Page "Bethlehem" Paragraph 14

In 1099, Bethlehem was captured by the Crusaders, who fortified it and built a new monastery and cloister on the north side of the Church of the Nativity.

The Greek Orthodox clergy were removed from their sees and replaced with Latin clerics.

Up until that point 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.