The Tragedy of

MacbethHistorical Contexts: From

Demonology to the Gunpowder Plot

King James I, “the wisest fool in Christendom”

Born June 19th 1566 to Mary Stuart, alternatively known as Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.

Ruled Scotland from 1567-1625

Ruled England and Ireland from 1603-1625

In 1597 James the 1st wrote Daemonologie, a treatise on demonology and witchcraft.

Inherited and continued the “Golden Age” of Elizabethan literature, drama, and music.

Was instrumental in disrupting the Gunpowder Plot in 1605.

He believed that he was a descendant of a character represented in the play, Banquo.

Believed in the divine right of kings, and that he could heal people with his divine touch.

The Gunpowder Plot It was believed that with the coronation of King James the 1st the

repressive practices against the practice of Catholicism would be lifted, but they weren’t.

A plot was hatched to kill the king and members of parliament by a group of disenchanted Catholics.

One of the members of the plot named Henry Garnet who wrote "A Treatise of Equivocation." Garnet wrote the "Treatise" in order to tell other Catholics how to deal with dangerous questions from Protestant inquisitors.

One of the participants in the Gunpowder plot mailed a letter to a Catholic member of Parliament warning him not to attend parliament on November 5th.

Guy Fawkes was discovered in the cellar of the House of Lords on the 5th of November 1605 waiting to ignite 36 barrels of gunpowder.

King James the 1st was believed to be the one who discovered the plot, and consequently was seen as a hero.

A mythology developed around the events of the plot.

“instruments of Darkness”-- BanquoKing James 1st was very interested in witchcraft. The following quotes are taken from Daemonologie.

“There are three kind of folks whom God will permit so to be tempted or troubled; the wicked for their horrible sins… The godly that are sleeping in any great sins or infirmities and weakness in faith… Even some of the best, that their patience may be tried before the world…”

“What can be the cause that there are twenty women given to that craft, where there is one man? The reason is easy, for as that sex is frailer then man is, so is it easier to be entrapped in these gross snares of the Devil, as was over well proved to be true, by the Serpents deceiving of _Eve_ at the beginning, which makes him the homelier with that sex sensing.”

He also wrote that witches meet in churches and perform mock inverse religious rituals.

“Instruments of Darkness”--Banqou

King James 1st of England was the subject of an assassination plot by witches.

It was also popularly believed that the participants in the gunpowder plot took part in a black mass service before attempting to blow up the House of Lords.

The Real Macbeth

The Macbeth in the play is an artistic invention.Macbeth ruled Scotland from 1040-1057.Killed by Malcolm, whose ascension restored Duncan’s lineage to the throne.Ruled for seventeen years.

There was a king in Scottish history who killed his predecessor who was a guest in his home.

Mac Bethad mac Findlaích

Demons and a Shrewd Playwright

Macbeth was commissioned by King James, and was shown to him and King Christian the 6th of Denmark the year after the Gunpowder Plot was thwarted. There are many nods and flatteries written into the play by Shakespeare. We can gain a greater appreciation for the work if we understand that not only is it an amazing fiction, but it is also a part of the historical moment in which it was written.

The Scottish PlayToday superstitions surround the performance of the play.