1.
William Shakespeare
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William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
2.
Malcolm III of Scotland
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Malcolm was King of Scots from 1058 to 1093. Malcolms long reign of 35 years preceded the beginning of the Scoto-Norman age and he is the historical equivalent of the character of the same name in William Shakespeares Macbeth. Malcolm III fought a series of wars against the Kingdom of England and these wars did not result in any significant advances southward. Malcolms second wife, St. Margaret of Scotland, is Scotlands only royal saint, Malcolm himself had no reputation for piety, with the notable exception of Dunfermline Abbey in Fife he is not definitely associated with major religious establishments or ecclesiastical reforms. Malcolms father Duncan I became king in late 1034, on the death of Malcolm II, Duncans maternal grandfather, Duncans reign was not successful and he was killed by Macbeth on 15 August 1040. Although Shakespeares Macbeth presents Malcolm as a man and his father as an old one, it appears that Duncan was still young in 1040. Malcolms family did attempt to overthrow Macbeth in 1045, but Malcolms grandfather Crínán of Dunkeld was killed in the attempt, soon after the death of Duncan his two young sons were sent away for greater safety—exactly where is the subject of debate. According to one version, Malcolm was sent to England, based on Forduns account, it was assumed that Malcolm passed most of Macbeths seventeen-year reign in the Kingdom of England at the court of Edward the Confessor. An English invasion in 1054, with Siward, Earl of Northumbria in command, had as its goal the installation of one Máel Coluim and this Máel Coluim has traditionally been identified with the later Malcolm III. This interpretation derives from the Chronicle attributed to the 14th-century chronicler of Scotland, John of Fordun, the latter reported that Macbeth was killed in the battle by Siward, but it is known that Macbeth outlived Siward by two years. A. A. M. Duncan argued in 2002 that, using the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry as their source, Duncans argument has been supported by several subsequent historians specialising in the era, such as Richard Oram, Dauvit Broun and Alex Woolf. It has also suggested that Máel Coluim may have been a son of Owain Foel, British king of Strathclyde perhaps by a daughter of Malcolm II. In 1057 various chroniclers report the death of Macbeth at Malcolms hand, Macbeth was succeeded by his stepson Lulach, who was crowned at Scone, probably on 8 September 1057. Lulach was killed by Malcolm, by treachery, near Huntly on 23 April 1058, after this, Malcolm became king, perhaps being inaugurated on 25 April 1058, although only John of Fordun reports this. If he did visit the English court, he was the first reigning king of Scots to do so in more than eighty years. If a marriage agreement was made in 1059, it was not kept, equally, Malcolms raids in Northumbria may have been related to the disputed Kingdom of the Cumbrians, reestablished by Earl Siward in 1054, which was under Malcolms control by 1070. The Orkneyinga saga reports that Malcolm married the widow of Thorfinn Sigurdsson, Ingibiorg, although Ingibiorg is generally assumed to have died shortly before 1070, it is possible that she died much earlier, around 1058. The Orkneyinga Saga records that Malcolm and Ingibiorg had a son, Duncan II, Malcolms son Domnall, whose death is reported in 1085, is not mentioned by the author of the Orkneyinga Saga
3.
Erskine Sanford
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Erskine Sanford was an American actor on the stage and in radio and motion pictures. A member of Orson Welless Mercury Theatre company, he appeared in several of Welless films. Erskine Sanford was born in Trinidad, Colorado, and was educated at the Horace Mann School in New York City and he began his acting career with Mrs. Fiskes company, making his professional debut in Leah Kleschna. He appeared in The Blue Bird and The Piper at the New Theatre in New York City, and in Shakespearean repertory with Ben Greet. For some 15 years he was associated with the Theatre Guild, playing a variety of roles on Broadway and on tour, including performances of Porgy and Strange Interlude on the London stage. In Kenosha, Wisconsin, Sanford first met Orson Welles when the boy came backstage to meet him after a touring performance of Mr. Pim Passes By. Sanford left the Theatre Guild to join Welless Mercury Theatre company, appearing as Mazzini Dunn, Sanford reprised the role he had created 18 years before in the Theatre Guilds world premiere production. Erskine Sanford at the Internet Movie Database Erskine Sanford at the Internet Broadway Database Photograph of Erskine Sanford as Alan Archdale in Porgy — New York Public Library
4.
