Indeed. You would need to get rid of the Portuguese kings somehow though. While the Kings of Portugal wernt as aggressive as Phillip in their dealings with the Templars, they desired to control them and their wealth as much as he did.Portugal might be a better bet in this case for a surviving Knights Templar - supposedly, they had a significant role in the Portuguese Reconquista, and there's a church in Tomar which is supposedly based on the Dome of the Rock courtesy of the Portuguese Templars. In OTL, after their suppression, the King of Portugal at the time basically allowed the Templars to remain as before; only the name changed to the Order of Christ (which is nowadays Portugal's highest civilian award, with the Order's Grand Master as the President of the Republic). Now, take it and stretch it, and things could get interesting. Templar colonies in Brazil, for example?![]()
If you look at the Grandmasters of the Order of Christ (and similarly the Orders of Santiago and Order of Aviz), you notice that its filled with Kings and royal family members of Portugal. In effect the Templars (and the two other orders) were no more than extensions of the authority of the King. What their grandmaster desires isnt a powerful and independent Order of Christ, but one that serves him.
And as an aside the Order of Christ had some wonky ideas. Invasion of Egypt, reconquest of Jerusalem and raiding Mecca type wonky. Not to mention the Tangier fiasco.