The Knights Templars

The preface recalls a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and admission to the courts of the ancient Temple of the Knights Templars, described as preserved as a Mussulman Mosque. The preface writer describes visiting ruined fortresses and castles of the order whose shattered walls could still be seen in Palestine and Syria, from Gaza to Antioch. The account describes men who renounced worldly pleasures and embraced perpetual chastity, obedience and poverty before the patriarch of Jerusalem, following the manner of monks.

The order's early circumstances are qualified as a report: at first its members were said to have neither a church nor a particular place of abode. Edward II granted Robert Styfford, clerk and chaplain of the Temple Church, a daily allowance and an annual sum for necessaries, conditional on service in the church. The provision for Robert Styfford specified that inability to perform that service would leave him entitled only to food and lodging.