Order of St. Thomas of Acon
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The Commemorative Order of St. Thomas of Acon is an independent English Christian military order. Membership is restricted to those who are subscribing members of a Preceptory (Commandery) in amity with the Great Priory of the United Religious, Military and Masonic Order of the Temple of England and Wales and Provinces Overseas (commonly referred to as the Masonic Knights Templar). Membership is by invitation only.
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[edit] History
[edit] The first translation of the Order
The Hospitallers of St Thomas of Canterbury at Acre, was established in 1191 (during the Third Crusade, 1189-92) at the seaport city of Acre, following its capture from the Saracens by Richard I (1157-1199) (Richard Coeur de Lion) of England and Philip II (1165-1223) of France.
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. 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 canonized in 1173.
[edit] The second translation of the Order
During the Fifth Crusade (1217-21), the members of the Order were pressed into military service to fill the ranks of the crusader army. As a result, in 1227-28, the Order of St. Thomas of Acre was militarised by Peter des Roches, the crusader Bishop of Winchester. The Order adopted the rule of the Teutonic Knights. In 1236, Pope Gregory IX accorded Papal confirmation to the Order, and the Order became known as the Knights of St Thomas Acon (Acre being anglicised to Acon).
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. At the fall of Acre, 12 May 1291, the Master and nine knights of the Order were killed. Following the battle, the Holy Land lost to the Saracens, the Order of St Thomas, along with the Order of Knights Templar, moved their Priory to the island of Cyprus where they erected the beautiful St. Nicholas Church at Nicosia. The ruins of the Church are still standing and have been recently restored.
After leaving Cyprus, the Order returned to England and acquired the property of the Becket family on Ironmonger Lane, in Cheapside, where it built a hospital, chapel and headquarters. From the 14th century, the Order was headquartered in London. The Order was dissolved in 1538, along with the other monastic orders in England, by Henry VIII.
[edit] 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 Worshipful Company of Mercers in recognition of the association of Becket's father, Gilbert, with the Mercer's trade. 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 of the "Great Twelve City Livery Companies".
The second hall, opened in 1676, was destroyed in 1941 during the Blitz. 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 the only London livery company to have its own private chapel.
[edit] The modern revival
The Order of St. Thomas of Acon was revived in 1974 as a result of twenty years' research in the Guildhall Library in London by John E. N. Walker, who for many years was the Secretary General of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. The ancient records of the Order, written in medieval French and Latin, had been deposited in the Guildhall Library and escaped the Great Fire of 1666. The revived Order now operates under the official title of The Commemorative Order of St Thomas of Acon.
As of the year 2006 there were fifty seven Chapels of the Order in England, Wales, Spain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States of America.
[edit] Regalia
The regalia of the Order is similar to that of a Knight Templar, that is, a stone white tunic, on the front of which is a Latin Cross, Medici Crimson, four inches wide, the full length of the tunic, on which is superimposed a white Latin Cross one-third the width. The intersection of the Cross is charged with a Bronze Escallope Shell, four inches diameter. Over the tunic is worn a stone white mantle with hood; on the left breast, a Greek Cross of ten inches length, upon which is a smaller white cross, the intersection of which is charged with a Bronze Escallope Shell. Knights also wear a crimson velvet cap, the front of which is charged with a Bronze Escallope Shell. Knights, with the exception of the Prior and Almoner, wear a sword belt and sword with scabbard.
The banner of the Order depicts the Arms of the Order and comprises: Argent, a Cross Rouge extending to the edge of the Banner, upon which is superimposed a smaller Cross Argent. In the first quarter of the Banner is an Escallope Shell Or, fimbriated Rouge.
[edit] Organisation and administration
The basic organisation of the Order is a Chapel.
The officers of a Chapel consist of the following:
- Master (styled "Worthy")
- Prior (styled "Eminent")
- Marshal
- Treasurer
- Secretary
- Deputy Marshal
- Almoner
- Four Working Knights
- Herald
- Organist
- Doorkeeper
- Cellarer(s)
- Sentry
[edit] Grand Officers
The Grand Officers of the Order, in order of precedence, are:
- Grand Master (styled "Most Worthy")
- Grand Prior (styled "Most Eminent")
- Grand Preceptor(s) (styled "Right Worthy")
- Grand Marshal
- Grand Treasurer
- Grand Registrar
- Grand Secretary
- Grand Historian
- Deputy Grand Marshal
- Grand Almoner
- Grand Sword Bearer
- Deputy Grand Secretary
- Grand Banner Bearer
- Assistant Grand Marshals
- Assistant Grand Secretary
- Grand Herald
- Grand Organist
- Grand Doorkeeper
- Grand Cellarar(s)
- Grand Sentry
[edit] Provincial Grand Officers
Provinces of the Order are governed by a "Grand Preceptor's Council." The Provincial Grand Officers, in order of precedence, are:
- Grand Preceptor (styled "Right Worthy")
- Provincial Grand Prior
- Provincial Grand Marshal
- Provincial Grand Treasurer
- Provincial Grand Registrar
- Provincial Grand Secretary
- Provincial Deputy Grand Marshal
- Provincial Grand Almoner
- Provincial Grand Sword Bearer
- Provincial Deputy Grand Secretary
- Provincial Grand Banner Bearer
- Provincial Assistant Grand Marshal
- Provincial Assistant Grand Secretary
- Provincial Grand Herald
- Provincial Grand Organist
- Provincial Grand Doorkeeper
- Provincial Grand Cellarer(s)
- Provincial Grand Sentry
[edit] See also
- Archbishop of Canterbury
- Canons Regular
- Cheapside
- Crusade
- Freemasonry
- Guildhall
- Knights of St Thomas
- Knights Templar
- Masonic Knights Templar
- Military Order
- Religious Order
- Richard I
- St Thomas Becket
- Teutonic Knights
- United Grand Lodge of England
- Worshipful Company of Mercers
[edit] Bibliography
- Forey, Alan J. The Military Order of St Thomas of Acre, "English Historical Review", (1997), 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.
- Bray, J. H. Order of St. Thomas of Acon.
- 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).
[edit] See also
- 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 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.