Orson Welles
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George Orson Welles was an American actor, director, writer, and producer who worked in theatre, radio, and film. In 1937 he and John Houseman founded the Mercury Theatre, an independent repertory company that presented a series of productions on Broadway through 1941. It reportedly caused widespread panic when listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was actually occurring, although some contemporary sources claim these reports of panic were mostly false and overstated, they rocketed Welles to notoriety. His first film was Citizen Kane, which he co-wrote, produced, directed, Welles was an outsider to the studio system and directed only 13 full-length films in his career. He has been praised as the ultimate auteur, Welles followed up Citizen Kane with critically acclaimed films including The Magnificent Ambersons in 1942 and Touch of Evil in 1958. Although these three are his most acclaimed films, critics have argued other works of his, such as The Lady from Shanghai and Chimes at Midnight, are underappreciated. Known for his voice, Welles was an actor in radio and film, a Shakespearean stage actor. George Orson Welles was born May 6,1915, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, son of Richard Head Welles and he was named after his paternal great-grandfather, influential Kenosha attorney Orson S. Head, and his brother George Head. Despite his familys affluence, Welles encountered hardship in childhood and his parents separated and moved to Chicago in 1919. His father, who made a fortune as the inventor of a bicycle lamp, became an alcoholic. Beatrice died of hepatitis in a Chicago hospital May 10,1924, the Gordon String Quartet, which had made its first appearance at her home in 1921, played at Beatrices funeral. After his mothers death Welles ceased pursuing music and it was decided that he would spend the summer with the Watson family at a private art colony in Wyoming, New York, established by Lydia Avery Coonley Ward. There he played and became friends with the children of the Aga Khan, Welles briefly attended public school before his alcoholic father left business altogether and took him along on his travels to Jamaica and the Far East. When they returned they settled in a hotel in Grand Detour, Illinois, when the hotel burned down, Welles and his father took to the road again. During the three years that Orson lived with his father, some observers wondered who took care of whom, in some ways, he was never really a young boy, you know, said Roger Hill, who became Welless teacher and lifelong friend. Welles briefly attended school in Madison, Wisconsin, enrolled in the fourth grade. At Todd School, Welles came under the influence of Roger Hill, Hill provided Welles with an ad hoc educational environment that proved invaluable to his creative experience, allowing Welles to concentrate on subjects that interested him. Welles performed and staged theatrical experiments and productions there, Todd provided Welles with many valuable experiences, wrote critic Richard France
5.
Macbeth (1971 film)
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Macbeth is a 1971 British-American historical drama film directed by Roman Polanski and co-written by Polanski and Kenneth Tynan. A film adaptation of William Shakespeares tragedy of the name, it retells the story of the Highland lord who becomes King of Scotland through treachery. The film stars Jon Finch as the character and Francesca Annis as Lady Macbeth. The production, funded by Playboy Enterprises, was troubled by poor weather around the British Isles, Polanskis Macbeth was screened out of competition at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. It was somewhat controversial for its depictions of violence and nudity, but has also received positive attention. In the Middle Ages, a Norwegian invasion of Scotland is suppressed by Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, a rebel, the Thane of Cawdor, is captured, and King Duncan decrees Macbeth shall be awarded the title of Cawdor. Macbeth and Banquo do not hear of news, when out riding, they happen upon Three Witches, who hail Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor and future King. He writes a letter to Lady Macbeth, who is delighted at the news, however, she fears her husband has too much good nature, and vows to be cruel for him. Duncan names his eldest son, Malcolm, Prince of Cumberland, the royal family and nobles then spend the night at Macbeths castle, with Lady Macbeth greeting the King and dancing with him with duplicity. Urged on by his wife, Macbeth steps into King Duncans chambers after she has drugged the guards, Duncan wakes and utters Macbeths name, but Macbeth stabs him to death. Fearing a conspiracy, Malcolm and Donalbain flee to England and Ireland, an opportunistic courtier, he hails Macbeth at Scone, while the noble Macduff heads back to his home in Fife. When Macbeth begins to fear possible usurpation by Banquo and his son Fleance, Banquo is killed, while Fleance escapes. After Banquo appears at a banquet as a ghost, Macbeth seeks out the witches, after Macduff flees to England, Ross leaves Fifes castle doors open, so Macbeths murderers can kill Lady Macduff and the rest of the family and servants. With nobles fleeing Scotland, Macbeth chooses a new Thane of Cawdor, disappointed, Ross joins Malcolm and Macduff in England, where the English King has committed forces led by Siward to overthrowing Macbeth and installing Malcolm on the Scottish throne. The English forces invade, covering themselves by cutting down trees, when the forces storm the castle, Macduff confronts Macbeth, and during the sword fight, Macduff reveals he was delivered by Caesarean section. Macduff beheads Macbeth, and Ross presents the crown to Malcolm, meanwhile, Donalbain, out riding, encounters the witches. Following the murders, Polanski sank into depression, and was unhappy with the way the incident was depicted in the media. At the time, he was working on the film The Day of the Dolphin, in turn, Tynan was interested in working with Polanski because the director demonstrated what Tynan considered exactly the right combination of fantasy and violence
6.
