Editing Divine right of kings (section)

====Kingdom of France====
[[File:Louis XIV habillé en soleil.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|[[Louis XIV of France]] depicted as the Sun King.]]
The French prelate [[Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet]] made a classic statement of the doctrine of divine right in a sermon preached before King Louis XIV:<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/sermonschoisisd00maurgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/sermonschoisisd00maurgoog/page/n230 219]|quote=bossuet sermons royalty.|title=Sermons choisis de Bossuet|year=1845|publisher=Firmin-Didot|author=Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet|author-link=Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet|series=Sur le devoir des rois}}</ref>

{{blockquote|{{lang|fr|Les rois règnent par moi, dit la Sagesse éternelle: 'Per me reges regnant'; et de là nous devons conclure non seulement que les droits de la royauté sont établis par ses lois, mais que le choix des personnes est un effet de sa providence.}}}}
{{blockquote|Kings reign by Me, says Eternal Wisdom: "''Per me reges regnant''" [in Latin]; and from that we must conclude not only that the rights of royalty are established by its laws, but also that the choice of persons [to occupy the throne] is an effect of its providence.}}

The French Huguenot nobles and clergy, having rejected the pope and the Catholic Church, were left only with the supreme power of the king who, they taught, could not be gainsaid or judged by anyone. Since there was no longer the countervailing power of the papacy and since the Church of England was a creature of the state and had become subservient to it, this meant that there was nothing to regulate the powers of the king, and he became an absolute power. In theory, [[Divine law|divine]], [[Natural law|natural]], customary, and [[constitutional law]] still held sway over the king, but, absent a superior spiritual power, it was difficult to see how they could be enforced since the king could not be tried by any of his own courts.