The coronation ceremony was held at Saint John Baptismal Cathedral, a church controlled by the Eastern Orthodox Church and built eight hundred years ago.
Although Christians were an absolute minority in Damascus, several surviving ancient churches remained, attracting many pilgrims every year. Most belonged to the Eastern Orthodox Church, which had already split from Eastern Orthodoxy.
Egypt's Coptic Church and Armenia's Apostolic Church were both branches of it.
Apart from the trading port inhabited by a small number of Latin merchants, Damascus had almost no Catholics. Most Christian churches available for pilgrimage belonged to the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Orthodoxy, while Catholicism—the "Great Church"—had not established a diocese here.
Thus, Lothar's coronation could only be held in such a church, steeped in mysticism and heresy.
Damascus's new monarch now led a vast procession through one magnificent Zoroastrian temple after another, past towering minarets, until they arrived before Saint John Baptismal Cathedral.
The church was ancient enough that it was said Saint John had once been baptized here. Its outer structures had now all been converted into fire temples, and one had to pass through several courtyards and colonnades to reach the church at the rear.
The sight enraged many Crusader nobles.
Lothar, however, said that in retaliation, he had requisitioned the largest fire temple in the city to establish Damascus Cathedral, with Uldin serving as the diocesan Bishop, thus soothing the Crusaders' emotions.
In truth, although Sebastian was nominally the Latin Patriarch of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, he held no actual authority. Uldin had handled many of its affairs before this.
Egypt was large, but its many Coptic churches were already sufficient to meet religious needs across the land. Its situation differed from Damascus's.
Having taken Damascus, Lothar would inevitably need to establish numerous Latin churches in the future