Macbeth (2015 film)
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The film stars Michael Fassbender in the title role and Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth. The film was selected to compete for the Palme dOr at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, the film was theatrically released on December 4,2015 on the United States while in the UK, it was released on October 2,2015. However, despite positive critical reaction, the film was a commercial failure, the film starts with the funeral of Macbeth and Lady Macbeths child, with both parents grieving for their loss. Macbeth, who supports King Duncan in the war, is leading royal troops into a final battle. Macbeth emerges victorious, but there are losses, including many boy soldiers. The battle is observed by three women with a girl and an infant. They approach Macbeth and Banquo, hailing Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor and future King, the King orders his servants to take the title of Thane of Cawdor to Macbeth, who reacts uncertainly. Macbeth sends a message ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, Lady Macbeth then prays to the dark spirits in the village church, asking them for guidance. Duncan arrives at the village and a feast is being held, Macbeth still hesitates and Lady Macbeth persuades him to commit the deed, while she slips a sleeping potion to the Kings servants. After the feast ends, Macbeth sees a ghost of one of the boy soldiers who had killed during the battle who gives him a dagger. Malcolm enters the tent and, seeing what Macbeth has done, shaken, Macbeth goes to his wife and gives her the dagger he has used to kill the King. Lady Macbeth rebukes him, saying that he should have left it in the tent, later she meets Macbeth in the church where they both wash the blood from their hands and she tells him that the water has washed their deed away. In the morning, Macduff enters the tent to wake Duncan, Macbeth summarily executes the sleeping servants to prevent their denial of the murder. Macduff and Lennox, a Scottish noble, discuss that as Malcolm has fled to England that puts him under suspicion of being involved in the murder and they also admire Macbeths justice on the supposedly-treacherous servants in the rightful fit of anger. With Malcolm gone, Macbeth is asked to become King of Scotland, after the coronation he sits in a sour mood in his chamber where Lady Macbeth comes to him. He complains that killing Duncan was for nothing as Macbeth has no heirs to inherit the crown which will pass to Banquo and his son, Fleance and he invites Banquo with his son to a banquet and finds out that they both plan to leave. As Banquo is becoming suspicious, Macbeth sends three assassins to murder him, Banquo is killed, but Fleance escapes to the woods. During the evening, Macbeth makes a comment about Banquo not keeping his promise to be at the feast, when the assassins arrive, Macbeth asks if they have succeeded and is enraged when he finds out that Fleance has escaped
7.
Lady Macbeth
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Lady Macbeth is a character in Shakespeares Macbeth. She is the wife of the plays antagonist, Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman, after goading him into committing regicide, she becomes Queen of Scotland, but later suffers pangs of guilt for her part in the crime. She dies off-stage in the last act, an apparent suicide, according to some genealogists, Lady Macbeth and King Duncans wife were siblings or cousins, where Duncans wife had a stronger claim to the throne than Lady Macbeth. It was this that incited her jealousy and hatred of Duncan, the characters origins lie of the accounts of Kings Duff and Duncan in Holinsheds Chronicles, a history of Britain familiar to Shakespeare. Lady Macbeth is a presence in the play, most notably in the first two acts. Following the murder of King Duncan, however, her role in the plot diminishes and she becomes an uninvolved spectator to Macbeths plotting, and a nervous hostess at a banquet dominated by her husbands hallucinations. Her fifth act sleepwalking scene is a point in the play. Has become a familiar to many speakers of the English language. The report of her late in the fifth act provides the inspiration for Macbeths Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow speech. Analysts see in the character of Lady Macbeth the conflict between femininity and masculinity, as they are impressed in cultural norms. Lady Macbeth suppresses her instincts toward compassion, motherhood, and fragility — associated with femininity — in favour of ambition, ruthlessness, and this conflict colours the entire drama, and sheds light on gender-based preconceptions from Shakespearean England to the present. In the account of King Duff, one of his captains, Donwald, Donwald then considers regicide at the setting on of his wife, who showed him the means whereby he might soonest accomplish it. Donwald abhors such an act, but perseveres at the nagging of his wife, after plying the Kings servants with food and drink and letting them fall asleep, the couple admit their confederates to the Kings room, where they then commit the regicide. The murder of Duff has its motivation in revenge, rather than ambition, not found in Holinshed are the invocation to the spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, the sleepwalking scene, and various details found in the drama concerning the death of Macbeth. Although Macbeths wife can be traced to a counterpart, Queen Gruoch of Scotland. Lady Macbeth makes her first appearance late in scene five of the first act, when King Duncan becomes her overnight guest, Lady Macbeth seizes the opportunity to effect his murder. The King retires after a night of feasting, Lady Macbeth drugs his attendants and lays daggers ready for the commission of the crime. Macbeth kills the sleeping King while Lady Macbeth waits nearby, when he brings the daggers from the Kings room, his Lady orders him to return them to the scene of the crime
8.
