The church of the Knights templars in London, a description of the fabric and its contents, with a short history of the order
t ■v:^»;^\ :?« •^ ii X H ai O z X o Pi (I< o p2 a H b X H Digitized by Google THE CHURCH OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS IN LONDON A DESCRIPTION OF THE FABRIC AND ITS CONTENTS. WITH A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ORDER BY GEORGE WORLEY AUTHOR OF "SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL," ETC. WITH XXXI hriot AfJ^L k4 iii^iA^Ti^Atioi^s^. LONDON GEORGE BELL & SONS 1907 y Google Digitized by * CHIsWlCK''F*RftSS: CHARLES WHITl'INGHAM AND CO. ^ "- -TOaKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. Digitized by Google NOV 6 1907 PREFACE The history of the Knights Templars and their architectural work is distributed over many volumes by many writers, English and foreign, ancient and modern. My duty has chiefly been to collect the scattered material, and to condense it within a hand- book subject to the necessary limitations of a series. It has been impossible to include the long bibliography drawn upon in the compilation; but a list is appended of the most modern and accessible books to which the reader may be referred for more detailed information than is here given him on particular parts of the extensive subject. Of these it would be unpardon- able not to make special mention of the works by my immediate predecessors, viz., Mr. T. Henry Baylis, K.C., and Mr. Hugh H. L. Bellot, M.A., B.C.L., the first of whom has devoted himself more particularly to the ecclesiastical, and the second to the legal and literary associations of the Temple, each having materially reduced the labours of any one attempting to follow his example. The historic study has been supplemented by repeated visits to the Temple Church, in order to verify previous accounts, and occasionally to correct them, by actual measurement and observation. Here the verger in daily attend- ance, Mr. A. F. Stone, has given me much useful help, and called attention to certain " unconsidered trifles " which are probably here described for the first time. In endeavouring to settle the identity of the recumbent effigies, I have to Digitized by Google viii PREFACE acknowledge my obligations, in one important case, to the late Lord de Ros and his sister, the Hon. Mrs. James Swinton, for kindly giving me access to the family archives, which would seem to place the question beyond dispute as regards the figure of their ancestor. To Mr. W. H. St. John Hope, the distin- guished antiquary and ecclesiologist, I am indebted for some valuable information as to the original position of the altar in the English Round Churches. The views of the church and its contents at the present day have been photographed by Mr. Edgar Scamell, of 120, Crouch Hill. Other illustrations come from old engravings, casts of seals, etc., in the British Museum and elsewhere. The Organ builders, Messrs. H. J. Wadling, standing architect and surveyor to the Middle Temple, has been good enough to furnish the ground-plan of the church (originally drawn by Mr. Thomas Goodman in 187 1 ) which is here reproduced. Finally, I have to thank my friend Mr. C. E. A. Bedwell, sub-librarian to the Middle Temple, for reading through the proof-sheets with me, and for the items which his special knowledge has enabled him to contribute. G. W Midsummer^ 1907. Digitized by Google A SELECTION OF WORKS ON THE TEMPLE CHURCH Addison, C. G. " The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple." 1842. Ainger, Rev. Canon Alfred. "The Temple, London." 1898. Baylis, t. Henry, K.C. "The Temple Church and Chapel of St. Ann." 1893. Bellot, H. H. L. "The Inner and Middle Temple, Legal, T^iterary and Historic Associations." 1902. Billings, R. W. "Architectural Illustrations and Account of the Temple Church, London." 1838. Britton, J., and Brayley, E. W. "Account of the Temple Church." 1824. Burge, W. " The Temple Church : an Account of its Restora- tion and Repairs." 1843. Essex, W. R. H., and Smirke, S. " Illustrations of the Archi- tectural Ornaments and Embellishments and Painted Glass of the Temple Church, London." 1845. Jekyl, M. R. " Facts and Observations relating to the Temple Church, and the Monuments contained in it." 181 1. Lucas, C. " Les Eglises Circulaires d'Angleterre." 1882. Macrory, Edmund, M.A., K.C. "A few Notes on the Temple Organ " 1859. Richardson, E. "The Monumental Effigies of the Temple Church, with an Account of their Restoration in the year 1842." 1843. " The Ancient Stone and Leaden Coffins, Encaustic Tiles, etc., recently discovered in the Temple Church." 1845. Digitized by Google Digitized by Google CONTENTS PAGE Preface vii List of Works of Reference ix Chapter I. The Knights Templars 3 II. Exterior of the Church .... 19 III. Interior OF THE Round 27 IV. Interior of the Choir 41 V. The Clergy, Choristers, Services, and Organ 57 Appendix I. Seals of the Templars 63 II. The Temple Organ 65 III. The Other English Round Churches . 71 Index 73 Digitized by Google Digitized by Google LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Exterior of the Temple Church from the north- west Frontispiece Arms of the Inner and Middle Temple Title-page The West Door from the Triforium .... 2 The Temple Church (Exterior) about 1755 ... 3 The Exterior of the East End 18 The Exterior from the South 19 The Round in the Eighteenth Century . . .22 The Doorway 24 The Interior from the West 26 The Interior of the Round in the Eighteenth Century 29 The Font 31 Recumbent Effigies of the Knights : Sir Geoffrey de Magnaville and a Knight . . 32 Knight and Knight Crusader 33 William Mareschel the Elder and Younger . . 36 Gilbert Mareschel and Knight Crusader . . 37 Lord de Ros 38 The Interior from the East 40 The Interior from the West (1750) 41 Effigy of a Bishop 45 Bust of Richard Hooker 47 The Martin Monument 50 Mrs. Anne Littleton's Monument 51 The Turnor Monument 53 Monument of Clement Coke ...... 