Welkya - Creation of Slav Script

CREATION OF THE SLAV SCRIPT

Twelve centuries ago, two brothers, Cyril and Methodius, created an alphabet that corresponded to the sounds of the Slavic languages. Their work enabled the Slavic people to lay the foundations of their own culture.

The Bulgarian history, like that of most other nations, is full of grim and hard-fought battles against oppressors at home and temporary aggressors. Being neighbors of well-organized empire, such as the Byzantine Empire at that time, with its old political traditions and highly developed civilization, the Bulgarians were condemned to be forever on the alert, arms in hand throughout the Middle Ages. And just when Europe was awakening to a new life they had the misfortune to fall under a barbarous domination, which lasted nearly five hundred years. Under these circumstances it is only too natural that Bulgarian culture should be of a militant character, because it developed to be a shield and a weapon, a call and protest.

Cyril and Methodius most important achievement was the creation of the Slavonic alphabet and their struggle to impose it. The two brothers thus laid the foundations not only of Bulgarian letters, but also of all Slav letters in general. The work of the two brothers assumed exceedingly great historical importance in Moravia (the land of today's Czech Republic, Moravia became great empire, ruling Bohemia, Silesia, Slovakia and South Poland from the end of sixth century until 906 when it fell to the Magyars and later to the Bohemians), but it was in Bulgaria, that the goals they set themselves were actually achieved.

There is a comparatively large body of historical sources about the life and work of Cyril and Methodius, panegyrics, services and documents. Early Bulgarian writers, such as Yoan Exarch (John the Exarch) and Chernorizets (the Monk) Hrabr have written about the two brothers. We also have a number of works by the enlighteners themselves, mainly by Cyril. The sources are written in Old Bulgarian, Latin and Greek. It is of importance to note that the works from Cyril and Methodius did not come to us as originals and none of them caries the signatures of either Cyril or his brother - they are all transcribed books mostly from their close followers.

The main sources about the life and work of Cyril and Methodius are their detailed Lives, known under the title of Panonian Legends, written by their followers. Exceedingly valuable information is contained in a number of Papal letters or letters written from the Papal chancellery. Among the Greek sources the detailed Life of Clement is of the greatest value, as it is the main source on the fate of Slavonic literature after the death of Methodius.

Cyril and Methodius were born in Salonica (or Thessaloniki city N Greece. It is a major port and industrial center, exporting grain, tobacco, and ores. Founded in 315 B.C. by Cassander, king of Macedon, it linked BYZANTIUM with the Adriatic region in Roman times and was the Roman provincial capital of Macedon after 146 B.C. The kingdom of Thessaloniki (1204), comprising most of N and central Greece, was the largest fief of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. It was variously held by the Greeks, Byzantines, and Ottoman Turks before being conquered (1912) by Greece in the BALKAN WARS. Although the city was devastated by a fire in 1917 and damaged severely in World War II, it retains many ancient ruins and fine churches.), the second town of the Byzantine Empire in size and importance after Constantinople. Cyril, who, at his baptism was given the name of Constantine, was born in 826 or 827 (more probably in 827); Methodius was older. Leo, the father of Cyril and Methodius, occupied a high post, being a drungarios under the strategos, i. e. assistant to the military and administrative governor of Salonica and its region.

It was no accident that the enlighteners of the Slavs were born in Salonica. The city was the most important center for the dissemination of Greek culture and Christianity among the Slavs in the Balkan Peninsula. Salonica was a port and outlet for the central and western part of the Balkan Peninsula, which was also inhabited by Slavs, and the center of a rich neighborhood. The Slavs penetrated early into the city so that alongside Greek the Slavonic language was heard on every hand. Cyril and Methodius not only lived among Slavs. There is good reason to believe that they belonged to a Slav, or at least partly Slav family. There is a very popular opinion that at least their mother was a Slav. The fact that both brothers had a perfect knowledge of Slavic languages, which they not only spoke and understood, but also in which they also wrote – translated and composed – and for which they invented an alphabet, is proof of their Slav origin. Another proof is the fact that they devoted and even sacrificed their lives for the enlighterirnent of the Slavs, for the creation of a Slav liturgy and the spread of the Slav script and literature.

It should be noted that the Slavs occupied an important place in the Byzantine Empire and that their representatives rose to high posts in the social hierarchy. A Slav could, undoubtedly, have held the post of assistant governor of Salonica, or the Salonica theme (region), as was the case of the father of Cyril and Methodius.

