450 
ANTIQUITIES 
Temple on tliat order in support of tlie holy land; and, 
moreover, she seems to have been moving from Selborne 
when she sold her goods and chattels to the priory, as men- 
tioned above. 
Temple no doubt did belong to the knights, as may be 
asserted, not only from its name, but also from another 
corroborating circumstance of its being still a manor tithe- 
free ; for, by virtue of their order,'^ says Dr. Blackstone, 
the lands of the Knights Templars were privileged by the 
pope with a discharge from tithes.^' 
Antiquaries have been much puzzled about the terms 
preceptores and preceptorium, not being able to determine 
what officer or edifice was meant. But perhaps all the 
while the passage quoted above from one of my papers 
per manum preceptoris vel hallivi nostri, qui pro tempore 
faerit ibidem,'^ may help to explain the difficulty. For 
if it be allowed here that 'preceptor and halUvus are synony- 
mous words, then the brother who took on him that office 
resided in the house of the Templars at Sudington, a, pre- 
eeptory ; where he was their preceptor, superintended their 
affairs, received their money ; and, as in the instance there 
mentioned, paid from their chamber, camera/' as directed : 
so that, according to this explanation, a preceptor was no 
other than a steward, and a preceptorium was his residence. 
I am well aware that, according to strict Latin, the vel 
should have been seu or sive, and the order of the words 
^'preceptoris nostri, vel ballivi, qui" — et ibidem should 
have heen ihi ; ibidem necessarily having reference to two 
or more persons : but it will hardly be thought fair to apply 
the niceties of classic rules to the Latinity of the thirteenth 
century, the writers of which seem to have aimed at nothing 
farther than to render themselves intelligible. 
There is another remark that we have made, which, 
I think, corroborates what has been advanced; and that 
is, that Richard Carpenter, preceptor of Sudington, at the 
time of the transactions between the Templars and Selborne 
Priory, did always sign last as a witness in the three deeds: 
he calls himself J'rater^ it is true^ among many other brothers. 
