Can someone give me some info on the history of the inns of court?

Question

Particularly, their relationship with the knights templar and freemasonry.

Try to come up with similarities with the Inns of Court and freemasonry ie. Three grades of membership, Presiding officer called "Master" etc.

Answer 1

The only relationship between the Knights Templar and the Inns of Court is that in 1162 the Knights purchased the land on which the Inner and Middle Temple (Inns of Court) now stand which was just outside the boundaries of the City of London. There they built a church (The New Temple), a monastery and chambers of residence. When the Knights Templar were abolished in 1312 by decree of the Pope, their lands were given to the rival order, The Knights Hospitallers. In turn, their lands were seized by the Crown in 1539 and in 1609 James VI and I granted the estate to the Benchers of two local Inns, the Inner and Middle Temples with the proviso that they maintain Temple Church in perpetuity. The fact that the head of the two Inns is called 'Master' is neither a link with the Knights Templar, nor with Free Masonry, but merely a coincidence. The use of the name 'Temple' is merely a continuation of the name which was given to the area back in the 12th century. There are two other Inns of Court still in existence, Lincoln's Inn and Gray's Inn, and others which have fallen by the wayside, but whose names still remain in street names, e.g. Clifford's Inn north of the Strand and to the west of the Royal Courts of Justice. The

Answer 2

try and ask a person about being a mason i know several if i try and ask them about it they get very denfensive about like
they want ot but cant .but for the templar,s well if you ask three
differnt people you will get three different answers,all i know
about the templars is they fought in the holy wars in the middle
east and kick some serious butt.

Answer 3

http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/volmil-london/vcav/LonInns.htm