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

KNIGHT
KNIGHT 399
de la Colombe) was an androgynous secret society
framed on the model of Freemasonry,
and instituted at Versailles in 1784 . It had but
an ephemeral existence .
Knight of the Eagle . (Chevalier de
l'Aigle .) 1 . The First Degree of the Chapter
of Clermont . 2. The Third Degree of the
Clerks of Strict Observance. 3 . The Fiftysixth
Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan
Chapter of France . 4. It was also one
of the degrees of the Chapter of the Grand
Lodge Royal York of Berlin . 5 . The Thirtyseventh
Degree of the Rite of Mizraim .
Thory (Ac t ., i ., 291) says it was also one of
the appellations of the degree more commonly
called Perfect Master in Architecture, which is
the Fourteenth of the Primitive Scottish Rite,
and is found also in some other systems.
Knight of the Eagle and Pelican . One
of the appellations of the degree of Rose Croix
because the jewel has on one side an eagle and
on the other a pelican, both at the foot of the
cross, in allusion to the symbolism of the degree
. (See Rose Croix, Prince of.)
. Knight of the Eagle reversed . (Chevalier
de l'Aigle renverse .) Thory (Aeta Lat ., i .,
292) records this as a degree to be found in the
Archives of the Scottish Lodge Saint Louis des
Amis Reunis at Calais. In heraldic phrase,
an eagle reversed is an eagle with the wings
drooping.
Knight of the East. (Chevalier d'Orient .)
This is a degree which has been extensively
diffused through the most important Rites,
and it owes its popularity to the fact that it
commemorates in its legend and its ceremonies
the labors of the Masons in the construction of
the second Temple .
1 . It is the Fifteenth Degree of the Ancient
and Accepted Scottish Rite, the description
of which will apply with slight modifications
to the same degree in all the other Rites . It is
founded upon the history of the assistance
rendered by Cyrus to the Jews, who permitted
them to return to Jerusalem, and to
commence the rebuilding of the house of the
Lord . Zerubbabel, therefore, as the Prince
of the Jews, and Cyrus the King of Persia, as
his patron, are important personages in the
drama of reception ; which is conducted with
great impressiveness even in the old and somewhat
imperfect ritual of the last century, but
which has been greatly improved in the modern
rituals adopted by the Supreme Councils
of the United States.
The cordon of a Knight of the East is a
broad green watered ribbon, worn as a baldric
from left to right . The sash or girdle is of
white watered silk, edged above, and fringed
below with gold . On it is embroidera
bridge, with the letters L. D . P . on the arch,
and also on other parts of the girdle human
heads, and mutilated limbs, and crowns, and
swords . The apron is crimson, edged with
green, a bleeding head and two swords crossed
on the flap, and on the apron three triangles
interlaced formed of triangular links of chains .
The jewel is three triangles interlaced enclosing
two naked swords .
Scripture and the traditions of the Order
furnish us with many interesting facts in relation
to this degree. The Knights of the
East are said to derive their origm from the
captivity of the Israelites in Babylon . After
seventy-two years of servitude, they were
restored to liberty by Cyrus, King of Persia,
through the intercession of Zerubbabel, a
prince of the tribe of Judah, and Nehemias, a
holy man of a distinguished family, and permitted
to return to Jerusalem and rebuild
the Temple .
2 . It is the Sixth Degree of the French Rite .
It is substantially the same as the preceding
degree .
3 . The Sixth Degree of the old system of
the Royal York Lodge of Berlin .
4 . The Fifteenth Degree of the Chapter of
the Emperors of the East and West, and this
was most probably the original degree .
5. The Fifty-second Degree of the collection
of the Metropolitan Chapter of France .
6. The Forty-first Degree of the Rite of
Mizraim .
7. The Sixth Degree of the Rite of Philalethes
.
8. The Eleventh Degree of the Adonhiramite
Rite.
9. It is also substantially the Tenth Degree,
or Knight of the Red Cross of the American
Rite. Indeed, it is found in all the Rites and
systems which refer to the second Temple .
Knight of the East and West . (Chevalier
d'Orient et d'Occident .) 1 . The Seventeenth
Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish
Rite . The oldest rituals of the degree were
very imperfect, and did not connect it with
Freemasonry . They contained a legend that
upon the return of the knights from the Holy
Land, in the time of the Crusaders, they organized
the Order, and that in the year 1118
the first knights, to the number of eleven, took
their vows between the hands of Garinus,
patriarch . The allusion, here, is evidently to
the Knights Templar ; and this legend would
most probably indicate that the degree originated
with the Templar system of Ramsay .
This theory is further strengthened by the
other legend, that the Knights of the East
represented the Masons who remained in the
East after the building of the first Temple,
while the Knights of the East and West represented
those who traveled West and disseminated
the Order over Europe, but who returned
during the Crusades and reunited with
their ancient brethren, whence we get the
name .
The modern ritual as used in the United
States has been greatly enlarged . It still retains
the apocalyptic character of the degree
which always attached to it, as is evident from
the old tracing-board, which is the figure described
in the first chapter of the Revelation
of St . John . The jewel is a heptagon inscribed
with symbols derived from the Apocalypse,
among which are the lamb and the book with
seven seals . The apron is yellow lined and
edged with crimson . In the old ritual its
device was a two-edged sword . In the new one