The history of the Knights Templar in England it began when the French nobleman Hughes de Payens, founder and Grand Master of the Order of the Knights Templar, visited the country in 1118 to raise money for men and the Crusades.
The king Henry II (1154-1189) granted land through England to the Templars, including some territories by Baynard Castle in the River Fleet, where they built a round church, modeled after the Knights Templar at the headquarters of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem . The order was also given the advowson (right of use) of St. Clement Danes.
In 1184 the headquarters of the Templars was transferred to New Temple (Temple Church) in London, where once again, a round church was built, this model of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. It was consecrated in 1185, and it became the site of initiation rituals.
In 1200, Pope Innocent III issued a papal bull declaring the immunity of people and goods within the houses of the Knights Templar from local laws. This ensured that the new temple became a royal treasure, as well as the repository for the accumulated income of the order. These financial resources provided on the basis for the development of local banking services of the Templars.
Between October 13, 1307 and January 08, 1308 the Templars were molested in England. During this period many fugitive Templars, trying to escape torture and execution, fled to apparent safety there. But after repeated pressure from Philip IV and Clement V on Edward II, a few half-arrests were made.
During a trial that runs from October 22, 1309 to March 18, 1310 most of the arrested Templars were forced to acknowledge the belief that the Master of the Order could give absolution was heretical, and they were officially reconciled with the church. , entering many more conventional monastic orders.
Most of the Templars in England were never arrested, and the persecution of their leaders was brief. The order was dissolved because of its damaged reputation, but given the Pope and the church's judgment of the order so blameless, all members in England were free to find a new place in society.
