The Book
The Templar Chronicle
The Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller in Wales, 1119–1540
A G Adare
A documented history of the two military orders in south and west Wales, drawn from charters, the 1308 arrest inventories and Prior Philip de Thame's 1338 survey of Hospitaller lands. It follows the Templars from the first grant at Slebech to the arrests of 1308, the Hospitaller inheritance of their Welsh estates, and the dissolution of 1540 — and separates what the records show from what antiquarians later invented.
- Thirteen chapters and thirty-six sections, roughly 30,000 words.
- 134 pages in the 6 × 9 in paperback edition.
- Gazetteer, glossary, timeline and a full bibliography.
- Available now as a Kindle ebook and a paperback on Amazon.
Every chapter first appeared as a daily entry in The Templar Chronicle on this site. The book gathers them into a single, edited and cross-referenced volume.
About this book
From the first recorded grant at Slebech to the dissolution of the Hospitaller estates in 1540, The Templar Chronicle traces the presence of the two great military religious orders in south and west Wales across four centuries.
Drawing on charters, the 1308 arrest inventories, and Prior Philip de Thame's 1338 survey of Hospitaller lands, this is a documented account of how the Templars gained their Welsh estates, how those estates passed to the Hospitallers after the suppression of 1312, and what finally survived the dissolution of 1540. The book separates the evidence contained in the records from the romantic inventions of later antiquarians.
Each chapter is supported by a gazetteer of sites, a timeline, a glossary of terms, and a consolidated bibliography. Whether you are tracing the Templar Trail through Pembrokeshire and Gower, researching local history, or simply want a clear, factual introduction to the subject, this volume provides the framework for understanding Wales's Templar and Hospitaller heritage.
Contents
Preface
- Why this book exists
- A note on method, sources and the two Orders
1. Before Wales
- The birth of the Order
- Wales in the twelfth century
- Why the Marcher lords gave land
2. The first grants
- Slebech: the foundation grant
- The Flemish colony of Pembrokeshire
- Templeton and the naming of places
3. Farming for the crusade
- The Pembrokeshire granges
- Wool, mills and ferries
- The 1308 inventory
4. 1307–1312
- Arrests in Wales
- The transfer to the Hospitallers
- The 1338 Hospitaller survey
5. The white cross replaces the red
- Life under the Hospitallers
- Gower: Llanmadoc and Llanddewi
- The dissolution of 1540
6. What survives
- Slebech today
- The Masonic revival
- Walking the Templar landscape
7. Other religious orders in Wales
- The Cistercians
- The Hospitallers before the transfer
- Pilgrim roads to St Davids and Holywell
8. The brothers' day
- Rule, office and silence
- Knights, sergeants, chaplains and servants
- Bread, ale and buildings
9. Hospitaller Gower
- Llanmadoc and the western peninsula
- Rhossili, Port Eynon and the southern coast
- Parish, pilgrim and Preceptor
10. From dissolution to revival
- The dissolution of 1540 and after
- Antiquarians and the Templar myth
- The Masonic revival and Wales today
11. Reference material
- Gazetteer of Welsh Templar and Hospitaller sites
- Glossary and timeline
- Sources and further reading
Afterword
- What the Welsh evidence tells us
Available now
Buy The Templar Chronicle
Kindle ebook and paperback both now live on Amazon.