Rothley Temple, or more correctly Rothley Preceptory, (pronounced ''Rowth-Ley'') was a
preceptory (a religious establishment operated by certain orders of monastic knights) in the village of
Rothley,
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
, England, associated with both the
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...
and the
Knights Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...
.
The preceptory's chapel, constructed by the Knights Templar, is currently part of the
Rothley Court Hotel.
History
Foundation
Rothley Preceptory was established around the year 1231; however, records show "The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon" (more commonly known as the Knights Templar) owned land at Rothley as early as the reign of King
John (1199–1216).
[ On the establishment of the preceptory King Henry III granted the Knights Templar the manor and church at Rothley.] The preceptory would come to own land in 13 neighbouring villages, including granges used for farming at Baggrave (near Hungarton
Hungarton (or Hungerton) is a small village and civil parish in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, about north-east of Leicester and south-west of Melton Mowbray. The population of the civil parish was 26 ...
) and Gaddesby. The knights of the preceptory also owned the Manor at Gaddesby.
Around 1250, the preceptory was recorded as having a yearly revenue of £62. 10s. 5d., which was used to help fellow Knights Templar in Acre
The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
, in modern-day Israel.[
In 1284, King ]Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
granted the preceptory's knights a charter, permitting them to hold a weekly market, on a Monday, at Rothley, and an annual fair in honour of Saint Barnabas each June.[ This lasted until 1306, when King Edward issued the knights with another charter permitting them to hold a market and festival at their manor at Gaddesby, instead of at Rothley. This charter afforded a weekly market on a Wednesday and an annual festival in July in honour of Mary Magdalen.]
End of the Knights Templar
After losing the Holy Land in 1291, the Knights Templar lost purpose, power and influence, and were forced to move their headquarters to France. Shortly after, King Philip IV of France
Philip IV (April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), called Philip the Fair (), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. Jure uxoris, By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre and Count of Champagne as Philip&n ...
, heavily indebted to the order, started a campaign against the Knights Templar, using his puppet Pope Clement V
Pope Clement V (; – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his death, in April 1314. He is reme ...
.[ Malcolm Barber, ''The Trial of the Templars''. Cambridge University Press, 1978. ] King Philip had Pope Clement arrest the Templars for various offences, including: apostasy
Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...
, idolatry
Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...
, heresy
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy.
Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...
, obscene rituals, homosexuality, financial corruption, fraud, and secrecy.[ Under torture, many confessed.][
With these confessions, and after more bullying from the French King, on 22 November 1307 Pope Clement issued a ]Papal bull
A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it.
History
Papal ...
, known as the '' Pastoralis Praeeminentiae'', which instructed the monarchs of Europe to arrest all of the Knights Templar, and to seize their properties on behalf of the church.[ King Philip had thereby freed himself of his debts.][
Initially, King ]Edward II of England
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...
refused to believe the allegations against the Templars.[ However, in 1308, Rothley Preceptory, together with the Templars' other possessions in England, were seized by the Crown.][
An inventory of the dissolved preceptory from 1309 reveals that the preceptory consisted of both a hall and a chapel (thought to have been built around 1240), and had over 350 sheep.][
]
Knights Hospitaller
In 1313 the preceptory and its lands were transferred to the Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, more commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...
.[
Rothley does not appear to have been administered by the Knights Hospitallers as an independent preceptory, and was merged with the joint Dalby and Heather Preceptory by 1371, another Hospitaller establishment within Leicestershire. One Preceptor then controlled all three of these preceptories from Dalby.][
From around 1500 the land at all three preceptories – Dalby, Heather and Rothley – appears to have been rented out. In 1535, the three combined preceptories are recorded as providing the order with a sizable annual income of £231. 7s. 10d.]['House of Knights Hospitallers: Preceptory of Dalby and Heather']
''A History of the County of Leicestershire'': Volume 2 (1954), pp. 32–33. Date accessed: 16 June 2013.
