Talk: From the Templars to The Da Vinci Code: 850 years of the Temple Church
- Occurring
- for 45 mins
- Venue
- The Temple Church, London
- Address The Temple Church, London, The Temple Church, Temple, London EC4Y 7BB, EC4Y 1BB, United Kingdom
The History of the Temple Church, 850 extraordinary years: from the design of the Round Church (1163), perhaps the first Gothic building built in England, to match the round Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem; through the tumultuous years of Magna Carta (1214-1215), whose hero William Marshal was buried in the Round, where his effigy still lies; the building of the Chancel (1240), a glorious hall-church planned as the burial-place of Henry III and his Queen; the 17th and 18th century roles of the Church and Temple in the development of our modern rule of law and in the foundation, independence and constitution of America; to the Blitz (1941) and the post-War repair of the Church. Robin is glad to answer questions about The Da Vinci Code too!
This is a beautiful, historic and numinous place, in the therapeutic calm of the Temple just yards from the bustle of Fleet Street. To be here in the 12th century was to be “in” Jerusalem, at the centre of the world. The Temple and its Church were central to the formation of Magna Carta, the first great bill of citizens’ rights that constrained the power of the government. It is still, over 800 years later, the professional home of the lawyers who protect those rights. It is rightly known as the Cradle of the Common Law.