Macbeth kills Duncan I of Scotland

August 14, 1040

The Moray mormaer overthrew his cousin Duncan in battle at Pitgaveny, not by stealth in a guest chamber as Shakespeare would later claim. Macbeth would rule Scotland for seventeen stable years, even making a pilgrimage to Rome, before his own death in battle against Duncan's son Malcolm. His generous alms to the poor of Rome were noted by chroniclers as remarkably lavish for a northern king.