As a results of the successful uprising led by the brothers Peter end Assen (1185-1186), the foundation of the Second Bulgarian State were laid with Turnovo as its capital. Due to the bonds of continuity between the religious centers of Preslav and Ohrid and mainly to the principle of linking up the sovereignty of the State with the autocephality of the Church, both the clergy and the believing people in Bulgaria striven for the restoration of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. At the beginning an independent archbishopric was established in Turnovo (1186). Soon steps were taken for its recognition, according to the existing canonical order, and for raising it to the rank of a Patriarchate. As a result of the connections of the Bulgarian King Kaloyan (1203-1204) with the Pope, which he had established mainly with a political purpose, the first Archbishop of Turnovo, Vassily, was proclaimed Primate by Pope Innocent III. His title was "Primate and Archbishop of all Bulgaria and Wallachia".
