Everyone is familiar with politicians who seem to believe they are above the law either because they break the law, or because they vote special privileges for themselves.  Is it possible they have gotten this idea from history; from the thinking of  European kings and queens?

England’s first line of kings and queens came from the Tudor family.  They were all Roman Catholic until Henry VIII came along.  He wanted to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, because she could not provide him with a son.  This narcissistic man did not realize he was the one who determined the sex of his children.  Because the Pope would not sanction his divorce, he broke away from the Catholic church and pronounced himself the head of the Church of England.  The country bounced back and forth between being Catholic and protestant, depending on who was king or queen.  When “Bloody Mary” became queen, she executed every protestant she could find.  Hence, her name, Bloody Mary.  When the monarch was protestant, the protestants would flood back into the country, where they could live without persecution.

The last of the Tudor royalty was Queen Elizabeth.  She was referred to as the “the virgin queen,” because she never married or had children.  After Queen Elizabeth died, she left no heirs to take the throne, so the Stuart family took power.  This family, which was related to the Tudor family, believed in what is termed the “Divine Right of Kings.”  This theory states that God appoints kings and queens, and therefore, they answer to no one but God. (1)  The king considered himself God’s ambassador.  He was not subject to God’s natural law or any other laws the “common people” were forced to obey. He answered to no one in this life, only to God in the next life.  In other words, ultimate power and authority rested with the monarch.  He or she did not even have to honor anyone’s “inalienable rights.”   Consequently, if the king or queen said, “off with your head,” the head had to go!  The king could dictate not only outward conduct but also a person’s personal beliefs. (2)   This theory was in direct opposition to theories like the “creator-redeemer distinction,” “inalienable rights” or the “social contract theory.”

None of the monarchs from the Tudor and Stuart families were friendly toward the Puritans.  Whether the ruler was a Catholic or a protestant, the Puritans suffered persecution.  The name “Puritan” came from their desire to purify the Church of England, but because of intense torture for their beliefs,  some of them began to consider seeking a new life in America.

Interesting tidbits:  Parliament came to be filled with more and more Puritans which produced a power struggle between the king and Parliament.  The Puritan faction was called the Roundheads, and those loyal to the king were called Cavaliers.

(1) Amos and Gardner, NEVER BEFORE IN HISTORY, pp. 16,17, Haughton, 1998.

(2) Ibid., p. 17.