The Temple at London--The vast possessions of the Templars in
England--The territorial divisions of the order--The different
preceptories in this country--The privileges conferred on the Templars
by the kings of England--The Masters of the Temple at London--Their
power and importance.
Li fiere, li Mestre du Temple
Qu'estoient rempli et ample
D'or et d'argent et de richesse,
Et qui menoient tel noblesse,
Ou sont-il? que sont devenu?
Que tant ont de plait maintenu,
Que nul a elz ne s'ozoit prendre
Tozjors achetoient sans vendre
Nul riche a elz n'estoit de prise;
Tant va pot a eue qu'il brise.
_Chron._ a la suite du Roman de Favel.
The Knights Templars first established the chief house of their order in
England, without Holborn Bars, on the south side of the street, where
Southampton House formerly stood, adjoining to which Southampton Buildings
were afterwards erected;[102] and it is stated, that about a century and a
half ago, part of the ancient chapel annexed to this establishment, of a
circular form, and built of Caen stone, was discovered on pulling down
some old houses near Southampton Buildings in Chancery Lane.[103] This
first house of the Temple, established by Hugh de Payens himself, before
his departure from England, on his return to Palestine, was adapted to the
wants and necessities of the order in its infant state, when the knights,
instead of lingering in the preceptories of Europe, proceeded at once to
Palestine, and when all the resources of the society were strictly and
faithfully forwarded to Jerusalem, to be expended in defence of the faith;
but when the order had greatly increased in numbers, power, and wealth,
and had somewhat departed from its original purity and simplicity, we find
that the superior and the knights resident in London began to look abroad
for a more extensive and commodious place of habitation. They purchased a
large space of ground, extending from the White Friars westward to Essex
House without Temple Bar,[104] and commenced the erection of a convent on
a scale of grandeur commensurate with the dignity and importance of the
chief house of the great religio-military society of the Temple in
Britain. It was called the _New_ Temple, to distinguish it from the
original establishment at Holborn, which came thenceforth to be known by
the name of the _Old_ Temple.[105]
This New Temple was adapted for the residence of numerous military monks
and novices, serving brothers, retainers, and domestics. It contained the
residence of the superior and of the knights, the cells and apartments of
the chaplains and serving brethren, the council chamber where the chapters
were held, and the refectory or dining-hall, which was connected, by a
range of handsome cloisters, with the magnificent church, consecrated by
the patriarch. Alongside the river extended a spacious pleasure ground for
the recreation of the brethren, who were not permitted to go into the town
without the leave of the Master. It was used also for military exercises
and the training of the horses.
The year of the consecration of the Temple Church, Geoffrey, the superior
of the order in England, caused an inquisition to be made of the lands of
the Templars in this country, and the names of the donors thereof,[106]
from which it appears, that the larger territorial divisions of the order
were then called bailiwicks, the principal of which were London, Warwic,
Couele, Meritune, Gutinge, Westune, Lincolnscire, Lindeseie, Widine, and
Eboracisire, (Yorkshire.) The number of manors, farms, churches,
advowsons, demesne lands, villages, hamlets, windmills, and watermills,
rents of assize, rights of common and free warren, and the amount of all
kinds of property, possessed by the Templars in England at the period of
the taking of this inquisition, are astonishing. Upon the great estates
belonging to the order, prioral houses had been erected, wherein dwelt the
procurators or stewards charged with the management of the manors and
farms in their neighbourhood, and with the collection of the rents. These
prioral houses became regular monastic establishments, inhabited chiefly
by sick and aged Templars, who retired to them to spend the remainder of
their days, after a long period of honourable service against the infidels
in Palestine. They were cells to the principal house at London. There were
also under them certain smaller administrations established for the
management of the farms, consisting of a Knight Templar, to whom were
associated some serving brothers of the order, and a priest who acted as
almoner. The commissions or mandates directed by the Masters of the Temple
to the officers at the head of these establishments, were called precepts,
from the commencement of them, "_Praecipimus tibi_," we enjoin or direct
you, &c. &c. The knights to whom they were addressed were styled
_Praeceptores Templi_, or Preceptors of the Temple, and the districts
administered by them _Praeceptoria_, or preceptories.
It will now be as well to take a general survey of the possessions and
organization of the order both in Europe and Asia, "whose circumstances,"
saith William archbishop of Tyre, writing from Jerusalem about the period
of the consecration at London of the Temple Church, "are in so flourishing
a state, that at this day they have in their convent (the Temple on Mount
Moriah) more than three hundred knights robed in the white habit, besides
serving brothers innumerable. Their possessions indeed beyond sea, as well
as in these parts, are said to be so vast, that there cannot now be a
province in Christendom which does not contribute to the support of the
aforesaid brethren, whose wealth is said to equal that of sovereign
princes."[107]
The eastern provinces of the order were, 1. Palestine, the ruling
province. 2. The principality of Antioch. 3. The principality of Tripoli.
1. PALESTINE.--Some account has already been given of the Temple at
Jerusalem, the chief house of the order, and the residence of the Master.
In addition to the strong garrison there maintained, the Templars
possessed numerous forces, distributed in various fortresses and
strongholds, for the preservation and protection of the holy territory.
The following castles and cities of Palestine are enumerated by the
historians of the Latin kingdom, as having belonged to the order of the
Temple.
The fortified city of Gaza, the key of the kingdom of Jerusalem on the
side next Egypt, anciently one of the five satrapies of the Lords of the
Philistines, and the stronghold of Cambyses when he invaded Egypt.
"Placed where Judea's utmost bounds extend,
Towards fair Pelusium, Gaza's towers ascend.
Fast by the breezy shore the city stands
Amid unbounded plains of barren sands,
Which high in air the furious whirlwinds sweep,
Like mountain billows on the stormy deep,
That scarce the affrighted traveller, spent with toil,
Escapes the tempest of the unstable soil."
