The Knights Templars.

Antioch . —Little is known of their possessions here . They had a house at Aleppo , and the jurisdiction of the Prior in all probability extended into Armenia , where the Order had estates to the value of 20 , 000 byzants .

Cyprus . —As long as the Templars maintained their footing on the continent , Cyprus formed no distinct province , but was ruled over by the Prior of Antioch or Tripoli . Richard I . having con-¦ quered the island , sold the sovereignty of it to

the Order for 25 , 000 silver marks . They had previously large possessions in it . The following -year he , with the consent of the Order , who were reimbursed , transferred the dominion to Guy de

Lusignan , king of Jerusalem . On the capture of Acre , the chief seat of the Order , was fixed at Limesal , * in this island , which town having an excellent harbour , they strongly fortified . In 1316 , after the suppression of the Order , the Pope

¦ directed the Bishop of Limissa to transfer their property there to the Hospitallers , when there was found in the Temple-House 26 , 000 byzants of coined money , and silver plate to the value of 1 , 500 marks . As the last Master , when setting

• out for France , had carried with him the treasure of the Order , this property must have accumulated during that time out of the surplus revenue of their possessions in the island . The Western Provinces were—¦

PORTUGAL , where , as early as the year 1130 , Geldin Paez , the first Provincial Prior , built the castles of Toniar—the residence of the Priors"Monseuto , and Idanna . The Order had likewise settlements at Castramarin , Almural , and

Lan-• grovia . CASTILE AND LEON . —Here the Order had immense possessions . In Castile alone they possessed twenty-four Preceptories . ARAGON . —In this province they likewise

possessed great estates , and the Preceptory of Majorca was under the jurisdiction of its Prior . FRANCE was divided ints four provinces . 1 . France and Auvergne , including Flanders and the Netherlands , and its Grand Prior resided in the

stately and magnificent Temple of Paris , large enough , according to Matthew Paris , to hold an army . The kings of France were accustomed , when living at Paris , to take up their residence there . In 1306 , was erected a large square tower ,

flanked by four round towers , with an adjacent building on the north side , surmounted by turrets . The principal tower contained four stories , iu each of which there was an apartment thirty feet square ; three of the inferior towers had also each a hall . The remaining tower contained a fine staircase , which conducted to the different chambers and

battlements . The walls of the central keep were nine feet in thickness . This Tower of the Temple has been rendered memorable in modern times by the captivity of the unfortunate Louis XIV . and his family . It is also noted as the place of

imprisonment , by Buonaparte , of the celebrated Sir Sydney Smith , afterwards the head of modern Order of the Temple . 2 . Normandy . The Grand Prior's residence was at La Ville Dieu en la Montange . 3 . Acquitaine or Poitou . The Grand Prior

resided at Poitiers ; and 4 , Provence , the Grand Prior residing at Montpelier . Iu Germany , the Order ' s possessions were very extensive ; there were three Grand Priors : —1 , of Upper Germany , —Poland being included in this province , —and " Grand Prior in Alemania aud Sclavia" was a usual title of the Grand Prior of

ermany ; 2 , ofBrandenburgh ; and o , of Bohemia Moravia . Though the Templars had lands there as early as . the year 1130 , their acquisitions were not large till the 13 th century . In Hungary , the Order had considerable possessions , but it was

placed under the sway of the Grand Prior of Germany , who appears to have been the superior of the other two Priors . In Italy there was scarce a town of any importance in which the Templars had not possessions .

They had large establishments at Lucca , Milan , Perugia , Placentia , and Bologna . The Grand Prior of Rome was head of the Order in Italy . In Apulia and Sicily their possessions were considerable , consisting of valuable estates at the base

of Etna , large tracts of land between Piazza and Oalatagirone , many churches , windmills , fisheries , and pasturages . They had likewise the right of cutting wood in the forests , and possessed many important privileges and immunities . The Order

had houses and lauds at Syracuse , Palermo , Trapani , Butera , Lentini , & c , all of which were dependant on the principal house , which was at Messina . The Great Prior resided either at Messina

or at Benevento , in Apulia . Possibly the seat was removed to the latter place when the Emperor Frederic II . seized so much of the Order ' s property in Sicily . The house at Trapani is now iu