54 The Plowden Monument 56 Seals of Grand Masters and Preceptories : Five Ex- amples ... 62 Ground Plan of the Church .... At End xiii Digitized by Google Digitized by LjOOQIC Digitized by Google Photo.] [Edgar Scatnell, THE WEST DOOR FROM THE TRIFORIUM Digitized by Google B. Cole.\ [Sculp. THE TEMPLE CHURCH, ABOUT 1 755 Front a contemporary engraving THE TEMPLE CHURCH CHAPTER I THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS Ever since the discovery of the Cross by the Empress Helena, and the erection by her of a Christian Church over the Holy Sepulchre,^ in the early part of the fourth century, the sacred places of Palestine had been specially chosen for those devout pilgrimages, either voluntarily undertaken or imposed as a ^ The argument for the genuineness of the discovery, and the identifica- tion of the sites, is well stated by J. H. Newman in his * * Essay on Ec- clesiastical Miracles," Section V. The compilers of the Book of Common Prayer were apparently satisfied with the bona fides of the discovery {In- ventio) when they allowed the day of observance to stand in the calendar on 3rd May. 3 Digitized by Google 4 tHE TEMPLE CHURCH penance for sins committed, which occupy such a prominent place in mediaeval history. Considerable impulse was given to these pious journeys by the Crusades, the first of which was itself scarcely more than a pilgrimage on a large scale- -an im- posing demonstration — to assert the right of Christians to visit and worship at places hallowed and endeared to them by the most sacred associations. The Saracens had then not only destroyed the church built by St. Helena, but had done their best, or worst, to make the position of the resident Christians uncomfortable, besides harassing and robbing the pilgrims on their way to and from the Holy Land, so as to move the indignation of Europe. When the circumstances were fully realized on the failure of the expedition sometimes known as the first Crusade, the pro- miscuous crowd of which it consisted was supplemented by the definite military organization more worthy of the name, under Godfrey de Bouillon, and the original motive extended into the grander scheme for rescuing the whole country from its infidel invaders. The object was so far attained, that on the 15th July, 1099, after a siege of over five weeks, Jerusalem was cap- tured, and the leader of the Christian armies elected prince and governor of the city. Though he is said to have refused the regal title, his sovereignty was generally acknowledged, and his territory gradually enlarged till it included the greater part of Palestine. On his deatli in iioo, he was succeeded by his youngest brother, who was crowned as Baldwin I, and, during his reign of eighteen years, further strengthened the principality by the conquest of Caesarea and the important cities of Acre, Ashdod, Sidon, and Tripolis. His cousin and successor, Baldwin II (i 1 1 8-1 131), added the port of Tyre to his dominions. But the special glory of his reign was the institution of the famous military and religious society known as the Knights Templars, or Red Cross Knights of the Order of St. Augustine, which was founded within a year of his accession, and whose varying fortunes, with those of the older and rival Order of the Knights Hospitallers, form some of the most romantic chapters in the history of the Middle Ages. Even after the Holy Land had been taken under Christian rule, the molestation of the pilgrims continued; and, impressed with the sufferings to which they were exposed, two French Digitized by Google THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS 5 knights, Hugo de Paganis and Godefridus de Sancto Andomaro,^ companions of Godfrey de Bouillon, bound themselves toge- ther by a solemn compact to succour and defend them from the Turkish hordes. Their profession was made in due form before the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and, besides the military service, included the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, the intention being to combine the obligations of the soldier, or knight-errant, with those of the monastic life. Their poverty at starting is sometimes supposed to be indicated in the design chosen for the first seal of the Order (see p. 62). which represents two knights on a single horse, and has been taken to imply that they could only afford one between them. A more credible ex- planation is that the device is symbolical of the Christian love and courtesy which animated the Brethren, the second of the two riders representing a wounded knight, or pilgrim, who had been rescued by the first, and accommodated with a seat behind him, after the example of the Good Samaritan. Seven other knights of the same chivalrous nation were soon persuaded to join the original two, and the Brotherhood, thus fairly started, were allotted temporary quarters by Baldwin II in his own palace, which stood on or near the site of Solomon's Temple, till they could build houses for themselves on the land granted to them at the same time by the canons of the Temple, in close proximity to the Holy Sepulchre. It was from this their first habitation that they were named "The Brethren of the Militia of Christ and of the Temple " {Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici) \ and, in the case of their chief establish- ments, the group of buildings and the church for their worship were collectively described as " The Temple," a name which still bears witness here and there to the original institution.^ The attractions of the society, even in the age of chivalry and romance, to whose ideals it appealed in a twofold direction, were apparently counterbalanced by the dangers and austerity of the life, as the members remained the same for the first ten years of its existence. ^ E.g.^ in London and Paris. In many less important places the word occurs as a distinguishing prefix, e.g..