It was granted to the Templars, in perpetual sovereignty, by Baldwin king
of Jerusalem.[108]
The Castle of Saphet, in the territory of the ancient tribe of Naphtali;
the great bulwark of the northern frontier of the Latin kingdom on the
side next Damascus. The Castle of the Pilgrims, in the neighbourhood of
Mount Carmel. The Castle of Assur near Jaffa, and the House of the Temple
at Jaffa. The fortress of Faba, or La Feue, the ancient Aphek, not far
from Tyre, in the territory of the ancient tribe of Asher. The hill-fort
Dok, between Bethel and Jericho. The castles of La Cave, Marle, Citern
Rouge, Castel Blanc, Trapesach, Sommelleria of the Temple, in the
neighbourhood of Acca, now St. John d'Acre. Castrum Planorum, and a place
called Gerinum Parvum.[109] The Templars purchased the castle of Beaufort
and the city of Sidon;[110] they also got into their hands a great part of
the town of St. Jean d'Acre, where they erected their famous temple, and
almost all Palestine was in the end divided between them and the
Hospitallers of Saint John.
2. THE PRINCIPALITY OF ANTIOCH.--The principal houses of the Temple in
this province were at Antioch itself, at Aleppo, Haram, &c.
3. THE PRINCIPALITY OF TRIPOLI.--The chief establishments herein were at
Tripoli, at Tortosa, the ancient Antaradus; Castel-blanc in the same
neighbourhood; Laodicea and Beyrout,--all under the immediate
superintendence of the Preceptor of Tripoli. Besides these castles,
houses, and fortresses, the Templars possessed farms and large tracts of
land, both in Syria and Palestine.
The western nations or provinces, on the other hand, from whence the order
derived its chief power and wealth, were,
1. APULIA AND SICILY, the principal houses whereof were at Palermo,
Syracuse, Lentini, Butera, and Trapani. The house of the Temple at this
last place has been appropriated to the use of some monks of the order of
St. Augustin. In a church of the city is still to be seen the celebrated
statue of the Virgin, which Brother Guerrege and three other Knights
Templars brought from the East, with a view of placing it in the Temple
Church on the Aventine hill in Rome, but which they were obliged to
deposit in the island of Sicily. This celebrated statue is of the most
beautiful white marble, and represents the Virgin with the infant Jesus
reclining on her left arm; it is of about the natural height, and, from an
inscription on the foot of the figure, it appears to have been executed by
a native of the island of Cyprus, A. D. 733.[111]
The Templars possessed valuable estates in Sicily, around the base of
Mount Etna, and large tracts of land between Piazza and Calatagirone, in
the suburbs of which last place there was a Temple house, the church
whereof, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, still remains. They possessed also
many churches in the island, windmills, rights of fishery, of pasturage,
of cutting wood in the forests, and many important privileges and
immunities. The chief house was at Messina, where the Grand Prior
resided.[112]
2. UPPER AND CENTRAL ITALY.--The houses or preceptories of the order of
the Temple in this province were very numerous, and were all under the
immediate superintendence of the Grand Prior or Preceptor of Rome. There
were large establishments at Lucca, Milan, and Perugia, at which last
place the arms of the Temple are still to be seen on the tower of the holy
cross. At Placentia there was a magnificent and extensive convent, called
Santa Maria del Tempio, ornamented with a very lofty tower. At Bologna
there was also a large Temple house, and on a clock in the city is the
following inscription, "_Magister Tosseolus de Miola me fecit ... Fr.
Petrus de Bon, Procur. Militiae Templi in curia Romana_, MCCCIII." In the
church of St. Mary in the same place, which formerly belonged to the
Knights Templars, is the interesting marble monument of Peter de Rotis, a
priest of the order. He is represented on his tomb, holding a chalice in
his hands with the host elevated above it, and beneath the monumental
effigy is the following epitaph:--
"Stirpe Rotis, Petrus, virtutis munere clarus,
Strenuus ecce pugil Christi, jacet ordine charus;
Veste ferens, menteque crucem, nunc sidera scandit,
Exemplum nobis spectandi caelica pandit:
Annis ter trinis viginti mille trecentis
Sexta quarte maii fregit lux organa mentis."[113]
PORTUGAL.--In the province or nation of Portugal, the military power and
resources of the order of the Temple were exercised in almost constant
warfare against the Moors, and Europe derived essential advantage from the
enthusiastic exertions of the warlike monks in that quarter against the
infidels. In every battle, indeed, fought in the south of Europe, after
the year 1130, against the enemies of the cross, the Knights Templars are
to be found taking an active and distinguished part, and in all the
conflicts against the infidels, both in the west and in the east, they
were ever in the foremost rank, battling nobly in defence of the christian
faith. With all the princes and sovereigns of the great Spanish peninsula
they were extremely popular, and they were endowed with cities, villages,
lordships, and splendid domains. Many of the most important fortresses and
castles in the land were entrusted to their safe keeping, and some were
yielded to them in perpetual sovereignty. They possessed, in Portugal, the
castles of Monsento, Idanha, and Tomar; the citadel of Langrovia in the
province of Beira, on the banks of the Riopisco; and the fortress of
Miravel in Estremadura, taken from the Moors, a strong place perched on
the summit of a lofty eminence. They had large estates at Castromarin,
Almural, and Tavira in Algarve, and houses, rents, revenues, and
possessions, in all parts of the country. The Grand Prior or Preceptor of
Portugal resided at the castle of Tomar. It is seated on the river Narboan
in Estremadura, and is still to be seen towering in gloomy magnificence on
the hill above the town. The castle at present belongs to the order of
Christ, and was lately one of the grandest and richest establishments in
Portugal. It possessed a splendid library, and a handsome cloister, the
architecture of which was much admired.[114]
CASTILE AND LEON.--The houses or preceptories of the Temple most known in
this province or nation of the order were those of Cuenca and
Guadalfagiara, Tine and Aviles in the diocese of Oviedo, and Pontevreda in
Galicia. In Castile alone the order is said to have possessed twenty-four
bailiwicks.[115]
ARAGON.--The sovereigns of Aragon, who had suffered grievously from the
incursions of the Moors, were the first of the European princes to
recognize the utility of the order of the Temple. They endowed the
fraternity with vast revenues, and ceded to them some of the strongest
fortresses in the kingdom. The Knights Templars possessed in Aragon the
castles of Dumbel, Cabanos, Azuda, Granena, Chalonere, Remolins, Corbins,
Lo Mas de Barbaran, Moncon, and Montgausi, with their territories and
dependencies. They were lords of the cities of Borgia and Tortosa; they
had a tenth part of the revenues of the kingdom, the taxes of the towns of
Huesca and Saragossa, and houses, possessions, privileges, and immunities
in all parts.[116]
The Templars likewise possessed lands and estates in the Balearic Isles,
which were under the management of the Prior or Preceptor of the island of
Majorca, who was subject to the Grand Preceptor of Aragon.
