Knights Templar in England
An inventory by Geoffrey Fitz Stephen reveals that by 1185, the Order of the Knights Templar had extensive holdings in London, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Salop, Oxfordshire, Cornwall, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. The involvement of Templars in financial matters is highlighted by Walter of Coventry's story of Gilbert de Ogrestan, the Knight Templar accused of embezzling taxes collected in the Saladin tithe of 1188. He was severely punished by his contemporary Master.
Knights of Saint Thomas
For the next 100 years, the crusaders held and defended the city of Acre. During this period, about the year 1279, as the purposes of the Order shifted from that of religious hospitallers to a more military role, the position of Prior, the Order's religious head, lost its pre-eminent position. After that, the pre-eminent position was accorded to the Master of the Order. They acquired property and privileges, and created a provincial organisation in the British Isles, with its headquarters in Cheapside London and a subordinate preceptors in Kilkenny. In 1257 Alexander IV noted that the foundation did not have adequate resources. By 1279 it appealed to Edward I for funds, and the proposal to merge them with the Knights Templar seems to have arisen from their financial problems. However, there was opposition from the knights to this both in the Levant and England. In 1316 members successfully appealed to Edward I against a Templar takeover and also opposed an attempt takeover by the convent of Bonhommes at Ashridge