Divine right of kings is the belief that monarchs get their right to rule directly from God, rather than from the consent or wish of their subjects. According to this belief, it is up to God to punish a wicked king. So far as the people are concerned, “the king can do no wrong” and ought to be obeyed.
This idea was at its height during the 1600’s, especially in England during the reign of the Stuarts and in France under Louis XIV. The first blow at divine right was the execution of King Charles I of England in 1649. In the late 1700’s, the French Revolution repudiated the belief and asserted that the right to rule came from the people. But the divine-right doctrine lasted long after that time. It was asserted in the early 1900’s by the German Emperor Wilhelm II as king of Prussia, and by Czar Nicholas II of Russia.