GERMANY AND HUNGARY.--The houses most known in this territorial division
of the order are those in the electorate of Mayence, at Homburg,
Assenheim, Rotgen in the Rhingau, Mongberg in the Marche of Brandenbourg,
Nuitz on the Rhine, Tissia Altmunmunster near Ratisbon in Bavaria,
Bamberg, Middlebourg, Hall, Brunswick, &c. &c. The Templars possessed the
fiefs of Rorich, Pausin and Wildenheuh in _Pomerania_, an establishment at
Bach in _Hungary_, several lordships in _Bohemia_ and _Moravia_, and
lands, tithes, and large revenues, the gifts of pious German
crusaders.[117]
GREECE.--The Templars were possessed of lands and had establishments in
the Morea, and in several parts of the Greek empire. Their chief house was
at Constantinople, in the quarter called [Greek: Omonoia], where they had
an oratory dedicated to the holy martyrs Marin and Pentaleon.[118]
FRANCE.--The principal preceptories and houses of the Temple, in the
present kingdom of France, were at Besancon, Dole, Salins, a la Romagne, a
la ville Dieu, Arbois in _Franche Comte_.[119]
Bomgarten, Temple Savigne near Corbeil, Dorlesheim near Molsheim, where
there still remains a chapel called Templehoff, Ribauvillier, and a Temple
house in the plain near Bercheim in _Alsace_.
Bures, Voulaine les Templiers, Ville-sous-Gevrey, otherwise St. Philibert,
Dijon, Fauverney, where a chapel dedicated to the Virgin still preserves
the name of the Temple, Des Feuilles, situate in the parish of Villett,
near the chateau de Vernay, St. Martin, Le Chastel, Espesses, Tessones
near Bourges, and La Musse, situate between Bauje and Macon in
_Burgundy_.[120]
Montpelier, Sertelage, Nogarade near Pamiers, Falgairas, Narbonne, St.
Eulalie de Bezieres, Prugnanas, and the parish church of St. Martin
d'Ubertas in _Languedoc_.[121]
Temple Cahor, Temple Marigny, Arras, Le Parc, St. Vaubourg, and Rouen, in
_Normandy_. There were two houses of the Temple at Rouen; one of them
occupied the site of the present _maison consulaire_, and the other stood
in the street now called _La Rue des Hermites_.[122] The preceptories and
houses of the Temple in France, indeed, were so numerous, that it would be
a wearisome and endless task to repeat the names of them. Hundreds of
places in the different provinces are mentioned by French writers as
having belonged to the Templars. Between Joinville and St. Dizier may
still be seen the remains of Temple Ruet, an old chateau surrounded by a
moat; and in the diocese of Meaux are the ruins of the great manorial
house of Choisy le Temple. Many interesting tombs are there visible,
together with the refectory of the knights, which has been converted into
a sheepfold.
The chief house of the order for France, and also for Holland and the
Netherlands, was the Temple at Paris, an extensive and magnificent
structure, surrounded by a wall and a ditch. It extended over all that
large space of ground, now covered with streets and buildings, which lies
between the rue du Temple, the rue St. Croix, and the environs de la
Verrerie, as far as the walls and the fosses of the port du Temple. It was
ornamented with a great tower, flanked by four smaller towers, erected by
the Knight Templar Brother Herbert, almoner to the king of France, and was
one of the strongest edifices in the kingdom.[123] Many of the modern
streets of Paris which now traverse the site of this interesting
structure, preserve in the names given to them some memorial of the
ancient Temple. For instance, _La rue du Temple_, _La rue des fosses du
Temple_, _Boulevard du Temple_, _Faubourg du Temple_, _rue de Faubourg du
Temple_, _Vieille rue du Temple_, &c. &c.
All the houses of the Temple in Holland and the Netherlands were under the
immediate jurisdiction of the Master of the Temple at Paris. The
preceptories in these kingdoms were very numerous, and the property
dependent upon them was of great value. Those most known are the
preceptories of Treves and Dietrich on the Soure, the ruins of which last
still remain; Coberne, on the left bank of the Moselle, a few miles from
Coblentz; Belisch, Temple Spele, Temple Rodt near Vianden, and the Temple
at Luxembourg, where in the time of Broverus there existed considerable
remains of the refectory, of the church, and of some stone walls covered
with paintings; Templehuis near Ghent, the preceptory of Alphen, Braeckel,
la maison de Slipes near Ostend, founded by the counts of Flanders; Temple
Caestre near Mount Cassel; Villiers le Temple en Condros, between Liege
and Huy; Vaillenpont, Walsberge, Haut Avenes near Arras; Temploux near
Fleuru in the department of Namur; Vernoi in Hainault; Temple Dieu at
Douai; Marles near Valenciennes; St. Symphonier near Mons, &c. &c.[124]
In these countries, as well as in all parts of Europe wherever they were
settled, the Templars possessed vast privileges and immunities, which were
conceded to them by popes, kings, and princes.
ENGLAND.--There were in bygone times the following preceptories of Knight
Templars in the present kingdom of England.
