The order of the Knights Templar survived after their suppression in 1307 by moving underground and splitting into independent lineages.

“when the Templar order was suppressed in 1307 it had to go underground and it uh survived in different Pockets right in different areas and those Pockets kind of grew independently and at different periods of time they've kind of come back together”

The Knights Templar were a powerful militia whose rapid collapse left a vacuum of mystery that allowed for the development of modern conspiracy theories and occult lore.

“they were so powerful and they disappeared so quickly like in the course of a few years they went from the most powerful organization in Europe outside of the church to just being completely dismantled and it left this vacuum of mystery”