Emerging from the political and religious turmoil of absolute monarchies, thinkers sought to replace divine or hereditary right with reason and human consent, transforming governance from a theological mystery into a solvable political problem.
The King’s claims were not merely political; they were cosmic. The Stuart monarchs inherited a nation still deeply fractured by the Reformation, where state authority and religious allegiance were dangerously intertwined. The King’s claim to divine power was not a unifying force, but a lightning rod for religious persecution and resentment.