Macbeth Kills Duncan I at Pitgaveny near Elgin 1040
Who Fought
Duncan I led an army into Moray; Macbeth commanded the men of Moray in defence of the province.
History & Significance
Macbethad mac Findláech (anglicised as Macbeth MacFinlay; died 15 August 1057), nicknamed the Red King (Middle Irish: Rí Deircc), was King of Scotland from 1040 until his death in 1057, during a period when the Scottish kingdom is referred to as the Kingdom of Alba.
Little is known about Macbeth's early life, although he was the son of Findláech of Moray and may have been a grandson of Malcolm II, presumably through the latter's daughter, Donada. He became Mormaer (Earl) of Moray – a semi-autonomous province – in 1032, and was probably responsible for the death of the previous mormaer, Gille Coemgáin. He subsequently married Gille Coemgáin's widow, Gruoch.
In 1040, Duncan I launched an attack into Moray and was killed in action by Macbeth's troops. Macbeth succeeded him as King of Alba, apparently with little opposition. His 17-year reign was mostly peaceful, although in 1054 he was faced with an English invasion, led by Siward, Earl of Northumbria, on behalf of Edward the Confessor. Macbeth was killed at the Battle of Lumphanan in 1057 by forces loyal to the future Malcolm III. He was buried on Iona, the traditional resting place of Scottish kings.
Macbeth was succeeded by his stepson Lulach, but Lulach ruled for only a few months before also being killed in battle against Malcolm III, whose descendants ruled Scotland until the late 13th century.
A fictionalized version of Macbeth is best known as the main character of William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name and the many works that it has inspired. Shakespeare's Macbeth is based on Holinshed's Chronicles (published in 1577) and is not historically accurate.
The name Mac Bethad (or, in modern Gaelic, MacBheatha), from which the anglicized "MacBeth" is derived, means "son of life". Although it has the appearance of a Gaelic patronymic it does not have any meaning of filiation but instead carries an implication of a righteous man or religious man. An alternative proposed derivation is that it is a corruption of macc-bethad meaning "one of the elect".
Macbeth's full name in Middle Irish (medieval Gaelic) was Macbethad mac Findláech. This is realised as MacBheatha mac Fhionnlaigh in modern Scottish Gaelic, and is rendered Macbeth MacFinlay (also spelled Finley, Findlay, or Findley) in modern English. Mac Findláech is a Gaelic patronymic meaning "son of Findláech", referring to his father Findláech of Moray.
Some sources make Macbeth a grandson of King Malcolm II, presumably through his daughter Donada, and thus a cousin to Duncan I, whom he succeeded. He was possibly also a cousin to Thorfinn the Mighty, Earl of Orkney and Caithness.
The ground they fought on
The site of Macbeth Kills Duncan I at Pitgaveny near Elgin 1040 lies on Upper Old Red Sandstone, bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone and mudstone.
Duncan I led his army north into Moray on what appears to have been a punitive expedition, yet it was he who paid the ultimate price; killed in action at the battle of Bothnagowan, now Pitgaveny near Elgin, by the men of Moray under Macbeth's command, probably on 14 August 1040, the young king's death brought his troubled reign to an abrupt close and placed Macbeth upon the throne of Alba without apparent opposition.
- Duncan I was killed in action; no other specific casualties are recorded in the sources.
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- Macbeth, King of Scotland · Wikipedia
- Duncan I of Scotland · Wikipedia