[2] On the establishment of the preceptory King Henry III granted the Knights Templar the manor and church at Rothley.

[2] In 1284, King Edward I granted the preceptory's knights a charter, permitting them to hold a weekly market, on a Monday, at Rothley, and an annual fair in honour of Saint Barnabas each June.

[2][3][4] This lasted until 1306, when King Edward issued the knights with another charter permitting them to hold a market and festival at their manor at Gaddesby, instead of at Rothley.

This charter afforded a weekly market on a Wednesday and an annual festival in July in honour of Mary Magdalen.

[3][5] After losing the Holy Land in 1291, the Knights Templar lost purpose, power and influence, and were forced to move their headquarters to France.

Shortly after, King Philip IV of France, heavily indebted to the order, started a campaign against the Knights Templar, using his puppet Pope Clement V.[6] King Philip had Pope Clement arrest the Templars for various offences, including: apostasy, idolatry, heresy, obscene rituals, homosexuality, financial corruption, fraud, and secrecy.

[6] With these confessions, and after more bullying from the French King, on 22 November 1307 Pope Clement issued a Papal bull, known as the Pastoralis Praeeminentiae, which instructed the monarchs of Europe to arrest all of the Knights Templar, and to seize their properties on behalf of the church.

[8] Rothley Temple eventually passed to Thomas Babington (1758–1837) who was a prominent figure in the Clapham Sect and the fight to abolish the slave trade.

[1][11] Rothley Court, originally a stately home, incorporates part of the preceptory that was converted for residential use in the 16th century.