Bethlehem the official Christian presence in the region was Greek Orthodox. On Christmas Day 1100, Baldwin I, first king of the Frankish Kingdom of Jerusalem, was crowned in Bethlehem, and that year a Latin episcopate was also established in the town. In 1187, Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt and Syria who led the Muslim Ayyubids, captured Bethlehem from the Crusaders. The Latin clerics were forced to leave, allowing the Greek Orthodox clergy to return. Saladin agreed to the return of two Latin priests and two deacons in 1192. However, Bethlehem suffered from the loss of the pilgrim trade, as there was
Baldwin V of Jerusalem kingdom, preceding Sibylla's claim. Baldwin V, aged 5, was crowned co-king. The succession crisis also prompted a mission to the west to seek assistance: in 1184, Patriarch Eraclius, along with Roger de Moulins, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, and Arnaud de Toroge, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, travelled throughout the courts of Europe. Eraclius offered the kingship to both Philip II of France and Henry II of England: the former was the son of Louis VII, a first cousin of Baldwin V's father; the latter was a first cousin of Baldwin IV and Sibylla, and had promised to