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The "real" Macbeth was actually named Mac Bethad mac Findlaích which is anglicised as Macbeth, and was King of the Scots from 1040 until his death in 1057.

Although Shakespeare protrayed him as a murderous tyrant, that was to please King James, who was indirectly descended from King Malcolm, Macbeth's successor. Shakespeare's play is sometimes said to have been written for, and perhaps debuted for, King James (although no external evidence directly supports this).

No contemporary source remarks on the "real" Macbeth as being a tyrant. The Duan Albanach, which survives in a form dating to the reign of Malcolm III, calls him "Mac Bethad the renowned". The Prophecy of Berchán, a verse history which purports to be a prophecy, describes him as "the generous king of Fortriu"....

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15y ago

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