HISTORY
History of the Original Order of St. Thomas of Acre:
The English
hospitaller
Order of St.
Thomas of
Acre was originally founded
as a purely
religious Order
in Acre in 1190,
by
King Richard
the Lionheart,
during the Third
Crusade. It was
devoted to
Saint Thomas Becket and
retained
an English
character throughout
its history.
In 1228,
the Bishop
of Winchester reorganized
the Order into
a Military
Monastic
Order on the
model of
the Teutonic Order. The
habit was a
white mantle
bearing
a red cross with a scallop
shell. The Order did
not play
a major
military
role,
and after the
fall
of Acre in
1291 it retired
to
Cyprus.
The
Order also acquired
lands in Sicily,
southern
Italy and Greece.
Sometime
in the 1370s the Order
moved its
headquarters to
its London
house at the site
of what
is now
Mercers hall –
a house which
was the birthplace of Thomas
Becket. There it survived
as
a mainly
Hospital Order until
it was
dissolved along
with other
orders in 1540.
It was
revived
in the
early 18th
century
in Jacobite
circles,
and was one
of several
organizations
active
in promoting
the Jacobite cause.
It seems
to have been
under
the protection
of the
exiled
Stuarts
in
France.
This revived
Order existed
until the early
1900’s.
The current Order claims no direct links with the original Crusader Order or any revival.
In May 2021, the Rt. Hon. Earl of Loudoun, co-lateral descendant of King Richard the Lionheart, was appointed as Protector of the Order.
Plantagenet Links to the Current Order of St. Thomas of Acre:
The Plantagenet dynasty ruled England from
1154 to 1485. It is credited with the creation of Great Britain as we
know it today. It draws its name from Geoffrey Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy
who was the first to use this name, a nickname given to him due to his
practice of wearing a sprig of broom (Latin genista) in his hat or,
more probably, to his habit of planting brooms to improve the hunting
habitat in his County of Anjou. The last Plantagenet king was Richard the
Third. The dynasty was ravished by the Wars of the Roses where most of the
male line was killed in battle, murdered or executed. The Wars of the Roses
concluded when Henry Tudor, King Henry VII married Elizabeth of York uniting
the two cadet Plantagenet houses of Lancaster and York and founding the
Tudor dynasty. The English red and white rose originates from this union.
His son King Henry VIII saw the of the remaining male Plantagenet heirs as a
threat to his rule and had Plantagenet claimants and their supporters of the
House of York (the White Rose) executed. The Plantagenet bloodline line
today survives only through the female line of descent.
Our Order of St Thomas of Acre has concrete links to the original order and
the Plantagenet family as:
1. King Richard the Lionheart, a member of the Plantagenet dynasty, created
the original Order in Acre in 1190 during the Third Crusade.
2. Our Protector the Right Honourable Simon Abney-Hastings, 15th Earl of
Loudoun, is a direct descendant of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, who
was usurped and killed by his brother who seized the throne as King Richard
III. The last King of England from whom the Earl of Loudoun is descended is
King Edward III. He is a direct descendant of a line of Plantagenet kings
commencing with Henry II. He is a great grandnephew of King Richard the
Lionheart and a direct descendant of Geoffrey Plantagenet Duke of Normandy.
Today he is the recognised head of the Plantagenet bloodline.
3. Our Grand Master Lord Allan Sterling, is a direct descendant King Edward
I through his daughter Joan of Acre and therefore a direct descendant of
Geoffrey Plantagenet Duke of Normandy from the line of Plantagenet kings
through to Edward I. Many of Allan’s ancestors were supporters of the House
of York during the Wars of the Roses. Through another line of his family, he
is a direct descendant of Geoffrey Plantagenet and his lover Adelaide de
Angers and their son Hamelin de Warenne, 4th Earl of Surrey. Geoffrey
Plantagenet’s father was Fulk V Count of Anjou who became the
4th
King of Jerusalem when he married Queen Melisende. In common with the Earl
of Loudoun, Allan has a direct link to the Kings of the ancient Crusader
Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Grand Master is also a great grandnephew of King
Richard the Lionheart.
Although the history and current status of the Order of St Thomas of Acre is
clearly Plantagenet based, the Order is totally supportive of the British
monarchy and King Charles III, King of Australia, and is committed to
Australia remaining a constitutional monarchy.
The current Order was reformed by Lord Allan Sterling and Lord David Burkart in February 2005.
