So much conjecture is out there about a possible relationship with the Templars. for knights to have been made, or to have a legitimate order of chivalry there must be what is a pedigree or a "font' d'honnour" usually the head of state or a sovergien (ie the papacy in cases of the Order of the Holy Sepulchure, or Elizabeth II for Knights of the Garter or the "Venerable Order of St John").
Masonry has neither, except where Freemasonry enjoys recognition in certain parts of the world where its male nobility or royalty have been its patron or grand master like in the UK.
Which brings us to Chevalier Ramsey, a Freemason Scottish tudor to the Scottish/Polish Young Pretender in exile, in what was at the time an allied country to the kingdom of Scotland under the provisions of the Auld Alliance, France. An Alliance by the way which granted citizenship to both the French and the Scots as subjects of thier respective nations, and render aid in times of war. ie England. As such many Clan Families in Scotland and in turn even in France have strong family ties to the other country.
So thus by establishing such a foundation and a reason for Chevalier/Sir Andrews situation in France we can make a better determination about possible chivalric origins in the first APPENDANT orders of Freemasonry. I would not be dismissive in Ramsey's influence on the chivalric orders, and it seems the French venerated him enough to have titled him "Chevalier" a term like that of "Sir" in English. A title which if used falsely by the wrong person would have ment considerable time in the jails of the Bastile or even death.
What body is Sir Andrew responsible for? York Rite or the Ancient and Accepted Rite (Scottish Rite)?. How do we draw parallels to both or one or the other. I can say without going into any ritualistic work that the two are not dissimilar. The messages conveyed in the York Rite System are similar in phiosophy and even in biblical story to some of the obigatory degress of the Scottish Rite with differences only being in presentation. Is Ramsey responsible for both? Well see.
These are several questions I am putting forth in a work I am publishing on the early Colonial History of Europe, Elizabeth I to The Treaty of Paris, the 100 yrs war, the American and French Revolutions, and the Scottish Wars for Independance the last battle of which took place only thirty years before the US Revolution.
While such a work is not specifically "Templar" in origin it would make the case for alot of political explanations for the "higher" degrees. Which would shed some light on why even in europe (which unlike the US accepts only legitimate orders of chivalry) we as modern Templars can call ourselves "knights".