During Late Antiquity, on the territory of present-day Serbia there were several major Christian centers and episcopal sees, including Sirmium, Singidunum, Viminacium, Naissus, Ulpiana and others.
[2] The Serbian bishoprics became part of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, after the Byzantine conquest of the Bulgarian Empire in 1018.
[3] With the Great Schism in 1054 (precipitated by Humbert of Silva Candida and his colleagues who entered the church of the Hagia Sophia during Michael I Cerularius's divine liturgy and placed the Charter on the altar.
The Serbian Orthodox Church was given autocephaly in 1219, when Archbishop Sava received recognition from the exiled Ecumenical Patriarch.
During the late Middle Ages and Early Modern period, Serbian Patriarchate of Peć (1346-1766) had at its peak more than forty eparchies.