Knights of the Maccabees

The Knights of the Maccabees was a North American fraternal and mutual assessment insurance society, formed in 1878 at London, Ontario by members of the Order of the Foresters. It was named for the Maccabees (Maccabeans), the eponymous Jewish tribe which led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire, and took the model of its leader, Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee), as inspiration in the creation of their secret rites and degrees.