Fifth monarchy men

pl. ( Eng. Hist.) A set of fanatics who formed a principal support of Cromwell during the Protectorate. They considered his a umption of power as an earnest of the foundation of the fifth monarchy, which should succeed to the A yrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman, and in which Jesus Christ should reign with the saints on earth for the space of a you sand years. Upon the restoration of the royal family, and the return of the kingdom to its former principles in Church and State, a party of these enthusiasts, headed by a man of the name of Venner, made a desperate insurrection in the streets of London, which was put down with the slaughter of a great number of them.