Essay On Divine Right Theory

A monarchy is a state or nation in which the supreme power is actually or nominally lodged in a monarch, or a hereditary sole and absolute ruler of a state or nation, such as a king, queen, or emperor. Many monarch rulers believed in the Divine Right Theory of Kingship as it helped them to maintain absolutism, this is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. (Dictionary.com) It assures that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority. They receive the right to rule directly from the will of God and therefore is not subject to the will of his people or the Catholic Church. Only God can judge a king. (Wiki DRK) The Divine Right Theory of Kingship had such a lack of responsibility that it has been known to produce evil kings.

This theory originates from Jean Bodin, who based this on the interpretation of Roman law. Jean Bodin (1530-1596) was a French absolutist theorist, lawyer, judge, and on the occasion, an advisor to members of the royal family. He insisted that sovereignty was absolute, indivisible, and unlimited by human laws. Bodin believed that in any system of government the power to make, interpret, and enforce laws had to be held by one person or institution. Aristotle also argued that there could be mixed forms of government with element of all three, and that the best form of government was one where law ruled instead of the people. (Absolutism and the Divine right of kings)

When the Protestant Reformation was occurring, the Theory

of Divine Right justified the kings’ absolute authority in both political and spiritual matters. This theory meant that the king didn’t have to listen to anyone but God himself. If a king was evil, it was seen as a punishment sent from God, and the citizens should suffer in silence. If a king was good, it was a blessing sent from God. The success of the Divine Right theory was the idea of punishment to enforce obedience. The threat of punishment created fear among the sovereign’s subjects and made the monarchs of this period tyrannical. They would hold public executions to assert obedience. They used propaganda to ensure loyalty of their subjects and the idea of sedition taught their subjects that divine retribution would occur if they acted out against their ruler. ('the absolute right to rule') This doctrine was seen as a danger for the church and state. The state suggests that secular authority is conferred, and can be removed by the church. For the church it implies that kings have a direct relationship with God and can dictate to clerical rulers. (divine right of kings | doctrine) At the time, this theory contributed to the social rankings and instituted a political hierarchy.
This theory came to England under the reign of King James I of England, formerly known as King James VI of Scotland. He ruled as King of Scotland from July of 1567 to March of 1603, when he began his rule as King of England as well as Ireland. King James was a devout believer in divine right theory of kingship. He had his own version of the Geneva Bible named after him and attempted to deny any knowledge of this even though he quoted it in his writings. He didn’t encourage a translation of the bible so the common people wouldn’t be able to be enlightened. His intent was to deny them the marginal notes of the Geneva version. These marginal notes were the reason it was so popular with the common people. The Geneva Bibles marginal notes didn’t conform to the point of view of the divine right of kings. The King James Bible was for all practical purposes, a government publication. A marginal note that particularly bothered James such as “When tyrants cannot prevail by craft they burst forth into open rage.” (Note I, Exodus 1:22) (Sharpe)
In times of King James rule, religion was greatly controlled by government. A person had three religious choices: attend the Anglican Church, stay silent about his religious differences, or any one of the various forms of torture used to persuade people. The most common of which including burning, beating, and suffocating. Torture was used in capital cases as well as against suspected heretics. It was a common and sanctioned part of the legal proceedings of most European countries which was approved by the inquisition in cases of heresy. (horrors of the church) In early 1625 James began suffering severe attacks of arthritis, gout, and fainting fits. He fell ill with tertian ague and died in May after suffering a stroke. King James I was the kind of man that the Bible itself orders to be put to death and was considered an evil king. (Global Insights)
Charles I was born in Fife on November 19, 1600 he was the second son of James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark. He became heir to the throne upon the death of his brother, Prince Henry in 1612. Controversy and disputes followed Charles throughout his reign and eventually led to civil wars. Initially in 1637 with the Scots, then later in 1642 in England. These wars deeply divided the people, and while historians are not in agreement about the real causes of conflict, it is clear that Charles I was not a successful ruler. He was reserved, self-righteous, and had a high concept of royal authority. He was deeply religious, preferring to worship in the high Anglican way of ritual and tradition. He disagreed on religious and financial matters with many leading citizens and broke his engagement to the Spanish Infanta Maria Anna. Instead he married a Roman Catholic woman named Henrietta Maria of France. This marriage made matters worse as parliament demanded that there would be no advantages for the people refusing to attend Church of England services, but the French insisted on a commitment to remove all disabilities upon Roman Catholic subjects. This was secretly added to the marriage treaty despite Charles promises to parliament.
Charles engaged in ill-fated wars with France and Spain at the same time. Two failed expeditions to France led by Buckingham brought about a crisis as the crown’s debt increased greatly. Charles dismissed his fourth Parliament in March 1638 when he decided that he could make do without them or the taxes that it alone could legally grant. This period became known as “The Eleven Years Tyranny.” He gained most of the income he needed by exploiting forest laws, forced loans, and ship money. All of which made him very unpopular as these endeavors alienated many who were supporters of the crown. After a civil war in 1649 it was decided that permanent peach was impossible while Charles lived. On January 20th, 1649, Charles was charged with high treason and was sentenced to death. His final words were “I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible Crown, where no disturbance can be.” (Sharpe)
Jacques-Benigne Bossuet (1627-1704) was a French bishop and theologian who was renowned for his sermons and other addresses. Bossuet was court preacher to Louis XIV of France and was a strong supporter of political absolutism and the Divine Right Theory of Kingship. Louis XIV, known as Louis the Great from the House of Bourbon, ruled as the King of France. His reign lasted 72 years, the longest of any monarch of a major country in European history. He continued his predecessors’ work of creating a centralized state governed from the capital. He wanted to eliminate the remnants of feudalism persisting in parts of France and compelled many members of nobility to inhabit his palace of Versailles, succeeded in pacifying the aristocracy. A lot of the members of which had participated in the Fronde rebellion during his youth. He became one of the most powerful French monarchs and consolidated a system of absolute monarchial rule in France that lasted until the French Revolution. During his reign France lead European power and fought three major wars, The Franco-Dutch War, The War of the League of Augsburg, and The War of Devolution and The War of the Reunions. Louis encouraged and benefited from the work of prominent political, military, and cultural figures such as Mazarin, Turenne, and Rigaud. (Louis XVI fo France)
The differing political systems in France and England that led to the acceptance of absolutism in France and its corresponding failure in England. Parliament had had so much power in England for so long that it didn’t want to give it up. While in France there was nothing comparable to parliament that existed to take power away from the monarchs. Feudal lords fought against the French King while the public supported a strong headed government to keep the peace. In England a majority of people supported Parliament because it had representatives from the middle and lower classes, as well as nobles. It served as a check to the King’s power. Monarchs started realizing how much power Parliament had and knew that they had to work with it and not against it to work properly. Parliament was so strongly ingrained into the English government that it survived while absolute government died. Parliament kept gaining power over the king through the end of the 1600’s and would eventually become the leading government of England. If the political systems had been more similar maybe the parliament or absolutism would have succeeded in both nations. France moved towards an absolute monarch while England leaned towards a stronger parliament. Louis XIV strengthened his own office while weakening the general assembly, the Estates General. Louis XIV took absolutism to extremes by claiming that he was a servant of God and dissolved France’s only general assembly. (Absolutism in the Seventeenth Century, essay by Tyler Jones)
The Divine Right Theory of Kingship as it helped them to maintain absolutism, this is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy.

It assures that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority. They receive the right to rule directly from the will of God and therefore is not subject to the will of his people or the Catholic Church. Only God can judge a king. The Divine Right Theory of Kingship had such a lack of responsibility that it has been known to produce evil

kings.