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Gruoch ingen Boite () was a Scottish queen, the daughter of
Boite mac Cináeda Boite mac Cináeda ("Boite son of Kenneth"; also, ''Bodhe'', ''Boedhe'', etc.; d. 1058) was a Scottish prince, son of either King Kenneth II of Scotland (Cináed mac Maíl Coluim) or King Kenneth III of Scotland (Cináed mac Duib).According to ...
, son of Cináed II. She is most famous for being the wife and queen of MacBethad mac Findlaích (Macbeth). The dates of her life are uncertain.


Life

Gruoch is believed to have been born 1015 or before, the daughter of Boite mac Cináeda; her mother's name is not known. Before 1032 Gruoch was married to Gille Coemgáin mac Maíl Brigti,
Mormaer of Moray The title Earl of Moray, Mormaer of Moray or King of Moray was originally held by the rulers of the Province of Moray, which existed from the 10th century with varying degrees of independence from the Kingdom of Alba to the south. Until 1130 th ...
, with whom she had at least one son,
Lulach mac Gille Coemgáin Lulach mac Gille Coemgáin ( Modern Gaelic: ''Lughlagh mac Gille Chomghain'', known in English simply as Lulach, and nicknamed Tairbith, "the Unfortunate" and Fatuus, "the Simple-minded" or "the Foolish"; before 1033 – 17 March 1058) was King of ...
, later
King of Scots The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin (), who founded the sovereign state, state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thoug ...
. Gille Coemgáin was killed in 1032, burned to death in a hall with 50 of his men. The next year one of her male relatives, probably her only brother, was murdered by Malcolm II. After the death of Gille Coemgáin, Gruoch married her husband's cousin, Macbeth. Macbeth may have been responsible for Gille Coemgáin's death, and certainly benefited from it, becoming Mormaer of Moray himself. It is unclear if Macbeth married Gruoch as an ally succoring the widow of a kinsman, or as a conqueror claiming the widow of an enemy. Macbeth killed King Duncan I in 1040 and succeeded him to become King of Alba. Gruoch became his queen. In grants made to the church of St Serf they are identified as "Machbet filius Finlach…et Gruoch filia Bodhe, rex et regina Scottorum", king and queen of Scots.Early Scottish Charters V, p. 5. Gruoch and Macbeth did not have any children, however, Macbeth did accept her son, Lulach, as his heir. Lulach is sometimes mistakenly identified as Macbeth's son, when in fact he was his step-son. Macbeth died 15 August 1057, and Lulach succeeded him to become king of Scots. It is not known what became of Gruoch or even if she survived Macbeth. Her date of death is not known. Fictional accounts tell of her death by suicide the same year Macbeth died, however, there are no valid sources supporting this. Gruoch is named with Boite and also with MacBethad in charters endowing the Culdee
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
at
Loch Leven Loch Leven may refer to: ;Bodies of water in Scotland * Loch Leven (Kinross), a freshwater loch in Perth and Kinross ** Loch Leven Castle, a fortress on the loch ** William Douglas of Lochleven, later the 6th Earl of Morton * Loch Leven (Highlands) ...
.


In fiction

* Gruoch is the model for the character
Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy '' Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...
in
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's play ''
Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
''. *The Scottish historical fiction series, ''The Celtic Blood'' by Melanie Karsak, centers around Gruoch's life, giving a fictional depiction of what her life could have been like. * She is the heroine of Gordon Bottomley's 1921 verse drama ''Gruach'', in which the King's Envoy (i.e. Macbeth) sees her sleepwalking on the eve of her marriage to another man, falls in love with her and carries her off. The play mentions her claim to the throne. * She appears, named Groa, as a major character in Dorothy Dunnett's 1982 novel of Macbeth, '' King Hereafter'', which topped the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' bestseller list. * Gruoch appeared in Nigel Tranter's ''MacBeth the King'' as Macbeth's co-ruler and a major character. * Gruoch appears in the 1990s TV series '' Gargoyles''. She is seen in flashbacks pertaining to Macbeth, who is a recurring antagonist in the series. This version of Gruoch is based on the historical figure and bears little resemblance to the literary Lady Macbeth. *
Susan Fraser King Susan King, née Longhi (born 1951 in New York City, United States) is a writer of historical romance novels as Susan King, Sarah Gabriel and Susan Fraser King. King's work has been translated into five languages, and she has received awards fr ...
wrote ''Lady Macbeth'', a 1982 historical novel about Gruoch, whose name she spelt as ''Gruadh''. King asserts that the book is as deeply rooted in fact as possible. Gruadh also appeared in another Susan Fraser King novel, ''Queen Hereafter'', about Margaret of Wessex and a fictional illegitimate daughter of King Lulach. * Gruoch also appears as the wife of
Macbeth, King of Scotland Macbeth ( – 15 August 1057) was King of Scots from 1040 until his death. He ruled over the Kingdom of Alba, which covered only a portion of present-day Scotland. Little is known about Macbeth's early life, although he was the son of Findláe ...
and the mother of
Lulach Lulach mac Gille Coemgáin ( Modern Gaelic: ''Lughlagh mac Gille Chomghain'', known in English simply as Lulach, and nicknamed Tairbith, "the Unfortunate" and Fatuus, "the Simple-minded" or "the Foolish"; before 1033 – 17 March 1058) was King of ...
in
Jackie French Jacqueline Anne Ffrench (born 29 November 1953), known professionally as Jackie French, is an Australian author who has written across a number of genres for both adults and children. Her most notable works include '' Rain Stones, Diary of a ...
's children's novel ''Macbeth and Son'', published in 2006. * Gloria Carreño's 2009 play ''A Season Before the Tragedy of Macbeth'' premiered by British Touring Shakespeare 2010, also sheds new light on Gruach Macduff, the central character. The play considers events up to the opening of the letter from the three witches in Shakespeare's tragedy. * In David Greig's 2010 play '' Dunsinane'', she is known as Gruach and outlives Macbeth.


Notes


References


Annals of Ulster
) at
University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...
's CELT project. * Duncan, A. A. M., ''The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence.'' Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2002. * Woolf, Alex, "Macbeth" in Michael Lynch (ed.), ''The Oxford Companion to Scottish History.'' Oxford UP, Oxford, 2001.
Playwright Gloria Carreño
* ''Une Saison Avant La Tragédie de Macbeth'', by Gloria Carreño. Les Editions Persée, 2010. . {{Authority control 11th-century births 11th-century deaths Scottish royal consorts House of Moray Moray 11th-century Scottish women 11th-century Scottish people Remarried royal consorts Queen mothers