William Shakespeare sets his drama at a moment in Scottish history soon after the end of English rule, which had dominated Scotland from the beginning of the tenth century. Although the sources from which Shakespeare worked all referred to events that had taken place in eleventh-century Scotland, the play itself was not a narrow historical document. Shakespeare adapted the time and setting for the purposes of his drama, creating an evocation of medieval Scotland whose mood would frame the actions of his Macbeth. The play refers to details of Scottish culture at that time, without an understanding of which the audience can miss some of the play's meaning.