Brother Amaric de St. Maur, the Master of the English province of the order, was succeeded by brother Alan Marcell, the friend and correspondent of the Grand Master Peter de Montaigu (ante p. 161). He was at the head of the order in England for the space of sixteen years, and was employed by king Henry the Third in various important negotiations. He was Master of the Temple at London, when Reginald, king of the island of Man, by the advice and persuasion of the legate Pandulph, made a solemn surrender at that place of his island to the pope and his catholic successors, and consented to hold the same from thenceforth as the feudatory of the church of Rome. On the 28th of April, A. D. 1224, the Master, Brother Alan Marcell, was employed by king Henry to negotiate a truce between himself and the king of France. The king of England appears at that time to have been resident at the Temple, the letters of credence being made out at that place, in the presence of the archbishop of Canterbury, several bishops, and Hubert, the chief justiciary. The year after, Alan Marcell was sent into Germany, to negotiate a treaty of marriage between king Henry and the daughter of the duke of Austria.[112] Brother Alan Marcell was succeeded by Brother Amberaldus. The next Master of the English province was Robert Mounford, and he was followed by Robert Sanford (ante p. 56). During the Mastership of Robert Sanford, on Ascension Day, A. D. 1240, the oblong portion of the Temple Church, which extendeth eastward from “THE ROUND,” was consecrated in the presence of king Henry the Third and all his court, and much of the nobility of the kingdom. This portion of the sacred edifice was of a lighter and more florid style of architecture than the earlier Round Church consecrated by the patriarch Heraclius (ante p. 46). The walls were pierced with numerous triple lancet windows filled with stained glass, and the floor was covered with tesselated pavement. The roof was supported by dark grey Purbeck marble columns, and the vaulted ceiling was decorated with the star of Bethlehem, and with ornaments of frosted silver placed on a blue ground. The extensive area of the church was open and unencumbered by pews, and the beauty of the columns and windows, the lively colours of the tiled floor, and the elegant proportions of the fabric were seen at a glance. After the consecration, the king made provision for the maintenance in the Temple of three chaplains, who were to say three masses daily for ever, one for the king himself, another for all christian people, and the third for the faithful departed.[113] [Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE TEMPLE CHURCH]