According to the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) ecclesial/political theory, in order for a nation to be granted church autonomy by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, they had to meet certain statesmanship, political, ecclesial and culturological standards required by competent authorities of the Byzantine Empire. From the settlement of the Serbian tribes in these regions during the 6th century, the process of cultural elevation of the Serbs involved their Christianisation, popular education and creation of first smaller and then bigger "political" communities, in accordance with the Christian patterns of the Eastern Roman Empire. After several ages of rising into the Christian life, granting of autocephality to the Serbian church in 1219 was a clear indicator of spiritual maturity of the Serbian people, as well as of the place and role of the Serbs on the geopolitical map of Southeast Europe at the start of the 13th century. Since then, the head of the Serbian church (archbishop) was officially granted a place in the hierarchy of Orthodox leaders (diptych) while the Serbian king obtained a high position in the Byzantine hierarchal system of political rulers. The paper points to the basic trends of transformation of the Serbian nation from paganism to Christianity and its gradual evolving in terms of ecclesial life until 1219, when the Serbs were officially recognized among civilized Christian nations.
