His mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was beheaded and his father was assassinated (1). If this is true, there would be no reason for Shakespeare to write King James as Macbeth because Shakespeare could have gotten in trouble with the King. Also out of respect for his new king, Shakespeare would want to flatter the king, not embarrass him.
One of the major historical texts some historians believe Shakespeare used to gain knowledge about the historical Macbeth was Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, written in 1577. Not only did he use Holinshed’s texts but he also used different versions of the story and combined them together to get the base of his play. According to “The Historical Context of Macbeth,” the Holinshed has the most informational resources about Macbeth’s life. Holinshed’s Chronicles report about the real Macbeth’s life. From them readers can see some similarities from the actual story to the play. The Chronicles say that when King Malcom II of Scotland died, He commanded that his oldest grandson Duncan receive the throne. This, however, went against the Celts tradition of succession. The tradition is that the