Editing Inner Temple (section)

{{short description|One of the four Inns of Court in London, England}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}

[[File:Grand Inner Temple.jpg|thumb|Hare Court, within the Inner Temple]]

'''The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple''', commonly known as the '''Inner Temple''', is one of the four [[Inns of Court]] and is a professional association for [[barrister]]s and judges. To be [[called to the Bar]] and practice as a barrister in [[England and Wales]], a person must belong to one of these Inns. It is located in the wider [[Temple (London)|Temple]] area, near the [[Royal Courts of Justice]], and within the [[City of London]]. As a [[Liberty (division)|liberty]], it functions largely as an independent local government authority.

The Inn is a [[professional body]] that provides legal training, selection, and regulation for members. It is ruled by a governing council called "Parliament", made up of the Masters of the Bench (or "[[Bencher]]s"), and led by the [[Treasurer#In the Inns of Court|Treasurer]], who is elected to serve a one-year term. The Temple takes its name from the [[Knights Templar]], who originally (until their abolition in 1312) leased the land to the Temple's inhabitants (Templars). The Inner Temple was a distinct society from at least 1388, although as with all the Inns of Court its precise date of founding is not known. After a disrupted early period (during which the Temple was almost entirely destroyed in the [[Peasants' Revolt]]) it flourished, becoming the second-largest Inn during the [[Elizabethan period]] (after [[Gray's Inn]]).

The Inner Temple expanded during the reigns of [[James I of England|James I]] and [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], with 1,700 students admitted between 1600 and 1640. The [[First English Civil War]]'s outbreak led to a complete suspension of legal education,<ref name="Fletcher 1901 p. xliv">Fletcher (1901) p. xliv</ref> with the Inns close to being shut down for almost four years. Following the [[English Restoration]] the Inner Templars welcomed [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] back to London personally with a lavish banquet.

After a period of slow decline in the 18th century, the following 100 years saw a restoration of the Temple's fortunes, with buildings constructed or restored, such as the Hall and the Library. Much of this work was destroyed during [[The Blitz]], when the Hall, Temple, [[Temple Church]], and many sets of [[barristers' chambers]] were devastated. Rebuilding was completed in 1959, and today the Temple is an active Inn of Court with over 8,000 members.