Which two kings staunchly believed in the 'Divine Right of Kings' principle?
The concept of the 'Divine Right of Kings' was a big deal in the 17th century, and it essentially meant that a monarch believed their authority to rule came directly from God, not from the people or Parliament. This idea was particularly embraced by the Stuart kings, James I and his son, Charles I. James I, who came to the English throne after Elizabeth I in 1603, was a strong believer in this principle and often clashed with Parliament over it. Charles I, even more so than his father, doubled down on the Divine Right, leading to major conflicts with Parliament over taxation and power. This ultimately culminated in the English Civil War in the 1640s, and Charles I was eventually executed. So, because James I and Charles I so firmly believed their right to rule came from God, they are the correct answer. While Henry VIII was a powerful monarch, his authority stemmed more from breaking with the Catholic Church and establishing himself as head of the Church of England. William of Orange, on the other hand, came to the throne after the Glorious Revolution, which actually limited the power of the monarchy, making the Divine Right an unlikely principle for him to support.
This father and son duo, James I and Charles I, stuck to the ideology that their royalty was a divine mandate.