Banquo
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Lord Banquo /ˈbæŋkwoʊ/, the Thane of Lochaber, is a character in William Shakespeares 1606 play Macbeth. In the play, he is at first an ally to Macbeth, after prophesying that Macbeth will become king, the witches tell Banquo that he will not be king himself, but that his descendants will be. Later, Macbeth in his lust for power sees Banquo as a threat and has him murdered, Banquos son, Fleance, Banquos ghost returns in a later scene, causing Macbeth to react with alarm during a public feast. Shakespeare borrowed the character of Banquo from Holinsheds Chronicles, a history of Britain published by Raphael Holinshed in 1587. In Chronicles Banquo is an accomplice to Macbeth in the murder of the king, Shakespeare may have changed this aspect of his character in order to please King James, who was thought at the time to be a descendant of the real Banquo. Critics often interpret Banquos role in the play as being a foil to Macbeth, sometimes, however, his motives are unclear, and some critics question his purity. He does nothing to accuse Macbeth of murdering the king, even though he has reason to believe Macbeth is responsible, Holinshed in turn used an earlier work, the Scotorum Historiae by Hector Boece, as his source. Boeces work is the first known record of Banquo and his son Fleance, in Shakespeares day, however, they were considered historical figures of great repute, and the king, James I, based his claim to the throne in part on a descent from Banquo. In reality Walter fitz Alan was the son of Alan fitz Flaad, unlike his sources, Shakespeare gives Banquo no role in the Kings murder, making it a deed committed solely by Macbeth and his wife. Why Shakespeares Banquo is so different from the described by Holinshed and Boece is not known. But Shakespeare may also simply have altered Banquos character because there was no dramatic need for another accomplice to the murder, there was, however, a need to provide a dramatic contrast to Macbeth, a role that many scholars argue is filled by Banquo. Banquos role in the coup that follows the murder is harder to explain, 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 Banquos character. Banquo is in a third of the scenes, as both a human and a ghost. As significant as he is to the plot, he has fewer lines than the relatively insignificant Ross, a Scottish nobleman who survives the play. In the second scene of the play, King Duncan describes the manner in which Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, and Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, bravely led his army against invaders, fighting side by side. In the next scene, Banquo and Macbeth, returning from the battle together, encounter the Three Witches, who predict that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor, and then king. Banquo, skeptical of the witches, challenges them to predict his own future, and they foretell that Banquo will never take the throne. Banquo remains skeptical after the encounter, wondering aloud if evil can ever speak the truth and he warns Macbeth that evil will offer men a small, hopeful truth only in order to catch them in a deadly trap
9.
