THE TEMPLE IN EUROPE 147
currency. The mints had been kept busy, without, however,
successfully coping with the demands that were made on
them. When gold was available, transport proved incon-
venient within the boundaries of a state, and it was dangerous
as well as expensive to send money out of a country. The
Temple seized the chance to provide facilities for the transfer
of deposits, and its organisation and its reputation for probity
made the Order admirably equipped to establish a credit
system.
At first the service was intended solely for the use of
pilgrims. Knights and commoners who went to the Holy
Land did not wish to carry their wealth with them, but they
wanted to be supplied with money while residing in the East.
A deposit was therefore made in the Temple of Paris, London,
or elsewhere, and the depositor could then draw on the houses
of the Order in Jerusalem, Acre, or Tripoli to the extent of
his credit. Those who were leaving the Holy Land to take
up residence in Europe could pay their wealth into the
Temple in some Syrian town and receive a credit on one of
the Western houses. Where actual money had to be trans-
ferred, the Temple was able to undertake such work more
economically and securely than any other organisation owing
to the regular communication that it maintained with all
parts of Christendom and the Holy Land.
The advantage of the system for commercial purposes was
quickly realised. The trade between the Holy Land and
Europe was considerable, and the facilities offered by the
Temple were eagerly welcomed. The merchant in London
who received goods from Acre need only deposit the amount
due at the Temple on the Embankment, and the shipper could
obtain payment through the Temple in Acre. Such trans-
actions were not confined to payments between the East and
West, but were common between all the countries of
Christendom. The letters of credit issued by the Temple
were honoured in every Christian land and traders accepted