Mehmed's brother, Topuzli-Makarije, became a monk of the Serb Chilandar Monastery on Mount Athos. Makarije Sokolović paid a visit to his brother's palace in Constantinople in 1557, where the two brothers discussed the possibility of re-establishing the autocephaly of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Later that same year, Sokollu Mehmed issued an edict ("firman") declaring the restoration of the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć, with Makarije Sokolović as Serbian Patriarch Makarije I. The edict also guaranteed the rights and religious freedom of all inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire.