Editing Divine right of kings (section)

====Early Middle Ages====

Although the later Roman Empire had developed the European concept of a divine regent in Late Antiquity, [[Adomnan of Iona]] provides one of the earliest written examples of a Western medieval concept of kings ruling with divine right. He wrote of the Irish King [[Diarmait mac Cerbaill]]'s assassination and claimed that divine punishment fell on his assassin for the act of violating the monarch.

Adomnan also recorded a story about Saint [[Columba]] supposedly being visited by an angel carrying a glass book, who told him to ordain [[Aedan mac Gabrain]] as King of [[Dal Riata]]. Columba initially refused, and the angel answered by whipping him and demanding that he perform the ordination because God had commanded it. The same angel visited Columba on three successive nights. Columba finally agreed, and Aedan came to receive ordination. At the ordination, Columba told Aedan that so long as he obeyed God's laws, then none of his enemies would prevail against him, but the moment he broke them, this protection would end, and the same whip with which Columba had been struck would be turned against the king.

Adomnan's writings most likely influenced other Irish writers, who in turn influenced continental ideas as well. [[Pepin the Short]]'s coronation may have also come from the same influence.<ref>Adomnan of Iona. ''Life of St Columba''. Penguin Books, 1995</ref> The [[Byzantine Empire]] can be seen as the progenitor of this concept (which began with [[Constantine I]]). This in turn inspired the [[Carolingian dynasty]] and the [[Holy Roman Emperors]], whose lasting impact on Western and Central Europe further inspired all subsequent Western ideas of kingship.