Macbeth

Macbeth (d. 1057), king of Moray (1032–57) and king of ‘Scotland’ (1040–57). Macbeth's reputation as a tyrannous usurper is, of course, anachronistic. He became the only person from northern Scotland to rule the Scottish kingdom for more than a few months, and the only king of Scotland to visit Rome (in 1050) where, we are told, ‘he scattered money like seed to the poor’. So strong was his position that he retained the Scottish throne in 1054, despite defeat at Dunsinnan (north of Perth).

Macbeth's family was riven by a feud that claimed the life of Macbeth's father in 1020, which Macbeth avenged in 1032 by burning his cousin Gille Comgáin, king of Moray. He married Gille Comgáin's widow Gruoch, perhaps in an attempt at reconciliation. In 1040 he killed Duncan I (probably) at Pitgaveny (near Elgin) and in 1045 reached his zenith when he crushed Duncan's father. After Dunsinnan, however, he was forced to accept the return of Duncan's son Malcolm Canmore from exile, and in 1057 was killed at Lumphanan (25 miles west of Aberdeen) by Malcolm.