The Canons of St. Gilbert of Sempringham are said to have been established in A.D. 1139, although the actual date appears to be uncertain, some annals putting the foundation as early as A.D. 1131, others as late as A.D. 1148. St. Gilbert, the founder, was Rector of Sempringham and composed his rule from those of St. Austin and St. Benedict. It was a dual Order, for both men and women; the former followed St. Augustine’s code with some additions, whilst the women took the Cistercian recension of the Benedictine Rule. These canons, according to Dugdale, had a black habit with a white cloak and a hood lined with lamb’s wool. The women were in black with a white cap. In the double monasteries the canons and nuns lived in separate houses having no communication. At first the Order flourished greatly. St. Gilbert in his lifetime founded thirteen houses, nine for men and women and four for men only. In these there are said to have been seven hundred canons and fifteen hundred sisters. The Order was under the rule of a general superior, called the master or prior-general. His leave was necessary for the admission of members, and, in fact, to initiate business or at least give validity to the proposals of any house. There were, in all, some twenty-six of these establishments in England at the time of the general dissolution. Four only of these were considered as ranking among the greater monasteries whose income was above £200 a year. III. THE MILITARY ORDERS i. _Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem_ The Hospitallers began in A.D. 1092 with the building of a hospital for pilgrims at Jerusalem. The original idea of the work of these knights was to provide for the needs of pilgrims visiting the Holy Land and to afford them protection on their way. They, too, followed a rule of life founded upon that of St. Augustine, and their dress was black with a white cross upon it. They came to England very shortly after their foundation, and had a house built for them in London in A.D. 1100. They rose in wealth and importance in the country; and their head, or grand prior as he was called, became the first lay baron in England, and had a seat in the House of Peers.