The Great Chain of Being was a
religious and
philosophical concept common to
Renaissance Europe. The Great Chain of Being is an ordered
hierarchy of all
life in the
universe, starting with
monocellular organisms and rising up the scale of
intelligence and
complexity to
human beings. The only
creatures higher on the Great Chain of Being were supposed to be
God and His
angels. There were also hierarchies within links on the Great Chain -- for instance,
clergymen were supposed to be superior to the
common man, for they were closer to God.
Kings, too, were said to be closer to God than the common man; it is from this belief that the concept of the "
divine right of kings" springs.
Bacon, Galileo and Descartes did much to undermine this philosophy, but it didn't really fall out of popularity until the late 18th century.