read this article about Shakespeare and History for Monday May 25th

			Shakespeare and History A)    Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 1483 until his death in 1485, at the age of 32, in the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. But Shakespeare’s character is different from the real Richard even if there was a king who really died in the Battle of Bosworth field at the end of the war. Indeed Richard's death encouraged the furtherance of this later negative image by his Tudor successors due to the fact that it helped to legitimise Henry VII's seizure of the throne. So a lot of what people thought they knew about Richard III was pretty much propaganda and myth building. The Tudor characterisation culminated in the famous fictional portrayal of him in Shakespeare's play Richard III as a physically deformed Machiavellian villain, albeit courageous and witty, cheerfully committing numerous murders in order to claw his way to power… One film adaptation of Shakespeare's play Richard III is the 1955 version directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. Also notable are the 1995 film version starring Ian McKellen, set in a fictional 1930s fascist England, and Looking for Richard, a 1996 documentary film directed by Al Pacino, who plays the title character as well as himself. The play has been adapted for television on several occasions. B)  The War of the Roses The Wars of the Roses were a series of wars for control of the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the House of Lancaster (associated with a red rose), and the House of York (whose symbol was a white rose). The conflict lasted through many sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1487. The power struggle ignited around social and financial troubles following the Hundred Years' War, combined with the mental infirmity and weak rule of Henry VI which revived interest in Richard, Duke of York's claim to the throne. adapted from wikipedia C)    Macbeth and Shakespeare’s Scottish Play Shakespeare's Macbeth bears little resemblance to the real 11th century Scottish king.Mac Bethad mac Findláich, known in English as Macbeth, was born in around 1005.In August 1040, he killed the ruling king, Duncan I, in battle near Elgin, Morayshire. Macbeth became king. His marriage to Kenneth III's granddaughter Gruoch strengthened his claim to the throne. In 1045, Macbeth defeated and killed Duncan I's father Crinan at Dunkeld. For 14 years, Macbeth seems to have ruled equably, imposing law and order and encouraging Christianity. He was also a brave leader In 1054, Macbeth was challenged by Siward, Earl of Northumbria, who was attempting to return Duncan's son Malcolm Canmore, who was his nephew, to the throne. In August 1057, Macbeth was killed at the Battle of Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire by Malcolm Canmore (later Malcolm III). adapted from BBC history D)    Lady Macbeth = Gruoch But perhaps history's real victim has been Lady Macbeth? A royal princess in her own right, she was the grieving widow of Macbeth's cousin Gillacomgain, whom Macbeth had slaughtered, and therefore the mother of a fatherless son, Lulach, when she married her first husband's murderer. adapted from  scotsman.com