After the Lombard invasion of Northern Italy they had fled to the island of Grado, then under control of the Byzantines, although for years they maintained the schism.
These dissidents fled to mainland Aquileia and under Lombard protection elected a John as a rival patriarch who maintained the schism.
The Irish missionary Columbanus, who was ministering to the Lombards in Bobbio was involved in the first attempt to resolve this division through mediation between 612 and 615.
He was persuaded by Agilulf, King of the Lombards, to address a letter on the schism to Boniface IV.
After Old-Aquileia reconciled with Rome, Pope Gregory II granted the pallium to Patriarch Serenus (715-730) of Aquileia in 723.