Hospital of St Thomas of Acre

The Hospital of St Thomas of Acre was the medieval London headquarters of the Knights of Saint Thomas. It was founded as a church in 1227[1] in the parish of St Mary Colechurch, birthplace of the order's patron saint, Saint Thomas Becket. In the 14th century and after it was the main headquarters of the military order.[2]

Hospital of St. Thomas of Acre
Location	City of London
Country	England
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Founded	1227

In 1512, the Worshipful Company of Mercers bought from the order a site by the church on which to build their hall, and in 1514 they formally became the patron to the order.[3]

In 1538, during the Protestant Reformation, the order was dissolved and the properties were forfeit to the crown, but were subsequently acquired by the Mercers in exchange for various payments, rents, and undertakings.[4]

Burials

• John Alleyn
• Joan Butler, Countess of Ormond, in the Mercers' Chapel
• Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond, in the Mercers' Chapel

Notes

1. "The Churches of the City of London" Reynolds,H: London, The Bodley Head,1922
2. "The City of London-a history" Borer,M.I.C. : New York,D.McKay Co, 1978 ISBN 0-09-461880-1
3. "A Dictionary of London" Harben, H.: London, Herbert Jenkins, 1918
4. "The London Encyclopaedia" Hibbert,C;Weinreb,D;Keay,J: London, Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev 1993,2008) ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5

• The church of St. Thomas Acre at British History Online