Middle Temple - Templars


Master Treasurer:	Michael Blair QC
Under Treasurer:	Air Commodore Peter Hilling

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The History of the Inn - the Templars

No precise date can be given for the establishment of the Middle Temple, or for that matter of the other three Inns of Court, though it is likely that the four Inns had come into being by the middle of the 14th century.

The Inn's name derives from the Knights Templar who were in possession of the site we now call the Temple for some 150 years. The origins of the Inn trace from two roots: the occupation of the Knights and the replacement of priestly lawyers by a lay profession.

The Templars
On Christmas Day 1119 and at the instance of King Baldwin II of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and of the Patriarch of Jerusalem nine knights took monastic vows, styling themselves The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Jesus Christ. They were quartered in the remains of the

Temple of Solomon (of which today only the Wailing Wall remains) and hence the other name by which the Order was known: the Knights of the Temple of Solomon. The purpose of the foundation was the protection of pilgrims from Western Europe on their way through the Levant to visit the Holy Places. A considerable increase in the 12th century of the number making that pilgrimage and the developing conflict between Christian and Muslim made that necessary.

Once established, the Order grew quickly in its importance. Houses of the Order were founded in many European countries to recruit members and to act as rear echelons for the knights in the field in the Levant or Outremer, as it was called. The building and maintenance of their many castles there, the payment of their local mercenaries and the attendant costs were considerable. In England the Order's first House was in Holborn where the first Round Church was built, all Templar Churches being circular on the model of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Within a short time the Order was given land South of what is now Fleet Street and moved to the New Temple. The Round of the present Church was built and was consecrated in 1185 in the reign of Henry II by Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Part of the land formed a monastery and part remained unconsecrated. The monastic buildings lay around the present Church Court, hence the present-day building called Cloisters, with the refectory on the site of the present Inner Temple Hall. Another hall lay on or somewhat to the East of Middle Temple Lane and housed the lay brethren and other laymen. Laymen of knightly rank could serve with the Order.

The New Temple soon developed connections with the King's administration and particularly with the Exchequer. In the height of the Templars' influence the New Temple was a centre of royal, diplomatic and fiscal activity. A secure site held by a religious and military Order could not be bettered for the purposes of a treasury. The Bishopric of Ely and the Exchequer were closely connected. As early as 1257 the incumbent Bishop succeeded in the Courts in a claim that his See enjoyed as of ancient right a lodging "in the houses of the Master" with rights in the Hall and other buildings.

The Master was the head of the House in England, though subject to the Grand Master in Outremer. Even today that title and tradition live on. The priest appointed to the Temple Church is called "The Master": his proper style is "The Reverend and Valiant". The Middle Temple still speaks of itself as Domus and the two Inns are on occasions referred to as the "Societies of this House".