^ Temple-Bruer, Temple-Combe, Temple-Cowley, Temple-Cressing, Temple-Grafton, etc. Digitized by Google 6 THE TEMPLE CHURCH a wider recognition of his Order, addressed himself to the most influential ecclesiastic in Europe, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who at once threw himself heartily into the project. His powerful agency resulted in the formal establishment of the Order at the Council of Troyes in 1 128, when the White Habit was assigned to the knights by Pope Honorius II as a distinctive garb, to which the Red Cross (made of leather and sewn on to the left sleeve of the mantle) was afterwards added by Pope Eu- genius III. Below the knights were the esquires, whose Habit was of a black, gray, or dark brown colour, while the Associates wore no distinctive dress, married men and even their wives being admitted to this qualified membership, which did not in- volve service in the field. The seventy-two statutes constituting the Rule of the Templars, formerly attributed to St. Bernard, are now regarded as the work of a later hand, though it is highly probable they are but an elaboration of those originally drawn up by him, and adopted as the " Regulation " simultaneously with the Habit. His relations with the Grand Master were always of the most friendly kind; and at the request of de Paganis, a few years after the Council of Troyes, the saint de- livered an "Exhortation to the Knights of the Temple," in which he drew a strong contrast between their consecrated life and warfare and the carnal ambition of the ordinary soldier, concluding with a flattering portrait of the Templar as he was supposed to be, and probably actually was before the corruption of the Order. The description, in fact, as far as it goes, is in substantial agreement with the prescribed Rule, as finally re- vised in the thirteenth century.' In its early days the Order of Templars differed from that of the Hospitallers in that it consisted entirely of lay members, paid chaplains being employed for the church services and other ^ " Never is an idle word, or a useless deed, or immoderate laughter, or a murmur, even if only whispered, allowed to go unpunished among them. Draughts and dice they detest. Hunting they hold in abomination, and take no pleasure in the absurd pastime of hawking. Soothsayers, jesters, and story-tellers, ribald songs, and stage plays, they eschew as insane follies. They cut close their hair, knowing, as the apostle says, that * it is a shame for a man to have long hair. * They never dress gaily, and wash but seldom. Shaggy by reason of their uncombed hair, they are also be- grimed with dust, and swarthy from the weight of their armour and the heat of the sun." — Extract from St. Bernards ExhortatioHy as translated in Morison^s ^^ Life and Times of St^ Bernard" Digitized by Google THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS 7 sacred ministrations. But the disadvantages of such intimate association, and a corresponding acquaintance with the arcana of the Brotherhood, without the restraints of actual member- ship, soon made themselves felt, and the anomaly was corrected by a Bull of Pope Alexander III {Omne datum optimum) issued in 1 162, which sanctioned the admission of clergy. The chap- lains were thus placed under the general obligations of the Order and the jurisdiction of the secular chief, whose only ecclesiastical superior was the Pope himself. In the case of Innocent III (i 198-12 16) the papal authority was at once strengthened and restricted by his personal admission as a Templar, and the assumption of the Rule which governed the whole body. The banner of the Order was the Beauseant, the upper part black, denoting death to their enemies, the lower part white, denoting love to each other and peace to their friends, while the legend " Non nobis ^ non nobis y Domine^ sed nomini tuo da gloriam^^^ pointed to the source of their inspiration and courage in the field.^ As the Order spread throughout the Christian world, the organization was developed, and eventually assumed the follow- ing main divisions. In the East there were the three provinces of Palestine, Antioch, and Tripoli; in the West nine, viz.: Apulia and Sicily, Northern and Central Italy, Portugal, Castille and Leon, Aragon, Germany and Hungary, Greece, France (including the Low Countries), and England. Digitized by Google 8 THE TEMPLE CHURCH structions from the central authority {Commendamus tibi^ or Praecipimus tibi\ than as having any independent power of their own. The larger of these establishments, which included the con- trol of others within the particular nation or province where they were situated, were distinguished as Grand Priories, or Grand Preceptories, the chief officer taking his title accord- ingly. From the date of the fore-mentioned Council of Troyes the Templars rapidly increased in numbers and prosperity. By a bull issued by Alexander III in 1172, they were granted special privileges, including the right of sanctuary in their churches,' exemption from interdict, and from all tithes and taxes, besides complete independence of episcopal rule, their direct allegiance being claimed by the Pope himself, as the immediate Bishop of the Order in all parts of the world. It was made a crime to annoy or injure them, and any person who wounded, or even struck a member, was liable to excommunication. These privileges and immunities were confirmed and ex- tended by popes and kings during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries till the Order became a dangerous rival to the powers who had thus rendered it independent of all authority but their own, while even that came to be but slightly recognized, and only appealed to when fresh privileges were required, or when those in existence were invaded. The immediate effect of the papal recognition in 11 28, was the accession of a large number of members, which, while including some of the finest soldiers the world has ever known, also drew a great many more into the society who were attracted rather by the love of adventure, and the prestige of membership, than by the high motives of