Clan Carruthers : The Knights Templar and Scotland

Clan Carruthers Int Society CCIS                             Promptus et Fidelis

The Knights Templar and Scotland

 

 

An exploration of the history of the Knights Templar of Scotland, and their role as advisers to the country’s early kings. …

An exploration of the history of the Knights Templar of Scotland, and their role as advisers to the country’s early king – by C Robert Ferguson – author of ‘The Knights Templar and Scotland’.

‘The Knights Templar and Scotland’ was written to fill the gap concerning Scotland that existed among the numerous books about the Knights Templar, including their origin in Palestine in 1119, their rise, their victories, their defeats, their arrests, and their formal dissolution.

In Scotland, the Knights Templar’s purpose was purely economic. They were not warriors, but monks, recruiters, landlords and businessmen. Their only possible battles in Scotland were at Bannockburn and the battles that led up to it. But these occurred after the Templar’s’ arrests in 1307. But still, in Scotland the Templar’s had a purpose, and no less a mystique than the mystique that existed for those in France and Palestine. Ironically, as is shown in the book, this mystique was responsible for both their rise to power and their downfall.

The Knights Templar in Scotland

The Knights Templar presence in Scotland began in 1129 after King Henry I of England arranged and introduction of the Templar founder Hugh de Payens to King David I of  Scotland. The meeting was a success and the Knights Templar were given a parcel of land seven miles south of Edinburgh that became known as ‘Balantrodoch’.

Among the buildings at Balantrodoch was a typical Templar eight-sided church. After the Templar dissolution it was continuously remodeled until 1849 when it was abandoned as the town of Temple’s community kirk.

King David I’s gift to the Templars was not without a benefit.

The Knights Templar as landlords

The Knights Templar were not only fierce warriors, but they were astute landlords and businessmen who ultimate owned over 500 sites in Scotland. Because of this, they became advisers to King David I and his successors.

The Knights Templar were answerable only to the Pope. This resulted in a unique group of rights that separated them from the rest of the population of Scotland. The Knights Templar and their tenants were free from all tithes, taxes, custom, service, and exaction, whether from the King or a local Lord. They were also exempt from all courts or jury duty. These privileges were gladly accepted when the Crusades were at their height, but when the Crusades ceased to be popular, so did public opinion of the Templars and their privileges.

The end of the Knights Templar as an Order came when most of them were arrested in France on October 13, 1307, and subsequently in England and Scotland. ‘The Knights Templar and Scotland’ also deals with the possibility thatsome of the knights were involved with the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The possibility begins with the excommunication and coronation of Robert the Bruce.

The excommunication of Robert the Bruce is applicable because all of Scotland was subject to an interdict. The result was that the knights who were not arrested could safely come to Scotland where they would be free of any action by the Pope.

The coronation is significant because Robert the Bruce was crowned in 1306 by his friend Bishop Lamberton, who, in 1309 alsoconducted the Inquisition of the Knights Templar in Scotland. If the Knights Templar were involved at Bannockburn, there are several significant things they would have done.

‘The Knights Templar and Scotland’ provides new information and a new insight into the Knights Templar and medieval Scotland. It will be enjoyed by all who are interested in the Knights Templar and medieval Scottish history.

 

 

Preserving Our Past, Recording Our Present, Informing Our Future

Ancient and Honorable Clan Carruthers Int Society CCIS  LLc

carruthersclan1@gmail.com

 

 

You can find us on facebook at :

https://www.facebook.com/carrutherscarrothers.pat.9

https://www.facebook.com/CarruthersClan/

https://www.facebook.com/CarruthersClanLLC

 

Disclaimer Ancient and Honorable Carruthers Clan International Socie

Protected: CLAN CARRUTHERS – GEORGE LEWIS CARRUTHERS – CIS – BCS

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

Carruthers Field; WWI Air Services

Clan Carruthers Int Society CCIS                                                       Promptus et Fidelis

 

 

Carruthers Field : WWI Air Services, Benbrook Texas

Benbrook Field           Carruthers Field                   Camp Taliaferro Field #3

 

Benbrook Field, Carruthers Field (Camp Taliaferro Field #3) is a former World War Imilitary airfield, located 0.5 miles (0.80 km) North of Benbrook, Texas. It operated as a training field for the Air Service, United States Army between 1917 until 1919. It was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the United States entry into World War I in April 1917.

 

 

 

After the United States’ entry into World War I in April 1917, General John J. “Blackjack” Pershing invited the British Royal Flying Corps to establish training fields in Texas for the training of American and Canadians volunteers because of its mild weather. After looking at sites in Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco, Austin, Wichita Falls and Midland, three sites were established in 1917 in the Fort Worth vicinity (known as the “Flying Triangle.”), those being Hicks Field (#1), Barron Field (#2), and Benbrook Field (#3).

Canadians named the training complex Camp Taliaferro after Walter Taliaferro, a US aviator who had been killed in an accident. Camp Taliaferro was headquartered under the direction of the Air Service, United States Army, which had an administration center near what is now the Will Rodgers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

Taliafero Field No. 3 was used by the Royal Flying Corps from October 1917 to April 1918 as a training field for American and Canadian pilots. It was then turned over to the Air Service, United States Army. The Americans renamed the field Carruthers Field after Cadet W. K. Carruthers, who was killed at Hazelhurst Field, New York, when he was struck by a revolving propeller on 18 June 1917. At some point after July 1918 it was renamed Benbrook Fieldby the United States Army.

