The inventories, accounts, and records of debts for the Templars’ estates in England and Wales, 1308-1313, as a source for the everyday lives of the Templars

Nicholson, Helen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1715-1246 2026. The inventories, accounts, and records of debts for the Templars’ estates in England and Wales, 1308-1313, as a source for the everyday lives of the Templars. Yearbook for the Study of the Military Orders 30 (1) , pp. 7-60. 10.12775/OM.2025.001

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Abstract

Although the inventories, accounts, and records of debts payable and receivable produced for King Edward II of England’s government after the arrests of the Templars in England at the beginning of 1308 are incomplete, they preserve some information on the Templars’ built environment and material culture, the persons living in or associated with Templar properties, religious observance, estate management, and transactions with outsiders. This article uses these data to reconstruct details of the day-to-day lives of the Templars in England just before their arrests, and particularly their relations with non-Templars. Given that the charges brought against the Templars in 1307 alleged that the brothers acted secretly and that non-Templars were unaware of their daily behaviour, evidence they were in fact in daily contact with outsiders undermines the charges and adds to the increasing volume of evidence that the Templars were not guilty as charged. The information from these documents presents a picture of busy communities in which the Templars formed a minority and whose immediate concerns were focussed on local matters, such as employing a priest to support a chantry for a wealthy donor, rather than the distant Holy Land. This article can be viewed online or downloaded from https://apcz.umk.pl/OM/article/view/65400/45159

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D111 Medieval History D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Publisher:	Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
ISSN:	0867-2008
Related URLs:	Publisher
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	3 February 2026
Date of Acceptance:	11 December 2025
Last Modified:	03 Feb 2026 09:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/184279

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