# Thomas Venner > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thomas_Venner > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Thomas_Venner.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Venner > Source revision: 1351497870 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|English cooper and rebel}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} thumb|upright|1813 portrait of Venner '''Thomas Venner''' (died 19 January 1661According to the then prevailing [Old Style calendar](/source/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates), the turn of the year occurred on [Lady Day](/source/Lady_Day), 25 March. As such, Venner died in 1660 according to contemporary accounts, but in 1661 as described by modern historians who take the start of the year to be 1 January.) was an English [cooper](/source/Cooper_(profession)) and rebel who became the last leader of the [Fifth Monarchists](/source/Fifth_Monarchists), who tried unsuccessfully to overthrow [Oliver Cromwell](/source/Oliver_Cromwell) in 1657, and subsequently led a coup in [London](/source/London) against the newly restored government of [Charles II](/source/Charles_II_of_England). This event, known as "Venner's Rising", lasted four days beginning on 6 January 1661 before English authorities defeated and captured the rebels, whose leadership were executed on 19 January. ==Biography== thumb|''Incidents in the Rebellion of the Fifth Monarchy Men under Thomas Venner, and the Execution of their Leaders'', 17th-century illustration [[File:Who Shall Rouse Him Up.JPG|thumb|[Ian Bone](/source/Ian_Bone) speaking at the installation of the [Thomas Rainsborough](/source/Thomas_Rainsborough) memorial plaque (12 May 2013), championing Thomas Venner and the Fifth Monarchy Men. The banner is a replica of that used by the insurgents at the time.]] Venner had moved to [New England](/source/New_England) in 1637 and stayed for 22 years before returning to plot against Cromwell. He assumed leadership of the Fifth Monarchists after the execution of General [Thomas Harrison](/source/Thomas_Harrison_(soldier)) at [Charing Cross](/source/Charing_Cross) on 19 October 1660. Venner led a congregation, which included [New Model Army](/source/New_Model_Army) veterans, that met in a rented room above a tavern in Swan's Alley off [Coleman Street](/source/Coleman_Street). On 6 January 1661 he led a number of his men – [Samuel Pepys](/source/Samuel_Pepys) said they later turned out to be only 50, although it had been thought they were 500 at first – to a bookseller called Mr. Johnson at St. Paul's to demand the Cathedral keys. On being refused they broke in and accosted passers-by asking who they were for. One answered "King Charles" and they shot him through the heart. Several musketeers sent to dislodge them were beaten back and a detachment from the [London Trained Bands](/source/London_Trained_Bands) under the Lord Mayor, Major General Sir [Richard Browne](/source/Sir_Richard_Browne%2C_1st_Baronet%2C_of_London), attacked them and they retreated to [Ken Wood](/source/Hampstead_Heath) near [Highgate](/source/Highgate). On 9 January they attacked again at [Wood Street](/source/Wood_Street%2C_London) and [Threadneedle Street](/source/Threadneedle_Street) forcing the King's [Life Guard of Foot](/source/John_Russell's_Regiment_of_Guards) (a force of 1200 men commanded by [John Russell](/source/John_Russell_(Royalist))) to retreat. They then attempted to storm the [Comptor Prison](/source/Wood_Street_Counter) to liberate the inmates in order to join them but were repulsed by fierce fighting. Venner is said to have killed three men with a [halberd](/source/halberd) in [Threadneedle Street](/source/Threadneedle_Street). A force of [General Monck](/source/General_Monck)'s men under Colonel Cox pursued them to their last stands in the Helmet Tavern on Threadneedle Street and the Blue Anchor on Coleman Street. Royalist troops broke through the clay roof tiles with musket butts and fired upon the wounded defenders, breaking in through the ceiling. Venner was captured after being wounded nineteen times. Others were shot out of hand. He was put on trial at the [Old Bailey](/source/Old_Bailey) and [hanged, drawn and quartered](/source/hanged%2C_drawn_and_quartered) on 19 January 1661. According to [Tobias Smollett](/source/Tobias_Smollett), Venner and his followers "affirmed to the last that if they had been deceived, the Lord himself was their deceiver".[Tobias Smollett](/source/Tobias_Smollett), ''A Complete History of England'', Book VII Chap. 1, p. 406 ==Family== Venner's son, also Thomas (born 1641), a fellow-rebel, led the [Monmouth](/source/Duke_of_Monmouth) cavalry in 1688.{{cite ODNB |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-28191 |title=Venner, Thomas (1608/9–1661) |first=Richard L. |last=Greaves |date=23 September 2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/28191 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }}{{verify inline|reason=I don't have access to the content of the article so couldn't verify this statement|date=September 2022}} His grand-daughter Elizabeth married a linen draper's son, [John Potter](/source/John_Potter_(bishop)), later [Bishop of Oxford](/source/Bishop_of_Oxford) and [Archbishop of Canterbury](/source/Archbishop_of_Canterbury). ==Notes== {{NoteFoot}} ==References== {{more citations needed|date=August 2017}} {{reflist}} ==Further reading== * Anonymous. ''The Last Speech and Prayer with other Passages of Thomas Venner'' (London, 1660) *Banks, Charles. ''Thomas Venner, the Boston wine-cooper and Fifth-Monarchy man'', New England Historic Genealogical Society (1893) *Burrage, Champlin. "The Fifth Monarchy Insurrections", ''The English Historical Review'', Vol. XXV, 1910 *Dunan-Page, Anne. {{lang|fr|italic=no|"L'insurrection de Thomas Venner (1661): anglicanisme et dissidence au défi des prophéties"}}, in {{lang|fr|Les Voix de Dieu: Littérature et prophétie en France et en Angleterre à l'Âge baroque}}, {{lang|fr|italic=no|Presses de la Sorbonne Nouvelle}} (2008) pp. 227–239 *Greaves, Richard L. ''Deliver Us From Evil. The Radical Underground in Britain, 1660–63'' (Oxford University Press, 1986) == External links == * [http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1661/01/19/index.php The Diary of Samuel Pepys] Saturday 19 January 1661 * [https://web.archive.org/web/20030410045209/http://exlibris.org/nonconform/engdis/fifthmonarchists.html Fifth Monarchists or Fifth Monarchy Men] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Venner, Thomas}} Category:Year of birth unknown Category:1661 deaths Category:English rebels Category:Coopers Category:Executed British people Category:Fifth Monarchists Category:People executed by Stuart England Category:People executed by the Kingdom of England by hanging, drawing and quartering Category:People executed under the Stuarts for treason against England --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Thomas Venner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Venner) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Venner?action=history)). 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