Macbeth kingship context

• In the Middle Ages kings were believed to have been chosen to rule by God. This is known as the divine right of Kings to a highly religious society.
• Jacobeans also believed in the great chain of being, a social order for the world which placed a king ruling as God's representative over other humans and all of nature
• Shakespeare wrote Macbeth to explore the value of kingship but also a warning against the consequences of treason