Battle of Lumphanan 1057: Macbethian era Scotland
On this day in History 1057, Macbeth, the King of Scots, then known as the King of Alba, was killed at the Battle of [the Peelring of] Lumphanan in what is today Aberdeenshire , Scotland . Macbeth was killed in battle by the combined Scottish-Scandinavian army of Prince Malcolm Canmore, the son of the dethroned and murdered King Duncan I. Macbeth in combat, 19th century depiction The Battle of Lumphanan began when a small band of Macbeth’s retainers, 300-450 mounted warriors and the former King Macbeth were ambushed as they were on the march south by Prince Malcolm’s army near or at the Peelring of Lumphanan, southeast of Essie. An odd looking landmark, the Peel of Lumphanan is a sort of pudgy hill fortification or redoubt, which the saga writers and chroniclers believed was the likely place where the battle was fought and the usurper-king killed. Macbeth was either found amongst the dead on the battlefield by Prince Malcolm or captured and summarily executed immediately after th...