The Temple Church in London was built by the Knights Templar, the order of crusading monks founded to protect pilgrims on their way to and from Jerusalem in the 12th century. The Church is in two parts: the Round and the Chancel. The Round Church was consecrated in 1185 by the patriarch of Jerusalem. It was designed to recall the holiest place in the Crusaders’ world: the circular Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. (photo by S. Morris)
Temple Church in London is a beautiful, hidden gem in London. Most Americans that know about it only know about it because it was featured in Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. But the Temple Church is vital to the history of the British monarchy and–much later–the foundation of the United States as well.
Temple Church was King John’s London headquarters in 1214-5. From here he issued two vital preliminary charters, and here in January 1215 the barons confronted him for the first time with the demand that he subject himself to the rule of a charter, the Magna Carta. The ideas of the Magna Carta are the basis for the US Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
The hero of the Magna Carta was William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. He mediated between John and the barons, secured the agreement embodied in Magna Carta and was one of the King’s advisors at Runnymede. When John died the Marshal became guardian of the boy-king Henry III and of the kingdom. He re-issued Magna Carta under his own seal in 1216 and 1217, and so ensured its survival. He was buried in the Temple’s Round Church, where his effigy still lies.
Floor tile in Temple Church, London. (photo by S. Morris)