the Founder — certainly not by the strictness of the monastic rule, to which many of them paid no more than a nominal obedience. The result was seen in a certain viciousness of life, and in the pride and arrogance of the Templars, individually poor perhaps, but enormously rich as a corporation, through the accumulated wealth of those who joined them, and poured ^ All privileges of sanctuary were formally abolished by Statute 21 (Chap. 28) of James I ; but the places continued to be resorted to, in defiance of the law, e.g., Whitefriars (Alsatia), and the Savoy, till they were finally extinguished by an Act of George I. See Scott's ** Fortunes of Nigel " for a graphic description of the abuses of sanctuary in the int<jrini, Digitized by Google THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS 9 their treasures into the common fund. As a solitary illustration of their wealth, it may be mentioned that almost the whole of the sum demanded by the Saracens for the ransom of Louis IX (St. Louis), viz , 800,000 bezants, or ;^4oo,ooo, was provided from their own resources. The purchasing power of money at the time would make this sum equal to something like twenty times its present nominal value. At the height of its fortunes, in the middle of the thirteenth century, the Order is said to have possessed as many as nine thousand manors ^ in Christendom, besides the numerous emoluments and acquisitions resulting from its special privi- leges and the benefactions of its friends, while the total number of Brethren has been moderately estimated at about twenty thousand. The premises of the Templars, enjoying the double protec- tion of sahctuary and a military guard, were frequently used for the custody of jewels and other valuable property; though cases are on record showing that the trust was liable to violation. In 1232, for instance, when Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, was a prisoner in the Tower, Henry III sent for the Master of the Temple, and brought pressure to bear upon him for the sur- render of the earl's property, which was thereupon transferred to the royal treasury. Again, in 1283, Edward I paid a visit to the Temple for the ostensible purpose of inspecting his mother's jewels : but, breaking open the coffers of sundry other depositors, he took away a selection from their contents to the estimated value of a thousand pounds.^ The reverses of the Templars were largely due to their quarrels with the Hospitallers in the East, where the rival orders wasted on each other the energies which sl^ould have been spent in united works of mercy, or directed against a common foe. Though a temporary peace was patched up between them by Pope Alexander III in 1178, it was followed by open warfare in Palestine a few years later, the blame of which was thrown upon the Templars as making the first attack. They were ^ The term "manors" {mane7'ia) must be understood to include estates or properties, either in land or houses; and the annual revenue thence derived has been estimated at about six million pounds sterling in modern money. This income, it will be remembered, was exempt from all dues and imposts to which ordinary property was liable. ^ In 1212 King John issued an order to the Master for the delivery of 20,000 marks which had been deposited in the Temple. Digitized by Google lo THE TEMPLE CHURCH severely censured in Europe, where public opinion went strongly against them, no doubt influenced by the representations of their powerful rivals, naturally anxious to divert attention from their own shortcomings when both Orders were exposed to the fierce light of public criticism. Innocent III, as Superior of the two Orders, had called them both to account for irregularities, apparently without diminish- ing the antagonism between them, which lasted with more or less intensity till the less influential of the two was extinguished. The mission of the Templars practically ended with the last Crusade and the capitulation of Acre in 1291, to be followed shortly after by the surrender of the other towns they had occupied, when the Knights who had survived the misfortunes of their Brethren left the Holy Land to the Saracens once more, and dispersed themselves over Europe, to await the prejudiced inquiry into their affairs, in which their suppression, and the confiscation of their property, were foregone conclusions. Besides their failure to hold the land they had conquered, and the consequent waste of life and money which had been contributed from every part of Christendom, there were several other causes for the disfavour with which they were everywhere received, which may be briefly summarized as follows : The freedom they had enjoyed from episcopal control had, of course, not tended to encourage kindly feeling from the bishops; and it has been noticed that in the charges brought against them, inconsistent and improbable though they were in many cases, there is a remarkable uniformity in those coming from particular districts, a coincidence which, rightly or wrongly, has been taken to imply diocesan prejudice. The secular mind, on the other hand, would be fully alive to the real or imaginary injustice which exempted the Templars from all kinds of duties and imposts to which other people were subject, and would be only too ready to give credence to the scandals that were freely circulated against the whole Order on the misconduct of a few ; while the secrecy with which their affairs were conducted would in itself give free scope to the imagination where facts were wanting. Among the various crimes of which they were accused, perhaps the easiest to believe is that of immorality, when it is remembered that many of them were rude uncultivated soldiers, peculiarly liable to temptations of that kind in the intervals of their desultory warfare, when violent action in the field was foU Digitized by Google THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS ii lowed by the indolence and insipidity of leisure in an eastern climate. It is much more difficult to believe them guilty of pro- fanities against their religion, such as the denial of Christ implied in trampling or spitting on the crucifix; though, from the number and independence of witnesses to that effect, it would appear that the charge was not altogether unfounded. Some writers have therefore been driven to find an explana- tion of it in the ceremonies of initiation, in which it seems to have been assumed that the neophyte was always a pagan or Mohammedan, whose conversion was typified by a formal act of profanity, followed by the renunciation of his supposed original creed, previous to his reception into the Christian society— a ceremony bearing some resemblance to the ancient ritual of Baptism. Other writers, e.g.