Divine Right Throughout each article three factors stood out the most: How the subjects of the stories were viewed, how the subject of the story viewed other people, and how the subject of each story handled situations. Each of these factors helps the documents illustrate the authority of Divine Right of Kingship in their own way. Through the Divine Right of Kingship the Emperor, King or Sultan is considered God’s regent on earth. This puts tremendous responsibility on the leaders, so they need to keep their priorities straight. They also need to be viewed as an almighty ruler in not only their empire’s eyes, but the eyes of other empires as well. In some cases they are feared because they are so powerful and their power comes from a divine …show more content…
right. In “The Turkish Letter’s” by Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, this idea of viewing a leader of being all powerful is expressed. Busbecq is writing this memoir almost as an outsider. He is expressing concern for the Ottoman Empire expanding into his hometown, Austria. The author fears the ruler and military of the Ottoman Empire. He writes, “On his [Suleiman’s] arrival we were admitted to an audience…. His air [attitude], was by no means gracious, and his face wore a stern, though dignified expression.” Busbecq is describing the ruler as an intimidating man. As a ruler, it’s good to be viewed this way. If the ruler’s people truly believe the ruler has divine right, he or she will intimidate them. The way rulers view their subjects are very important because they are appointed at the discretion of God. In a way this gives the rulers the right to treat their subjects however they feel is necessary. Now whether they treat their subjects fairly is completely up to them. In “Memoirs” by Louis XIV, the King views his subjects as beneath him and puts on a grand spectacle to show his people his righteousness and how magnificent he is. His sense of divine right couldn’t be any more powerful than that. In the document he says, “It was necessary to conserve and cultivate with care all that which, without diminishing the authority and respect due to me… so as to make them see by this very means that it was neither aversion for them… that made me more reserved and more exact toward them in other matters.” He wanted his subjects to view him as all-powerful. That’s way he took on the sun as his symbol. The sun is the center of the Earth and that’s what Louis XIV wanted to be, he wanted his subjects to know he could conquer anything. He states this when he says, “I would doubtless by capable of governing other empires, just as the sun was capable of lighting up other worlds…” Louis XIV was definitely an absolute ruler and he was condescending towards his subjects because he had the divine right to rule, not them. The most important way divine right is show from rulers is how they handle situations in their kingdom or empire and with their subjects.
With divine right, rulers are supposed to carry out justice. They are responsible to follow God’s rules and in turn make their subjects follow God’s rule. They are trusted with carrying out God’s justice. In “Reflections” by The Emperor Kangxi, he writes about multiple times he had to carry out justice. When one of his high officials wrecked havoc through their town he dealt with it immediately. He writes, “… the Board of Punishment recommended that Hu be dismissed and sent into exile for three years. I ordered instead that he be executed with his family, and in his native place…” Although the punishment was intense and gruesome, the Emperor was doing what he considered was right and carrying out justice he believed was most right. In “Memoirs” by the Indian emperor Jahangir, the emperor states rules and regulations that he put into place as a way to keep things orderly. It’s almost like Moses reading the Ten Commandments. These rules are absolute and are not meant to broken. He writes, “I instituted… special regulations… as rules of conduct, never to be deviated from in their respective stations.” It’s very important for a ruler to be just and set rules so the kingdom or empire won’t turn into complete chaos. Since the rulers have the divine right, the subjects need to follow them and both this articles show how the emperors make that happen. Overall each article represented an aspect of the Divine Right of Kinship in a unique way. They clearly showed how rulers treat their subjects, how their subjects treat them, and how they regulate and handle situations. These documents showed proof that each kingdom and empire is different than the other and use the Divine Right of Kingship to their
advantage.
Throughout the entirety if history when the authorities of an empire exploit and belittle overwhelming majority of their population economically, politically, and religiously they will rebel. The authorities did their best to combat the pilgrimages and revolts by through means of execution, excommunication, demoralization, and suppression. The authoritative hierarchal authorities emerged victorious and the revolt was put down.
Since the emperors were the leaders they were in charge of the whole empire, so it means they made most of the decisions for the empire. When the soldiers had asked if they could set aside the armor the emperor should be thinking about how that would affect the empire but instead thought about the soldiers and allowed this. If they wouldn't have allowed it then the army wouldn't have gotten lazy and weak and they would have been able to defend the empire properly. So that means that most of those invasions wouldn't have happened in the first place. Also in the Background Essay it states that the leaders were more focused on getting their way instead of focusing on debate and compromise. So they had less interest in focusing on the more important things that will help the
In this instance the type of rulers that will be addressed will be the Christian and Muslim rulers as oppose to
There is a stark parallel between the Vietnam War and the circumstances under which life is maintained on Potrero Hill. The soldiers in Gods Go Begging are poor, uneducated, and trapped fighting in a war they do not support; the boys on Potrero Hill are also poor, uneducated, and unable to escape the war into which they were born. They are victims of their circumstances and their government. Some of the boys that Jesse meets in Vietnam are there because they were drafted. Unable to get a deferment, either due to a lack of funds or because no higher education establishment would accept them, boys are forced to go off to war. Others, like Mendez, fled to the United States in order to escape the violence at home that resulted from the United States’
Einhard, in his account of Charlemagne, and Ibn Battuta, in his account of Mansa Sulaiman, give witness to the way these two kings ruled their lands and provide an insight on how culture has an effect on people’s views of their leaders. Although each one lived in different cultures, each ruler embodied similar characteristics, such as the influence of religion on their realms. However, there are several distinct differences as well, and each narrative contains cultural bias that cannot be ignored. Overall, each account thoroughly analyzes each ruler and infuses their observations with the culture of the time, which is integral in order to gain an accurate depiction of who these men were.
