The religiously significant silver star marking the exact birthplace of Jesus was removed in October 1847 from the Grotto of the Nativity by the Greek Orthodox. The church was under the control of the Ottoman Empire, but around Christmas 1852, Napoleon III forced the Ottomans to recognise Catholic France as the "sovereign authority" over Christian holy sites in the Holy Land.Royle. p. 19. The Sultan of Turkey replaced the silver star at the grotto, complete with a Latin inscription, but the Christian Orthodox Russian Empire disputed the change in authority. They cited the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca and then deployed armies to the Danube area. As a result, the Ottomans issued firmans essentially reversing their earlier decision, renouncing the French treaty, and restoring to the Orthodox Christians the sovereign authority over the churches of the Holy Land for the time being, thus increasing local tensions—and all this fuelled the conflict between the Russian and the Ottoman empires over the control of holy sites around the region.
The religiously significant silver star marking the exact birthplace of Jesus was removed in October 1847 from the Grotto of the Nativity by the Greek Orthodox The church was under the control of the Ottoman Empire but around Christmas 1852 Napoleon III forced the Ottomans to recognise Catholic France as the "sovereign authority" over Christian holy sites in the Holy LandRoyle p 19 The Sultan of Turkey replaced the silver star at the grotto complete with a Latin inscription but the Christian Orthodox Russian Empire disputed the change in authority They cited the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca and then deployed armies to the Danube area As a result the Ottomans issued firmans essentially reversing their earlier decision renouncing the French treaty and restoring to the Orthodox Christians the sovereign authority over the churches of the Holy Land for the time being thus increasing local tensions—and all this fuelled the conflict between the Russian and the Ottoman empires over the control of holy sites around the region