Balsall Preceptory in Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

 was a manor

Manorialism

Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

 that was given to the Knights Templar

Knights Templar

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...

s in recognition of their service in the Crusades. The donor

Donation

A donation is a gift given by physical or legal persons, typically for charitable purposes and/or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including cash, services, new or used goods including clothing, toys, food, and vehicles...

, according to a survey of the Templars' possessions in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1185, was Roger de Mowbray, son of Nigel d'Aubigny

Nigel d'Aubigny

Nigel d'Aubigny was a Norman nobleman, and supporter of Henry I of England. He is described as "one of the most favoured of Henry’s 'new men'", and after the Battle of Tinchebrai in 1106 was largely rewarded by Henry with the lands of Robert de Stuteville, who had followed Robert...

.

The preceptory also governed other Templar lands, similarly donated for services in the Holy Land

Holy Land

The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...

. These included:

• Chilverscoton
• Cubbington
  Cubbington
  Cubbington is a village and civil parish with a population of 4,034 adjoining the north-eastern outskirts of Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England. Welsh Road, running through the village crossroads, may have been an old sheep drovers' route connecting London and Wales...
  
  
• Fletchampstead Hermitage
• Herdwicke Harbury
• Sherbourne
  Sherbourne
  Sherbourne may refer to::* Sherbourne, Warwickshire, a village in Warwickshire, England* Sherbourne , a subway station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada* River Sherbourne, a river in Coventry and Warwickshire...
  
  
• Studley
  Studley
  Studley is a large village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Situated on the western edge of Warwickshire near the border with Worcestershire it is southeast of Redditch and northwest of Stratford. The Roman road of Ryknild Street, now the A435, passes...
  
  
• Temple Tysoe
• Warwick
  Warwick
  Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...
  
  ; and
• Wolvey
  Wolvey
  Wolvey is a village and parish in Warwickshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,741.The village, originally on the main route between Leicester and Coventry, is now on the B4065 and B4109 roads and is located on the Warwickshire/Leicestershire border in an outlying...
  
  .

Old Hall, though much restored, dates from the time of the Templars occupation. At the time of the suppression of the Order

Chivalric order

Chivalric orders are societies and fellowships of knights that have been created by European monarchs in imitation of the military orders of the Crusades...

, eight Ballsall resident Templars were arrested, namely:

• John de Coningeston
• Thomas le Chamberlayn
• William de Burton
• William de Warewyk (chaplain
  Chaplain
  Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
  
  )
• Robert de Sautre
• Roger de Dalton; and
• John de Euleye.

See also

• Temple Balsall
  Temple Balsall
  Temple Balsall is a hamlet within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English West Midlands, situated between the large villages of Knowle and Balsall Common. It was formerly in Warwickshire. It is on a notoriously bad bend on the B4101 Kenilworth Road.It is one of the oldest and most...
  
  
• St Mary's Church, Temple Balsall
  St Mary's Church, Temple Balsall
  St Mary's Church, Temple Balsall is a parish church in the Church of England in Temple Balsall, Solihull, West Midlands, England.-History:The church is of 13th century style but was heavily restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1849. The church is a Grade I listed building.It is thought that the...