I'm a Knights Templar . They are one of the York Rite bodies . There is three bodies in the York Rite , the Chapter , the Council and Commandery . There are three orders in the Commandery . The Order of the Red Cross , Order of Malta and the Order of the Temple . The Chapter and the Council are open to all faiths , but the Commandery is limited to Christian Masons . If you want info on the sword itself then you may want to get in touch with a local Masonic lodge in your area and ask if they have any York Rite masons as members or can put you in touch with the local York Rite Bodies . It would help if you knew what York Rite he belonged to , sounds to me that the sword is very old .