The two brothers were among the best-educated people in Byzantium. The writer of Cyril’s Life emphasizes his eagerness to study. His talents drew the attention of the family’s relatives and friends (the father died early), and even that of some highly-placed Byzantine officials who knew Leo’s family as one of the most distinguished in the Empire’s second capital. Cyril was offered the opportunity to continue his education in Constantinople, where one of the regents of the young Emperor Michael III, the Logothetos Theoctistus, took him under his protection. The young man from Salonica entered the highest educational establishment in Byzantium, the Magnaura School, where the sons of the Byzantine aristocracy studied. At that time the celebrated philosopher and mathematician Leo and the future Patriarch Photius, a learned theologian, writer and distinguished public figure, were lecturers at the school. Under their guidance, Cyril studied all the sciences that were taught then: the ‘Hellenic Arts’ – grammar, poetry, geometry, dialectics, and all ‘Philosophical Sciences, such as rhetoric, arithmetic, astronomy, etc. Cyril’s record in the study of these subjects was most brilliant.

There is no doubt that, having completed his education and become famous for his talents, Cyril could have made a brilliant career in the Empire. But he took holy orders and became librarian of the Church of St. Sophia, the largest church in Constantinople at the Patriarchate. He was later invited to take a chair as lecturer in the Magnaura School. As a man, who was thoroughly acquainted with philosophy, he won such popularity that his name remained forever linked with the nickname "the Philosopher".

The writer of his life tells us of two of Cyril’s more brilliant disputes which, according to him, deserved to be described in detail: a dispute with the overthrown Patriarch, the iconoclast Yoan Grammatic, and a dispute with the Saracen Mohammedans to whom he was sent in 851. Cyril’s journey and mission to the Saracens was an important event in his life, because this mission marked the beginning of his remarkable activity among tribes and peoples beyond the boundaries of Byzantium. Cyril was included in the mission as one versed in foreign languages and Christianity.

When his mission to the Saracens came to an end, Cyril did not return to his former post as a teacher, but entered a monastery in the Olympus Mountains of Asia Minor, where his brother Methodius had earlier taken refuge. Here the two brothers linked their life forever.

While we have at our disposal many details about the youth of Cyril, no information has come down to us about the youth of Methodius. There can be no doubt that he, too, was thoroughly well acquainted with the culture of contemporary Byzantium. Following in his father’s footsteps, Methodius had become governor of a Slav principality which must have been situated somewhere in Macedonia.

Methodius's career as a governor of a region in the Empire was suddenly interrupted; a great change took place in his life – he left the world and entered a monastery. The end of Methodius’s political career and his becoming a monk, as well as Cyril’s entry into the monastery, should be connected with the fall of Theoctistus, their protector, from power.The monastery was not only a center of religious life, medieval scholarship also flourished there. Cyril and Methodius continued to work at their own education. Here again the brothers did not break their link with the Slavs, because large masses of Slavs lived in the vicinity of the Olympus Mountains.

When Photius, Cyril’s former teacher, became Patriarch in Constantinople, the brothers were entrusted again with new public functions. The new Patriarch was most actively engaged in spreading Christianity and Byzantine influence, as well as the Christian cultural heritage, among the neighboring and more distant territories. In about 860 Cyril and Methodius were sent on a mission of this kind to the Khazars.

From Cyril’s Life it is apparent that their task was actually much broader: it included not only the Khaganate of the Khazars (Khazars, ancient Turkic people who appeared in Transcaucasia in the 2d cent. A.D. and subsequently settled in the lower Volga region. They rose to great power; the Khazar empire at its height (8th–10th cent. A.D.) extended from the northern shores of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea as Far West as Kiev. The Khazars maintained friendly relations with the Byzantine Empire. Their empire came to an end in 965, when they were defeated by the duke of Kiev. In the 8th cent. the Khazar nobility embraced Judaism and thus are believed by some to be the ancestors of many East European Jews. ) but also other regions in South Russia. Cyril and Methodius made Kherson the distant, north-easternmost town of the Byzantine Empire, a center of their new activities and a bridgehead for Byzantine penetration into Southern Russia.

Cyril’s stay in Kherson enabled him to acquire a thorough knowledge of philology. Since he would have to engage in disputes with Jewish missionaries in the Khaganate of the Khazars, he studied Hebrew and Samaritan. After having mastered the Hebrew language, he undertook to translate a Hebrew grammar.

While he was in Kherson, Cyril found the "relics", i. e. the mortal remains of the Christian Saint Clement who had been martyred and buried there. These "relics" later played an important part in his life, because they were considered the relics of one of the earliest Christian church workers, St Clement of Rome, a Christian pontiff in still pagan Rome.