^ Hammer-Purgstall {Die Schuld der Tem- pler) and Mr. Edward Clarkson, who follows him, attribute this and other idolatrous practices to the adoption of certain rites of a corrupt Oriental Freemasonry. In no part of Europe was the adverse feeling stronger than in France, the land from which most of the Templars had been drawn, and had probably suffered most heavily through their disasters. The throne was then occupied by Philip IV, sur- named " the Fair," whose outward beauty and formal religion served to mask a cunning and unscrupulous character, and who had in Clement V, whom he had raised to the papal chair, an agent willing to co-operate in any of his schemes. The royal exchequer was exhausted through the Flemish wars and the extravagance of the Court ; and the wealth of the Templars, which was the chief objection to their existence, offered a tempting source of recuperation. In the summer of 1306, on the joint invitation of the king and the Pope, the two Grand Masters of the Templars and Hospitallers were summoned to Bordeaux on the plea of taking counsel as to the best means of recovering the Holy Land. The -Hospitaller excused himself from attending, but Jacques de Molay, the Chief of the Templars, came over from Cyprus ^ early in the folTowing year, bringing the treasure of his Order and a retinue of sixty knights, to await negotiations in France, which really meant the accumulation of evidence against him ^ The island had been taken by Richard Cceur de Lion, who ceded it to the Templars. Digitized by Google 12 THE TEMPLE CHURCH and his brethren. The chief informers were two despicable wretches, one of whom had been expelled the Order for dis- honesty and other crimes, the other a citizen of Bdzieres, at that moment lying under sentence of death, who was offered a free pardon as the price of his information. On the 13th October, 1307, the Grand Master and one hundred and forty of his subordinates were seized at the Temple in Paris and cast into prison, similar arrests being made at the same time throughout the kingdom, with the result that in a single night every known Templar in France was captured and held in close confinement till arrangements could be made for the trial. At the same time Philip wrote to his son-in-law, Edward II, calling his attention to the iniquities of the Templars, that similar steps might be taken against them in England. To this Edward replied on 30th October that he had referred the matter to his Council, but the charges were held to be incredible. The Pope was thereupon induced to issue a bull, dated from Poitiers on 22nd November, in which Edward was exhorted to follow the excellent example set in France, to seize the Tem- plars in one day, and hold their property in charge pending the investigation, sending an inventory of it in the meantime to Rome. Even this was not completely successful, for Edward was not only unconvinced himself, but wrote letters (on 4th De- cember) to the kings of Aragon, Castille, Portugal, and Sicily, urging them not to lend too ready an ear to the charges against the Order. It seems, however, that further pressure was brought to bear upon him by the papal legates, as the Pope's direc- tions were carried out under writs issued on 20th December to the sheriffs in London and throughout the country. A cer- tain number of arrests were accordingly made; but another set of writs was soon issued for the arrest of such stray members as had contrived to elude the first. They were all h'eld in prison till 131 1, when the survivors * (those who had not died in custody) were tried, some being acquitted, while others were sent to do penance in various monasteries. The total number ^ The original inventory made by the Sheriff of London, i Ed. II, 1307, of the goods and chattels of the Templars, together with their church books, vestments, and ornaments, is in the Public Record Office. [Exchequer (Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer) Enrolled Accounts, Miscell., No. 24, Templars' Rolls, No. 3 MS.] Digitized by Google THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS 13 of Templars in the United Kingdom at the time of the sup- pression has been estimated at no more than 250, the number actually arrested and tried in London being 229; from which it would seem that some of the members had disappeared into private life to escape the ruin which they foresaw. On the whole the proceedings here, and indeed throughout the rest of Europe, were conducted with much less severity than in France, where confessions — in many cases acknowledgements of crime that had never been committed — were wrung from the un- fortunate Templars by tortures of the most horrible kind. Digitized by Google 14 THE TEMPLE CHURCH The first establishment of the Templars in London, which was also the earliest in England, stood on the site now occu- pied by Southampton Buildings, at the northern (Holborn) end of Chancery Lane, probably also covering part of Lincoln's Inn Fields. From the foundations discovered in 1595, and again examined in 1704, it appears that the church was of the usual circular shape, adopted by the Order in imitation of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, and that Caen stone was employed in the building. Early in the reign of Henry II a piece of land was purchased for the erection of the New Temple — so called in distinction from the Old — with larger premises for the expanding Order, and a church more worthy of its dignity. The site chosen was bounded on the north by the Strand, on the south by the river Thames, on the east by the Monastery of the Carmelites, or White Friars, and on the west by the ground subsequently oc- cupied by Essex House (with the garden pertaining to it), and now marked by Essex Street. The ground, in fact, was co- extensive with that covered by the estates of the Inner, Middle, and Outer Temple, as distinguished in relation to the ancient City wall, which crossed the Strand at the point of Temple Bar where the structure popularly known as the Griffin now stands.