The Battle of Identity: The Abolition of the Archbishopric of Ohrid and the ‎surrounding socio-political circumstances in the Ottoman Empire

Abstract

abolition of the Archbishopric of Ohrid on May 17, 1767 is an act that had a deep impact on the ecclesiastical history of the Balkans. This happened during the Ottoman rule in Macedonia, supported by the Sublime Porte. Since the 14th century the Archbishopric was territorially and administratively under the Sublime Porte, which was not interfering with the ecclesiastical independence, and also provided a range of benefits to the development of local medieval written tradition (especially by literary centres), the continued improvement of church services in Slavic language and the development in other spheres of the cultural and spiritual life. The relationship between the Archbishopric and the Porte got worse in the late 17th or early 18th century, when the Ottoman Empire got weak, and when phanariotes and the Patriarchate of Constantinople strengthened their status in the Empire. The phanariotes improved their financial power and became leaders in trade on the Balkans, in Russia and Europe, and so they acquired a range of different privileges, which made them extremely influential. A serious propaganda was conducted by them against the Archbishopric of Ohrid, one that produced numerous replacements of archbishops, and finally, they succeeded to achieve their goal – the abolition of the Ohrid Archbishopric.