On their return to Byzantium, Cyril and Methodius must surely have continued to take an interest in the neighboring tribes and peoples, especially in the Slavs and in their adoption of the Christian religion and enlightenment. The question whether the educational and religious activity of Cyril and Methodius included the Bulgarian Slavs, who were close to Byzantium and, above all, the Slavs in Macedonia, has not been definitely resolved yet. We find information about such work in the brief Life of Cyril, which tells us that already before setting out on his distant voyages, he went to Macedonia where, in the valley of the River Bregalnitsa, he baptized a large number of Slavs and wrote books for them in the Slavonic language. The Salonica Legend gives us the same information.

The work of Cyril and Methodius among the Southern Slavs was an important stage, which preceded their work on a large scale among the Moravian Slavs. Soon after their return from Southern Russia, the brothers were entrusted with a special mission to the Slavs, known as the Moravian mission, in which their great gifts, their abilities, experience and knowledge were given the fullest scope.

The Moravian Prince Rostislav at this time was trying to make his church independent from German influence and to give it a Slav character, by setting up a Slav clergy and a Slav liturgy based on Slav letters. To achieve this, he sent emissaries to Constantinople in 862 with the request to have teachers and priests sent to him who were to preach Christianity and hold religious services in the Slavonic language. Complying with Rostislav’s request, the Byzantine rulers sent to Moravia the brothers Cyril and Methodius of Salonica who had already become well known as prominent missionaries and had worked among the Slavs.

Cyril and Methodius undertook a task for that time: to create a literature and a liturgy in a new language for a new people – the Slavs. This task opened to them tremendous opportunities for useful work, the aim of which was to bring a numerous people into the fold of the Christian Church and place the cultural heritage of mankind within their reach. Cyril first set about improving the Slavonic script, on which he had already worked, and he wrote in it the translation of the Liturgical Gospel, which is used in the services of the church. Then, accompanied by his brother, he set out for Moravia. In Moravia the two brothers were welcomed with great honors. Assisted by Rostislav and his men, they at once began to build a Slav church and school, spreading the Slavonic script and increasing the number of books written in it. The people were glad to listen to church services and sermons in the Slavonic language, which they all understood. Their Slav consciousness increased and their own culture was now opposed to the foreign culture being foisted on them. The brothers did an important piece of work in Moravia, they made new translations of the texts which were necessary to organize the new spiritual life: services, prayers, church canons and secular codes, sermons and reading matter of a moral and religious nature. These translations had been begun in Constantinople; Cyril now completed them with his brother's help. Besides these translations, Cyril also wrote some original works. With their literary work in Moravia, Cyril and Methodius laid the foundations of the Moravian literary school, in which they had a great number of disciples.

The introduction of Slavonic church services and letters and the establishment of a Slav church organization aroused great opposition among the Latin clergy who had gained a foothold in Moravia. They defended the interests of the Frankish state and were alarmed at the fact that the Moravians were joining the Slav church and culture. The Latin clergy began to revile the Slav church services and script both secretly and openly, and falsely accused their popularizes of being heretics.

Cyril and Methodius had to fight to defend their work, but this grew exceedingly difficult after 964 when Prince Rostislav became a vassal of Louis of Germany, and the German clergy were placed in a more favorable position.

Both in the introduction of Slav services and letters and in organizing the Slav church and schools, as well as in their struggle in defense of their work, Cyril and Methodius displayed great energy, wisdom and courage. Nevertheless, although they had good and loyal helpers in their work, such as Clement's disciples Nahum, Gorazd, Sava and Angelarius in the first place, they soon realized that their forces would be insufficient, because they needed clerks occupying high posts. They themselves did not hold any high ecclesiastical posts, nor did they have the possibility of organizing the Moravian church as a Slav church. It had to be consecrated and they had to turn to those who were vested with the authority to do so. When the German bishops refused to ordain their disciples, Cyril and Methodius, accompanied by their loyal disciples, set out (after a stay of more than three years in Moravia) for their own country to solicit the necessary ecclesiastical posts both for themselves and for those who accompanied them.

