In Mr. Frederick Devon's _Pell Records_, vol. iii. p. 34., there is an
entry in the Issue Roll of Easter, 41 Henry III. 1257, of a payment.
"To the Brethren of the _Middle_ Temple, £4. in part of £8.
appointed alms for the support of three chaplains to celebrate
divine service, at Easter Term, in the 41st year, by writ patent."
And in p. 88. is the following writ for payment at Easter Term, 4 Edward
I. 1276:--
"Pay out of our Treasury, from the day of the death of the Lord
King Henry, our Father, of renowned memory, for each year, to our
beloved Master and Brethren of the Knights Templars in England, £8.
_which our father granted_ to them by his charter to be received
yearly at our Exchequer, for the support of three chaplains, daily
for ever, to perform divine service in the New Temple, London, one
of whom is to perform service for our aforesaid father, the other
for all Christian people, and the third for the faithful deceased,
as was accustomed to be done in the time of our aforesaid father.
Witness, &c."
I presume that there can be no doubt that the grant referred to in the
last extract is that which is mentioned in the first. But if so, what is
meant by "Brethren of the _Middle Temple?_"
Both entries are before the suppression of the order, and it was not
till long after the suppression that the Temple was occupied by the
lawyers as a place of study; nor till long after the establishment of
lawyers there, that is to say, more than a hundred years after the date
of the first extract, that the Temple was divided into two houses,
called, as now, the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple. Added to which,
the church of the Temple is in that division which is called the _Inner_
Temple.
Can any of your correspondents favour me with the precise words of the
original record, or explain the meaning of the term used?