Fleance

Fleance is a figure in legendary Scottish history. He was depicted by sixteenth century historians as the son of Banquo and the ancestor of the kings of the House of Stuart. Fleance is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, in which the Three Witches prophesy that Banquo's descendants will be kings. Some screen adaptations of the story expand on Fleance's role by showing his return to the kingdom after Macbeth's death. Shakespeare's play is adapted from Holinshed's Chronicles, a history of the British Isles written during the late sixteenth century. In Holinshed, Fleance escapes Macbeth and flees to Wales, where he fathers a son who later becomes Steward to the King of Scotland. His later descendants gain the throne and begin the Stuart line of kings in England. James I, who was king during the writing of Macbeth, was, as legend had it, a descendant of the Stuart line of Scottish kings.