Their journey took them across Panonia, a Slav country whose ruler was Prince Kotsel. His principality was situated near the Blatensko Lake and his residence, Blatnograd, was also there. Prince Kotsel kept Cyril and Methodius and their disciples with him, displaying great interest in their Slavonic script and he even decided to introduce the Slavonic alphabet in his country. Helped by their disciples, in Panonia Cyril and Methodius taught about 50 persons the Slav script and literature. These men later became their enthusiastic propagators. After a stay of about six months with Kotsel, the brothers decided to continue on their way, with a view to attaining the end for which they had left Moravia. From Panonia they went to Venice, whence they intended to set out by sea for Constantinople. Cyril and Methodius stayed for a while in Venice, most probably to orient themselves in connection with the unexpected and exceedingly important changes, which had taken place in Constantinople.

During their stay in Venice, Cyril was forced to defend the Slavonic service and script before bishops, priests and monks who rallied against him like "crows against a hawk", as the writer of Cyril's Life puts it, to point out that there were only three languages in which it was accepted to glorify God's name in books: Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Wisely and wittily, Cyril refuted the defenders of the three-language theory whose strongest argument against the Slavonic script was that signs in Hebrew, Greek and Latin alone were put up on Christ's cross. From Venice Cyril and Methodius set out not for Constantinople, but for Rome. As a result of the changes in Constantinople, where Basil the Macedonian had seized power and Photius was divested of his patriarchal throne, they decided to ask the Pope and the Papal higher clergy to ordain them and their disciples. Cyril and Methodius arrived in Rome at the end of 867 or the beginning of 868, and were met there with ceremony, because they carried with them the relics of St. Clement. Pope Hadrian himself and the head of the Roman clergy came out to meet them.

The Salonica brothers found themselves in a favorable atmosphere and presented the Slavonic books, which they had written to the Pope for approval. The Pope sanctified them and ordered services to be held for several days in succession in the Slavonic language. But the sanctification of the books was only the first step in the implementation of the task, which the two brothers had set themselves. Their more important goal was still unattained – their disciples had to be ordained as priests and one of the brothers as a bishop, so that he would be able to become a head the new Slav church. The Pope fulfilled Cyril's and Methodius requesting ordained their disciples as priests. But he was in no hurry to grant their second demand. A Slav church, such as Cyril and Methodius were striving to establish, was inconceivable for the Pope. (Neither he nor his predecessor agreed to recognize such a church and concede it to the Bulgarians or other Slavs).

At that moment Cyril fell seriously ill. He had been weak and sick for a long time, and in Rome his health grew worse. On February 14, 869, he died. He was buried in Rome with great honors – in the Church of San Clemente. In the 12th century his mortal remains were transferred to the new Church of San Clemente. They were there until the end of the 18th century, when they disappeared.

Methodius carried out Cyril's behest: He continued the fight for the spread and defense of the Slavonic script and service. From Rome, Cyril and Methodius had maintained contact with their own disciples in Panonia and with the Panonian Slav Prince Kotsel who had welcomed them so warmly. Kotsel wanted Methodius to continue the work, which he and his brother had begun in the principality, and he had asked the Pope to send Methodius to him. When he gave his consent, Methodius had intended to work not only in his principality but also among the Slav population of all Moravia. That is why he managed to obtain a letter from the Pope addressed not only to Kotsel but also to Rostislav and Svetopolk (the Bull of 869).

Kotsel welcomed Methodius and his disciples with great honors. Soon afterwards he again sent Methodius to Rome to be ordained as Bishop of Panonia. Methodius's ordainment as a bishop meant independence for the Panonian church from the German bishops.

If he did not grant Kotsel‘s his principality and Methodius's request, the Pope was faced with the danger of losing Greater Moravia as well (just as he had lost his supreme tutelage over the Bulgarian Prince Boris and Bulgaria in 870 by refusing to grant Boris's request for an independent Bulgarian archbishopric and clergy). Methodius's see included present-day Panonia, Slovakia, and Moravia and possibly part of Croatia.

Early in 870, however, a feud broke out between Rostislav and his sister's son Svetopolk, who ruled Slovakia and had established close ties with the Franks. With their assistance, he succeeded in capturing Rostislav who was condemned by the Franks for treachery and blinded. This was how Rostisfav's rule came to an end. Rostislav's fate for having been disloyal to the Franks frightened Kotsel. The positions of a Slav state and an independent Slav church were seriously undermined. The neighboring bishops decided that the time had come when they could get rid of Methodius (just as their king had got rid of Rostislav). They seized Methodius and brought him before a court where he behaved with great dignity. Condemned by the German bishops, Methodius was sent to Bavaria, where he spent a year and a half in prison in very hard conditions, suffering both moral and physical torture.

