In The Fifth Monarchy Men, Dr Capp places the movement in the context of the rise of millenarian thought in Europe from the Reformation and its rapid spread in England during the Civil Wars. For many radicals, the execution of King Charles cleared the way for King Jesus, and heralded the establishment of a revolutionary millennium. The apparent apostasy of the Rump Parliament and Oliver Cromwell channelled part of the wave of millenarian feeling into the formation of a specific sect. The first comprehensive study of the Fifth Monarchists movement traces its history from its origins until its disappearance in the mid-1680s, and examines its social, political, legal and religious proposals.

Although it had the support of a number of gentry and army officers, it was essentially an urban movement of artisans, apprentices, and even labourers, reaching lower down the social scale than any other contemporary radical movement, with the possible exception of the Diggers. Dr Capp discusses its regional and organizational structure, and its relationship to other revolutionary sects, notably the Levellers and Quakers. He analyses the nature of the projected millennium — the social, political, and economic programmes of the self-styled saints which, though revolutionary, were elitist rather than equalitarian. The Fifth Monarchist's militant foreign policy, he suggests, was shaped by the twofold consideration of exporting the revolution and of strengthening the position of English trade. Their much-derided call for the re-establishment of the Mosaic Code is shown to be the culmination of a long tradition of such thinking amongst Puritan and earlier writers.

Contents

Preface

1 Introduction

2 The Origins and Rise of Millenarianism to 1649

3 The Beginnings of the Fifth Monarchy Movement and the Barebones Parliament, 1649-1653

4 The Distribution and Composition of the Fifth Monarchy Men

5 The Fifth Monarchists in Opposition, 1653-60

6 The Political, Social and Economic Ideas of the Fifth Monarchy Men

7 Fifth Monarchists and the Reform of the Law

8 The Religious and Intellectual Attitudes of the Fifth Monarchists

9 The Later Years of the Fifth Monarchy Men

10 Conclusion

Appendix I: Bibliographical Appendix

Appendix II: Locations of Fifth Monarchist Congregations, Ministers and Agents

Appendix III: The Schism with John Simpson's Congregation, 1656-8

Bibliography

Index