How 3 Were Influenced By The Doctrine of The Divine Right of Kings

The Doctrine of The Divine Right of Kings stated that a Monarch does not have to follow an authority, it can rule from the will of God. It was therefore a political and religious doctrine. There were a few people who agreed with it, but then some who were against it wholeheartedly. Some of the leaders and disagreed or agreed with it was Oliver Cromwell, James I, and Charles I.

James I became King of Scotland in 1567. Later on he also became King of England in 1603. He was one of the kings that agreed with the Doctrine of The Divine Right of Kings. James thought that he could do whatever he pleased without having to follow authorities like Parliament.

Even though at the time when James disagreed with Parliament there was still a rule that the leadership of England was partnered with the King and Parliament. James still thought that he could to whatever he pleased and change the rule to the way he wanted it to be. That disagreement later resulted in a Civil War with his son as King.

The next ruler was Charles I (James I’s son) and he disagreed with Parliament as well. That conflict even resulted in his execution. Later during his reign he even disbanded the Parliament because he decided to rule on his own. That made Parliament furious and led to an uprising against the King and the Parliamentarian Roundheads. A man named Oliver Cromwell led Parliament and completely disagreed with Charles. After this war Charles was tried in court but for him it didn’t end well. He was guilty of treason and was seen as an enemy to his people.

Oliver Cromwell was a man who became very versed in politics. He was first born into a noble family and later became very successful. But, even though his family was very poor, Oliver was still able to use his family as an advantage. He used his family name to get into politics. After that, he started becoming famous and well known for different things that he did from that point on. Some people, remember him negatively only because of what he ended up doing to the opposing countries against England.

Cromwell was one of the people who completely disagreed with the way the recent kings ruled with following the Doctrine of Divine Right of Kings. He agreed with Parliament and even became a member in 1628. Soon after that he decided to gather up an army to go against Charles I even though he didn’t have much military training. He gathered anyone he could, rich or poor, as long as they could fight. Even though Oliver started out not very versed in battle tactics he became a genius in the end and did amazing in battle.

The only part of his life that people viewed Cromwell negatively was when he was raiding other countries with attacks. Even though some thought that, he came back home to being a very successful man. At the time Parliament was broken up, so Oliver helped to restore the group. Since he was so successful he was later named as the Protectorate of the Commonwealth of England.

So, the Doctrine of The Divine Right of Kings influenced many rulers and even created some uprisings against it as well. Some of the kings followed it word for word while people of Parliament were extremely against it. In result, it affected history along the way.