In the meantime, in 871, like Rostislav, Svetopolk was accused of treachery. He was arrested and awaited his trial. But the Moravians rose in rebellion and the Franks were forced to free him in order to soothe the people. Svetopolk gathered a big army and attacked and defeated the Germans. After having consolidated his position, he did his best, like Rostislav, to limit and drive the German influence out of his territories, relying on his courtiers. The time thus came when he remembered Methodius.

In general, the situation of Methodius and the fate of his work in Moravia always depended on the strength or weakness of the Moravian principalities and of the young Slav feudal class, and its ability to resist the German feudal lords and the Germanization of their country.

Returning to Rostislav's policy, the Moravian insisted before the Pope that he should make Methodius their teacher and archbishop. Realizing that once the German clergy had been driven out of Moravia, that country could easily shake off the domination of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope John VIII intervened with the German bishops to set Methodius free and in 873 appointed him as the teacher and archbishop of Moravia.

As the detailed Life of Methodius relates the new Prince Svetopolk and the Moravian readily received Methodius and placed all churches and the entire clergy in the country under his authority. Once again, with great energy, Methodius set about organizing the Slav church and spreading Slav letters in Moravia. His possibilities were now much greater than before because he held a high ecclesiastical post. His activity coincided with the new prosperity of the Moravian State.

Methodius worked there for 12 years, and obtained ever better and more far-reaching results. But it should not be assumed that everything ran smoothly and calmly. After the peace of 874, Svetopolk established close contacts with the Franks and strove to maintain friendly relations with his former enemies. He recognized the supreme power of the Frankish State. This policy pursued by Svetopolk made it possible for the German and Latin clergy to gain a fresh foothold in Moravia and later to try and assert themselves. This meant new hard struggles for Methodius and his disciples, the defenders and propagators of Slavonic services and letters, and these struggles did not abate to the end of his life. In his fight for Slavonic services, culture and letters, Methodius did not have Svetopolk's unreserved and steady support. The enemies of Slav services and Slav letters pointed out that Methodius not only held the church services in the forbidden Slav language, but that he actually distorted fundamental Christian dogmas: that he was spreading an incorrect teaching about the origin of the Holy Ghost. In 879 the Pope called Methodius to Rome to explain why he did not follow and preach the Christian teaching which the "holy Roman Church" had inherited from the apostles. Methodius returned fully acquitted from Rome, but his enemies did not give up their struggle.

The enemies of Methodius maintained that the Byzantine rulers hated him and were looking to punish him. But in the meantime Photius again became Patriarch. Methodius, who had already spent 20 years away from his country, could now return to it. Having been sent to Moravia by Photius in the past, Methodius could now return to Constantinople and with legitimate pride give an account of his activity, his sufferings and his triumphs. On his journey to Constantinople he was accompanied by a group of good and loyal disciples. The group carried Slavonic books, which Photius had either asked for, or which were brought to him as a gift, or to be sanctified and approved by the Patriarch. Two of Methodius's disciples were asked to become a priest and a deacon. We have every reason to believe that they were later sent to Bulgaria.

The most important task, which Methodius undertook upon his return to Constantinople, was the translation of books that had not been translated before. With the aid of two of his disciples, he translated all liturgical books except the Maccabees (Maccabees, two books included in the OLD TESTAMENT of the Western canon, but not in the Hebrew Bible, and placed in the APOCRYPHA in the Authorized Version. First Maccabees is an account of the struggles of the house of Maccabees against Antiochus IV of Syria. Second Maccabees is a devout history of the persecutions of Antiochus and the career of Judas Maccabeus.), the Code of laws, and the Patericos, or Church Fathers into Old Bulgarian.

Soon afterwards Methodius died on April 6, 885.

Cyril’s fame is traditionally linked in the first place with the creation of the Slavonic alphabet. Since the Old Bulgarian writings were written in two alphabets – the Cyrillic and the Glagolitic – there has been a long dispute over the question: which of the two Old Bulgarian alphabets was the one created by Cyril. The arguments in favor of the contention that Cyril created the Glagolitic and not the Cyrillic alphabet seem fairly well founded. Most important among them are the following:

The books that have come down to us from Moravia were are all written in Glagolitic alphabet.

In Croatia, along the Dalmatian coast and the nearby islands, the language of Cyril and Methodius became the language of the church and has remained so down to our day. The church books used there contain translations like the Old Bulgarian gospels and similar other Old Bulgarian books. They are all books written in the Glagolitic alphabet. These translations and the Glagolitic letters came here from Moravia and Panonia.

In the Glagolitic books we come more frequently upon typical Moravian expressions, which goes to show that this alphabet was in use precisely in the Moravian Principality.

