The York Rite

Little known to European Freemasons, the York Rite is the most widely practised by Blue Lodges in the United States, to the extent that it is sometimes referred to simply as the American Rite. The York Rite did not arrived in Europe until quite recently, when American troops were stationed there during the two world wars. But what are the origins of the York Rite ? Why does it bear this typically English name if it is American ? And what are the specific characteristics of the York Rite ?

What is the York Rite ?

The York Rite is a complete set of thirteen Masonic degrees divided into four different Lodges and Chapters : 

Blue Lodges (under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodges) :

• Entered Apprentice 

• Fellowcraft

• Master Mason

Chapters of the Royal Arch (under the jurisdiction of Grand Chapters) :

• Mark Master Mason

• Past Virtual Master

• Most Excellent Master

• Royal Arch Mason

Cryptic Councils (under the jurisdiction of Grand Councils) :

• Royal Master

• Select Master

• Super Excellent Master

Commanderies of Knights Templar (under the jurisdiction of Grand Commanderies and of the Grand Encampment of US) :

• Order of the Red Cross

• Order of Malta

• Order of the Temple.

Several of these degrees exist in Freemasonry of other Anglo-Saxon countries (such as the Royal Arch or the Mark Masonry), but are organised differently. The York Rite is the only one in Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry to combine all these degrees into a coherent whole, which bears the name of Rite.

The rituals of the York Rite are strongly influenced by the Bible, with particular emphasis on the Old Testament in the Lodges, Chapters and Councils, and on the New Testament in the Commanderies. You have to believe in God (without specifying in which denomination or religion) to belong to the Lodges, Chapters and Councils, but you have to be a Trinitarian Christian to enter the Commanderies.

With variations depending on the State, the York Rite is the official Rite of American Regular Grand Lodges and also of Prince Hall African-American Freemasonry.

Did the York Rite originate in York ?

The adherents of the York Rite often claim that their Rite (at least in its craft degrees) is the oldest in the world, dating back to the first assembly of Masons held in York in 926, during the reign of King Athelstan. This legendary assembly is first recorded in the Halliwell manuscript, better known as the "Regius" (circa 1390), but the date 926 has only been mentioned since the reign of Elizabeth I. No historical source confirms that such an assembly ever took place. 

Nevertheless, the Lodge of York considered itself to be particularly eminent within English Freemasonry. In 1725, in reaction to the creation of the Grand Lodge of London and the alteration of the traditional rituals, this Lodge claimed to be the "Grand Lodge of All England Meeting since Time Immemorial in the City of York".

This Grand Lodge, which is often overlooked when talking about eighteenth-century English Freemasonry, was the first organised opposition to the "Modernity" of the Grand Lodge of London, some thirty years before the founding of the Grand Lodge of the Ancients. It had less impact than the other two Grand Lodges, because it was loosely structured : it functioned as a Mother Lodge, meeting only to receive new Brethren with a view to forming new Lodges, and did not administrate these Lodges. It fell dormant in the 1730s, only to be reborn in 1761. In 1769, "Antiquity" Lodge of the Grand Lodge of London withdrew and united with the Grand Lodge of York, which then took the name of "Grand Lodge of All England South of the River Trent". This Grand Lodge ceased all activity in 1789 or 1790.

What was the ritual (or rituals) used in the Lodges recognised by the Grand Lodge of York ? We do not know. But we can without hesitation affirm that it was of the so-called "Ancient" tradition, as were those of the Grand Lodge of the Ancients, the Grand Lodge of Ireland and the Grand Lodge of Scotland, and as the English Emulation Working would be from 1813. 

Although we do not know the ritual used in the Grand Lodge of York, we will note one particularity : unlike the other Grand Lodges, it conferred not only the three craft degrees, but also the Royal Arch (from 1770) and the Knight Templar (from 1780). This structure of course foreshadows that of the current York Rite, minus the Council of Cryptic Degrees, which did not appear in New York until 1792, and began to be structured around 1810. But is there a direct link between the practices of the Grand Lodge of York and the current American York Rite ? We are entitled to doubt it.

The origins of the York or American Rite 

The York Rite originated in the American colonies, which were to become the United States of America after 1783. Although it was rooted in English, Irish and Scottish Masonic traditions, it was nonetheless original and was the result of compromises made to harmonise the various Masonic practices from Great Britain and merge them into a Rite specific to the newly independent country.

The first American Lodges, which appeared as early as 1730, had several origins : some had been founded by the Provincial Grand Lodges set up in the colonies by the Grand Lodge of London (the "Moderns"), but most were of "Ancient" tradition ;  they were Lodges of spontaneous creation, or Lodges founded by military Lodges attached to the Grand Lodge of Ireland, by the Grand Lodge of Scotland, or even by the Grand Lodge of the Ancients (from 1758).

It is difficult to imagine that the Grand Lodge of York, which was becoming dormant at the same time as the first Lodges were being founded in America, could have played any role in the development of American Freemasonry. Even after its revival in 1761, it counted only nine Lodges when the American War of Independence ended in 1783. We sometimes read that the Irish military Lodges spread the Rite of the Grand Lodge of York to the new continent. But why should they have done so, since they were under the Grand Lodge of Ireland and had their own Masonic tradition ?

The need for a new ritual in America arose for historical reasons. During the War of Independence, the Lodges attached to the Grand Lodge of London (the "Moderns") tended to side with England, while the "Ancients" sided with the Insurgents. After the effective Independence of 1783, many "Modern" Freemasons returned to England and the various Provincial Grand Lodges of the Grand Lodge of London eventually merged with their counterparts in the "Ancient" tradition. The York Rite then became the only Rite practised by the Grand Lodges of the States forming the Union.

Why the name "York Rite" ?

If the Freemasons who identified themselves with the Grand Lodge of York clearly played no role in the spread of Freemasonry in America, and if the ritual they used is unlikely to have crossed the Atlantic, why does the American Rite bear the name "York Rite" ?

American Freemasons probably chose this name for two reasons. The first is that the Lodge of York, often mentioned in the "Old Charges", remained surrounded by the legendary aura that would make it the very cradle of Freemasonry.

The second reason is more diplomatic. The American Lodges were of English, Irish or Scottish origin. Which of these traditions would have primacy in the new United States? The Grand Lodges of the American States could certainly not call themselves "English", that's obvious. But to call themselves "Irish" or "Scottish" would have introduced particularisms specific to the United Kingdom that no longer had any reason to exist in the new Republic. The York tradition, which claims to go back to time immemorial, linked the new American Freemasonry to the oldest Masonic tradition, without having even to name England or London. 

It is clearly the mythical status of the very name of York that has enabled the York Rite to symbolically maintain contact with ancient English Freemasonry, while having historically and politically turned its back on England.