Thomas St. John, Knight Templar for Third Crusade

1132 - 1191  (60 years)  Submit Photo / Document

• Name	Thomas St. John
  	Notes (Log in)
  Suffix	Knight Templar for Third Crusade
  Birth	abt. 1132
  Gender	Male
  Fact	1149
  	Boxgrove (St. Mary and St. Blase) ¶BOXGROVE (St. Mary and St. Blase), a parish, in the union of West Hampnett, hundred of Box and Stockbridge, rape of Chichester, W. division of Sussex, 3½ miles (N. E. by E.) from Chichester; containing, with the hamlets of Crocker-Hill, East Hampnett, and part of Seabeach, and the tythings of Halnaker and Strellington, 736 inhabitants. It comprises about 2974 acres of land, the soil of which consists of chalk, gravel, and loam. The splendid mansion of Goodwood is beautifully situated on the south side of the Downs here, surrounded by a park of 1200 acres, planted with timber of stately growth; the interior contains numerous lofty and spacious apartments, superbly fitted up, and embellished with paintings and statuary by the first artists. The celebrated Goodwood races are held on the Harroway, and a stand has been erected which will accommodate 3000 persons. The living is a vicarage, endowed with the great tithes, excepting those of Halnaker Park; it is valued in the king's books at £9. 5. 5., and the Duke of Richmond is patron and impropriator: the tithes have been commuted for £900, and there are 7 acres of glebe. The church was the conventual church of an alien priory founded by Robert de Haia, in the reign of Henry I., and made subordinate to the abbey de l'Essay in Normandy. It is a handsome cruciform structure in the Norman style, with a central tower; the nave has been nearly destroyed, but the remainder of the interior is a beautiful specimen of the later Norman, and has an imposing grandeur of effect. There are numerous monuments, several of which are altar-tombs of Sussex marble, under arched recesses, pierced in quatrefoil, and surmounted with crocketed canopies. The priory was originally for three brethren of the Benedictine order; others were added by Roger St. John, son-in-law of the founder, and the number in 1149 was augmented to fifteen by his sons William and Thomas. On the dissolution of alien priories the establishment was made denizen; and the gross revenue, in the 26th of Henry VIII., was £145. 10. 2. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp320-323
  Fact	1187
  	#928 Notification that, in the year 1187, William de Sancto Johanne and Robert his brother and Godeheldis wife of William granted to the monks of Boxgrave whatever had been given them by his grandfather Robert de Haia and his father Robert de Sancto Johanne, namely the churches of St. Mary of Boxgrove and St. Peter of Hantonet, and of St. Leger of Honestan and of Brideham and of Ichenore and of Warborgeton, of Berneham and of Beltona, with their lands and tithes and free choice and presentation (advacationem) of the clerks, and the tithes of Tadeham and Chienore, and all Boxgrave and, with its oxen, pasture for twelve oxen and three cows in Halnac and Estramunt, and in the wood of Halnac pasture and pannage of all their swine, of which wood they gave them a portion in demesne. [The Abbey] was also assigned the third part of Mondreham, free from all service ecept the king's service. They also gave the church of Mondreham with all its appurtenances, and the tithe of all the woods in their honour of Halnac, of their pannage, sale [of wood], and all other profits. All this they gave that thirteen monks might be established there. Afterwards, to make up the number of fifteen, William de St. John gave the whole tithe of his rents (gablorum) of Estramunt and all his demesne of Kipest. Robert, his brother, gave all his land of Ildefant and the dwelling (mansura) of Campellus and the garden of William the carpenter. They granted, moreover, to the abbot and convent of Essay the free choice of the prior of Boxgrave, who was never to be removed by them or their successors, and his election to hold good even if they did not approve of it. Such was their grant to the monks of Boxgrave, saving their right and revenue. [And] William granted to the abbey of the Holy Trinity [of l'Essay], which already possessed two-thirds, a third part of the market for support of the priory. And abbot Thomas and the convent of L'Essay, on their part granted them that they would keep up a convent there honorably and not remove the prior so long as he should do it honour, and that he should be free to ake monks who, when received there, should make their profession to the abbot and convent of L'Essay and receive the benediction from the abbot. And if the prior should delay to fill up the above number, tafter being warned by the abbot, the abbot shall fill up the vacancy from his own monks, or shall make a fresh one there. So also, when the abbot shall recall one of them to his house (the abbey), unless he be the prior, sub-prior, or cellarer. Testibus his: Roberto priore Rogero suppriore Hugone de Lauda Ricardo Malet Roberto Britone Sylvestro de Port-bail Roberto de Sancto Salvatore Guifrido de Bella aqua Odone Liher Sylvestro de Brittevilla Ansquetillo abbate de Lucerna Johanne capellano Robert de Corceio Radulfo de Campeals Thoma de Sance Johanne, militibus Johanne de Moyon, et multis aliis
  	Notes (Log in)
  MILI	1189-1191	The Siege of Acre
  	Thomas St. John, Knight was a Crusader at the Siege of Acre 1189-1191 the first signifcant counterattack by King Guy of Jerusalem against Saladin, leader of Muslims in Syria and Eygpt. This pivotal siege formed part of what later became known as the Third Crusade.
  Tag (separate with comma)	Knights Templar
  Death	aft. 1191
  Person ID	I105555119	St. John Origin and Ancestry DNA Database
  Last Modified	29 Jan 2022

  
  

  Father	Roger St. John, of Compton, Sussex,   b. abt. 1096, St. Jean-le-Thomas, Avranches, Manche, Normandy, France d. 1162 (Age 66 years)
  Relationship	Birth
  Mother	Cecily de la Haye, de la Haye-du-Puits,   b. abt. 1097, Normandy, France d. bef. 1177 (Age 79 years)
  Relationship	Birth
  Marriage	abt. 1111	Normandy, France
  	Notes (Log in)
  Family ID	F4500	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family
  Children	+ 1. John St. John, Clerk(1212),Treasurer of Church of Limerick (to 1223); Bishop of Ferns (1223),   b. abt. 1171   d. 1254 (Age 83 years)  [Father: Birth]
  Family ID	F400065	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	1 Oct 2020

  
  

• Reference

  Suzanne St. John. "Thomas St. John, Knight Templar for Third Crusade". The St. John Genealogy Project. https://stjohngenealogy.com/getperson.php?personID=I105555119&tree=OSA0001 (accessed April 24, 2025).