Jacob Frank was an 18th century Jewish religious leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of the self-proclaimed messiah Sabbatai Zevi, and also of King David. Frank and his followers were excommunicated on account of his extremely unconventional doctrines that included acceptance of the New Testament, Enlightenment and some controversial concepts such as purification through transgression.

Sabbatai Zevi, was a Jewish rabbi and Kabbalist who claimed to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. He was the founder of the Jewish Sabbatean movement, and inspired the founding of a number of other similar sects, such as the Donmeh in Turkey. Sabbatai Zevi was born in Smyrna on (supposedly) a Sabbath 9th Av 1626, and died, according to some, on Yom Kippur, September 30 1676, in Dulcigno, a small town in the coastal region of Montenegro.

Nathan Benjamin ben Elisha ha-Levi Ghazzati or Nathan of Gaza (Hebrew: נתן עזתי) was a theologian, born in Jerusalem, who became famous as a prophet for the false messiah, Shabbetai Tzvi.

Jacob Querido (d. 1690 in Alexandria, Egypt) was the successor of the self-proclaimed Jewish Messiah Sabbatai Zevi. Born in Salonika, he was the son of Joseph the Philosopher and brother-in-law of Sabbatai Zevi. His sister, Sabbatai's widow, claimed that he was actually her son by Sabbatai, so that he might succeed to the leadership of Sabbatai's followers. He attracted a considerable following of his own.

Moses Pinheiro, an Italian Jew who lived at Leghorn in the seventeenth century, was one of the most influential pupils and followers of Shabbethai Ẓebi. He was held in high esteem on account of his acquirements; and, as the brother-in-law of Joseph Ergas, the well-known anti-Shabbethaian, he had great influence over the Jews of Leghorn, urging them to believe in Shabbethai. Even later (1667), when Shabbethai's apostasy was rumored, Pinheiro, …

Nehemiah Hiyya ben Moses Hayyun (ca. 1650-ca. 1730) was a Bosnian kabalist. His parents, of Sephardic descent, lived in Sarajevo, Bosnia, where probably he was born, although in later life he pretended that he was a Palestinian emissary born in Safed. He received his Talmudic education in Hebron.

Judah he-Hasid ("Yehudah he-Hasid", "Judah the Pious") (around 1650, Siedlce - October 17, 1700, Jerusalem), was a Jewish Sabbatean preacher who led the largest organized group of Jewish immigrants to the Land of Israel in centuries.

Mordecai Mokiach (Eisenstadt) was a Jewish Sabbatian "prophet" and false Messiah; born in Alsace about 1650; died at Pressburg May 18, 1729. The death of Sabbatai Zevi (1676) seems to have encouraged his followers, who claimed that he had returned to his heavenly abode and would come back in three years to finish his "Messianic" task. This doctrine was preached by Mordecai, who, through his ascetic life, his eloquence, and his commanding appearance, won many followers.

Judah Leib (Leibele) Prossnitz was a kabalistic impostor born about the end of the seventeenth century at Brody, Galicia. He left his native city and went to Prossnitz, Moravia, where he married, earning a livelihood by peddling in the neighboring villages. On account of his poverty he occupied a deserted hovel, which was believed to be haunted. Suddenly he assumed the role of a prophet, and promised to summon the Shekinah to appear at midnight in a large gathering.

Joshua Heschel Zoref (b.1633) was a 17th-century ascetic, and an important personality in the Lithuanian Sabbatean movement. During the messianic fervor of 1666, he claimed to experience visions similar to those of Ezekiel. He, like Judah Leib Prossnitz also, considered himself to be possessed of the role of Messiah ben Joseph, with Shabbatai Tzvi playing the role of Messiah ben David. Shortly thereafter he began trascribing his visions into five books.

Abraham Miguel Cardozo (also Cardoso was a Shabbethaian prophet and physician born in Spain. A descendant of the Maranos in the Portuguese city of Celorico, he studied medicine together with his brother Fernando Isaac, and while the latter was given to his studies, Michael spent his time in singing serenades under ladies' balconies. After having completed his education, he left Spain for Venice. There, probably at the instigation of his brother, …