Meaning & use
Divine Right of Kings
Last updated
Meaning
proper nounproperspecialist
The belief that a king or queen receives the right to rule from God, so that no earthly person or body can legitimately overrule or depose them.
Grammar: Usually written with capitals and used with the: the Divine Right of Kings.
Patterns
- the Divine Right of Kings
- a belief in the divine right of kings
James I defended the Divine Right of Kings in his writings.
The doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings declined after the English Civil War.
Critics argued that the Divine Right of Kings left subjects with no way to challenge a tyrant.
Common combinations
- defend the Divine Right of Kings
- Royal advisers rushed to defend the Divine Right of Kings.
- doctrine of the divine right
- The doctrine of the divine right shaped early Stuart rule.
- claim a divine right
- The monarch claimed a divine right to rule without Parliament.
- challenge the divine right
- Revolutionaries challenged the divine right of the king.
- belief in divine right
- Belief in divine right faded as parliaments grew stronger.
Synonyms and how they differ
- divine right
- Divine right is the shortened form and can apply to any ruler, not only kings.
- absolutism
- Absolutism describes unlimited royal power in general and need not rest on a religious claim.
- theocracy
- Theocracy means government by religious leaders, while the Divine Right only says rulers answer to God, not priests.
- mandate of Heaven
- The Mandate of Heaven is the similar Chinese idea, but it said the right could be lost if the ruler governed badly.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: Divine Right of Kings or divine rights? Divine Right of Kings or human rights?
Divine Right of Kings vs divine rights
Plural divine rights is a common slip; the doctrine is singular, the Divine Right of Kings.
Divine Right of Kings vs human rights
Human rights are claimed by all people, but the Divine Right belonged only to rulers.
Practice
According to the Divine Right of Kings, a monarch's authority comes from ___.
Choose one answer.
The doctrine claims kings are chosen by God. Voters, Parliament and the army are sources of authority the doctrine rejects.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Divine Right of Kings”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.