XI. OF SELBORNE. 



one mile to the east of the village. Bishop Tanner mentions 

 only two such houses of the Templars in all the county of 

 Southampton, viz. Godesfield, founded by Henry de Blois, Bishop 

 of Winchester, and South Badeisley, a preceptory of the Knights 

 Templars, and afterwards of St. John of Jerusalem, valued at 

 one hundred and eighteen pounds sixteen shillings and seven- 

 pence per annum. Here then was a preceptory unnoticed by 

 antiquaries, between the village and Temple. Whatever the 



Although these are the different denominations which Tanner at p. xxviii. 

 assigns to the cells of these different orders, yet throughout the work very 

 frequent instances occur of preceptories attributed to the Hospitalars ; and 

 if in some passages of Notitia, Monast. commandries are attributed to the 

 Templars, it is only where the place afterwards became the property of the 

 Hospitalars, and so is there indifferently styled preceptory or commandry ; 

 see p. 243, 263, 276, 577, 678. But, to account for the first observed inaccuracy, 

 it is probable the preceptories of the Templars, when given to the Hospi- 

 talars, were still vulgarly, however, called by their old name of preceptories ; 

 whereas in propriety the societies of the Hospitalars were indeed (as has been 

 said) commandries. And such deviation from the strictness of expression in 

 this case might occasion these societies of Hospitalars also to be indifferently 

 allied preceptories, which had originally been vested in them, having never 

 belonged to the Templars at all. See in Archer, p. 609. Tanner, p. 300. 

 col. 1, 720, note e. 



It is observable that the very statute for the dissolution of the Hospitalars 

 holds the same language ; for there in the enumeration of particulars, occur 

 "commandries, preceptories." Codex, p. 1190. Now this intercommunity 

 of names, and that in an act of parliament too, made some of our ablest 

 antiquaries look upon a preceptory and commandry as strictly synonymous ; 

 accordingly we find Camden, in his " Britannia," explaining pneceptoria in the 

 text by a commandry in the margin, p. 356, 510. J. L. 



Commandry, a manor or chief messuage with lands, &c. belonging to the 

 priory of St. John of Jerusalem ; and he who had the government of such 

 house was called the commander, who could not dispose of it but to the use 

 if the priory, only taking thence his own sustenance, according to his degree, 

 who was usually a brother of the same priory. Cowell. He adds (confound- 

 ing these with preceptories) they are in many places termed Temples, as Temple 

 Bruere in Lincolnshire, &c. Preceptories were possessed by the more eminent 

 sort of Templars, whom the chief master created and cflled I'rwceptorcs 

 Templi. Cowell, who refers to Stephen's De Jurisd. lib. 4, c. 10, num. 27. 



Placita de juratis et assis coram Salom. de Roff et sociis suis justic. 

 Itiner. apud Wynton, &c. anno regni R. Edwardi fil. Reg. Hen. octavo. " et 

 Magr. Milicie Templi in Angl. ht emendasse panis, & suis [cerevisias] in 

 Sodington, & ne?cint q". war. et et magist. Milicie Templi non vfn io 

 distr. Chapter House, Westminster. 



VOL. II. C C 



