Knights Templar (Freemasonry)
The Knights Templar, full name The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta, is a fraternal order affiliated with Freemasonry. Unlike the initial degrees conferred in a regular Masonic Lodge, which (in all Regular Masonic jurisdictions) only require a belief in a Supreme Being regardless of religious affiliation, the Knights Templar is one of several additional Masonic Orders in which membership is open only to Freemasons who profess a belief in Christianity. One of the obligations entrants to the order are required to declare is to protect and defend the Christian faith. The word "United" in its full title indicates that more than one historical tradition and more than one actual order are jointly controlled within this system. The individual orders 'united' within this system are principally the Knights of the Temple (Knights Templar), the Knights of Malta, the Knights of St Paul, and only within the York Rite, the Knights of the Red Cross.
Knights of Honor
The Knights were organized along the same three tier structure as most fraternal orders of the era. Local groups were "Subordinate Lodges", state or regional groups were "Grand Lodges" and the national authority was the "Supreme Lodge". In 1896 the Knights had thirty six Grand Lodges and 2,600 Subordinate Lodges with an average of fifty members each By 1910, however, the number of Subordinate Lodges was down to 1,234. The national headquarters of the organization was in St. Louis, Missouri.