| The number of bishops created on Crete up to the 10th century is established based on information from a series of sources: an epistle of the Apostle Paul, a reference by Eusebius from the correspondence of Dionysios of Corinth, the Proceedings of the Ecumenical Councils and the local Synod of Sardica, the Political Geography of Hierocles, the Tacticon of Leo III and Constantine V, the Tactica of the 9th century and the Tacticon of Basil II. At the end of the 1st century there were more than one Christian communities. In the 3rd and 4th centuries there were approximately eight episcopates, increasing by one or two in the 5th and 6th centuries. They reached their peak in the period between the time of Andreas of Crete and the Arab conquest of the island. |