^ ^ From a manuscript cited by Addison {Knights Templars) it appears that the earliest settlement of lawyers in the Temple took place during the Earl of Lancaster's tenure of the estate (1315-22), from which it is to be inferred that the lease granted by the Hospitallers was not the first, but a confirmation, or renewal, of that already in existence. The date usually assigned for the settlement is c. 1346, when a migration of " Professors of the Common Law" is referred to by Dugdale {Origines Juridiciales) as having been made from Thavies Inn to the Temple buildings. In the absence of original documents, supposed to have been destroyed during Wat Tyler's raid on the Temple in 1381, it is impossible to fix a date for the separation of the lawyers into the two Societies of the Inner and Middle Temple. Indeed it is argued, with some show of reason, that the two bodies were always distinct, and that no legal separation was necessary. The earliest known mention of either society by name is [a) the Paston Letter of 1st November, 1440, in which the Inner Temple is mentioned; and {b) the Black Books of Lincoln's Inn, 14th March, 1442, where there is a reference to the Middle Temple. From the fragments that remain underground it is inferred that the Chapel of St. Ann, which stood immediately to the south of the Round Church, with a connecting doorway and staircase, was erected at about the same time as the choir, and in a similar (Early English) style of architecture. This chapel was more or less shattered by gunpowder, to check the spread of the flames, during a fire in 1678, in which the legal records and other documents then stored within it were destroyed. In 1825, when it had long ceased to be used for sacred purposes, the little e*difice was unfortunately pulled down. In spite of the papal decree, the property of the Templars in legal estate of each Society. The Outer Temple never came into their pos- session, as it had not been included in the transfer of the Knights Templars' property. The site of the original Outer Temple is marked by Essex Street and Devereux Court, names derived from the noble owners of a later date. The building opposite the Law Courts, which bears the name of Outer Temple, is quite modern. (A brief summary of the evidence for the separation is given by Judge Bay lis, ** Temple Church," part ii. The ** never-one " theory is ably stated by Mr. John Hutchinson, Librarian to the Middle Temple, in his " Inquiry into the Origin and Early History of the Inn.") * The original inscription was unfortunately destroyed during some re- pairs in 1695, t)ut it has been reproduced on the inner side of the wall above the door. Digitized by Google i6 THE TEMPLE CHURCH England was not immediately handed over to the Hospitallers. The reason given by King Edward was that no such transfer could be made without the sanction of Parliament, and that in the case of an extinct community the property should revert to the original donors, or their representatives, according to the law of the land, which he had no power to override. Numerous claims were set up on this principle in regard to the Templars' confiscated estates in different parts of England, the whole of which were vested in the crown pending arrangements for their distribution. Soon after the dissolution of the Order the Temple estate in London was granted by Edward II to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, the king's cousin, who was beheaded in 1322 for his rebellion, and the estate revested in the crown. In the same year it was granted to Aylmer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, in terms which embraced " the whole of the buildings constitut- ing the New Temple in London, together with the ground called Fickett's Croft, and all the tenements, rents, and appur- tenances formerly belonging to the Knights Templars in the City of London and suburbs." Pembroke appears to have made over the estate to Hugh Despenser the younger, who forfeited it on his attainder, and it again reverted to the crown. In the meantime threats of excommunication and interdict had forced the king to reconsider the position, with the result that in 1324 an Act was passed (17 Edw. II, Stat. 2) assigning the lands and properties of the extinct Order, minus the precinct of the Outer Temple, to the Hospitallers, in compliance with the Pope's instructions. The Hospitallers, having their own head-quarters at St. John's Priory, Clerkenwell (the gate of which, rebuilt in 1504, still remains), and being in no need of the extra premises, soon after the acquisition leased the Inner and Middle Temple to the lawyers. The great Order was itself suppressed in 1541, resuscitated in Mary's reign, and finally abolished on the accession of Queen Elizabeth: but the lawyers were allowed to remain in undisturbed possession, as lessees, through all the changes of sovereignty and ownership, till the year 1608, when the freehold of the Temple was granted to them, subject to the old annual payment, by a charter of James I. The reversion was eventually purchased from Charles II, and the rental ex- tinguished, in 1677. Digitized by Google Digitized by Google 1 l> ''1 4 wr 1 > A iiinil IK In 1 A - i J ( -, -< ^ < ^ 1 1 < 1 - I ^ ik 1^ 1 % < H O u, (^ O Digitized by Google Photo. \ [Edgar Scavtell. THE EXTERIOR FROM THE SOUTH CHAPTER II EXTERIOR OF THE CHURCH The only part of the Temple Church that is visible from a distance is the conical roof to the circular portion at its western end, with the small weathercock which surmounts it. These signs may be distinguished by any one who knows exactly where to look for them, from the high roadway of Waterloo Bridge, and one or two other such commanding points as the top of St. PauPs and the Monument. Otherwise the building is effectu- ally concealed by the modern London that has grown up around it, and lies hidden among shops and houses, unnoticed, and probably unknown, by thousands who pass up and down the main thoroughfares on either side of it every day of their lives. It can, however, easily be reached from the south by way of the Victoria Embankment and the Temple Gardens ; and from the north by way of Fleet Street, where the Inner Temple Gateway, facing Chancery Lane, opens direct to the entrance. The church 19 Digitized by Google 20 THE TEMPLE CHURCH is surrounded by a low iron railing, outside which, on the north, there is an open space containing a few ponderous monuments suggestive of an abandoned churchyard. Apart from these, in dignified simplicity on the ground, lies the coped tombstone of Oliver Goldsmith, with inscriptions merely recording his name on one side, and the dates of his birth and death (1728- 1774) on the other. The neighbouring pavement is largely made up of flat old gravestones, which, however, do not cover the bodies whose names they bear, or any other bodies for that matter. They were removed from the floor of the church to this place at the restoration, when encaustic tiles were substituted for them : and it will be noticed that there is an arcaded walk beneath the pavement which allows no intermediate space for burial of the dead. Perhaps the most historically interesting of these uncouth memorials — most of which date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries only — are those of John Selden and William Petyt, both of whom are more worthily commemorated on tablets within, as hereafter described. At its eastern end this courtyard is bounded by a wall, which separates it from the Master's house and garden, inaccessible to the general public. On the northern side there is a range of offices, backing the shops of Fleet Street; and on the south, within the forementioned railing, the churchyard proper lies at a somewhat lower level. Distributed over the grass there are eight ancient Stone Coffins, all said to be unoccupied, as two of them certainly are which lie together, nearer the east than the others, minus their original covers, for which plain boards have been substituted. If the visitor is bold enough to raise one of these temporary coverings, he will notice that the coffin, which may be taken as a sample of the rest, consists of a single mas- sive stone, hollowed out for the reception of the corpse, with a semicircular cavity for the head. Two modern additions are to be noticed on this side of the church, viz., the Organ-Chamber, erected in 1842, in the Digitized by Google EXtERIOR OF ThE CHUkCH 21 form of a transept between the buttresses on either side of the central window, which was taken out to accommodate the instrument; secondly, the new Vestry. This was built below the windows, at the eastern end of the same wall, in 1868-9, in place of the older vestry above mentioned. There was formerly a still older vestry on the south side, described as " new " in the Register for 1664. The church is strictly orient- ated, and consists of a circular and rectangular part, respectively known as the Round and the Oblong. The latter, which was appended after an interval of fifty-five years as a choir or chancel, now forms the main body of the edifice, the Round (the original nave) having practically become a sort of vestibule or narthex to it. The Oblong is divided into five equal bays on either side by light buttresses of three stages each, every bay, except that occupied by the organ-chamber, containing a triplet window, with lancet heads and plain mouldings, supported by slender shafts with simple moulded capitals. The organ-transept has modern windows of similar design, though scarcely so good, in each of the enclosing walls. The western of these windows is intruded upon and mutilated by the buttress on that side, and the organ prevents any of them from being seen within. The original elevation has been pre- served intact on the southern side, where the whole range of windows can be seen without interruption. The eastern wall consists of three bays, corresponding with the longitudinal divisions of the interior, each lighted by a triplet window, supported by buttresses of the same character as those on the north and south. The roof of the choir is tri- partite, also following the internal divisions, or what are practic- ally the nave and aisles of the church under modern conditions. The Round consists of two storeys, the lower, which em- braces the ambulatory encircling the central space within, being much the larger in circumference. It is supported by buttresses, somewhat more massive than those just mentioned, and more in keeping with the Norman work in this part of the church. The exterior wall on the northern half of the circle still con- sists very largely of the rough irregular stones (Kentish rag) of the original fabric, though obviously subject to a modern pro- cess of pointing; while the southern half has been deprived of its ancient character by the substitution of smooth rectangular Digitized by Google 22 THE TEMPLE CHURCH stones, in conformity with the choir walls, which have also been altered by restoration. A sloping roof extends from the lower Maltoh] [delin. THE ROUND IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, SHOWING THE BUILDING OVER THE PORCH From a drawing' in the Croxvle- Pennant Collection. wall to that of the clerestory, which is now surmounted by a small conical roof. This was substituted in 1840 for the battle- Digitized by Google EXTERIOR OF THE CHURCH 23 ments which formerly crowned the tower, on the supposition that they were not part of the original structure, but a decora- tive addition, probably dating only from the Tudor period, when that kind of ornament was freely introduced into pre- Reforma- tion churches in spite of its incongruity. There is, however, a counter theory resting on the military character of the Order, with which the fortification of their churches would not be in- consistent.