Macbeth was written in the early 17th century, most likely around 1606–1607, during the reign of King James I of England.

Core timeline

  • Most scholars date the play to about 1606 , based on references in the text to the 1605 Gunpowder Plot and to King James I’s Scottish lineage.
  • Major reference works (such as the Folger Shakespeare Library and Encyclopaedia Britannica) usually give a composition window of 1606–1607.
  • The play was first published later in the 1623 First Folio , not during Shakespeare’s lifetime as a separate printed edition.

Why that date range?

  • The strong interest in witches, prophecy, and Scottish history in Macbeth aligns closely with King James I’s known obsessions and political image after he took the English throne in 1603.
  • Allusions that echo the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 suggest Shakespeare wrote the play soon after that event, reinforcing the circa-1606 dating.

In short: when people ask “when was Macbeth written,” the historically supported answer is that Shakespeare wrote it around 1606, within a broader scholarly window of 1606–1607.