<P> The second order was the Knights Templar, founded in 1118 . Its official function, as stated in the founders' declaration, was to protect the Crusader kingdom in the Holy Land and the pilgrims' access to the holy places in the Kingdom of Jerusalem . Alongside the protection of pilgrims, the Templars provided a significant military force that included thousands of soldiers, with several hundred knights, in defense of the Kingdom of Jerusalem . The Templars established their headquarters at Al - Aqsa Mosque and over time added complex structures and strengthened the fortifications . Benjamin of Tudela said that "300 knights" out of Solomon's Temple were ready to fight the enemies of the Christian faith . </P> <P> Another order, the Order of Saint Lazarus, was founded to care for leprosy patients . A special place was set for them outside of the walls of Jerusalem, named after Saint Lazarus . This Leper House gave its name to leper colonies established all over Europe . The Order of Saint Lazarus included both lepers and healthy people who held religious and military positions . This phenomenon, a military religious order of lepers who took an active part in the country alongside a healthy population, had no parallel in Europe at that time . </P> <P> After the victory of the Muslims in the Battle of Hattin on July 4, 1187, almost all the cities and citadels of the Kingdom of Jerusalem were conquered by the Muslim army led by Saladin . On September 17, Muslim troops came against the walls of Jerusalem, and on September 20, Saladin himself at the head of his army besieged Jerusalem, which contained about 30,000 residents and another 30,000 refugees from around the Christian Holy Land . The siege was relatively short but intense and violent, as both sides saw the city as their religious and cultural center . After bitter fighting, the Muslims were able to undermine the city's fortifications in the area between Damascus Gate and Herod's Gate, near where the Crusaders broke into the town in 1099 . The defenders realized that they were doomed, and that it was not possible to maintain the Christian conquest of Jerusalem . At the request of the Latin Patriarch Hiraklios, and probably under pressure from the civilian population, the Christians decided to enter into negotiations with Saladin, leading to a conditional surrender . The Crusaders threatened to harm the Islamic holy sites on the Temple Mount, the Dome of the Rock and Al - Aqsa Mosque if the blockade continued . This threat, combined with pressure from the Muslim battalion commanders to end the fighting, led to the signing of a contract which surrendered the city to Saladin, making the residents prisoners of war who could redeem themselves for a fee . </P> <P> On October 2 Jerusalem was given to Saladin . The rich of the city, including the Dean and Latin Christians, managed to save themselves, but the poor and refugees who had come to the city with nothing were unable to pay the ransom . Most of the church treasures were taken from the city by the Latin Patriarch, who passed them to the Muslim cavalry in order to release certain prisoners . Saladin released thousands of others without compensation, including Queen Sybil, wife of Guy de Lusignan, king of Jerusalem, who was allowed to visit her husband in prison in Nablus . About 15,000 Christians were left destitute in the city . After 40 days, they were taken as prisoners in convoys to Muslim cities such as Damascus and Cairo, where they spent their lives as slaves . Christians who managed to escape from Palestine and Jerusalem went through ports controlled by the Egyptians, such as Ashkelon, and even Alexandria, where they were loaded on to ships of the Italian communes on their way to Europe . The fall of Jerusalem and the holy places shocked Europe . The shock led to the sudden death of Pope Urban III, and the departure of the Third Crusade . For Saladin, the conquest of Jerusalem was a significant political achievement, placing him as the defender of religion, a legendary military commander in chief, and giving him special status in the Muslim world . </P>

What was the impact of crusader occupation of the holy land