Ohrid

OHRID (Achrís; Slavic Ohrid; Albanian Ohri, Italian Ocrida). - A bishopric city that succeeded the ancient Lychnidos; it begins to be mentioned in the Bulgarian era, when, after a cathedral had been erected there by King Boris-Michael shortly after his conversion to Christianity (around 870), it became (886?) the center of the activity of St. Clement, a disciple of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, who was also bishop there (893). From then on, contradictory reports make it now a simple bishopric, now a patriarchate for Bulgaria. But from the time (997-98) when King Samuel transferred his capital there, it is certain that the patriarchal throne was also there, on which most of the other 30 sees that Bulgaria counted at its greatest extent must have depended.

The era of A.'s great splendor was not long, because in 1018 and 1019 the city, with the entire formerly Bulgarian territory, was reconquered by the Byzantine Empire. The title of patriarch would disappear (between 1019 and 1033), and it soon became customary (1037) to appoint a Greek as titular. Nevertheless, the overall organization of 32 bishoprics in the ancient provinces of Macedonia, Dardania, and New and Old Epirus was preserved, with A. at its head, granting it autocephaly with exemption from the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the archiepiscopal title (1018 and 1043). In this period, A. boasts two great titulars in Theophylact, a writer of great fame also in the West (after 1078-1111), and John Komnenos, a scion of imperial lineage (ca. 1140-57).

After the fall of the Greek Empire (1204), A., with a large extent of territory, formed part of the "Despotate" of Epirus, figuring there as the principal see, even in relation to Durazzo and Naupactus. Great splendor was given to it by Archbishop Demetrios Chomatenos (ca. 1216-35), with his esteemed canonical learning. At the same time, A. lost the Serbian territory, which passed to form an autonomous jurisdiction under a local archbishopric (1219). An era of spiritual decadence followed, although hostility to union with Rome earned A. an extension of jurisdiction over Wallachia (1439-66) and Moldavia (1439 - end of the 16th century), and between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th also over Durazzo. From 1548 to 1586 we see the patriarch of A. appointing and ordaining bishops for the Greeks and Albanians of Italy, probably with the consent of the Pope. This rapprochement toward unity, if it was not very deep and fruitful, was repeated various times until 1670. On the other hand, there is also, with no greater fruit, an attempt on the part of Rome to establish a Latin archbishopric of A., which counted three titulars in 28 years (1647-75). The history of this important see may be said to end catastrophically with the abolition of the archbishopric and patriarchate and of the episcopate itself, decided by the Patriarchate of Constantinople and accepted by the prelate and the local clergy in 1767.

Giuseppe Valentini