How old is macbeth supposed to be

Macbeth also lost his chief general, Thorfinn, ruler of the Orkneys, who had recently died. His body was buried in the holy isle of Iona, where many other Scottish kings were buried. A few days after his death, his stepson, Lulach, was elected high king.

Lulach ruled for seven months before being killed by Malcolm's agents. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives.

He took power in after the July Revolution, but was forced to abdicate after an uprising in Richard III was king of England for two turbulent years. He is best known for being accused of murdering his nephews to protect his throne. He revoked the Edict of Nantes and is known for his aggressive foreign policy. Charles II was the monarch of England, Scotland and Ireland during much of the latter half of the 17th century, marking the Restoration era.

Tony Blair was the leader of the British Labour Party from to , and prime minister of the United Kingdom from to Charles I was a king of England, Scotland and Ireland, whose conflicts with parliament and his subjects led to civil war and his execution.

David Livingstone was a Scottish missionary, abolitionist and physician known for his explorations of Africa, having crossed the continent during the midth century. Macbeth was king of Scotland during the 11th century. And Macbeth could anyway be merely anticipating his old age, not describing its reality. Moreover, the play is easily susceptible to a flexible notion of middle-age, and often inhabited by actors in their late 30s Nicol Williamson, Ian McKellen, Jonathan Pryce ; the late Jon Finch, though, was just 28 when he starred in Roman Polanski's blood-boltered, somewhat hysterical, movie.

On the other hand, Patrick Stewart was a fit-looking year-old, certainly the oldest Macbeth since the Victorian era, when playing a great tragic role was an indication of status rather than suitability. The key factor is the credibility of the Macbeths as a married couple in a desperate, then disintegrating, relationship.

In Stewart's case, in Rupert Goold's production for the Chichester Festival Theatre, his Lady M was the vivacious Kate Fleetwood, an exotic young trophy wife who urged on her husband in their castle abattoir. He is said to have been fair, and to have looked after his subjects - though, like most rulers and politicians of the time, the thought of having to kill someone to retain power didn't bother him at all.

His chance to seize the throne of all Scotland or Alba, as it was then known came when Duncan I, who held the throne, mounted a raid on Durham in Northumbria in The battle turned out to be a disaster, and Duncan was quickly driven back over the border and into Scotland. The next year - perhaps in an attempt to assert his authority, or perhaps because his counterpart in Moray was laughing at him - he decided to march north and mount an attack on Macbeth.

The two armies clashed near Elgin and this time, Duncan failed to escape with his life. He was killed in the battle and Macbeth, who had a legitimate claim to the Scottish throne through his mother's line, assumed rulership of all Scotland.

Once king, Macbeth and Gruoch would have adopted all the traits of monarchy. Rather than having one palace, They would have moved around Scotland with their court and armed retinue - probably amounting to at least some dozens of people - and stayed in one place until they had exhausted the food supplies of the long suffering locals.

Then they would have moved on, probably constantly travelling between places such as Scone, Dunkeld , St Andrews and Forteviot in Perthshire. David Brown, a lecturer in Scottish history at Glasgow University and an expert on the period, says that Macbeth's court would have been a fairly impressive sight. On special days such as feast days, others would have arrived and it would have been even greater.

As well as being a good king, Macbeth was also a clever politician. He quickly formed an alliance with a Norseman, Thorfinn of Orkney and the son of the wonderfully named Sigurd the Fat, who was otherwise known as Thorfinn Skullsmasher. The two men often formed a common front, and in decided to go on a pilgrimage to Rome together.

It is this pilgrimage - a journey of more than miles which took nearly a year to compete - which tells us about Macbeth's compassion and concern for his fellow man. According to one of the writers of the time, the Irish hermit Marianus Scotus, when Macbeth arrived in Rome he "scattered money to the poor like seed. This visit is thought to have been hugely important. Macbeth would almost certainly have met the Pope and told him all about Scotland.

It was probably the first time that a reigning Pontiff had learned much about this small and wild country at the far north of Europe - and about which subsequent Popes were to hear much in the coming centuries.

Alex Woolf, a lecturer in Celtic and early Scottish history at the University of Edinburgh, believes that Macbeth may have gone to Rome as a penance for killing Duncan. Macbeth may have felt that killing Duncan was a sin", he says. Four years later, Macbeth suffered a serious challenge to his kingdom when Earl Siward of Northumberland - with which Scotland was almost perpetually at war - invaded Scotland. He defeated Macbeth at the battle of Birnam Wood near Dunkeld in Perthshire - again, mythologised by Shakespeare in his version.

MacBeth formed an alliance with his cousin the Earl of Orkney, and they defeated and killed Duncan near Elgin in Respected for his strong leadership qualities, MacBeth was a wise king who ruled successfully for 17 years. He lived in a fortified castle at Dunsinane north of Perth. His rule was secure enough for him to go on a pilgrimage to Rome in In with the support of Earl Siward, he led an army against MacBeth, defeating him at the battle of Dunsinnan.

But how historically correct is it? It is generally accepted that Shakespeare wrote the play sometime between and , when there was a new king on the throne, King James I and VI of Scotland.