The emergence Slavic writing turns 1155 years old. In 863, according to the official version, the brothers Cyril (in the world Constantine the Philosopher, born in 826-827) and Methodius (worldly name unknown, presumably Michael, born before 820) created the basis of the modern Cyrillic alphabet.
The acquisition of writing by the Slavic peoples had the same historical and geopolitical significance as the discovery of America.
In the middle of the 1st millennium AD. e. The Slavs settled vast territories in Central, Southern and Eastern Europe. Their neighbors in the south were Greece, Italy, Byzantium - a kind of cultural standards of human civilization.
Young Slavic “barbarians” constantly violated the borders of their southern neighbors. To curb them, Rome and Byzantium began to make attempts to convert the “barbarians” to the Christian faith, subordinating their daughter churches to the main one - the Latin one in Rome, the Greek one in Constantinople. Missionaries began to be sent to the “barbarians.” Among the messengers of the church, no doubt, there were many who sincerely and confidently fulfilled their spiritual duty, and the Slavs themselves, living in close contact with the European medieval world, were increasingly inclined to the need to enter the fold of the Christian church. At the beginning of the 9th century, the Slavs began to actively accept Christianity.
And then a new task arose. How to make the world's vast wealth accessible to converts Christian culture- sacred scriptures, prayers, letters of the apostles, works of the church fathers? The Slavic language, differing in dialects, remained united for a long time: everyone understood each other perfectly. However, the Slavs did not yet have writing. “Before, the Slavs, when they were pagans, did not have letters,” says the Legend of the Monk Khrabra “On Letters,” “but they [counted] and told fortunes with the help of features and cuts.” However, during trade transactions, when accounting for the economy, or when it was necessary to accurately convey some message, it is unlikely that “hells and cuts” were enough. There was a need to create Slavic writing.
“When [the Slavs] were baptized,” said the Monk Khrabr, “they tried to write down Slavic speech in Roman [Latin] and Greek letters without order.” These experiments have partially survived to this day: the main prayers, sounding in Slavic, but written in Latin letters in the 10th century, were common among the Western Slavs. Or another interesting monument - documents in which Bulgarian texts are written in Greek letters, from the times when the Bulgarians still spoke the Turkic language (later the Bulgarians will speak Slavic).
And yet, neither the Latin nor the Greek alphabets corresponded to the sound palette of the Slavic language. Words whose sound cannot be correctly conveyed in Greek or Latin letters were already cited by the Monk Brave: belly, tsrkvi, aspiration, youth, tongue and others. But another side of the problem has also emerged - political. Latin missionaries did not at all strive to make the new faith understandable to believers. In the Roman Church there was a widespread belief that there were “only three languages ​​in which it is proper to glorify God with the help of (special) writing: Hebrew, Greek and Latin.” In addition, Rome firmly adhered to the position that the “secret” of Christian teaching should be known only to the clergy, and that for ordinary Christians, very few specially processed texts were enough - the very beginnings of Christian knowledge.
In Byzantium they looked at all this, apparently, somewhat differently; here they began to think about creating Slavic letters. “My grandfather, and my father, and many others looked for them and did not find them,” Emperor Michael III will say to the future creator of the Slavic alphabet, Constantine the Philosopher. It was Constantine who he called upon when an embassy from Moravia (part of the territory of modern Czech Republic) came to Constantinople in the early 860s. The top of Moravian society adopted Christianity three decades ago, but the German church was active among them. Apparently, trying to gain complete independence, the Moravian prince Rostislav asked “a teacher to explain to us the right faith in our language...”.
“No one can accomplish this, only you,” the Tsar admonished Constantine the Philosopher. This difficult, honorable mission fell simultaneously on the shoulders of his brother, abbot (abbot) of the Orthodox monastery Methodius. “You are Thessalonians, and the Solunians all speak pure Slavic,” was another argument of the emperor.
Cyril and Methodius, two brothers, actually came from the Greek city of Thessaloniki (its modern name is Thessaloniki) in northern Greece. The southern Slavs lived in the neighborhood, and for the inhabitants of Thessalonica, the Slavic language apparently became the second language of communication.
