Fifth Monarchy Men
The Fifth Monarchy Men ("Men of the Fifth Kingdom") were a politico-religious group in England at the time of the Republic from 1649 to 1660 .
The group grew out of dissenting Puritanism and shared its biblicism . The Fifth Monarchy Men related the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel , who had already played a role in early church millenarianism and the medieval Joachimites (especially Dan 2.44 EU ), to their present. Thus, with the end was the English monarchy - Execution of Charles I on January 30, 1649 - the date for the establishment of a "rule of the saints" ( rule of the saints ) in preparation for the Second Coming of Christ come and its thousand-year reign of peace - by the four ancient empires the fifth monarchy that continued until the end of time . The group associated the upcoming year 1666 with the apocalyptic number .
The Fifth Monarchy Men supported Oliver Cromwell and attended Parliament of 1653 ( Parliament of the Saints ) but went into opposition when Cromwell accepted the title and authority of Lord Protector . Their open rebellion led to the arrest and execution of many comrades-in-arms, above all their leader Thomas Harrison in 1660. His successor Thomas Venner , who had failed with an assassination attempt on Cromwell in 1657, organized after the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II with veterans of the New Model Army conducted a coup which the royal army quickly put down and was executed with other insurgents in January 1661. That meant the end of the movement.
Web links
- Fifth Monarchy Men ( Encyclopædia Britannica , English)