^ The buttresses of the clerestory are necessarily much lighter than those below, and the windows are smaller. In both cases the windows are round-headed, six in the clerestory, and eight in the ambulatory, where there is also one (circular) over the doorway. At the north-western extremity of the choir, at the point of juncture with the Round, there is a Turret enclosing the stair- case to the penitential cell and triforium. It consists of an irregular polygon of four storeys, repaired here and there with brick and plaster, and showing the narrow openings which light the staircase at intervals within. It terminates in an octagon, with a pointed stone roof, containing the single bell which the church now possesses.^ On the southern side of the Round seven large slabs of stone in the pavement mark the spot where {P' formerly stood the Chapel of St. Ann, and cover the scanty ^ remains of that interesting appendage to the church, unfortun- ^ ately destroyed, instead of restored, in 1825. The arched Porch, through which the Round is entered, though altered, and scarcely improved, by reparation, is a surviv- ing fragment of the ancient cloister, erected in or about 1195. Both porch and doorway probably owe their soundness at the present day to an act of vandalism in the early part of the eighteenth century, when a dwelling-house was built over the porch, and a shop within it, which at once concealed the old work and sheltered it from the weather. The circular window above the door was also hidden and protected by the upper chambers. The Doorway, a fine specimen of late Norman or Transi- tional work, though bearing marks of restoration, still consists ^ The battlements still exist on the ruins of the Round Church at Ludlow. ■^ In Roger de Hoveden's ** Chronicle " there is a reference to bells ^ the ringing of which was stopped in 1192, as obnoxious to Geoffrey, Arch- bishop of York, then lodging in the Temple buildings. Digitized by Google u THE TEMPLE CHURCtt chiefly of the original material (Caen stone), and retains the main features of the original design in a fairly good state of preservation. It has a wide, depressed, and richly moulded arch, within a deep recess, supported on either side by four plain columns with sculptured capitals, alternated with the same number of pilasters. In the decoration of these there are clear signs of the Saracenic influence imported by the Crusaders, the adornment consisting of an intermixture of PAoto.] [Ed^ar Scamell. THE DOORWAY foliage with lozenges and tooth-moulding, and terminating in capitals of half-length statuettes. These small figures are sup- posed to represent, on the northern side, Henry II, with three Templars, to whom he is presenting the Charter of their founda- tion; and, on the southern side, the Patriarch Heraclius with three attendant clergy. The door itself is modern — a massive piece of work in oak, ornamented externally with ironwork, and fitted with large bolts and hinges, and lock and key to match. Digitized by Google Digitized by Google Digitized by Google CHAPTER III INTERIOR OF THE ROUND The ancient circular nave, familiarly known as THq Round, is divided concentrically into two spaces by a series of six clustered columns of Purbeck marble, each consisting of two large and two smaller shafts, all detached, and arranged diagonally. The columns rest on moulded bases, are banded in the middle, and terminate in carved capitals, supporting six acutely pointed arches, which, being turned on the cylindrical surface of the main wall, give a fine example of skilful arcuation in double curvature. Above these is the Triforium, each bay of which contains a double opening, directly over the apex of one of the arches, the whole circuit of the wall being decorated with a series of intersecting round arches, in low relief, supported by small Purbeck shafts. From each of the principal columns a slender vaulting-shaft (also of Purbeck) is carried upwards to the groining of the roof, dividing both the triforium and the clerestory above it into six equal bays, corresponding with the divisions of the main arcade. The central space on the floor of the Round is occupied by eight of the recumbent effigies described on another page, the circular path beyond and around it forming an ambulatory within the external wall. The groining of the ambulatory roof is ingeniously contrived, and considered unique in that its divi- sions are alternately triangular and rectangular. Along the wall of the ambulatory there runs a low stone bench, with a shallow arcading above it. The slightly pointed arches of this mural decoration are surmounted by a billet moulding, and the span- drels contain a series of sculptured heads — sixty-four in all — some of which are not unlikely to be portraits, though there is an occasional dash of humour about them suggestive of carica- ture or inventive imagination. The wall arcade and the heads 27 Digitized by Google 28 THE TEMPLE CHURCH were renovated in 1828, under the direction of Mr. Robert Smirke, then architect to the Inner Temple. In the western curve of the ambulatory, directly facing the centre of the Round, is the grand doorway and only public entrance to the church. On the opposite side a large pointed arch opens into the choir, with a narrower arch on either side giving access to the respective north and south aisles. 