In the 15th century the Hospitallers made alterations to the chapel at the preceptory.[
]
Dissolution
The preceptory was suppressed and dissolved in 1540.[ The Lordship of the Manor of Rothley, previously held by the preceptory, was from 1565 until 1845 in the hands of the ]Babington family
Babington is the name of an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-IrishBurke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1958, 4th Edition by L. G. Pine, Burke's Peerage: 'Babington of Creevagh', pg 42' and English gentry family. The Anglo-Irish branch of the family is still ...
.[ The Babingtons chose not to demolish the preceptory's chapel, and it was incorporated, along with some fragments of the preceptory's domestic buildings, into the house they built on the site.]
Later history
Abolition of the slave trade
Rothley Temple eventually passed to Thomas Babington (1758–1837) who was a prominent figure in the Clapham Sect
The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Holy Trinity Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the Established Church, established (and do ...
and the fight to abolish the slave trade.[ A close friend of William Wilberforce, Babington and Wilberforce met frequently at Rothley Temple whilst drafting their anti-slavery bill.][ Babington later served as MP for Leicester and High Sheriff of Leicestershire and was buried in the chapel at Rothley Temple.
A large stone monument and plaque stand outside the building today, commemorating the building's, and Babington's, part in the abolition of slavery.]
In 1800, Rothley Temple was the birthplace of the historian Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859, later Lord Macaulay) named after his uncle.
Rothley Court
The preceptory's chapel and part of the domestic buildings still exist, and are now part of the Rothley Court Hotel.[ Rothley Court, originally a stately home, incorporates part of the preceptory that was converted for residential use in the 16th century.][ Much of what can be seen today is from substantial renovation and extension works conducted by John Ely of Manchester, between 1894 and 1895.]
The chapel was heavily restored in 1896.[ In 1951, Rothley Court and the chapel were protected as Grade I Listed Buildings.]
A number of stone artefacts and partial grave slabs have been discovered over the years around the chapel, where they can be seen.[Rothley – Rothley Temple and the Chapel of the Knights Templar – Leicestershire Villages]
/ref> This includes a recently restored effigy of a Templar knight, originally discovered in Rothley Churchyard in 1790; following a £2,000 restoration completed in 2011, the effigy has been placed within the chapel at Rothley Temple.[
Rothley Temple is also the name of a lodge of the Freemasons.][ The lodge, founded in 1961/62, took its name from the preceptory because of its association with the Knights Templar.]
Preceptors
The Preceptor was head of the preceptory. Similar to an Abbot with an Abbey and a Prior with a Priory, the Preceptor was in charge of the preceptory's church and land, and managed the brethren of the order who lived at the preceptory. The Preceptor was answerable to the Grand Master of his order.
Preceptors under the Knights Templar:[House of Knights Templar – Preceptory of Rothley , A History of the County of Leicestershire: Volume 2 (pp. 31–32)]
/ref>
* Stephen of Todmershe.
* John Feversham.
* Walter of Ewenightewith.
* William of Wald.
* Alexander Blundus.
* William of Colewell, occurs 1271.
The Preceptors under the Knights Hospitallers: ''From around 1371, Rothley was controlled by the preceptor of Dalby Preceptory''[
*John Dingley, c.1371.
*John Langstrothyr, c.1448.
*Thomas Newport, died 1522.
*Henry Babbington, c.1525.
*John Babbington, died 1534.
*Sir Henry Poole, 1535/6 – 1540.
]
See also
* Dalby Preceptory
*Heather Preceptory
Heather Preceptory (pronounced: ; ''He-ther'') was a preceptory of the Knights Hospitaller, established in the village of Heather, Leicestershire, United Kingdom.
History
Heather preceptory was established as a preceptory (monastery) of the K ...
References
{{Diocese of Nottingham
Roman Catholic churches in Leicestershire
Preceptories of the Knights Templar
Monasteries in Leicestershire
Preceptories of the Knights Hospitaller in England
1231 establishments in England
Grade I listed buildings in Leicestershire
Grade I listed monasteries
13th-century church buildings in England