King James & Shakespeare

"One can connect Shakespeare's patron, King James I, to almost every significant dramatic alteration Shakespeare made to his source material on the historical Macbeth, as we can see in Shakespeare's Sources for Macbeth. But fascinating contemporary references and compliments to James also are found throughout the play. ....The two-fold balls and treble sceptres (4.1) is a reference to the double coronation of James, at Scone and Westminster, and the most overt homage to James in the play. The balls or globes "were the royal insignia which King James bore in right of his double kingship of England and Scotland, and the three sceptres were those of his three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland".....Another obvious tribute to James is Malcolm's reference to the evil  or scrofula, which James believed he could cure by his touch; a power supposedly inherited from Edward the Confessor.Macbeth also, more so than any of Shakespeare's works, is overflowing with Biblical imagery, and, of course, one of King James's great passions was Scripture, culminating in the King James Version of the Bible in 1611. Another of James's interests was witchcraft, and woven into Macbeth are portions of James's own book on the subject, Daemonologie. ......It is not surprising that Shakespeare aimed to please James. Shortly after his arrival in London, James insisted that Shakespeare's troupe come under his own patronage......"......http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbeth/jamescompliments.html


William Shakespeare was born in 1564......Around 1590 he left his family behind and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical acclaim quickly followed, and Shakespeare eventually became the most -popular playwright in England and part-owner of the Globe Theater. His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 1558–1603) and James I (ruled 1603–1625), and he was a favorite of both monarchs. Indeed, James granted Shakespeare’s company the greatest possible compliment by bestowing upon its members the title of King’s Men. Wealthy and renowned, Shakespeare retired to Stratford and died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two.