clius, by the grace of God Patriarch of the Church of the Holy
Resurrection, who to those yearly visiting it granted an Indulgence of
sixty days off the penance enjoined upon them."

So we may render the ancient Latin inscription, formerly on the wall of
the Round Church, which supplies the earliest definite date in the
history of the Temple. Originally settled near the Holborn end of
Chancery Lane, the Templars had apparently been in occupation of the
present site (still called "the _New_ Temple" in formal documents) for
some considerable time before the Round Church was consecrated. There is
evidence, at any rate, that "the Old Temple" in the parish of St.
Andrew's, Holborn, had been sold as a town house for the Bishops of
Lincoln before 1163. We must suppose that a temporary church was used
during this interval--perhaps St. Clement's, which had been granted to
the Order in 1162 by Henry II. The performance of the consecration
ceremony by Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the presence at it of
Henry II. and his court, show that the headquarters of the Templars in
England were felt to be of national importance. Never, indeed, since
its foundation were the services of the Order more needed. The Templars
in Palestine were being sorely pressed by Saladin, and Heraclius had
come to England to obtain help. When absolution for the murder of Thomas
a Becket was granted to Henry, he had promised to lead an army into
Palestine, as well as to maintain two hundred Templars there at his own
cost. This personal service he now found himself unable to perform.
Fabyan (died 1513) gives a quaint version of the King's conversation
with the Patriarch:

"'I may not wende oute of my lande, for myne own sonnes wyll
aryse agayne me whan I were absente.' 'No wonder,' sayde the
patryarke, 'for of the deuyll they come, and to the deuyll they
shall go,' and so departyd from the kynge in great ire."

Two years later Jerusalem surrendered to Saladin, and Henry, after
conferring with the King of France, arranged for the collection of a
"Saladin tithe" to meet the cost of the new crusade.

[Illustration: THE TEMPLE CHURCH: EXTERIOR VIEW.]

"The poor fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ of the Temple of Solomon"--for
such was the full designation of the Templars in commemoration of the
quarters assigned them within the area of the former Jewish
Temple--naturally had their thoughts turned towards Jerusalem, wherever
they were