In the Empire, the Emperor had complete jurisdiction over all policies and decisions. In the beginnings of the empire, h...
The government within the monarchical society was populated by the aristocracy. It was they who were depended upon for directing the course of governmental affairs. The controls of all co...
...e ruler only holds power as long as his subjects obey his punishment commands. The sovereign does not determine the question of obedience to his commands, because that is ultimately a question the subjects determine for themselves, based on their assessment of their best interests and welfare. It therefore follows that the people as subjects, in due course, establish the very existence of the sovereign, which is dependent on obedience to his commands.
Munn, Mark H. The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny in Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. N.p.: Berkeley: University of Califronia, 2006. Print.
The absolute monarchy, while similar to general monarchy, goes further in dissatisfaction. In this regime, the ruler believes they derive authority from a god or multiple deities (Perry, 24). Commanding military and judicial systems, the ruler is in a position of authority, limiting rights and suppressing freedoms.
After its founding in 1979, Iran became a Theocratic Republic. It was originally a monarchy, but after much fighting, the last Shah (king) went into exile and the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini established the Islamic Republic (Kagan, 2012a). In a theocratic republic, God is the supreme civil ruler of the nation. The people elect a supreme leader and president to oversee political and some civil laws, but the leaders must look to the Qur’an for spiritual and civil guidance (Theocratic, 2016). The supreme leader has the overall control in all matters to include the military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a military entity charged with protecting the revolution of 1979 and its achievements (Kagan, 2012). The state’s government is a multi-tier system with some checks and balance systems in place so that one group does not have total power. The first tier is the Islamic consultation assembly, a parliamentary group who creates and passes laws. The second tier is the Guardian Council. Elected by the supreme leader, this group is the approval authority for all of the parliament’s decisions. The Guardian Council also has the power to remove the Supreme Leader if they feel he is not worthy of the title. The Expediency Council is the last tier, which mediates decisions between the previous two entities. The
Power is one of the most coveted forms of supremacy in “Theogony” and the “Enuma Elish”, which establish similar terms of divine hierarchical order by exalting a supreme ruler. Both poems tell us how important power was to the Gods and the subjects worshiping them. In these works the “rulers of the Gods”, Zeus and Marduk, earn and display dominant powers which are similar in many ways.
The Byzantine Empire was established in the year 330 A.D and quickly formed a complex system of aristocracy and bureaucracy shadowing the former Roman Empire. On the highest degree of the power pyramid, the emperor stands firmly on the top as the only ruler. Followed by the emperor are numerous officials including house and court bureaucrats. Finally honorable men who have been given special titles had some respect in the governing body but not a lot. While the political structures were most similar to the previous Roman Empire, however the emperor was thought to be God’s representative on earth instead as a God himself. The Byzantine aristocracy was branched into three parts: the clergy, bureaucrats, and military officials. Under the aristocracy were the peasants and merchants living under the government’s control and was the majority of the population. The large peasant class was vital in supplying goods and provided the Byzantine Empire with huge amounts of tax revenue. Also the empire expanded their trading network with Asia, Russia, and Scandinavia offering silk products to t...
Compassion, like generosity is also admired. But a ruler must be careful that he does not show compassion unwisely. A new ruler has to be cruel initially, because being a new ruler is full of d...
While Confucius was having a discussion with one of his disciples, “Zigong asked about governance. The Master said, ‘Provide the people with adequate food, provide them with adequate weapons, induce them to have faith in their ruler.’” If the people are not well cared for or protected then there is no one for the ruler to govern. It should be a duty of a good ruler to care and protect his subjects as though, they are his children. Besides helping the people by aiding in their wellbeing another way to take an active role is to protect the citizens from growing threats, which pertains anywhere from riots to Mongols. A ruler should protect his subjects from big and little threats alike. Big threats include Mongols, which could result in war and little threats, which include riots. Riots are a threat because the people become angry and start a revolt. A revolt is problematic because the people are not happy and are causing destruction everywhere they go and are potentially hurting other innocent