Aslakeby, Temple Bruere, Egle, Malteby, Mere, Wilketon, and Witham, in
_Lincolnshire_.
North Feriby, Temple Hurst, Temple Newsom, Pafflete, Flaxflete, and
Ribstane, in _Yorkshire_.
Temple Cumbe in _Somersetshire_.
Ewell, Strode and Swingfield, near Dover, in _Kent_.
Hadescoe, in _Norfolk_.
Balsall and Warwick, in _Warwickshire_.
Temple Rothley, in _Leicestershire_.
Wilburgham Magna, Daney, and Dokesworth, in _Cambridgeshire_.
Halston, in _Shropshire_.
Temple Dynnesley, in _Hertfordshire_.
Temple Cressing and Sutton, in _Essex_.
Saddlescomb and Chapelay, in _Sussex_.
Schepeley, in _Surrey_.
Temple Cowley, Sandford, Bistelesham, and Chalesey, in _Oxfordshire_.
Temple Rockley, in _Wiltshire_.
Upleden and Garwy, in _Herefordshire_.
South Badeisley, in _Hampshire_.
Getinges, in _Worcestershire_.
Giselingham and Dunwich, in _Suffolk_.[125]
There were also several smaller administrations established, as before
mentioned, for the management of the farms and lands, and the collection
of rent and tithes. Among these were Liddele and Quiely in the diocese of
Chichester; Eken in the diocese of Lincoln; Adingdon, Wesdall, Aupledina,
Cotona, &c. The different preceptors of the Temple in England had under
their management lands and property in every county of the realm.[126]
In _Leicestershire_ the Templars possessed the town and the soke of
Rotheley; the manors of Rolle, Babbegrave, Gaddesby, Stonesby, and Melton;
Rothely wood, near Leicester; the villages of Beaumont, Baresby, Dalby,
North and South Mardefeld, Saxby, Stonesby, and Waldon, with land in above
_eighty_ others! They had also the churches of Rotheley, Babbegrave, and
Rolle; and the chapels of Gaddesby, Grimston, Wartnaby, Cawdwell, and
Wykeham.[127]
In _Hertfordshire_ they possessed the town and forest of Broxbourne, the
manor of Chelsin Templars, (_Chelsin Templariorum_,) and the manors of
Laugenok, Broxbourne, Letchworth, and Temple Dynnesley; demesne lands at
Stanho, Preston, Charlton, Walden, Hiche, Chelles, Levecamp, and Benigho;
the church of Broxbourne, two watermills, and a lock on the river Lea:
also property at Hichen, Pyrton, Ickilford, Offeley Magna, Offeley Parva,
Walden Regis, Furnivale, Ipolitz, Wandsmyll, Watton, Therleton, Weston,
Gravele, Wilien, Leccheworth, Baldock, Datheworth, Russenden, Codpeth,
Sumershale, Buntynford, &c. &c., and the church of Weston.[128]
In the county of _Essex_ they had the manors of Temple Cressynge, Temple
Roydon, Temple Sutton, Odewell, Chingelford, Lideleye, Quarsing, Berwick,
and Witham; the church of Roydon, and houses, lands, and farms, both at
Roydon, at Rivenhall, and in the parishes of Prittlewall and Great and
Little Sutton; an old mansion-house and chapel at Sutton, and an estate
called Finchinfelde in the hundred of Hinckford.[129]
In _Lincolnshire_ the Templars possessed the manors of La Bruere, Roston,
Kirkeby, Brauncewell, Carleton, Akele, with the soke of Lynderby,
Aslakeby, and the churches of Bruere, Asheby, Akele, Aslakeby, Donington,
Ele, Swinderby, Skarle, &c. There were upwards of thirty churches in the
county which made annual payments to the order of the Temple, and about
forty windmills. The order likewise received rents in respect of lands at
Bracebrig, Brancetone, Scapwic, Timberland, Weleburne, Diringhton, and a
hundred other places; and some of the land in the county was charged with
the annual payment of sums of money towards the keeping of the lights
eternally burning on the altars of the Temple church.[130] William Lord of
Asheby gave to the Templars the perpetual advowson of the church of Asheby
in Lincolnshire, and they in return agreed to find him a priest to sing
for ever twice a week in his chapel of St. Margaret.[131]
In _Yorkshire_ the Templars possessed the manors of Temple Werreby,
Flaxflete, Etton, South Cave, &c.; the churches of Whitcherche, Kelintune,
&c.; numerous windmills and lands and rents at Nehus, Skelture, Pennel,
and more than sixty other places besides.[132]
In _Warwickshire_ they possessed the manors of Barston, Shirburne,
Balshale, Wolfhey, Cherlecote, Herbebure, Stodleye, Fechehampstead,
Cobington, Tysho and Warwick; lands at Chelverscoton, Herdwicke, Morton,
Warwick, Hetherburn, Chesterton, Aven, Derset, Stodley, Napton, and more
than thirty other places, the several donors whereof are specified in
Dugdale's history of Warwickshire (p. 694;) also the churches of
Sireburne, Cardinton, &c., and more than thirteen windmills. In 12 Hen.