According to all historical evidence, Cyril created a new alphabet. Only the Glagolitic alphabet can be considered as such, because the Cyrillic alphabet is so very much like the Greek alphabet that if the Slav Apostols had only adapted the Greek alphabet to the Slavonic language, both the "Old Men of Letters" and the Latin clergy would never have attached such great significance to this side of Cyril’s work.

The books written by the school of Cyril and Methodius contain remains of Glagolitic characters. Such are: the circumstantial Life of Methodius, the Life of Cyril, and the copy of the Alphabetical Prayer.

The Greek alphabet was derived from the Phoenician, the Etruscan from the Greek, the Latin from the Etruscan and Greek, the German Gothic from the Latin, the Old Bulgarian Cyrillic from the Greek and a similar origin was also sought for the Glagolitic alphabet. But the origin of the Glagolitic alphabet is not analogous. In the alphabet created by Cyril, we must first of all seek manifestations of his individual creative genius. Of course, in such creative work the influence of letters belonging to alphabets, with which the Slav Apostols was well acquainted, cannot be excluded.

Cyril’s name has been traditionally linked with the Cyrillic alphabet, as the latter’s name reveals. The Cyrillic alphabet is one containing all the letters of the Greek alphabet, unaltered or modified; new letters were created only for the sounds, which were unknown in Greek speech. Certain investigators consider the Cyrillic alphabet to have been the work of Cyril; others think that it is a work of his disciple Clement of Ohrid.

We have pointed out that, it connection with his mission to Moravia, Cyril created the Glagolitic alphabet. This thesis does not exclude the possibility that Cyril, according to a great number of eminent Russian Slavists, created first the Cyrillic alphabet, and only later, when he set out for Moravia, replaced it with the Glagolitic alphabet, in order to avoid the obviously Greek character of an alphabet which would not be to the liking of the authorities in a country lying within the sphere of influence of the Roman Catholic Church. The hypothesis that the Cyrillic alphabet was the work of Clement of Ohrid is based on a passage from Clement’s brief Life, where the writer says that Clement invented "clearer symbols for the letters than were known to the very wise’ Cyril". Clement’s brief Life, however, is not considered authentic as a historical source. If Clement had created a new alphabet, his circumstantial Life, which tells in detail about his work as a writer and educator, would most certainly not have neglected to give an equally detailed account of this important fact. It seems quite improbable that the most ardent follower of Cyril and Methodius should have renounced the alphabet of his great teachers, the Glagolitic alphabet, and created a new script.

Those, who support the opinion that the Cyrillic alphabet must have appeared as a result of a historical process, think that it was a historical necessity for the Slavs to create a Slavonic alphabet of their own by adapting the Greek letters, just as the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans and the newer nations had created alphabets of their own from the existing older alphabets. They point out that the Cyrillic alphabet shows the obvious features of an alphabet, which came into being as the result of a gradual adoption of the Greek letters. They see an argument in favor of the gradual evolution of Cyrillic from the Greek alphabet in those general law-governed phenomena, which are observed in the gradually developing scripts of various nations.

Why was the Cyrillic alphabet named after Cyril?

The rumor that Cyril had created the Slav alphabet spread quickly throughout the Slav world and after having learned that the Slav alphabet was created by Cyril, the Slavs ascribed to him the script which they used, although it was not his work.

We can get an idea about Cyril’s translation of the Liturgical Gospel from the two oldest Slavonic Liturgical Gospels, which have come down to us – the Asseman Gospel and the Book of Sava. The first book is written in the Glagolitic and the second in the Cyrillic alphabets.

The Slav Apostols did not sign any of the books they have written or translated. This is expressly stated in a letter of Anastasius the Librarian, a contemporary of the two brothers to bishop Gauderich of Veletria.

The poetry of Cyril:

The Slavonic liturgy created by Cyril needed a poetical form. And poetry was a thing which not only Cyril but Methodius also had mastered.

The Introductory Prayer discloses Cyril's talent for poetry. For the first time Cyril calls upon the Slavs to listen to the word of the Gospel:

Listen, now, all the Slav people,

Listen to the Word, for it has come from God

the Word that nurtures man’s soul,

the Word that sustains hearts and minds,

the Word that prepares us to know God.

Just as without light there can be no joy for the eye,

which looks at the Lord’s entire creation

yet everything is neither beautiful nor visible for it

so every illiterate soul will know no joy.

And understanding all this, brethren,

we give you the needed advice

which will divert all people

from a brutish life and lust;

for you, whose mind has remained uneducated,

while listening to the word in a strange tongue,

do not hear it as the voice of a honey-toned bell.

