* 1040 – King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth.

* 1057 – King Macbeth is killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada.

The earliest known literary use of the word assassination is in Macbeth by William Shakespeare ( 1605 ).

Banquo is a character in William Shakespeare's 1606 play Macbeth.

In the play, he is at first an ally to Macbeth ( both are generals in the King's army ) and they are together when they meet the Three Witches.

In Chronicles Banquo is an accomplice to Macbeth in the murder of the king, rather than a loyal subject of the king who is seen as an enemy by Macbeth.

He does nothing to accuse Macbeth of murdering the king, even though he has reason to believe Macbeth is responsible.

Holinshed portrays Banquo as an historical figure: he is an accomplice in Mac Bethad mac Findlaích's ( Macbeth's ) murder of Donnchad mac Crínáin ( King Duncan ) and plays an important part in ensuring that Macbeth, not Máel Coluim mac Donnchada ( Malcolm ), takes the throne in the coup that follows.

There was, however, a need to provide a dramatic contrast to Macbeth ; a role that many scholars argue is filled by Banquo.

Banquo's loyalty to Macbeth, rather than Malcolm, after Duncan's death makes him a passive accomplice in the coup: Malcolm, as Prince of Cumberland, is the rightful heir to the throne and Macbeth a usurper.

Daniel Amneus, however, argues that when Ross and Angus bring King Duncan's praise, and the news that Macbeth has been granted the title of Thane of Cawdor, the " greater honor " he ascribes to Macbeth is actually his title as Prince of Cumberland.

If Macbeth, rather than Malcolm, is Prince of Cumberland then Macbeth would be next in line to the throne and no coup would be needed, effectively removing this ambiguity from Banquo's character.

He is unsure whether Macbeth committed regicide to gain the throne, but muses in a soliloquy that " I fear / Thou play ' dst most foully for't ".

A terrified Macbeth sees him, while the apparition is invisible to his guests.

This apparition is also deeply unsettling to Macbeth, who not only wants the throne for himself, but also desires to father a line of kings.

" Thou canst not say I did it ", for example, can mean that Macbeth is not the man who actually killed Banquo, or it can mean that Duncan, who was asleep when Macbeth killed him, cannot claim to have seen his killer.

Several performances of the play have even ignored the stage direction to have the Ghost of Banquo enter at all, heightening the sense that Macbeth is growing mad, since the audience cannot see what he claims to see.

Shakespeare often used Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland — commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles — as a source for his plays, and in Macbeth he borrows from several of the tales in that work.

Unlike his sources, Shakespeare gives Banquo no role in the King's murder, making it a deed committed solely by Macbeth and his wife.

The playwright William Shakespeare had already used the family history of Northumberland's family in his Henry IV series of plays, and the events of the Gunpowder Plot seem to have featured alongside the earlier Gowrie conspiracy in Macbeth, written some time between 1603 and 1607.

The Tragedy of Macbeth ( commonly called Macbeth ) is a play written by William Shakespeare.

James was a patron of Shakespeare ’ s acting company, and of all the plays Shakespeare wrote during James ’ s reign, Macbeth most clearly reflects the playwright ’ s relationship with the sovereign.

Shakespeare's source for the tragedy are the accounts of King Macbeth of Scotland, Macduff, and Duncan in Holinshed's Chronicles ( 1587 ), a history of England, Scotland and Ireland familiar to Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

However, the story of Macbeth as told by Shakespeare bears little relation to real events in Scottish history, as the historical Macbeth was an admired and able monarch.

Second, Shakespeare may have altered Banquo's character simply because there was no dramatic need for another accomplice to the murder ; there was, however, a need to give a dramatic contrast to Macbeth — a role which many scholars argue is filled by Banquo.

Shakespeare may allude to the image when Lady Macbeth says to her husband, " Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't " ( 1. 5. 74-5 ).. And the Porter's speech ( 1. 3. 1 – 21 ), in particular, may allude to the trial of the Jesuit Henry Garnet in spring, 1606 ; " equivocator " ( line 8 ) may refer to Garnet's defence of " equivocation ", and " farmer " ( 4 ) to one of Garnet's aliases.

Facsimile of the first page of Macbeth from the First Folio, published in 1623Scholars also cite an entertainment seen by King James at Oxford in the summer of 1605 that featured three " sibyls " like the weird sisters ; Kermode surmises that Shakespeare could have heard about this and alluded to it with the weird sisters.

Because " Macbeth " traces the root of chaos and evil to women, some critics argue that it is Shakespeare ’ s most misogynistic play.

This opinion recurs in critical literature, and, according to Caroline Spurgeon, is supported by Shakespeare himself, who apparently intended to degrade his hero by vesting him with clothes unsuited to him and to make Macbeth look ridiculous by several nimisms he applies: His garments seem either too big or too small for him – as his ambition is too big and his character too small for his new and unrightful role as king.

* Performances and Photographs from London and Stratford performances of Macbeth 1960 – 2000 – From the Designing Shakespeare resource

* Annotated Text at The Shakespeare Project -– annotated HTML version of Macbeth.

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John Cargill Thompson's play Macbeth Speaks 1997, a reworking of his earlier Macbeth Speaks, is a monologue delivered by the historical Macbeth, aware of what Shakespeare and posterity have done to him.

Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husband ’ s uncertainty, and wishes him to murder Duncan in order to obtain kingship.

When Macbeth arrives at Inverness, she overrides all of her husband ’ s objections by challenging his manhood, and successfully persuades him to kill the king that very night.

He and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncan ’ s two chamberlains drunk so that they will black out ; the next morning they will frame the chamberlains for the murder.

To answer his questions, they summon horrible apparitions, each of which offers predictions and further prophecies to allay Macbeth ’ s fears.

Macbeth orders Macduff's castle be seized, and, most cruelly, sends murderers to slaughter Macduff ’ s wife and children.

At night, in the king ’ s palace at Dunsinane, a doctor and a gentlewoman discuss Lady Macbeth ’ s strange habit of sleepwalking.

Prince Malcolm, Duncan ’ s son, has succeeded in raising an army in England, and Macduff joins him as he rides to Scotland to challenge Macbeth ’ s forces.

The invasion has the support of the Scottish nobles, who are appalled and frightened by Macbeth ’ s tyrannical and murderous behavior.

Before Macbeth ’ s opponents arrive, he receives news that Lady Macbeth has killed herself, causing him to sink into a deep and pessimistic despair and deliver his " Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow " soliloquy ( 5. 5. 17 – 28 ).

In 1605 a medal was struck commemorating the King ’ s escape from the Gunpowder Plot that pictured a serpent among flowers. Macbeth cannot be dated precisely, owing to significant evidence of later revisions.

The witches ’ prophecies spark Macbeth ’ s ambitions and then encourage his violent behavior, while Lady Macbeth provides the drive and the will behind her husband ’ s plotting.