An extreme Puritan sect in England in the mid-17th century. They believed that the rule of Jesus Christ and his saints was imminent, and that it would be the fifth monarchy to rule the world, succeeding those of Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome. They hoped that, through the Barebones Parliament, the rule of the saints would become a reality, but Cromwell’s establishment of the Protectorate turned them against him. Their agitation became a nuisance, their leaders were arrested, and their abortive rebellions in 1657 and 1661 were suppressed.