At the time of Carolingian, when the idea of rebuilding the empire in the West really came to fruition, the Latin Church was already strong socio-political structure, which only the Eastern Empire could match in terms of organization and structure. At that time in the middle of the 9th century, Pope Nicholas I appeared on the historical scene as a person of above-average charisma and activity. However, it is very likely that Nicholas would not have deserved so much attention in the eyes of historians and theologians without his conflict with the Patriarch of Constantinople Photius. Two personalities, almost identical in nature and ability, clashed over the interests of their own churches. In this paper, we will try to shed light on several aspects, how the conflict with Photius influenced the consolidation of papal power during Nicholas' pontificate. In that context, we will consider the churchhistorical and theological background of the conflict and, based on that, try to see Nicholas' position and contribution [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]