The Templar Estates in Lincolnshire, 1185-1565: Agriculture and Economy

Much has been written about the history of the Knights Templar, the legendary Order of military monks. Far less attention, however, has been paid to the Templar estates in Western Christendom which supported their endeavours.
Set within the context of the turbulent history of medieval and Tudor England, the book follows the fate of the Templar estates in the county of Lincolnshire. Beginning with the survey of Templar property undertaken by Geoffrey FitzStephen in 1185, the story of the estates is followed through the primary sources of the estate accounts of 1307-1312, the Report of Philip de Thame of 1338, the
Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 and the 1557 letter patent of Mary Tudor. What emerges is the previously untold tale of the characteristics of the estates, the personnel who were involved and the nature of Templar agriculture in the early fourteenth century. A number of major questions are addressed, including how Edward II dealt with the Templar estates after the arrest of the Order in 1308; whether all the Templar estates were transferred to the Hospitallers as is widely supposed; and what happened to the Hospitaller inheritance of Templar lands during the English Reformation.


Table of Contents

Introduction
The Inquest of 1185
The Lincolnshire preceptories and the former Templar estates, 1308-13
Arable farming on the former Templar estates, 1308-13
Livestock, excluding sheep, on the former Templar estates, 1308-13
Sheep farming and management on the former Templar estates, 1308-13
The people: workers, dependants, beneficiaries and the former Templar estates, 1308-13
The transfer of former Templar property to the Hospitallers, 1312-38
The Report of Prior Philip de Thame to Grand Master Elyan de Villanova, 1338
The
Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535, the dissolution of the Hospitallers and the subsequent fate of the former Templar estates in Lincolnshire
Conclusion
Appendices
Bibliography
Index