04 — The Autocephalous Church
The hinge of Sava’s life and of this collection: how in 1219 he went to the exiled Byzantine court and patriarchate at Nicaea and obtained autocephaly for the Serbian Church, was consecrated its first archbishop, weathered the protest of the rival archbishop of Ohrid, and then built the church’s structure — bishoprics, the seat at Žiča, clergy, and liturgy — on the ground.
Tradition: Serbian Orthodox
Files
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| autocephaly-1219.md | The flagship: securing autocephaly from the Ecumenical Patriarchate at Nicaea (under Patriarch Manuel I) in 1219; consecration as first Archbishop of Serbia; the political and ecclesial significance; the protest of Demetrios Chomatenos of Ohrid |
| organizing-the-church.md | Founding the bishoprics; Žiča as the seat; clergy, liturgy, and the building of a national church |
See Also
- 03 — Return to Serbia — the authority Sava built before 1219
- 05 — Lawgiver and Educator — the Zakonopravilo, the legal complement of the autocephaly
- Orthodoxy Guide: World Orthodoxy — Serbia — the long institutional history that began in 1219