The Balkans between Rome and Constantinople in the early middle ages 600-900, A.D

Abstract

During the early Middle Ages, the Balkans witnessed a struggle between
Rome and Constantinople for jurisdiction over the Balkan churches. The
final victory went to Constantinople for political and geographical reasons,
but not, as commonly held, due to Emperor Leo Ill’s actions during the
iconoclastic controversy. The article argues that the fall of Ravenna to the
Lombards in 751 was the decisive event that gave the ecumenical patriarchate
success. When Serbs and Bulgarians chose Eastern over Western Christianity,
Constantinople’s precedence over Rome was confirmed.