AHC: Save the Knights Templar

Avoid involvement in banking and so not get on the wrong side of powerful monarchs?

I mean Hospitalers did it and are still around (sort of). Of course if Templars remain relevant there will be a problem with two knight forces doing same things. They'd need to either coordinate or one finds some other place to be all knightly and stuff.
 
Avoid involvement in banking and so not get on the wrong side of powerful monarchs?

1) Well, "banking" (in a primitive way) is directly due to their sucess. Having large lands, being trusted of goods, lending money to individuals, all comes first from gifts and such. You can't really prevent it, without damaging Templars' sucess first (but I don't give much about their lasting presence in Europe)

2) Templars Order dissolution is less due to them being huge lords and moneylanders. It was being a state within the state (critically with a king looking down on powerful feudal lords) at the point their possessions were technically sovereign alleus (more or less, totally on Templar's possession without suzerain)

For surviving Templars.
1) Latin States survives up to 1700. It's really unlikely. Even if you butterfly Hattin (by making Raimond of Triopli having the upper hand on how the campaign against Saladin would have to be led) there's too much menaces against them : Saladin, Mongols, Mameluks, Turks,...
There's plenty of Latin State survivales threads there, so you could take a look.
In this situation, Templars could remain the elite force of Jerusalem for longer (particularly if they don't know some decimation, Hattin-like)

2)No Trial of the Templars.

First you"ll need Philippe le Bel having a reason to keep them a thing. And seeing how he was the most powerful european ruler of its time (having puppetised the Papacy, set up roots of modern bureaucracy, etc.) he's not likely to do compromises.

So, Templars would have to submit and relinquish many things : treating king of France as their suzerain, loose total control on their property, being submitted to royal interests, loose their religious privileges (nobody was able to excommunicate them) and making Philippe (as he probably searched to) being Great Master of the order.
Basically, make them an Order of Santiago but even less autonomous.
You see the issue : Templars leaders (usually being great lords) aren't likely to submit. They didn't OTL and I don't see how they could have made it.

Even if it's reached, regarding their growing unpopularity (based on the fact their wealth didn't have a legitimacy, seeing how they couldn't defend Holy Land), their power...They're going to be absorbed and dissolved much sooner than XVIII century.

The best you could reach is a survivance of Templars' Order in a more or less anecdotal way (by example, as a formal order of chivalry) but they wouldn't be near of the "strong" part you asked.
 
All suggestions are nice but everyone forgets one small detail:we speak of the middle ages and a plan of such magnitude was impossible to be kept secret for the Templars not to get a sniff of it...with so many people involved
the coordination required was enormous! In fact the Templars had plenty of warning in advance from various directions and...they practically did nothing until the last moment....let's not forget that their persecution took place mainly in France;in the other countries it met...unforeseen obstacles and delays to effectively negate any action against them...

Few words about money:The Templars were the first to revive ancient practices about the transfer of money:winkytongue:ilgrims gave their money in the Temple,in various places and felt their money secure and received the at their destination paying only a small fee.It was natural that the system developed into money lending and other fiscal activities...it is not exactly that that led to their demise which could have been easily avoided...
 
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.let's not forget that their persecution took place mainly in France;in the other countries it met...unforeseen obstacles and delays to effectively negate any action against them...

Not really : they were dissolved by the Pope and it was made everywhere : it's why their holdings and possessions passed to other orders as Hospitaliers or Santiago.
Furthermore trials were made in British Isles, that led to their disapperence and jail. They were dissolved and let free with compensation in Germany, all of that in less than 10 years.
 
I posted this earlier in another thread I think their best survival POD would be not to sell Cyprus
 
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