II., William Earl of Warwick built a new church for them at Warwick.[133]
In _Kent_ they had the manors of Lilleston, Hechewayton, Saunford, Sutton,
Dartford, Halgel, Ewell, Cocklescomb, Strode, Swinkfield Mennes, West
Greenwich, and the manor of Lydden, which now belongs to the archbishop of
Canterbury; the advowsons of the churches of West Greenwich and Kingeswode
juxta Waltham; extensive tracts of land in Romney marsh, and farms and
assize rents in all parts of the county.[134]
In _Sussex_ they had the manors of Saddlescomb and Shipley; lands and
tenements at Compton and other places; and the advowsons of the churches
of Shipley, Wodmancote, and Luschwyke.[135]
In _Surrey_ they had the manor farm of Temple Elfand or Elfante, and an
estate at Merrow in the hundred of Woking. In _Gloucestershire_, the
manors of Lower Dowdeswell, Pegsworth, Amford, Nishange, and five others
which belonged to them wholly or in part, the church of Down Ammey, and
lands in Framton, Temple Guting, and Little Rissington. In
_Worcestershire_, the manor of Templars Lawern, and lands in Flavel,
Temple Broughton, and Hanbury.[136] In _Northamptonshire_, the manors of
Asheby, Thorp, Watervill, &c. &c.; they had the advowson of the church of
the manor of Hardwicke in Orlington hundred, and we find that "Robert
Saunford, Master of the soldiery of the Temple in England," presented to
it in the year 1238.[137] In _Nottinghamshire_, the Templars possessed the
church of Marnham, lands and rents at Gretton and North Carleton; in
_Westmoreland_, the manor of Temple Sowerby; in the Isle of Wight, the
manor of Uggeton, and lands in Kerne.[138] But it would be tedious further
to continue with a dry detail of ancient names and places; sufficient has
been said to give an idea of the enormous wealth of the order in this
country, where it is known to have possessed some hundreds of manors, the
advowson or right of presentation to churches innumerable, and thousands
of acres of arable land, pasture, and woodland, besides villages,
farm-houses, mills, and tithes, rights of common, of fishing, of cutting
wood in forests, &c. &c.
There were also several preceptories in Scotland and Ireland, which were
dependent on the Temple at London.
The annual income of the order in Europe has been roughly estimated at six
millions sterling! According to Matthew Paris, the Templars possessed
_nine thousand_ manors or lordships in Christendom, besides a large
revenue and immense riches arising from the constant charitable bequests
and donations of sums of money from pious persons.[139] "They were also
endowed," says James of Vitry, bishop of Acre, "with farms, towns, and
villages, to an immense extent both in the East and in the West, out of
the revenues of which they send yearly a certain sum of money for the
defence of the Holy Land to their head Master at the chief house of their
order in Jerusalem."[140] The Templars, in imitation of the other monastic
establishments, obtained from pious and charitable people all the
advowsons within their reach, and frequently retained the tithe and the
glebe in their own hands, deputing a priest of the order to perform divine
service and administer the sacraments.
The manors of the Templars produced them rent either in money, corn, or
cattle, and the usual produce of the soil. By the custom in some of these
manors, the tenants were annually to mow three days in harvest, one at the
charge of the house; and to plough three days, whereof one at the like
charge; to reap one day, at which time they should have a ram from the
house, eightpence, twenty-four loaves, and a cheese of the best in the
house, together with a pailful of drink. The tenants were not to sell
their horse-colts, if they were foaled upon the land belonging to the
Templars, without the consent of the fraternity, nor marry their daughters
without their license. There were also various regulations concerning the
cocks and hens and young chickens.[141]
We have previously given an account of the royal donations of King Henry
the First, of King Stephen and his queen, to the order of the Temple.
These were far surpassed by the pious benefactions of King Henry the
Second. That monarch, for the good of his soul and the welfare of his
kingdom, granted the Templars a place situate on the river Fleet, near
Bainard's Castle, with the whole current of that river at London, for
erecting a mill;[142] also a messuage near Fleet-street; the church of St.
Clement, "quae dicitur Dacorum extra civitatem Londoniae;" the churches of
Elle, Swinderby and Skarle in Lincolnshire, Kingeswode juxta Waltham in
Kent, the manor of Stroder in the hundred of Skamele, the vill of Kele in
Staffordshire, the hermitage of Flikeamstede, and all his lands at Lange
Cureway, a house in Brosal, and the market of Witham; lands at Berghotte,
a mill at the bridge of Pembroke Castle, the vill of Finchingfelde, the
manor of Rotheley with its appurtenances, and the advowson of the church
and its several chapels, the manor of Blalcolvesley, the park of
Haleshall, and three _fat bucks_ annually, either from Essex or Windsor
Forest. He likewise granted them an annual fair at Temple Bruere, and
superadded many rich benefactions in Ireland.[143]
The principal benefactors to the Templars amongst the nobility were
William Marshall, earl of Pembroke, and his sons William and Gilbert;
Robert, lord de Ros; the earl of Hereford; William, earl of Devon; the
king of Scotland; William, archbishop of York; Philip Harcourt, dean of
Lincoln; the earl of Cornwall; Philip, bishop of Bayeux; Simon de Senlis,
earl of Northampton; Leticia and William, count and countess of Ferrara;
Margaret, countess of Warwick; Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester;
Robert de Harecourt, lord of Rosewarden; William de Vernon, earl of Devon,
&c. &c.[144]
The Templars, in addition to their amazing wealth, enjoyed vast privileges
and immunities within this realm. In the reign of King John they were
freed from all amerciaments in the Exchequer, and obtained the privilege
of not being compelled to plead except before the king or his chief
justice. King Henry the Third granted them free warren in all their
demesne lands; and by his famous charter, dated the 9th of February, in
the eleventh year of his reign, he confirmed to them all the donations of
his predecessors and of their other benefactors; with soc[145] and
sac,[146] tol[147] and theam,[148] infangenethef,[149] and
unfangenethef,[150] and hamsoca, and grithbrich, and blodwite, and
flictwite, and hengewite, and learwite, and flemenefrith, murder, robbery,
forestal, ordel, and oreste; and he acquitted them from the royal and
sheriff's aids, and from hidage, carucage, danegeld and hornegeld, and
from military and wapentake services, scutages, tallages, lastages,
stallages, from shires and hundreds, pleas and quarrels, from ward and
wardpeny, and averpeni, and hundredespeni, and borethalpeni, and
thethingepeni, and from the works of parks, castles, bridges, the building
of royal houses and all other works; and also from waste regard and view
of foresters, and from toll in all markets and fairs, and at all bridges,
and upon all highways throughout the kingdom. And he also gave them the
chattels of felons and fugitives, and all waifs within their fee.[151]
In addition to these particular privileges, the Templars enjoyed, under
the authority of the Papal bulls, various immunities and advantages, which
gave great umbrage to the clergy. They were freed, as before mentioned,
from the obligation of paying tithes, and might, with the consent of the
bishop, receive them. No brother of the Temple could be excommunicated by
any bishop or priest, nor could any of the churches of the order be laid
under interdict except by virtue of a special mandate from the holy see.
