ABSTRACT
The idea of rule Dei gratia, ‘by the grace of God’, was one of the core concepts of almost all European monarchies. In particular, the common understanding of Dei gratia indicating a ‘divine right’ of monarchs has led to the phrase’s original meaning being widely ignored and unexplored. The addition of Dei gratia to rulers’ titles is obviously linked with Christianity and Christian kings: the ‘deo’ referred to is the God of the Bible. Dei gratia and the so-called ‘divine right of kings’ are often linked – at least in historiography and modern understanding. Dei gratia highlights an intriguing, otherwise blurred dichotomy: the monarch is, as it were, on the same side as his or her human subjects in the face of the Divine omnipotence. The aspect of obligation implied in the Dei gratia phrase became relevant, prominently, during the controversies in the revolutionary year of 1848.
