Editing Fifth Monarchists (section)

==Origins and the Commonwealth==
[[File:Major-General Thomas Harrison (General) in Cromwell's Army (2).jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.8|Major-General [[Thomas Harrison (soldier)|Thomas Harrison]], Fifth Monarchist leader executed as a [[List of regicides of Charles I|regicide]] in 1660]]

The outbreak of the [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]] in 1639 led to an exponential increase in the dissemination of radical political and religious views, including [[Millennialist]] ideas.{{efn|In part due to the lifting of strict censorship laws.}} Although [[Millenarianism]] was common among [[Puritans]] and even shared by some [[Cavalier|Royalist]] members of the [[Church of England]], Fifth Monarchists were unique in that the concept was central to their theology.{{Sfn|Capp|1971|p=23}} However, one recent historian argues it is more accurate to see them as a political group, rather than a religious sect with a distinctive and coherent [[doctrine]].{{sfn|Keay|2023|p=152}}  

In general, Fifth Monarchists also opposed [[Religious tolerance]] for non-Protestants, and unlike groups such as the [[Diggers]] had no desire to end the existing social order or extend political rights, since they argued only the "Saved" were worthy of power.{{Sfn|Solt|1961|pp=320-321}} Exceptions included the [[Levellers]] sympathiser [[Christopher Feake]], and [[Mary Cary (prophetess)|Mary Cary]], who supported gender equality and measures to alleviate poverty; prior to her death in 1654, she wrote under the name "MC", and many assumed she was a man.{{Sfn|Manganiello|2004|pp=96-97}}  

The Fifth Monarchists began life as a faction of the religious [[Independent (religion)|Independents]] who dominated the post-1648 [[Rump Parliament]], with close links to [[Anabaptists]]. Their emergence as a separate sect is usually dated to December 1651, when a group of preachers including Feake, [[John Rogers (Fifth Monarchist)|John Rogers]], and John Simpson met in [[London]]. Disillusioned by the apparent failure of [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] to further the "Godly Revolution", they agreed a programme of action to support their objectives, including active resistance to the [[Commonwealth of England|Commonwealth]] government.{{Sfn|Keay|2023|p=153}} 

Primarily recruited from the London [[artisan]] class, the Fifth Monarchists attracted attention disproportionate to their actual numbers because these included senior officers of the [[New Model Army]]. Among them were [[Major Generals]] [[Thomas Harrison (soldier)|Thomas Harrison]] and [[Robert Overton]], along with Colonels [[Nathaniel Rich (soldier)|Nathaniel Rich]], [[John Jones Maesygarnedd]] and [[William Goffe]], as well as senior administrators such as [[John Carew (regicide)|John Carew]]. Many others were initially sympathetic to their views, including Cromwell and Sir [[Henry Vane the Younger|Henry Vane]], and the highpoint of their political influence came in April 1653 when Cromwell dismissed the Rump Parliament, an action which led the Fifth Monarchists to hail him as a new [[Moses]].{{Sfn|Plant}} 

They also supported his declaration of [[First Anglo-Dutch War|war on the Dutch Republic]]. Despite it being waged against fellow Protestants, the Monarchists argued that it was their duty to spread the Kingdom of the Saints to every country, whether Protestant or Catholic.{{Sfn|Solt|1961|p=320}}{{efn|As stated in their 1654 manifesto; "In this present Age, the Lord JEHOVAH is setting  up the fifth Kingdom, which shall not be left to other people, but shall break in pieces all the four kingdoms, and remain for ever and ever; and that (at this time) when as the fourth Monarchy is partly broken in these Nations, that Christ may be the only Potentate, the King of kings, and of all Nations."{{sfn|Birch|2018|p=20}}}}. Cromwell replaced the Rump with a nominated body popularly known as "[[Barebone's Parliament]]"; out of 149 MPs, 15 can be identified as Fifth Monarchists, including [[Praise-God Barebone]], Carew and Harrison.{{Sfn|Woolrych|1982|p=232}} The inaugural session began in July 1653 but the different factions quickly became entangled in bitter disputes over [[tithe]]s, which the Monarchists wanted to abolish rather than reduce, and reform of the legal system, which they argued should be based solely on laws contained in the [[Bible]]. On 8 December, the moderate majority passed a motion urging Cromwell to dissolve Parliament, leading to the establishment of the Protectorate on 16th.{{Sfn|Woolrych|1982|p=345}} 

The result was open conflict between the regime and the Fifth Monarchists; Harrison, Overton and Rich were dismissed from the army, while Rogers and Feake attacked Cromwell for his [[Apostasy]] and preached revolt to their followers. This caused a split with elements of the movement like John Carew who held Anabaptist views, notably their opposition to the use of violence.{{sfn|Birch|2018|pp=25-27}} Rogers and Feake were arrested, while the government placed other members under surveillance and thereafter alternated persecution with tolerance in an attempt to split the movement. This policy had some success, with Rogers, Goffe, John Jones Maesygarnedd and the Welsh preacher [[Morgan Llwyd]] becoming reconciled with the regime, leaving a minority of insurrectionists like Venner who was imprisoned in 1657 for planning a rising. By the time he was released in 1659, the Monarchists had lost much of their influence and were no longer a significant force.{{Sfn|Solt|1961|p=323}}