Thomas L'Archer

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Thomas L'Archer ( also Larcher or Archer ) († 1329 ) was an English monk who of English from 1321 to 1329 the post Grand Prior (Grand Prior) of the Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem held. Although he rapidly enlarged the order's holdings, he left it with ruined finances.

He was born in the village of Tanworth, Arden , Warwickshire, the younger son of John L'Archer and Margery Barniville. His father's family owned the local Manor of Umberslade which was owned by the Archers for 600 years. (It was demolished at the end of the 17th century and rebuilt as Umberslade Hall and is now divided into 12 condominiums). Two of his brothers also entered the Church. His great-nephew John L'Archers was Lord Chancellor of Ireland in the 1340s .

In 1321 Archer became Prior of the English House of Maltese. It turned out to be an extremely unfortunate choice. Although he worked diligently in his early years to expand the Order's holdings, in his later years a combination of age and financial incompetence appears to have bankrupted the English home. In Archer's time, the English priory was able to acquire 33 former properties of the Knights Templar , which was dissolved in 1312 , more than its predecessors. To this end, he secured the passage of an Act of Parliament in 1324 . The adoption of the statute required the payment of numerous bribes, which may partly explain the order's subsequent financial crisis. The order's most valuable possession was the Inner Temple in London , which L'Archer gave to the favorite of the English King Edward II , Hugh le Despenser (the younger) shortly after it was acquired , no doubt at the request of the king.

The Grand Master of the Order of Malta, Hélion de Villeneuve , conducted an investigation into the economic condition of the English house, at the end of which was the recommendation to let L'Archer retire for reasons of age. Archer died soon after, on August 28, 1329.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lawrence-Archer JH Memorial of Families of the Surname of Archer London 1861
  2. ^ F. Elrington Ball: The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921 , John Murray, London 1926
  3. ^ Burgtorf; Crawford; Nicholson: "The Debate on the Trail of the Templars (1307-1314)", Franham / Burlington 2010
  4. ^ A b Ormond, Killick, Bradford: Early Commons Petitions in the English Parliament c.1290-c.1420 , Cambridge University Press 2017, p. 49
  5. ^ Griffith-Jones and Park eds. The Temple Church in London- History, Architecure, Art , Boydell Press 2010, p. 15
  6. ^ JH Lawrence-Archer, families with the last name Archer
personal data
SURNAME Thomas L'Archer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English monk
DATE OF BIRTH 13th century or 14th century
DATE OF DEATH 1329