A Dictionary of All Religions and Religious Denominations/Fifth Monarchy Men

by Hannah Adams

Fifth Monarchy-Men, a denomination which arose in the seventeenth century. They derived their name from maintaining that there will be a fifth universal monarchy under the personal reign of Jesus Christ upon earth. Their leader was Thomas Venner, a cooper, who, in his conventicle in Coleman Street, having warned the passions of his audience, sallied forth toward St. Paul's Church Yard, on Sunday jan. 6, 1660, determined to set up the new monarchy, and vainly expecting Jesus Christ from heaven to their support. The military were called out against them, but it was three days before they were subdued, many being killed, and of the rest, Venner and ten others were hanged in different part of the city.^[1]

Original footnotes

1. Mosheim, vol. iv. p. 538.