Knights Templar

The Knights Templar were a Catholic military order founded in 1119 and recognised in 1139 by the papal bull Omne datum optimum. The order was active until 1312, when it was perpetually suppressed by Pope Clement V by the bull Vox in Excelso. The history of the Knights Templar in England began when the French nobleman Hughes de Payens, the founder and Grand Master of the order of the Knights Templar, visited the country in 1128 to raise men and money for the Crusades.

King Henry II (1154-1189) granted the Templars land across England, including some territory by Castle Baynard on the River Fleet, where they built a found church, patterned after the Knights Templar headquarters on Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Templar estate at Cressing Temple in Essex was one of the very earliest and largest Templar estates in England. King Richard I (1189–1199) confirmed the Templars' land holdings and granted them immunity from all pleas, suits danegeld and from murdrum and latrocinium. King John (1199–1216) had substantial financial dealings with the Knights Templar. At the time of Runnymede, not only was Aymeric de St Maur present, but King John was also resident at the Temple when the Barons first presented their demands. He awarded them the island of Lundy as well as land at Huntspill, Cameley, Harewood, Radnage and Northampton. The first Templar House in England was in London. Early patrons included Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby, Bernard de Balliol, King Stephen of England and Queen Matilda.