Introduction

Much has been written about the Military Orders in Britain and there has recently been increasing interest in their ‘afterlife’. This book, however, is the first book-length survey of the subject, drawing on a range of hitherto neglected sources such as periodical articles and reviews and identifying avenues for further research and detailed analysis. Its focus is the Templars and Knights of St. John and the period covered are the late eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The four chapters cover historiography and reception; material remains such as the Temple church in London; the revival of the Order of St. John and neo Templars and the portrayal of the Orders in the literature of the day. Taken together, these reveal a fresh picture of how the Orders have been remembered in Britain.