When any brother of the Temple, appointed to make charitable collections
for the succour of the Holy Land, should arrive at a city, castle, or
village, which had been laid under interdict, the churches, on their
welcome coming, were to be thrown open, (once within the year,) and divine
service was to be performed in honour of the Temple, and in reverence for
the holy soldiers thereof. The privilege of sanctuary was thrown around
their dwellings; and by various papal bulls it is solemnly enjoined that
no person shall lay violent hands either upon the persons or the property
of those flying for refuge to the Temple houses.[152]
Sir Edward Coke, in the second part of the Institute of the Laws of
England, observes, that "the Templars did so overspread throughout
Christendome, and so exceedingly increased in possessions, revenues, and
wealth, and specially in England, as you will wonder to reade in approved
histories, and withall obtained so great and large priviledges, liberties,
and immunities for themselves, their tenants, and farmers, &c., as no
other order had the like."[153] He further observes, that the Knights
Templars were _cruce signati_, and as the cross was the ensign of their
profession, and their tenants enjoyed great privileges, they did erect
crosses upon their houses, to the end that those inhabiting them might be
known to be the tenants of the order, and thereby be freed from many
duties and services which other tenants were subject unto; "and many
tenants of other lords, perceiving the state and greatnesse of the knights
of the said order, and withall seeing the great priviledges their tenants
enjoyed, did set up crosses upon their houses, as their very tenants used
to doe, to the prejudice of their lords."
This abuse led to the passing of the statute of Westminster, the second,
_chap._ 33,[154] which recites, that many tenants did set up crosses or
cause them to be set up on their lands in prejudice of their lords, that
the tenants might defend themselves against the chief lord of the fee by
the privileges of Templars and Hospitallers, and enacts that such lands
should be forfeited to the chief lords or to the king.
Sir Edward Coke observes, that the Templars were freed from tenths and
fifteenths to be paid to the king; that they were discharged of
purveyance; that they could not be sued for any ecclesiastical cause
before the ordinary, _sed coram conservatoribus suorum privilegiorum_; and
that of ancient time they claimed that a felon might take to their houses,
having their crosses for his safety, as well as to any church.[155] And
concerning these conservers or keepers of their privileges, he remarks,
that the Templars and Hospitallers "held an ecclesiasticall court before
a canonist, whom they termed _conservator privilegiorum suorum_, which
judge had indeed more authority than was convenient, and did dayly, in
respect of the height of these two orders, and at their instance and
direction, incroach upon and hold plea of matters determinable by the
common law, for _cui plus licet quam par est, plus vult quam licet_; and
this was one great mischiefe. Another mischiefe was, that this judge,
likewise at their instance, in cases wherein he had jurisdiction, would
make general citations as _pro salute animae_, and the like, without
expressing the matter whereupon the citation was made, which also was
against law, and tended to the grievous vexation of the subject."[156] To
remedy these evils, another act of parliament was passed, prohibiting
Hospitallers and Templars from bringing any man in plea before the keepers
of their privileges, for any matter the knowledge whereof belonged to the
king's court, and commanding such keepers of their privileges thenceforth
to grant no citations at the instance of Hospitallers and Templars, before
it be expressed upon what matter the citation ought to be made.[157]
Having given an outline of the great territorial possessions of the order
of the Temple in Europe, it now remains for us to present a sketch of its
organisation and government. The Master of the Temple, the chief of the
entire fraternity, ranked as a sovereign prince, and had precedence of all
ambassadors and peers in the general councils of the church. He was
elected to his high office by the chapter of the kingdom of Jerusalem,
which was composed of all the knights of the East and of the West who
could manage to attend. The Master had his general and particular
chapters. The first were composed of the Grand Priors of the eastern and
western provinces, and of all the knights present in the holy territory.
The assembling of these general chapters, however, in the distant land of
Palestine, was a useless and almost impracticable undertaking, and it is
only on the journeys of the Master to Europe, that we hear of the
convocation of the Grand Priors of the West to attend upon their chief.
The general chapters called together by the Master in Europe were held at
Paris, and the Grand Prior of England always received a summons to attend.
The ordinary business and the government of the fraternity in secular
matters were conducted by the Master with the assistance of his particular
chapter of the Latin kingdom, which was composed of such of the Grand
Priors and chief dignitaries of the Temple as happened to be present in
the East, and such of the knights as were deemed the wisest and most fit
to give counsel. In these last chapters visitors-general were appointed to
examine into the administration of the western provinces.
The western nations or provinces of the order were presided over by the
provincial Masters,[158] otherwise Grand Priors or Grand Preceptors, who
were originally appointed by the chief Master at Jerusalem, and were in
theory mere trustees or bare administrators of the revenues of the
fraternity, accountable to the treasurer general at Jerusalem, and
removeable at the pleasure of the Chief Master. As the numbers,
possessions, and wealth of the Templars, however, increased, various
abuses sprang up. The members of the order, after their admittance to the
vows, very frequently, instead of proceeding direct to Palestine to war
against the infidels, settled down upon their property in Europe, and
consumed at home a large proportion of those revenues which ought to have
been faithfully and strictly forwarded to the general treasury at the Holy
City. They erected numerous convents or preceptories, with churches and
chapels, and raised up in each western province a framework of government
similar to that of the ruling province of Palestine.
