Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

KNIGHT KNIGHT 391
Knight Crusader . (Chevalier Croise.)
Thory says (Act. Lat ., i ., 303) that this is a
chivalric degree, which was communicated to
him by a member of the Grand Lodge of
Copenhagen . He gives no further account
of its character .
Knight Elect of Fifteen . 1 . The Sixteenth
Degree of the Ancient and Accepted
Rite, more commonly called Illustrious Elect
of the Fifteen. (See Elect of Fifteen .)
2 . The Tenth Degree of the Chapter of
Emperors of the East and West .
3 . The Eleventh Degree of the Rite of
Mizraim .
Knight Elect of Twelve, Sublime . The
Eleventh Degree of the Ancient and Accepted
Rite, sometimes called "Twelve Illustrious
Knights ." After vengeance had been taken
upon the traitors mentioned in the degrees of
Elected Knights of Nine and Illustrious
Elected of Fifteen, Solomon, to reward those
who had exhibited their zeal and fidelity in inflicting
the required punishment, as well as to
make room for the exaltation of others to the
degree of Illustrious Elected of Fifteen, appointed
twelve of these latter, chosen by ballot,
to constitute a new degree on which he
bestowed the name of Sublime Knights
Elected, and gave them the command over
the twelve tribes of Israel . The Sublime
Knights rendered an account each day to Solomon
of the work that was done in the Temple
by their respective tribes, and received their
pay . The Lodge is called a Chapter . In the
old rituals Solomon presides, with the title of
Thrice Puissant, and instead of Wardens,
there are a Grand Inspector and a Master of
Ceremonies . In the modern ritual of the
Southern Jurisdiction, the Master and Wardens
represent Solomon, Hiram of Tyre, and
Adoniram, and the style of the Master and
Senior Warden is Thrice Illustrious . The
room is hung with black, sprinkled with white
and red tears .
The apron is white, lined and bordered with
black, with black strings ; on the flap, a flaming
heart .
The sash is black, with a flaming heart on
the breast, suspended from the right shoulder
to the left hip .
The jewel is a sword of justice .
This is the last of the three Elus which are
found in the Ancient Scottish Rite . In the
French Rite they have been condensed into
one, and make the Fourth Degree of that
ritual, but not, as Ragon admits, with the
happiest effect.
Knight Evangelist. A grade formerly in
the archives of the Lodge of St . Louis des
Amis Rcunis at Calais. (Thory, Acta Lat .,
i., 312 .)
Knight Hospitaler . See Knight of Malta.
Knight, Illustrious or Illustrious Elect .
(Chevalier Illustre or Elu Illustre .) The Thirteenth
Degree of the Rite of Mizraim .
Knight Jupiter . (Le Chevalier Jupiter .)
The Seventy-eighth Degree of the collection
of Peuvret .
Knight Kadosh, formerly called Grand
Elect Knight Kadosh . (Grand Elu du Chevalier
Kadosch .) The Knight Kadosh is the Thirtieth
Degree of the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite, called also Knight of the White
and Black Eagle. While retaining the general
Templar doctrine of the Kadosh system, it
symbolizes and humanizes the old lesson of
vengeance . It is the most popular of all the
Kadoshes .
In the Knight Kadosh of the Ancient and
Accepted Scottish Rite, the meetings are
called Councils . The principal officers are,
according to the recent rituals, a Commander,
two Lieutenant Commanders, called also
Prior and Preceptor ; a Chancellor, Orator,
Almoner, Recorder, and Treasurer . The
jewel, as described in the ritual of the Southern
Supreme Council, is a double-headed eagle,
displayed resting on a teutonic cross, the eagle
silver, the cross gold enameled red . The
Northern Council uses instead of the eagle
the letters J. B . M . The Kadoshes, as representatives
of the Templars, adopt the Beauscant
as their standard . In this degree, as in
all the other Kadoshes, we find the mystical
ladder of seven steps .
Knight Kadosh of Cromwell . Ragon
says of this (Tuileur, p . 171), that it is a pretended
degree, of which he has four copies,
and that it appears to be a monstrosity invented
by an enemy of the Order for the purposes
of calumniation . The ritual says that
the degree is conferred only in England and
Prussia, which is undoubtedly untrue .
Knight Masonic . The word knight, prefixed
to so many of the high degrees as a part
of the title, has no reference whatever to the
orders of chivalry, except in the case of
Knights Templar and Knights of Malta . The
word, in such titles as Knight of the Ninth
Arch, Knight of the Brazen Serpent, etc ., has
a meaning totally unconnected with Medieval
knighthood . In fact, although the English,
German, and French words Knight, Ritter,
and Chevalier, are applied to both, the Latin
word for each is different. A Masonic knight
is, in Latin, eques ; while the Medieval writers
always called a knight of chivalry miles . So
constant is this distinction, that in the two instances
of Masonic knighthood derived from
the chivalric orders, the Knights Templar and
the Knight of Malta, this word miles is used,
instead of eques, to indicate that they are not.
really degrees of Masonic knighthood. Thus
we say Miles Templarius and Miles Melitce .
If they had been inventions of a Masonic ritualist,
the titles would have been Eques Templarius
and Eques Melitce .
The eques, or Masonic knight, is therefore
not, in the heraldic sense, a knight at all . The
word is used simply to denote a position higher
than that of a mere Master ; a position calling,
like the "devoir" of knighthood, for the performance
of especial duties . As the word
"prince," in Masonic language, denotes not
one of princely rank, but one invested with
a share of Masonic sovereignty and command,
so "knight" denotes one who is expected to
be distinguished with peculiar" fidelity to the