Siward, Earl of Northumbria
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Siward or Sigurd was an important earl of 11th-century northern England. The Old Norse nickname Digri and its Latin translation Grossus are given to him by near-contemporary texts, Siward was probably of Scandinavian origin, perhaps a relative of Earl Ulf, and emerged as a powerful regional strongman in England during the reign of Cnut. Cnut was a Scandinavian ruler who conquered England in the 1010s, Siward subsequently rose to become sub-ruler of most of northern England. From 1033 at the latest Siward was in control of southern Northumbria and he entrenched his position in northern England by marrying Ælfflæd, the daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Bamburgh. After killing Ealdreds successor Eadulf in 1041, Siward gained control of all Northumbria and he exerted his power in support of Cnuts successors, kings Harthacnut and Edward, assisting them with vital military aid and counsel. He probably gained control of the shires of Northampton and Huntingdon by the 1050s. In the early 1050s Earl Siward turned against the Scottish ruler Mac Bethad mac Findlaích, despite the death of his son Osbjorn, Siward defeated Mac Bethad in battle in 1054. More than half a millennium later the Scotland adventure earned him a place in William Shakespeares Macbeth, Siward died in 1055, leaving one son, Waltheof, who would eventually succeed to Northumbria. St Olaves church in York and nearby Heslington Hill are associated with Siward, source material on Siwards life and career is scarce, and only a small and potentially unrepresentative amount of information exists. Other sources include the material attributed to Symeon of Durham, Siwards career in northern England spanned the reigns of four different monarchs. It began during the reign of Cnut, and lasted through those of Harold Harefoot, most important was the reign of Cnut, in which so many new political figures rose to power that some historians think it comparable to the Norman conquest five decades later. These new men were military figures, usually with weak hereditary links to the West Saxon royal house that Cnut had deposed, as Cnut ruled several Scandinavian kingdoms in addition to England, power at the highest level was delegated to such strongmen. In England, it fell to a handful of newly promoted ealdormen or earls, Siward was, in the words of historian Robin Fleming, the third man in Cnuts new triumvirate of earls, the other two being Godwine, Earl of Wessex and Leofwine, Earl of Mercia. Northern England in the 11th-century was a quite distinct from the rest of the country. The former kingdom of Northumbria stretched from the Humber and Mersey estuaries, northward to the Firth of Forth, the former is associated with the stronghold of Bamburgh, while the latter is associated with the great Roman city of York. It was a fragmented region. One such example was the magnate Thurbrand, a hold in Yorkshire, probably based in Holderness, historians generally claim Siward to be of Scandinavian origin, a conclusion supported by the Vita Ædwardi Regis, which states that Siward was Digri in the Danish tongue. Historian Timothy Bolton has recently argued that the similarities between these genealogies is evidence of a family tradition between the descendants of Siward and Thorgil Sprakling
10.
James VI and I
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James VI and I was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death. The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciary, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, James succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother Mary was compelled to abdicate in his favour. Four different regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, in 1603, he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, Elizabeth I, who died without issue. He continued to reign in all three kingdoms for 22 years, a period known after him as the Jacobean era, until his death in 1625 at the age of 58. After the Union of the Crowns, he based himself in England from 1603, only returning to Scotland once in 1617 and he was a major advocate of a single parliament for England and Scotland. In his reign, the Plantation of Ulster and British colonization of the Americas began, at 57 years and 246 days, Jamess reign in Scotland was longer than those of any of his predecessors. He achieved most of his aims in Scotland but faced difficulties in England, including the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. James himself was a scholar, the author of works such as Daemonologie, The True Law of Free Monarchies. He sponsored the translation of the Bible that would later be named after him, Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been termed the wisest fool in Christendom, an epithet associated with his character ever since. Since the latter half of the 20th century, historians have tended to revise Jamess reputation and treat him as a serious, James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Both Mary and Darnley were great-grandchildren of Henry VII of England through Margaret Tudor, Marys rule over Scotland was insecure, and she and her husband, being Roman Catholics, faced a rebellion by Protestant noblemen. James was born on 19 June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle, and as the eldest son and heir apparent of the monarch automatically became Duke of Rothesay and Prince and he was baptised Charles James or James Charles on 17 December 1566 in a Catholic ceremony held at Stirling Castle. His godparents were Charles IX of France, Elizabeth I of England, Mary refused to let the Archbishop of St Andrews, whom she referred to as a pocky priest, spit in the childs mouth, as was then the custom. The subsequent entertainment, devised by Frenchman Bastian Pagez, featured men dressed as satyrs and sporting tails, Jamess father, Darnley, was murdered on 10 February 1567 at Kirk o Field, Edinburgh, perhaps in revenge for Rizzios death. James inherited his fathers titles of Duke of Albany and Earl of Ross, Mary was already unpopular, and her marriage on 15 May 1567 to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who was widely suspected of murdering Darnley, heightened widespread bad feeling towards her. In June 1567, Protestant rebels arrested Mary and imprisoned her in Loch Leven Castle and she was forced to abdicate on 24 July 1567 in favour of the infant James and to appoint her illegitimate half-brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray, as regent. The care of James was entrusted to the Earl and Countess of Mar, to be conserved, nursed, and upbrought in the security of Stirling Castle
11.