The chief house of the Temple in England, for example, after its removal
from Holborn Bars to the banks of the Thames, was regulated and organised
after the model of the house of the Temple at Jerusalem. The superior is
always styled "Master of the Temple," and holds his chapters and has his
officers corresponding to those of the chief Master in Palestine. The
latter, consequently, came to be denominated _Magnus Magister_, or Grand
Master,[159] by our English writers, to distinguish him from the Master at
London, and henceforth he will be described by that title to prevent
confusion. The titles given indeed to the superiors of the different
nations or provinces into which the order of the Temple was divided, are
numerous and somewhat perplexing. In the East, these officers were known
only, in the first instance, by the title of Prior, as Prior of England,
Prior of France, Prior of Portugal, &c., and afterwards Preceptor of
England, preceptor of France, &c.; but in Europe they were called Grand
Priors and Grand Preceptors, to distinguish them from the Sub-priors and
Sub-preceptors, and also Masters of the Temple. The Prior and Preceptor
_of_ England, therefore, and the Grand Prior, Grand Preceptor, and Master
of the Temple _in_ England, were one and the same person. There were also
at the New Temple at London, in imitation of the establishment at the
chief house in Palestine, in addition to the Master, the Preceptor of the
Temple, the Prior of London, the Treasurer, and the Guardian of the
church, who had three chaplains under him, called readers.[160]
The Master at London had his general and particular, or his ordinary and
extraordinary chapters. The first were composed of the grand preceptors of
Scotland and Ireland, and all the provincial priors and preceptors of the
three kingdoms, who were summoned once a year to deliberate on the state
of the Holy Land, to forward succour, to give an account of their
stewardship, and to frame new rules and regulations for the management of
the temporalities.[161] The ordinary chapters were held at the different
preceptories, which the Master of the Temple visited in succession. In
these chapters new members were admitted into the order; lands were
bought, sold, and exchanged; and presentations were made by the Master to
vacant benefices. Many of the grants and other deeds of these chapters,
with the seal of the order of the Temple annexed to them, are to be met
with in the public and private collections of manuscripts in this country.
One of the most interesting and best preserved, is the Harleian charter
(83, c. 39,) in the British Museum, which is a grant of land made by
Brother William de la More, the martyr, the last Master of the Temple in
England, to the Lord Milo de Stapleton. It is expressed to be made by him,
with the common consent and advice of his chapter, held at the Preceptory
of Dynneslee, on the feast of Saint Barnabas the Apostle, and concludes,
"In witness whereof, we have to this present indenture placed the seal of
our chapter."[162] A fac-simile of this seal is given above. On the
reverse of it is a man's head, decorated with a long beard, and surmounted
by a small cap, and around it are the letters TESTISVMAGI. The same seal
is to be met with on various other indentures made by the Master and
Chapter of the Temple.[163] The more early seals are surrounded with the
words, Sigillum _Militis_ Templi, "Seal of the _Knight_ of the Temple;" as
in the case of the deed of exchange of lands at Normanton in the parish of
Botisford, in Leicestershire, entered into between Brother Amadeus de
Morestello, Master of the chivalry of the Temple in England, and his
chapter, of the one part, and the Lord Henry de Colevile, Knight, of the
other part. The seal annexed to this deed has the addition of the word
_Militis_, but in other respects it is similar to the one above
delineated.[164]
The Master of the Temple was controlled by the visitors-general of the
order,[165] who were knights specially deputed by the Grand Master and
convent of Jerusalem to visit the different provinces, to reform abuses,
make new regulations, and terminate such disputes as were usually reserved
for the decision of the Grand Master. These visitors-general sometimes
removed knights from their preceptories, and even suspended the masters
themselves, and it was their duty to expedite to the East all such knights
as were young and vigorous, and capable of fighting. Two regular voyages
were undertaken from Europe to Palestine in the course of the year, under
the conduct of the Templars and Hospitallers, called the _passagium
Martis_, and the _passagium Sancti Johannis_, which took place
respectively in the spring and summer, when the newly-admitted knights
left the preceptories of the West, taking with them hired foot soldiers,
armed pilgrims, and large sums of money, the produce of the European
possessions of the fraternity, by which means a continual succour was
afforded to the christian kingdom of Jerusalem. One of the grand priors or
grand preceptors generally took the command of these expeditions, and was
frequently accompanied by many valiant secular knights, who craved
permission to join his standard, and paid large sums of money for a
passage to the far East. In the interval between these different voyages,
the young knights were diligently employed at the different preceptories
in the religious and military exercises necessary to fit them for their
high vocation.
On any sudden emergency, or when the ranks of the order had been greatly
thinned by the casualties of war, the Grand Master sent circular letters
to the grand preceptors or masters of the western provinces, requiring
instant aid and assistance, on the receipt of which collections were made
in the churches, and all the knights that could be spared forthwith
embarked for the Holy Land.
