Preceptories (or Commanderies) are estates or benefices anciently possessed by the Knight Templars. On these lands they erected churches for religious service and convenient houses for habitation, ant placed some of their fraternity, under the government of one of those more eminent Templars who had been by the grand-master created preceptores templi, to take care of the lands and rents in that neighborhood. All the preceptories of a province were subject to a provincial superior, called Grand Preceptor; and there were three of these who held rank above all the rest-the grand preceptors of Jerusalem, Tripolis, and Antioch. Other houses of the order were usually called commanderies.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More