In the Introductory Prayer we also come upon the militant tones of Cyril’s dispute with those who oppose the incomprehensible Latin and Greek languages to the living tongue:

When I address my prayer to God,

I prefer to utter five words,

but which all will I understand,

rather than thousands of incomprehensible words.

Naked are the people without books,

for without weapons they cannot fight

the enemy of our souls.

The first task with which Cyril and Methodius were faced was to select a Slav dialect as the literary language of the Slavs. Here of course, Cyril and Methodius could select only that dialect with which they were familiar, i. e. the one spoken in Salonica. It was impossible for them to translate into a dialect, which they did not know. As we all know, the Slavonic dialect spoken in Salonica was one of the dialects of the region where Bulgarian was spoken.

The literary Slav language created by Cyril and Methodius was obviously the Old Bulgarian language. It is incorrect to call this language by other names such as Old Slavonic or Old Church Slavonic. The language of the documents is a living, spoken language and it is only too natural that it should be called by its national name. The name of Old Slavonic is not suitable, because it is indefinite, this language is not Old Slavonic in general, and it is highly differentiated as an individual Slav language. The name can create the erroneous idea that it concerns a language common to all Slav peoples. To designate the language of Cyril and Methodius documents as Old Church Slavonic is also unsuitable. It is no artificial language, created for the church; it is the language of a people. Moreover, as a literary language it was not used solely for ecclesiastical purposes.

Nurtured in the spirit of Greek language relations and peculiarities, Cyril and Methodius, while writing in their Salonica dialect, were not troubled by the fact that certain Slav dialects were quite remote from the one which had been raised to the position of being a Slav literary language: a much greater difference existed in the Greek language of the period between the literary language and the other speech. Moreover, it should be pointed out that at the time of Cyril and Methodius, the different Slavonic languages were much closer to each other than they are today.

The literary tradition of Cyril and Methodius, which was created in Moravia, was transferred to Bulgaria after the Slavonic Church and letters were crushed in the Western Slav countries and after the disciples of Methodius fled from them. Convincing facts and reasons, however, indicate that this tradition was transferred to Bulgaria much earlier.

The Bulgarian Prince Boris was looking for "capable propagators of the new faith", organizers of the Slavonic church in his state and teachers of the Slavonic language. The Bizantian Patriarch Photius must undoubtedly have known about his desire. When the following facts are taken into consideration it appears more than probable that some of the disciples of the two brothers and their books had already made their way to Preslav, the second capital of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. Photius was known to recognize the right of the emergent nations to the Christian heritage and culture; he was also most well disposed to the newly baptized Boris, whom he called "his most beloved son, his spiritual child", and wished to keep him under his own rule as a Patriarch. He would therefore surely see to it that everything was done to prevent Boris from succumbing to the aspirations of Rome, and would have done his best to have the work of Cyril and Methodius reach the Bulgarian ruler. And indeed, the Panonian Lives, which are of such importance as historical sources, are proof that this question was resolved in this way.

How else can we explain the appearance in Bulgaria of the books of Cyril and Methodius which were written in Moravia, as well as their appearance later in Russia, Serbia and Rumania?

His disciples, who were sent to Bulgaria, were given responsible posts in the organization of the Slavonic church and Slavonic culture in Bulgaria. They became Prince Boris’s assistants in his cultural policy, because the organization of Preslav as a cultural center and of the Preslav school of literature began after their arrival in Preslav. A few years later, new and significant forces joined Bulgarian cultural life. The disciples and adherents of Cyril and Methodius, who were persecuted in Moravia and among whom were the outstanding teachers and writers Clement and Nahum, came to Bulgaria.

The disciples of Cyril and Methodius gave a strong impetus to the development of Bulgarian culture and literature.

The imposition of Cyril and Methodius’ Slavonic script as the official alphabet, opened up the road to state and cultural life for the Bulgarian writers and culture, this helped the formation of the Bulgarian nation as a Slav nation and the establishment of the Slav character of the Bulgarian state. The script, books, literary and cultural traditions and Slavonic services established by Cyril and Methodius played an important historic role and found both ardent protectors and numerous followers and continuations. Outstanding workers like Clement of Ohrid, Nahum of Ohrid, Konstantin of Preslav, John the Exarch of Bulgaria, Grigoriy Presbyter-Mnih, the Tsar Simeon, Chernorizets Hrabr and Todor Doxov brought about a flowering of culture and literature, which remained memorable throughout the ages.

