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
Stefan the First-Crowned Stefan the First-Crowned Stefan Nemanjić (Serbian Cyrillic: Стефан Немањић, ) or Stefan the First-Crowned ( / Stefan Prvovenčani, ; around 1165 – 24 September 1228) was Grand Prince of Serbia from 1196, and the King of Serbia from 1217 until his death in 1228. He was the first Rascian king, and through his promotion of the Serbian Grand Principality into a kingdom and helping his brother Saint Sava in establishing the Serbian Church, he is regarded one of the most important of the Nemanjić dynasty. Stefan Nemanjić was the second-eldest son of Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja and Anastasija. His older