There are six well-marked recensions of the English rite.
(1) The Order of the so-called Pontifical of Egbert.
(2) The so-called Order of Ethelred II.
(3) The Order of the twelfth century.
(4) The Order of the Liber Regalis, which lasted (in English from the time of James I) until the reign of James II.
(5) The Order of James II.
(6) The Order of William and Mary, which with comparatively unimportant changes has been used down to the present time.
I
The earliest form of the English rite is that which is found in the so-called Pontifical of Egbert, Archbishop of York 732-766. Of this rite Dom Cabrol[63] says that it is ‘sans doute le plus ancien qui existe.’ But the whole question of the date of this Pontifical, and its connection with Egbert is one that much needs investigation, and in the absence of any recent and thorough discussion of these points, it is precarious to deal with this document as belonging to the eighth century.