The Templar Economy in Britain and Ireland: Workshop report

The workshop last Saturday at Blaydes House in Hull went extremely well. First point: Blaydes house is a beautiful old merchant’s house, with beautiful high-ceiling’d rooms, perfect for a workshop of this sort. Every University should have a resource like this one.  Next point: we had some excellent papers. The first paper was on Templar preceptories in Lincolnshire and asked: What are the characteristics of a preceptory? How did they differ from other properties? Then there was a paper on the recent excavations at the Templars’ former commandery/preceptory at Faxfleet in Yorkshire, and a paper on the Templars’ properties in Scotland and what became of them after the Templars were dissolved — with a great map, locating all the properties! After lunch, there was a paper ‘clearing the ground’ for new research into the Templars and Hospitallers in the north of England, a progress report on research into Templars and Hospitallers in Ireland and their relations with kings and popes, and my own paper on Templars in the south-west margins of Templar property in England and Wales. I was arguing that although the Templars’ lands made a profit in the period 1307-13, when the additional costs of corrodies and pensions are taken into account they may not have been so profitable in the long term.

John Walker and I are now considering a follow-up meeting, to include those who couldn’t get to this workshop, and for further progress reports from those who came this time. We are also thinking about publishing the papers in some form, perhaps online.

(This blog was originally posted to Gawainsmum and reblogged here.)