Hospital of St Thomas of Acre

The Hospital of St Thomas of Acre, in the City of London, was the medieval London headquarters of the Knights of Saint Thomas, founded as a church in 1227 in the parish of St Mary Colechurch, birthplace of the order's patron saint, Saint Thomas Becket. From the 14th century, it was the main headquarters of the military order. In 1512, the Worshipful Company of Mercers bought from the order a site by the church on which to build its hall. In 1514, it formally became the order's patron. In 1538, during the Protestant Reformation, the order was dissolved. The properties were forfeited to the crown and subsequently acquired by the Mercers in exchange for various payments, rents, and undertakings.