Three Witches
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The Norns in Norse mythology are female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men. They roughly correspond to other controllers of humans destiny, the Fates, in Snorri Sturlusons interpretation of the Völuspá, Urðr, Verðandi and Skuld, the three most important of the Norns, come out from a hall standing at the Well of Urðr or Well of Fate. They draw water from the well and take sand that lies around it and these three Norns are described as powerful maiden giantesses whose arrival from Jötunheimr ended the golden age of the gods. They may be the same as the maidens of Mögþrasir who are described in Vafþrúðnismál, beside these three famous Norns, there are many others who appear at a persons birth in order to determine his or her future. In the pre-Christian Norse societies, Norns were thought to have visited newborn children, there were both malevolent and benevolent Norns, the former caused all the malevolent and tragic events in the world while the latter were kind and protective goddesses. The origin of the name norn is uncertain, it may derive from a meaning to twine. Bek-Pedersen suggests that the word norn has relation to the Swedish dialect word norna and this relates to the perception of norns as shadowy, background figures who only really ever reveal their fateful secrets to men as their fates come to pass. It should be noted that wyrd and urðr are etymological cognates, both Urðr and Verðandi are derived from the Old Norse verb verða, to be. While Urðr derives from the past tense, Verðandi derives from the present tense of verða, Skuld is derived from the Old Norse verb skulla, need/ought to be/shall be, its meaning is that which should become, or that needs to occur. There is no distinction between norns, fylgjas, hamingjas and valkyries, nor with the generic term dísir. Moreover, artistic license permitted such terms to be used for women in Old Norse poetry. To quote Snorri Sturlusons Skáldskaparmál on the names used for women. There are a number of surviving Old Norse sources that relate to the norns, the most important sources are the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda. A skaldic reference to the norns appears in Hvinis poem in Ynglingatal 24 found in Ynglingasaga 47 and this reference brings in the phrase norna dómr which means judgment of the nornir. In most cases, when the norns pass judgment, it means death to those who have been judged - in this case, along with being associated with being bringers of death, Bek-Pedersen suggests that this phrase brings in a quasi-legal aspect to the nature of the norns. This legal association is employed quite frequently within skaldic and eddic sources and this phrase can also be seen as a threat, as death is the final and inevitable decision that the norns can make with regard to human life. The Poetic Edda is valuable in representing older material in poetry from which Snorri tapped information in the Prose Edda, like Gylfaginning, the Poetic Edda mentions the existence of many lesser norns beside the three main norns. Moreover, it agrees with Gylfaginning by telling that they were of several races
12.
Regicide
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The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a person of royalty. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the execution of a king after a trial, reflecting the historical precedent of the trial. More broadly, it can refer to the killing of an emperor or any other reigning sovereign. Before the Tudor period, English kings had been murdered while imprisoned or killed in battle by their subjects, elizabeth had originally been excommunicated by Pope Pius V, in Regnans in Excelsis, for converting England to Protestantism after the reign of Mary I of England. The defeat of the Spanish Armada and the Protestant Wind convinced most English people that God approved of Elizabeths action, after the First English Civil War, King Charles I was a prisoner of the Parliamentarians. They tried to negotiate a compromise with him, but he stuck steadfastly to his view that he was King by Divine Right, on 13 December 1648, the House of Commons broke off negotiations with the King. In the middle of December, the King was moved from Windsor to London, the House of Commons of the Rump Parliament passed a Bill setting up a High Court of Justice in order to try Charles I for high treason in the name of the people of England. From a Royalist and post-restoration perspective this Bill was not lawful, however, the Parliamentary leaders and the Army pressed on with the trial anyway. At his trial in front of The High Court of Justice on Saturday 20 January 1649 in Westminster Hall, I would know by what authority, I mean lawful. In view of the issues involved, both sides based themselves on surprisingly technical legal grounds. Charles did not dispute that Parliament as a whole did have some powers, but he maintained that the House of Commons on its own could not try anybody. At that time under English law if a prisoner refused to plead then this was treated as a plea of guilty and he was found guilty on Saturday 27 January 1649, and his death warrant was signed by 59 Commissioners. To show their agreement with the sentence of death, all of the Commissioners who were present rose to their feet. On the day of his execution,30 January 1649, Charles dressed in two shirts so that he would not shiver from the cold, in case it was said that he was shivering from fear. Charles was then escorted through the Banqueting House in the Palace of Whitehall to a scaffold where he would be beheaded. He forgave those who had passed sentence on him and gave instructions to his enemies that they should learn to know their duty to God, the King - that is, my successors - and the people. He then gave a speech outlining his unchanged views of the relationship between the monarchy and the monarchs subjects, ending with the words I am the martyr of the people. His head was severed from his body with one blow, one week later, the Rump, sitting in the House of Commons, passed a bill abolishing the monarchy
