The Archbishop of Petra was the metropolitan bishop of the province of Palaestina Tertia. The Islamic conquest in the 7th century had eliminated Byzantine control of the area and with it the protection of the Christian communities. However, Palestinian and Syrian Christian communities had remained in the region well into the Islamic occupation period. Re-established during the Crusader era, the diocese covered the Oultrejordain area and included Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai, although Crusader protection rarely extended that far. Frankish communities soon added to their number and before Saladin's reconquest, the area had an increasing number of Catholic communities. Following the destruction of the Kingdom of Jerusalem by Saladin, what little protection for Christians had exi