Kniughts Templar

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? :D
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.

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.
 
I would like to express some thoughts about theTemplars:
It is true the received a raw deal;they deserved to survive and get their revenge on France and the Papacy since they were defenders of the Christian faith and were at perpetual war with the Muslims.
They must get a basis of operations they can defend(Cyprus is too large to be
defended).They need one of the dominions of Venice in the East,that Venice could not easily defend and they could augment it militarily and commercially,and near enough the muslims sothey can fight(their raison d'etre).They already possess a considerable navy and can be the start plus a vast recruting organisation.
 
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