Looking south from the Mounth

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The mountains of the Mounth form a natural barrier, defining and protecting Moray's southern border. Looking south from the mountains, Macbeth would have known that Perthshire was the real political heartland of Alba. No coincidence then, that Scone appears to become the location for the inauguration of Kings at about the same time as the term Alba is first used.

1066 and all that

Further south, England as we know it today doesn't exist. The Norman conquest of 1066 is yet to occur. Instead there is a patchwork of Anglo Saxon Kingdoms ruled by Edward the Confessor. Alba's closest southern rival is Northumbria and Macbeth will come to rue Northumbrian involvement in Alba's affairs.

Macbeth was dead by the time Edward the Confessor's reign came to an end. He was succeeded by Harold Godwinson, who was destined to be the last Anglo-Saxon King of England. Norman involvement in England did not happen suddenly at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 - in fact, Macbeth himself made use of Norman mercenaries following their expulsion from England in 1052.

Power Politics

Politics in the 11th century was all about the exercise of power, often in the form of military might exercised by the leader and his followers. Not everything was settled by violent means, however. Marriage alliances were important in preventing warfare. Macbeth's own marriage to Gruoch was probably a political act - perhaps more about the head than the heart.