DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS
Charles I had an unshakeable belief in his own personal authority
GETTY IMAGES X6, ALAMY X1
Charles I (right) had a fractious relationship with Parliament from the beginning of his reign, in 1625, not helped by his zealous belief in the ‘divine right of kings’. Like his father James VI and I, Charles considered himself answerable only to God and so subject to no earthly authority. Such high ideals of royal power made him appear, at least, intransigent and arrogant and, at worse, autocratic.