Initially, the diocese of Dubrovnik belonged to the metropolis of Split. Pope Gregory V (996-999) transformed this diocese into an archdiocese and a metropolis, but it lost its title about 30 years later, and regained it in the 12th century. At that time, the Dubrovnik metropolis had 11 suffragan dioceses in a vast area from Bosnia to Shkodra. The data show that there were different church orders in the Dubrovnik Republic: Benedictines, Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits and that even before the earthquake in 1667 there were eight nunneries in Dubrovnik.