The Hospitallers of St Thomas of Canterbury at Acre, usually called the Knights of St Thomas was a Christian military order of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Membership was restricted to Englishmen. The emblem of the order was a red cross with a white scallop in the centre and the Knights wore a white

habit A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

History

Foundation

It was established in 1191, at Acre, after the capture of that city by

Richard I of England Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...

and

Philip II of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French m ...

. After the capture of the city, William, Chaplain to the Dean of St. Pauls Cathedral at London, formed a small religious order, its members taking vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The purpose of the Order was tending to the sick and wounded, and burying the Christian knights who fell in battle in the Holy Land. To that, William, as Prior of the Order, added the purpose of raising funds to ransom captives from the Muslim armies of

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...

. The success of the Order enabled it to establish a church and hospital which was dedicated to St Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Becket was martyred in 1170 and canonised in 1173.

Militarisation

It was militarised by Peter of Roche, the Bishop of Winchester, during the Sixth Crusade 1227–1229. According to

Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

this was done thanks to the indulgence of the existing canons of the Hospital of St Thomas in Acre. Peter of Roche was the crusader Bishop of Winchester who contributed to the defences of Jaffa and

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

. In 1236,

accorded Papal confirmation to the Order, and the Order became known as the Knights of St Thomas Acon (Acre being Anglicised to Acon). The Order adopted the rule of the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...

. 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 Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where ...

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 The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

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 At the

fall of Acre The siege of Acre (also called the fall of Acre) took place in 1291 and resulted in the Crusaders losing control of Acre to the Mamluks. It is considered one of the most important battles of the period. Although the crusading movement continue ...

, 12 May 1291, the Master and nine knights of the Order were killed. Following the battle, the Holy Land was lost to the

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

s, the Order of St Thomas, along with the Order of Knights Templar, moved their

Priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

to the island of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

where they erected the beautiful St. Nicholas Church at Nicosia. (The ruins of the Church are still standing and have been recently restored.) However divisions arose between the master in Cyprus and the master of the London headquarters. By 1320, with a deteriorating situation in the Levant, Henry of Bedford, the master in Cyprus, came to London and ousted the incumbent master there. When he then appointed a deputy to handle the situation in Cyprus, the brothers there resisted this move. Although this resistance was overcome, within a few years control of the organisation had once more reverted to Nicosia. However the financial situation continued to deteriorate with reports of the London premises being reported as being in ruins by 1330 and the order ceased to be a viable military organisation with nothing more being heard of the master in Nicosia after 1360.

The end and dissolution

Having abandoned a military role, they also abandoned the rule of the Teutonic Knights, adopting that of the

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

s and carrying out charitable work and running a grammar school. Links developed with the

Mercers The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. It is the first of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. Although of even older origin, the c ...

livery company at this time – Becket's father, Gilbert had been a mercer. The latter became their patrons, holding meetings there and using the chapel for prayers. The Order was dissolved in 1538, along with other

monastic orders Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important rol ...

in England, by Henry VIII.

The Worshipful Mercers' Company of London

After the dissolution of the Order, the King offered the hospital and chapel for sale. It was purchased by the

. But the buildings were destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The Mercers Company is the premier livery company of London, ranking first in the

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

of the "Great Twelve City Livery Companies". The second hall, opened in 1676, was destroyed in 1941 during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. The present-day Mercer's Hall and Chapel, opened in 1958, are built on the site. It incorporates some of the fixtures, 17th-century woodwork and Victorian stained glass from the second hall. All that remains of the original Chapel is the recumbent statue of Christ which lies at the entrance to the Mercer's Chapel. The Worshipful Company of Mercers is one of the few London Livery Companies to have its own private chapel.

Bibliography

* Forey, Alan J. ''The Military Order of St Thomas of Acre'', "English Historical Review", 92 (1977), pp. 481–503. * Vincent, N. ''Peter des Roches: An Alien in English Politics, 1205–1238'', Cambridge, 1996. * Watney, J. ''Some Account of the Hospital of St. Thomas of Acon, in the Cheap, London, and of the Plate of the Mercers' Company'', London, 1892. * King, E. J. ''Official History of the British Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem'', pg. 32 (1934). * Demurger, Alain ''A Brief History of Religious Military Orders – Hospitallers, Templars, Teutonic...'', Tiralet (1997). * Bartlett, W. B. ''God Wills It! – An Illustrated History of the Crusades'', Gloucestershire (1999). * Benvenisti, Meron ''The Crusaders in the Holy Land'', New York (1970). * Cross, Peter ''The Knight in Medieval England, 1000–1400'', Gloucestershire (1993). * Payne, Robert ''The Dream and the Tomb: A History of the Crusades'', New York (1984). * Riley-Smith, Jonathan ''The Atlas of the Crusades'', New York (1991), pp. 106–107. *

Tyerman, Christopher Christopher Tyerman (born 22 May 1953) is an academic historian focusing on the Crusades. In 2015, he was appointed Professor of History of the Crusades at the University of Oxford. Life and career He graduated from New College, Oxford, with a ...

''The Invention of the Crusades'', Toronto (1998). * Upton-Ward, J. M. A translation of ''The Rule of the Templars'', Suffolk (1992). * Walsh, Michael ''Warriors of the Lord: The Military Orders of Christendom'', Cambridge (2003), pg. 203.

External links

The Bedestan, claimed to have been St. Nicholas Church at Nicosia, Cyprus, 14th-century headquarters of the medieval Order.Worshipful Company of Mercers, LondonThe current Order of St Thomas of Acre

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knights Of Saint Thomas 1191 establishments Religious organizations established in the 1190s Organizations disestablished in 1538 1538 disestablishments in England Thomas, Knights of Saint

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

Catholic orders of chivalry Catholic Church in England and Wales Thomas Becket