Bill Townsend, age 14, of Riverside, Calif., for his question:

WHAT IS THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS?

Many people used to believe that monarchs received their right to rule a country directly from God, rather than from the consent or wishes of their subjects. This idea is called the divine right of kings.

According to this theory, the king can do no wrong. If the king did something wicked, God would punish him.

The idea of the divine right of kings was at its height in England

during the reign of the Stuarts and in Fance during the reign of Louis XIV, the first blow to the theory was the execution of the king of England, Charles I, in 1649.

The French Revolution completely repudiated the belief and asserted the doctrine that the right to rule came from the people.