God-king

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A God-king is a monarch who is held in a special religious significance by his subjects. Examples would be the Japanese Emperors before 1889, the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, the kings of the Mayan city-states of the Classical period, or the Inca Emperors in Pre-Columbian Peru. The god-king concept was also known in southeast Asia, where Kassapa (Sri Lanka/Ceylon) is thought to have set himself up as a god-king. Chinese leader Hong Xiuquan claimed to be Christ's younger brother during the rule of the Qing Dynasty. This caused the Taiping Rebellion. Other leaders with this title of God-King are Louis XIV of France (1638-1715) aka The Sun King, and Kim Jong-il (1941-present.) Even early British Monarchs were regarded as God-Kings till King John of England (1166-1216) who was believed by the Barons to be talent-less and not of God-King status thus making him sign the Magna Carta in 1215.

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