Introduction:
Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in about 1606. His source for the plot was Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland published in 1577. It detailed the reign of the 11th Scottish King. (Though Shakespeare adapted some of the details to work better on the stage. For instance, he shortened the reign of Macbeth to keep the play the shortest out of his 4 tragedies because King James was prone to falling asleep during long plays.) According to Holinshed's Chronicles, King James can trace his ancestry back to Banquo. In the Holinshed's Chronicles, Banquo helped to murder the king, but Shakespeare changed his character to please James who was a relation of Banquo's, and James' brother-in-law, King Christian 4th of Denmark can be traced back to King Duncan.
It was during the preceding decades that Mary Queen of.....
