A Fifth Monarchist Appeal and the Response of an Independent Church of Canterbury

Abstract

"With the keen interest in radical Puritanism in recent years, much has been learned about Fifth Monarchists, their activities, and their relationships with other churches and sects during the turbulent 1650s.1 These zealous Christians who sought to put an end to tyranny and idolatry in English life, banded together with a religious and political programme preparing for the imminent return of King Jesus. Finding their focus in a well-established tradition of English millenarianism, they hoped to bring about the kingdom of Christ on earth, a theocratic regime in which they as saints would bear rule. Fifth Monarchists were energetic in pressing their views and, some, potentially violent in their means, and the support they won from Independent and Baptist gathered churches was significant in many places."