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| Archbishop of Salona | |
|---|---|
| Name | Archbishopric of Salona |
| Native name | Archiepiscopatus Salonae |
| Incumbent | None (suppressed) |
| Style | His Excellency |
| Residence | Salona (near Spalatum) |
| Formation | 3rd century? |
| Abolished | 7th–8th century (effective) |
| Denomination | Catholic Church (pre‑East–West Schism) |
| Rite | Latin Church (Roman Rite), later contacts with Byzantine Rite |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of Salona (ancient) |
| Jurisdiction | Dalmatia, Solin, Dalmatae |
Archbishop of Salona
The Archbishop of Salona was the metropolitan prelate whose see centered on ancient Salona (near modern Spalatum), an influential episcopal seat in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. The office connected a network of episcopal sees across Dalmatia, interfaced with the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and later Frankish Empire diplomacy, and featured prominently in disputes with neighbouring sees such as Ravenna and Zadar. Archaeological layers, episcopal lists, and conciliar records shed light on its changing status from the imperial provinces through barbarian incursions to eventual suppression.
Salona emerged as an urban center in the Roman province of Dalmatia and developed an episcopal structure by the 3rd and 4th centuries, evidenced by inscriptions and synodal attendance. Early bishops of Salona participated in provincial councils and corresponded with figures like Pope Damasus I and Pope Gregory the Great, while interacting with metropolitan sees such as Aquila and Ravenna. During the 6th century, the archbishopric navigated the reigns of emperors including Justinian I and confronted pressures from the Lombards, Avars, and Slavic migrations. The 7th and 8th centuries saw shifting control between Byzantine governors, local magnates, and external polities, culminating in the collapse of Salona after the Slavic sack and the relocation of ecclesiastical life to nearby Spalatum. Conciliar lists from the Council of Chalcedon tradition and papal registers record Salona's participation in regional synods up to the Carolingian period, after which the metropolitan functions gradually moved or were claimed by successor centers including Split and Zadar.
The archbishopric's ecclesiastical province encompassed multiple suffragan dioceses in inland and coastal Dalmatia such as Trogir, Klis, Makarska, and Zemunik (names vary across sources), with jurisdictional claims sometimes overlapping with Ravenna and contested by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in certain eras. The cathedral at Salona, traditionally associated with the martyr-bishop Saint Domnius (Saint Duje), served as the liturgical and administrative center; relics, episcopal regalia, and episcopal letters connected the see to the cult of saints and to papal demands for obedience. Architectural remains reflect basilica plans influenced by Roman architecture, Early Christian art, and later Byzantine modifications; epigraphic material documents donations from local aristocrats, imperial officials, and bishops who attended councils in Nicaea, Ephesus, and other major sees.
Episcopal lists compiled from conciliar records, papal correspondence, and inscriptions provide names of Salona's prelates, though chronology is often disputed. Notable figures attested in surviving sources include early martyrs and bishops who appear in synodical subscriptions, medieval chroniclers, and hagiographies. The see's catalogue intersects with wider episcopal prosopography featuring bishops mentioned alongside contemporaries from Rome, Constantinople, Aquileia, Ravenna, and Sirmium. Later medieval sources conflate some Salona archbishops with those of Split, producing divergent scholarly reconstructions based on works by historians of Dalmatia and editors of papal registers.
The archbishop exercised liturgical, judicial, and administrative authority: convening provincial synods, ordaining suffragan bishops, adjudicating ecclesiastical disputes, and safeguarding relics and cathedral patrimony. Interaction with popes—such as petitioning Pope Gregory I or receiving papal letters—placed the archbishop in the Roman curia's orbit; conversely, Byzantine chancery practice introduced imperial diplomas and the title of paradigms like archiereus in Greek sources. In times of crisis the archbishop coordinated relief, negotiated with secular rulers including Byzantine strategoi, Avar chieftains, or later Carolingian envoys, and mediated between monastic foundations (including contacts with Benedictine houses) and urban elites.
The see oscillated between claims of jurisdictional allegiance to the Patriarchate of Constantinople and affirmations of communion with Rome. Diplomatic correspondence, liturgical rite preferences, and appointments reflect this liminality: papal letters sought to assert Roman primacy, while imperial and patriarchal administration reinforced Constantinopolitan influence during periods of Byzantine control. This tug‑of‑war paralleled wider East–West tensions manifested in the affairs of Aquila, Ravenna, Durazzo, and other Adriatic sees, contributing to contested metropolitan prerogatives and to eventual realignment under Latinizing authorities in the post‑iconoclast era.
The physical destruction of Salona in the 7th–8th centuries and the migration of its populace to Spalatum led to the effective suppression of the ancient archbishopric; successor institutions claimed its relics, titles, and privileges. The legacy of the archiepiscopal see endures in the institutional memory of Split, medieval chronicles, archaeological strata, and the cult of Saint Domnius, which shaped regional identity and ecclesiastical geography in Dalmatia. Modern historiography, informed by archaeology, epigraphy, and comparative study of papal and Byzantine records, reconstructs the archbishopric's trajectory as emblematic of Late Antique and early medieval transformations across the Adriatic world.
Category:History of Dalmatia Category:Christianity in Croatia