The Fifth Monarchists: Forgotten Radicals of the English Revolution

Authors

Joshua M. Nevin, Cedarville UniversityFollow

Department/School of the Primary Author

History and Government

Keywords

Fifth Monarchists, English Civil War

Abstract

The Fifth Monarchists were a radical group of Puritans during the period of the English Civil War who sought to seize power in England in order to prepare for what they believed was Christ's inevitable return in the near future to reign in England. Previous research concerning them is scarce, and what scholarship there is does little to explain the importance of the events surrounding them. This study seeks to explain the historical significance of this group through exploring the goals of the group and the means by which they set out to accomplish them. An assortment of primary sources from the period were used, including pamphlets, letters, diaries, and speeches. The study demonstrates that there was a significant relationship between this group and the governing officials for a time that gave them unique opportunities to begin pursuing their goals, only for them to ultimately fail. Thus, this study demonstrates that the Fifth Monarchists’ failure to achieve their goals was significant through showing that they had reasonable chances of making a lasting impact as well as through showing what changes that could have entailed.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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Recommended Citation

Nevin, Joshua M. (2022) "The Fifth Monarchists: Forgotten Radicals of the English Revolution," Channels: Where Disciplines Meet: Vol. 7: No. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/channels/vol7/iss1/2