I'm sure that while writing, history and the current state of the world seeps in subconsciously, but no matter how much I like your Templars idea, we did not consciously base any faction literally on this or that existing faction of the current or past world around us.
We merely thought of "interesting politics" for a fantasy world that would allow some tension and interesting decisions. If anything looks or smells like something from the real world is only normal, but also purely coincidental.
