How seriously did people take claim that kings ruled with Gods blessing?

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How seriously did people take claim that kings ruled with God’s blessing?

        

People did not seriously take claim that kings ruled with God’s blessing; it was more widely accepted that kings ruled to preserve the obfuscating feudal society, rather than for divine right. As Petit-Dutaillis articulates the kings’ function was purely for political ideology with financial principles and national social amalgamation to uphold a feudalistic society; which was seen at best the only effective configuration appropriate for a violent, disfiguring and destructible world. It would be more supplementary sensible to argue that ‘it was essential’ for people to ‘have a public authority’, as to destroy the emergence of ‘tyranny’ there ‘must be kings’. However, it undoubtedly must be acknowledged that there are arguments harmonizing that people seriously claimed kings ruled with God’s blessing, these aspects of arguments must also be carefully analysed. As the question is fairly vague in its wording, by only highlighting people, it must be discussed through groups of people from separate backgrounds within a feudal society such as: the monarchy itself, the Pope and his clergy representatives, the nobility and peasants.          

At first it is best to evaluate the altercation supporting that people took claim that kings ruled with God’s blessing from the point of view of the monarchy in which Jones and Herrin are promoters. Jones elucidates that kingship, was portrayed by the monarchy as having the divine prerogative to administrate the wishes of God and that no earthly power could influence the king’s ‘absolutism’. This is certainly true by using King Richard II of England (1367-1400) as an exemplar, in which he commemorated himself as being ‘the protagonist of sacred majesty’, concerning the importance of his obsession with sacred kingship by displaying ‘the sun on his banners and standards’ , and also requesting the creation of the Wilton Diptych; a small diptych depicting the reign of Richard being blessed by the Virgin Mary along with other popular saints. Herrin also coincides by enlightening the model that the monarchy portrayed itself of obtaining ‘imperial power’ through ‘God’s will and served as His representative on earth’, this ideology was widely spread throughout Western and Eastern Christian Europe, as for example, it was evident in the Byzantium Empire; as emperor’s accentuated that their ‘power was designed to implement divine rule’. Both Jones and Herrin are supported by an anonymous ‘tractates’, accredited to date back to 1100AD, in which the anonymous manifestly records ‘the power of the King is the power of God’. The origin of this primary source must be scrutinized however, as Kantorowicz noticeably expresses doubt about the authorship of the ‘tractates’, as the biographer himself was a ‘Norman cleric’ who was ‘instituted by the king’, this suggests the Norman priest would of be in favouritism for the king suggestive of the kings’ ascendancy with God highlighting his: superior authority. However this will be discussed later presently. Although it seems indisputably comprehensible that later medieval monarchy seriously imposed kings ruled with God’s blessing, supported moderately by the Catholic clergy, there are different aspects which must be explored.        

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The Pope and his clergy representatives gave the impression they corroborated kings ruled with God’s blessing, possibly suggesting that people within the Catholic commune from dissimilar economic classes were also convinced of the king’s divine rule. This becomes palpable as the church in both England and France held claim of the king’s ‘biological privilege’ because of its celestial importance of being blessed to do God’s bidding; to govern His Catholic land and persons through ‘divine right’. This is substantiated by the Norman anonymous, who has been mentioned before, interprets kings of being a ‘persona mixta’ and ‘not an ordinary person’, ...

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