Formation of Curtiss JN-4s from Benbrook Field

The Benbrook Field station area was located south of Mercedes Street in Benbrook. It occupied the area west of Winscott Road, being bordered on the west by Walnut Creek. A railroad spur connected with the Texas & Pacific line across Walnut Creek. Most of the 34 buildings and hangars were located in an area generally bounded by Mercedes Street on the north, Winscott Road on the east, Cozby North Street on the south, and Walnut Creek on the west.

Benbrook was used as an aerial gunnery school for American & Canadian students. One particular Canadian aviator, Captain Vernon Castle, was already world-renowned as the famed dance team of Vernon & Irene Castle. Regrettably, he was killed in a plane crash at Benbrook Field during training exercises. Some witnesses believed that he deliberately crashed in order to avoid hitting another plane, and saved their lives. His burial was witnessed by thousands of mourners, who sadly watched the flagged draped casket pass in downtown Fort Worth. Even today, there is a street in Benbrook named in his honor.

 

Benbrook Field was closed at the end of April, 1919 and the buildings dismantled. Following the closure, the land was purchased by William Monnig and was used as a dairy. Today, the entire area has been redeveloped into what is now the Benbrook Lakeside subdivision. Intermixed within the houses are small, broken, isolated concrete slabs, the remainders of wartime buildings and hangars. The last remaining building was an ammunition warehouse west of U.S. 377 that was demolished in 2004 to facilitate future commercial development. Today a Texas historical marker for the airfield is located north of Mercedes Street, across the street from the Ridge Community Church as a memorial to the fliers of Benbrook Field.

 

 

Preserving Our Past, Recording Our Present, Informing Our Future

Ancient and Honorable Clan Carruthers Int Society CCIS  LLC

carruthersclan1@gmail.com          carrothersclan@gmail.com

 

You can find us on facebook at :

https://www.facebook.com/carrutherscarrothers.pat.9

https://www.facebook.com/CarruthersClan/

https://www.facebook.com/CarruthersClanLLLLC is the official licensed and registered Clan of the Carruthers Family.  This Clan is presently registered in the United States and Canada, and represents members worldwide.  All content provided on our web pages is for family history use only.  The CCIS is the legal owner of all websites, and makes no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on these sites or by following any link provided. The CCIS will not be responsible for any errors or omissions or availability of any information. The CCIS will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. We do not sell, trade or transfer to outside parties any personal identifications. For your convenience, we may provide links to various outside parties that may be of interest to you. The content on CCIS is design to support your research in family history.      ( CCIS -LLC copyright 2017 - 2020)

Clan Carruthers : The Knights Hospitaller in North London

Clan Carruthers Int Society CCIS                                   Promptus et Fidelis

The Knights Hospitaller in North London

All the time I’m discovering places where the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller had bases of operation in England. Today, I had a big surprise. On the site of Alexandra Palace in north London, the Knights Hospitaller once had a dairy farm – something I never knew.

This nugget of medieval information popped out of a book in my collection called London Pictorially Described published in 1891. It claims that the land on which Alexandra Palace is built was owned by the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem and run from their priory in central London – Clerkenwell to be exact.

Alexandra Palace, for those of you who don’t know, is a large public building erected by the Victorians in 1875. Fondly known as “Ally Pally”, it’s where the BBC started broadcasting from in 1936. I used to live nearby and it hosts many events including rock concerts and antiques fairs.

Alexandra Palace today

 

But I was blissfully unaware that 800 years ago, it was in the hands of the rival military order to the Templars – the Hospitallers. It was this order of sacred warriors that eventually took over most of the Templars’ property when they were crushed by the Pope and the King of France.

Close by is the London suburb of Muswell Hill – which derives its name from an ancient well, the Mossy Well. It was one of several healing wells around the city of London. Should be said that at this time, London was much smaller – a densely populated square mile that could be viewed in the distance.

According to my Victorian book on London, these nuns managed the dairy farm for the Hospitallers and further enriched themselves by selling alleged “miracle-working water” from the well. Both Hospitaller control of the area and the presence of the nuns ended when King Henry VIII dissolved England’s abbeys and convents during the 16th century Protestant Reformation.

Preserving Our Past, Recording Our Present, Informing Our Future

Ancient and Honorable Clan Carruthers Int Society CCIS LLc

carruthersclan1@gmail.com   carrothersclan@gmail.com

 

Tony McMahon

You can find us on facebook at :

https://www.facebook.com/carrutherscarrothers.pat.9

https://www.facebook.com/CarruthersClan/

https://www.facebook.com/CarruthersClanLLC

 

Disclaimer Ancient and Honorable Carruthers Clan International Socie

Disclaimer Ancient and Honorable Carruthers Clan International Society CCIS LLC is the official licensed and registered Clan of the Carruthers Family.  This Clan is presently registered in the United States and Canada, and represents members worldwide.  All content provided on our web pages is for family history use only.  The CCIS is the legal owner of all websites, and makes no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on these sites or by following any link provided. The CCIS will not be responsible for any errors or omissions or availability of any information. The CCIS will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. We do not sell, trade or transfer to outside parties any personal identifications. For your convenience, we may provide links to various outside parties that may be of interest to you. The content on CCIS is design to support your research in family history.      ( CCIS -LLC copyright 2017 - 2020)

Tony McMahon  Tony McMahon appears on history TV programmes discussing everything from the Templars to the Nazis and the Dead Sea Scrolls. You may have seen him on UKTV, History channel or ITV. He is also an award short listed author.