the divine right of kings
Preserved but no longer current.
The notion that kings reign by direct ordinance of God, quite apart from the will of the people. This phrase was much used m the 17th century on account of the pretensions of the Stuart kings; and the idea arose from the Old Testament, where kings are called "God's anointed,** because they were God's vicars on earth, when the Jews changed their theocracy for a monarchy. The right divine of kings to govern wrong.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “the divine right of kings” mean?
The notion that kings reign by direct ordinance of God, quite apart from the will of the people. This phrase was much used m the 17th century on account of the pretensions of the Stuart kings; and the idea arose from the Old Testament, where kings are called "God's anointed,** because they were God's vicars on earth, when the Jews changed their theocracy for a monarchy. The right divine of kings to govern wrong.
Is “the divine right of kings” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.