The legend about Cyril and Methodius was never forgotten during the many years of Ottoman domination. It was living, preserved in lives, panegyrics and services. The literary legend thus preserved and the two figures of the Salonica brothers reached Father Paissi of Hilendar, who brought them back to life in his Slav-Bulgarian History (1762).

Having adopted and developed the work of Cyril and Methodius, Medieval Bulgaria played an important role in the spread of Slav literature and culture among the Slav nations.

The transfer of the literature created by Cyril and Methodius to Bulgaria made of our country a classical land of medieval writing and culture. Consolidated in the territory of Bulgaria Slavonic literature passed from Bulgaria to Russia where only the beginnings of a literature had previously existed, to the Serbians and Rumanians, thus becoming the foundation of Russian and Serbian and for a long time also of Rumanian culture and literature.

For a long period Old Russian literature was nothing but a continuation of the Old Bulgarian literature. Even if there were some writings among the Russians before Bulgaria became the cradle of Slavonic literature, it was from the Bulgarian cultural center that this literature passed over to Russia, where it was definitely established and settled. Bulgaria was the country, which sanctioned the right of the Slavs to their own writing and books.

The importance of Old Bulgarian literature for the creation and development of Old Russian literature is a universally recognized fact. "The initial period of the appearance and development of Russian literature" academician Derzhavin writes, "is most closely connected with Bulgarian literature". The mass transfer of books to Russia took place in connection with the official acceptance of Christianity in the last quarter of the 10^th century. As has been clearly pointed out by the authors of the Istoriya Russkoy Literaturiy, published in many volumes by the Academy of Sciences in the USSR, the Greek language in which its books were written presented great difficulties for the popularization of the Christian religion among the Russians. Translations were needed, more particularly of books with a complex content and with a special terminology. And that is why the Russians resorted to the intervention of the Bulgarian Slavs who had been baptized long before, had adopted the heritage of Cyril and Methodius and had enriched and developed it still further.

From the Bulgarian cultural center the Russians borrowed all the more important texts, written by Cyril and Methodius, by their disciples and followers in Bulgaria. They learned the art of reading and writing and popularized it in their land, so that the copying of the texts that had passed through Bulgaria formed the beginning of Old Russian literary life. And Russian culture gradually assumed a new quality and was based on the country’s literature. Slavonic literature began to play an important part in Russian public and state life.

The Old Bulgarian literary language, that of the texts of Cyril and Methodius, formed the foundation of the literary language, which was used in Old Russian literature, or helped its development. About the language of the Old Russian literature, the well known Russian scholar Shakhmatov wrote: "The origin of the literary Russian language is the Church Slavonic language (Old Bulgarian in origin) transferred to Russian soil, which in the course of ages came closer to the living people’s language and gradually lost its alien aspect".

The work of Cyril and Methodius played an exceedingly important part during the second period of the Bulgarian National Revival, which set in during the second quarter of the 19^th century. This was a period of a national advance, for which the inclusion of the Bulgarian people in the family of Slav peoples was of particularly great significance. The study of Slav peoples, which flourished at that time, contributed much to this trend and in it the question of Cyril and Methodius occupied a central position. Its study led the Slav scholars to Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language: the Bulgarian language was accorded an important place in the study of Slavdom, because Cyril and Methodius came from a Bulgarian region, and their language, the earliest literary language, which was of such great importance in Slav philology and cultural history, was the Bulgarian language. Under these circumstances the work of Cyril and Methodius was a passport with which the Bulgarian people entered the family of Slav nations. And we need not wonder that Vassil Aprilov wrote his polemic work entitled Bulgarian Men of Letters or To Which Slav Tribe Does the Cyrillic Alphabet Actually Belong (Odessa, 1841) against the attempts to attribute the work of Cyril and Methodius to scholars belonging to other Slav peoples.

Immediately after the Crimean War (1856), when the third period in the Bulgarian National Revival set in, which was characterized by the awakening of the Bulgarian people ready to start a new life, the day established by the church for the commemoration of Cyril and Methodius – May 11 according to the Julian calendar, was proclaimed a holiday of Bulgarian education and culture. This holiday rapidly assumed great importance for the development of the Bulgarian national culture and the Bulgarian National-Liberation Movement. Owing to the general Slav character of the work of the "first teachers", the holiday was celebrated as a Slav holiday which was, in general, typical of Bulgaria’s national revival.

Hristo Botev (1848-76), the great Bulgarian poet, called it "a holiday which must inspire us with the idea of complete spiritual and political liberation".