottish king whose rise to power later

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Speaker 1: inspired a play by William Shakespeare. You can probably guess

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Speaker 1: which one. The day was. August ten fifty seven, Malcolm

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Speaker 1: Canmore avenged his father's death by slaying King Macbeth's of

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Speaker 1: Scotland at the Battle of Lumfannin. Seventeen years earlier, Macbeth

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Speaker 1: had overthrown Malcolm's father, King Duncan the First, killing him

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Speaker 1: in battle and taking his place his rule er. Malcolm,

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Speaker 1: still just a child at the time, had fled into

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Speaker 1: exile with his uncle, Earl Seward of Northumbria. In ten

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Speaker 1: fifty four, Malcolm returned to take back the throne from Macbeth,

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Speaker 1: but wound up spending the next three years pursuing him

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Speaker 1: all across Scotland. Then, at last, on August fifteen, Malcolm

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Speaker 1: cornered Macbeth at lum Fannin and put an end to

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Speaker 1: his rule. William Shakespeare's Scottish play is the first thing

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Speaker 1: most people think of when they hear the name Macbeth.

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Speaker 1: That tragedy was written more than five hundred years after

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Speaker 1: the events it's based on, and, as you might expect,

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Speaker 1: its version of history was greatly fictionalized for dramatic effect. First,

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Speaker 1: and most disappointingly, the real Macbeth never consulted any witches

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Speaker 1: or other supernatural forces, at least not that we know of.

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Speaker 1: But more crucially, the play's depiction of Macbeth and his

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Speaker 1: wife as ski aiming murderers was also invented by Shakespeare.

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Speaker 1: In reality, the historical Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth seemed to

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Speaker 1: have been far less villainous. Although his exact lineage is unclear,

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Speaker 1: it's believed that Macbeth was descended from King Kenneth the Second,

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Speaker 1: and therefore had acclaimed the Scottish throne on his mother's side.

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Speaker 1: Macbeth was born in the province of Moray in northern

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Speaker 1: Scotland in the year ten o five. By that time,

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Speaker 1: Kenneth the Second had been succeeded by Kenneth the Third,

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Speaker 1: and Kenneth the Third had been overthrown by Malcolm the Second,

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Speaker 1: who was actually the son of Kenneth the Second. It

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Speaker 1: all gets a bit confusing, as the reigns of Scottish

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Speaker 1: kings tended to be quite short in those days, but

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Speaker 1: the main takeaway is that at the time of Macbeth's birth,

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Speaker 1: he still had a grandfather on the throne. Under King

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Speaker 1: Malcolm the Second, Macbeth's father served as the more Mayor

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Speaker 1: of Moray, essentially the governor or chief of the province.

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Speaker 1: Macbeth later took over the regional role himself after his

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Speaker 1: father's death. A few years after that, in ten thirty four,

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Speaker 1: Malcolm the Second passed away and left his throne to

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Speaker 1: a different grandson, Macbeth's cousin, King Duncan the First. During

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Speaker 1: his reign, Scotland became entangled in Anglo Norse affairs, and

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Speaker 1: Duncan ultimately led several failed attacks against England. Macbeth was

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Speaker 1: a trusted military leader, but his opposition to Duncan's misguided

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Speaker 1: conflicts pushed the province of Moray into open rebellion in

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Speaker 1: ten forty. Duncan tried to stamp out that uprising by

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Speaker 1: leading a raid on Macbeth's domain it went poorly for

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Speaker 1: the young king, and he died by Macbeth's hand in

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Speaker 1: a battle near the town of Elgin. Those events play

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Speaker 1: out much differently in Shakespeare's tragedy. There, Duncan was a

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Speaker 1: far cry from the young, ineffectual ruler he was us

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Speaker 1: in real life. Also different is the way in which

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Speaker 1: Duncan dies and the way in which Macbeth becomes king.

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Speaker 1: In the play, Macbeth murders Duncan in his bed and

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Speaker 1: then assumes his throne without having a legitimate claim to it.

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Speaker 1: In reality, though Duncan died on the battlefield and Macbeth

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Speaker 1: had a decent claim to the throne through his mother,

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Speaker 1: he had no need to resort to treachery, as many

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Speaker 1: of Duncan's subjects had already turned against him in favor

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Speaker 1: of Macbeth. As for his wife, Gruick, the basis for

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Speaker 1: Lady Macbeth, we don't know much about her. She's said

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Speaker 1: to have been the granddaughter of King Kenneth the third,

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Speaker 1: so it's possible her marriage to Macbeth was a political move.

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Speaker 1: Since his clan was descended from a different Scottish king,

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Speaker 1: their union may have been a way to foster peace

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Speaker 1: between two rival clans. In any case, we can safely

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Speaker 1: rule her out as a key player in Duncan's demise,

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Speaker 1: though whether or not she helped instigate the rise again

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Speaker 1: him is anyone's guests. As many people expected, Macbeth proved

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Speaker 1: to be a far more capable ruler than Duncan had been.

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Speaker 1: He kept Scotland prosperous and didn't needlessly embroil it in

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Speaker 1: foreign affairs. Meanwhile, Duncan's son, the future, Malcolm the Third,

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Speaker 1: was busy plotting in exile. He had gone into hiding

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Speaker 1: with his uncle following the news of his father's death,

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Speaker 1: but by the year ten fifty four he was ready

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Speaker 1: to exact his revenge. After securing an army from the

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Speaker 1: English King Edward the Confessor, Malcolm and his uncle marched

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Speaker 1: north through Scotland, wiping out anyone who got in their way.

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Speaker 1: Eventually they made their way to Macbeth, who was waiting

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Speaker 1: for them at Dunsinane Hill, just north of Perth. After

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Speaker 1: a fierce battle, Macbeth's forces were overwhelmed and the king

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Speaker 1: was sent scrambling further north. That victory allowed Malcolm to

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Speaker 1: seize control of southern Scotland, but his true target would

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Speaker 1: sewed him for the next three years. Finally, on August

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Speaker 1: fifty seven, Malcolm's army caught up with King Macbeth. It's

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Speaker 1: unclear who struck the killing blow, but some sources claim

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Speaker 1: it was the Earl of Fife mac Duff if so

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Speaker 1: that's a rare point of agreement between history and Shakespeare,

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Speaker 1: as he also named Macduff as the killer. Macbeth was

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Speaker 1: briefly succeeded by his stepson Lulach, but after just a

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Speaker 1: few months in power, he was also killed, clearing the

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Speaker 1: way for the reign of Malcolm the Third. It was

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Speaker 1: a sad outcome from Macbeth, but he later became synonymous

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Speaker 1: with one of the most captivating plays of all time,

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Speaker 1: which is more than can be said for his successor.

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Speaker 1: And as far as consolation prizes go, literary immortality ain't

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Speaker 1: half bad. I'm Gabe Luzier and hopefully you now know

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Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yester day.

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Speaker 1: If you have a second and you're so inclined, consider

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Speaker 1: following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at T d

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Speaker 1: i HC Show, and if you have any comments or suggestions,

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Speaker 1: you can send them directly to me at this day

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Speaker 1: at I heart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays

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Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening.

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Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day

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Speaker 1: in history class