Which monarch advocated the Divine Right of Kings and resisted limits on royal power, contributing to the English Civil War?

• A. James I
• B. Charles I
• C. Oliver Cromwell
• D. Charles II

Answer: (B)

Divine Right is the idea that a monarch’s authority comes from God and should not be constrained by earthly powers. Charles I championed this view and acted as if the king’s decisions were above Parliament. He resisted its pushes to limit royal prerogatives—taxing without consent, enforcing policies without broad agreement, and shaping religion to fit his preferences. His willingness to rule without Parliament for long periods and to impose measures by decree created deep resistance among many who believed the king’s power should be checked. That clash over who held ultimate authority fueled intense political and religious tensions and helped spark the English Civil War.

James I also believed in the divine right, but the crisis and war that followed were tied most directly to Charles I’s insistence on prerogative power. Cromwell and Charles II come into the story at different stages—Cromwell as the Parliamentarian leader in the war and Charles II after the monarchy’s restoration—so neither is the figure who initiated the power struggle in the same way.