The invasions of the Avars and Slavs in the 7th century destroyed the main cities and overran much of the hinterland, with Byzantine control limited to the islands and certain new coastal cities -with local autonomy and called Dalmatian city-states- such as Spalatum (Split) and Ragusium (Dubrovnik), while Jadera (Zadar) became the local episcopal and administrative center, under an archon.

[2] The traditional date of the establishment of Dalmatia as a regular theme is placed in the early years of the reign of Emperor Basil I the Macedonian (r. 867–886), following the expeditions of Niketas Oryphas.

This started a series of similar maneuvers and the Croatian–Bulgarian Wars, during which the Byzantine emperors of the Macedonian dynasty maintained varying degrees of control over the Dalmatian cities.

[7] The 1074 invasion of the Normans partly shifted the balance of power as count Amico of Giovinazzo invaded Dalmatia from southern Italy, on behalf of the Dalmatian cities and Byzantines.

In October 1075 was crowned Demetrius Zvonimir as the king of "Croatia and Dalmatia" by the Holy See and his power was felt even on the island of Krk and Cres.

[7] In the south of the Dalmatia Theme, the city of Ragusa, one of the main Dalmatian city-states but still under Byzantine control, started to grow in importance, and its Church diocese was elevated to an archbishopric in 998 AD.

His feats were repeated and bested by Stefan Vojislav twenty years later, and in 1034 AD, the Bar diocese was elevated to an archdiocese, but a war with Theophilos Erotikos soon followed.

[1] Constantine Bodin pledged his support for Pope Urban II, which confirmed Bar's status as an archdiocese in 1089 AD, and resulted in a temporary demotion of the Ragusan diocese.