What influence did the King exert on Shakespeare?

Answer 1

The King exerted quite an influence on Shakespeare. William Shakespeare [Baptized April 26, 1564-April 23, 1616] lived during the tenures of two very different monarchs. For almost 40 years, he was one of the English subjects of Queen Elizabeth I [September 7, 1533-March 24, 1603]. For the last 13 years of his life, he was subject to the reign of King James [June 19, 1566-March 27, 1625] I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland. The King was the son of Mary I [December 8, 1542-February 8, 1587] of Scotland. Mary had made disparaging remarks against Elizabeth, and ended up getting executed for treason. So Shakespeare, whose career had taken off during the Elizabethan years, had to tread carefully around her royal successor. The King's ancestors had been the source of many legends in their favor. One such legend was their descent from Walter the Royal Steward, who fathered the Stuart line of the Kings of Scotland. According to the legend, Walter was the son of Fleance and Nesta verch Gruffydd [b. 1059]. Fleance was the son of Banquo, friend and fellow General to Macbeth [c. 1014-August 15, 1057]. Nesta was the daughter of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn [c. 1007-August 5, 1063], the last native Prince of Wales. But according to genealogical and historical records, Banquo and Fleance never existed. Nesta's family background was a mixture of nobility and royalty. So her information was recorded and preserved. She has gone down in history as having been married just once, to Osbern FitzRichard [c. 1055-1080]. She hasn't been found to have been married to any Fleance or to have mothered any Walter. Additionally, the historical records haven't agreed with the characterization that Shakespeare was under pressure to give to Macbeth. The history of Scotland has tended to cast Macbeth in a favorable light. He wasn't seen as a tyrant or as a murderer. In fact, King Duncan I [d. August 14, 1040] was killed by his own men for having launched an unprovoked, unpopular, unjustified, and unjust invasion of Macbeth's lands. Additionally, King Duncan I's son, the future King Malcolm III [d. November 13, 1093], was the killer of Macbeth and of Macbeth's stepson and immediate successor, King Lulach [d. March 17, 1058]. And so the royal influence was such that Shakespeare was pressured into changing historyand altering the facts of history and the personalities of his characters.