The Master of the Temple in England sat in parliament as first baron of
the realm, (_primus baro Angliae_,) but that is to be understood among
priors only. To the parliament holden in the twenty-ninth year of King
Henry the Third, there were summoned sixty-five abbots, thirty-five
priors, and the Master of the Temple.[166] The oath taken by the grand
priors, grand preceptors, or provincial Masters in Europe, on their
assumption of the duties of their high administrative office, was drawn up
in the following terms:--
"I, _A. B._, Knight of the Order of the Temple, just now appointed Master
of the knights who are in ----, promise to Jesus Christ my Saviour, and to
his vicar the sovereign pontiff and his successors, perpetual obedience
and fidelity. I swear that I will defend, not only with my lips, but by
force of arms and with all my strength, the mysteries of the faith; the
seven sacraments, the fourteen articles of the faith, the creed of the
Apostles, and that of Saint Athanasius; the books of the Old and the New
Testament, with the commentaries of the holy fathers, as received by the
church; the unity of God, the plurality of the persons of the holy
Trinity; that Mary, the daughter of Joachim and Anna, of the tribe of
Judah, and of the race of David, remained always a virgin before her
delivery, during and after her delivery. I promise likewise to be
submissive and obedient to the Master-general of the order, in conformity
with the statutes prescribed by our father Saint Bernard; that I will at
all times in case of need pass the seas to go and fight; that I will
always afford succour against the infidel kings and princes; that in the
presence of three enemies I will fly not, but cope with them, if they are
infidels; that I will not sell the property of the order, nor consent that
it be sold or alienated; that I will always preserve chastity; that I will
be faithful to the king of ----; that I will never surrender to the enemy
the towns and places belonging to the order; and that I will never refuse
to the religious any succour that I am able to afford them; that I will
aid and defend them by words, by arms, and by all sorts of good offices;
and in sincerity and of my own free will I swear that I will observe all
these things."[167]
Among the earliest of the Masters, or Grand Priors, or Grand Preceptors of
England, whose names figure in history, is Richard de Hastings, who was at
the head of the order in this country on the accession of King Henry the
Second to the throne,[168] (A. D. 1154,) and was employed by that monarch
in various important negotiations. In the year 1160 he greatly offended
the king of France. The Princess Margaret, the daughter of that monarch,
had been betrothed to Prince Henry, son of Henry the Second, king of
England; and in the treaty of peace entered into between the two
sovereigns, it was stipulated that Gizors and two other places, part of
the dowry of the princess, should be consigned to the custody of the
Templars, to be delivered into King Henry's hands after the celebration of
the nuptials. The king of England (A. D. 1160) caused the prince and
princess, both of whom were infants, to be married in the presence of
Richard de Hastings, the Grand Prior or Master of the Temple in England,
and two other Knights Templars, who, immediately after the conclusion of
the ceremony, placed the fortresses in King Henry's hands.[169] The king
of France was highly indignant at this proceeding, and some writers accuse
the Templars of treachery, but from the copy of the treaty published by
Lord Littleton[170] it does not appear that they acted with bad faith.
The above Richard de Hastings was the friend and confidant of Thomas a
Becket. During the disputes between that haughty prelate and the king, the
archbishop, we are told, withdrew from the council chamber, where all his
brethren were assembled, and went to consult with Richard de Hastings, the
Prior of the Temple at London, who threw himself on his knees before him,
and with many tears besought him to give in his adherence to the famous
councils of Clarendon.[171]
Richard de Hastings was succeeded by Richard Mallebeench, who confirmed a
treaty of peace and concord which had been entered into between his
predecessor and the abbot of Kirkested;[172] and the next Master of the
Temple appears to have been Geoffrey son of Stephen, who received the
Patriarch Heraclius as his guest at the new Temple on the occasion of the
consecration of the Temple church. He styles himself "_Minister_ of the
soldiery of the Temple in England."[173]
In consequence of the high estimation in which the Templars were held, and
the privilege of sanctuary enjoyed by them, the Temple at London came to
be made "a storehouse of treasure." The wealth of the king, the nobles,
the bishops, and of the rich burghers of London, was generally deposited
therein, under the safeguard and protection of the military friars.[174]
The money collected in the churches and chapels for the succour of the
Holy Land was also paid into the treasury of the Temple, to be forwarded
to its destination: and the treasurer was at different times authorised to
receive the taxes imposed upon the moveables of the ecclesiastics, also
the large sums of money extorted by the rapacious popes from the English
clergy, and the annuities granted by the king to the nobles of the
kingdom.[175] The money and jewels of Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, the
chief justiciary, and at one time governor of the king and kingdom of
England, were deposited in the Temple, and when that nobleman was
disgraced and committed to the Tower, the king attempted to lay hold of
the treasure.
Matthew Paris gives the following curious account of the affair:
"It was suggested," says he, "to the king, that Hubert had no small amount
of treasure deposited in the New Temple, under the custody of the
Templars. The king, accordingly, summoning to his presence the Master of
the Temple, briefly demanded of him if it was so. He indeed, not daring to
deny the truth to the king, confessed that he had money of the said
Hubert, which had been confidentially committed to the keeping of himself
and his brethren, but of the quantity and amount thereof he was altogether
ignorant. Then the king endeavoured with threats to obtain from the
brethren the surrender to him of the aforesaid money, asserting that it
had been fraudulently subtracted from his treasury. But they answered to
the king, that _money confided to them in trust they would deliver to no
man without the permission of him who had intrusted it to be kept in the
Temple_. And the king, since the above-mentioned money had been placed
under their protection, ventured not to take it by force. He sent,
therefore, the treasurer of his court, with his justices of the Exchequer,
to Hubert, who had already been placed in fetters in the Tower of London,
that they might exact from him an assignment of the entire sum to the
king. But when these messengers had explained to Hubert the object of
their coming, he immediately answered that he would submit himself and all
belonging to him to the good pleasure of his sovereign. He therefore
petitioned the brethren of the chivalry of the Temple that they would, in
his behalf, present all his keys to his lord the king, that he might do
what he pleased with the things deposited in the Temple. This being done,
the king ordered all that money, faithfully counted, to be placed in his
treasury, and the amount of all the things found to be reduced into
writing and exhibited before him. The king's clerks, indeed, and the
treasurer acting with them, found deposited in the Temple gold and silver
vases of inestimable price, and money and many precious gems, an
enumeration whereof would in truth astonish the hearers."[176]
The kings of England frequently resided in the Temple, and so also did the
haughty legates of the Roman pontiffs, who there made contributions in the
name of the pope upon the English bishoprics. Matthew Paris gives a lively
account of the exactions of the nuncio Martin, who resided for many years
at the Temple, and came there armed by the pope with powers such as no
legate had ever before possessed. "He made," says he, "whilst residing at
London in the New Temple, unheard of extortions of money and valuables. He
imperiously intimated to the abbots and priors that they must send him
rich presents, desirable palfreys, sumptuous services for the table, and
rich clothing; which being done, that same Martin sent back word that the
things sent were insufficient, and he commanded the givers thereof to
forward him better things, on pain of suspension and
excommunication."[177]
The convocations of the clergy and the great ecclesiastical councils were
frequently held at the Temple, and laws were there made by the bishops and
abbots for the government of the church and monasteries in England.[178]