Constantine and Methodius were born into a large rich family with seven children. She belonged to a noble Greek family: the head of the family, named Leo, was revered as an important person in the city. Konstantin grew up the youngest. As a seven-year-old child (as his Life tells it), he saw a “prophetic dream”: he had to choose his wife from all the girls in the city. And he pointed to the most beautiful one: “Her name was Sophia, that is, Wisdom.” The boy's phenomenal memory and excellent abilities - he surpassed everyone in learning - amazed those around him.
It is not surprising that, having heard about the special talent of the children of Thessalonica nobleman, the ruler of the Tsar summoned them to Constantinople. Here they received an excellent education. With his knowledge and wisdom, Konstantin earned himself honor, respect and the nickname “Philosopher”. He became famous for his many verbal victories: in discussions with bearers of heresies, at a debate in Khazaria, where he defended the Christian faith, knowledge of many languages ​​and reading ancient inscriptions. In Chersonesus, in a flooded church, Constantine discovered the relics of St. Clement, and through his efforts they were transferred to Rome.
Brother Methodius often accompanied the Philosopher and helped him in business. But the brothers gained world fame and the grateful gratitude of their descendants by creating the Slavic alphabet and translating sacred books into the Slavic language. The work is enormous, which played an epoch-making role in the formation of the Slavic peoples.
However, many researchers rightly believe that work on the creation of a Slavic script in Byzantium began, apparently, long before the arrival of the Moravian embassy. And here’s why: both the creation of an alphabet that accurately reflects the sound composition of the Slavic language, and the translation into the Slavic language of the Gospel - a complex, multi-layered, internally rhythmic literary work that requires a careful and adequate selection of words - is a colossal job. To complete it, even Constantine the Philosopher and his brother Methodius “with his henchmen” would have taken more than one year. Therefore, it is natural to assume that it was precisely this work that the brothers performed back in the 50s of the 9th century in a monastery on Olympus (in Asia Minor on the coast of the Sea of ​​Marmara), where, as the Life of Constantine reports, they constantly prayed to God, “doing only books."
And in 864, Constantine the Philosopher and Methodius were already received with great honors in Moravia. They brought here the Slavic alphabet and the Gospel translated into Slavic. But here the work had yet to be continued. Students were assigned to help the brothers and teach them. “And soon (Constantine) translated the entire church rite and taught them matins, and the hours, and mass, and vespers, and compline, and secret prayer.”
The brothers stayed in Moravia for more than three years. The philosopher, already suffering from a serious illness, 50 days before his death, “put on a holy monastic image and... gave himself the name Cyril...”. When he died in 869, he was 42 years old. Kirill died and was buried in Rome.
The eldest of the brothers, Methodius, continued the work they had begun. As the Life of Methodius reports, “...having appointed cursive writers from among his two priests, he quickly and completely translated all the books (biblical), except the Maccabees, from Greek into Slavic.” The time devoted to this work is stated to be incredible - six or eight months. Methodius died in 885.

Monument to St. Equal to the Apostles Cyril and Methodius in Samara
Photo by V. Surkov

The appearance of sacred books in the Slavic language had a powerful resonance in the world. All known medieval sources that responded to this event report how “certain people began to blaspheme Slavic books,” arguing that “no people should have their own alphabet, except the Jews, Greeks and Latins.” Even the Pope intervened in the dispute, grateful to the brothers who brought the relics of St. Clement to Rome. Although the translation into the uncanonized Slavic language contradicted the principles of the Latin Church, the pope, nevertheless, did not condemn the detractors, allegedly saying, quoting Scripture, this way: “Let all nations praise God.”
Cyril and Methodius, having created the Slavic alphabet, translated almost all the most important church books and prayers into Slavic. But not one Slavic alphabet has survived to this day, but two: Glagolitic and Cyrillic. Both existed in IX-X centuries. In both, special characters were introduced to convey sounds reflecting the features of the Slavic language, rather than combinations of two or three main ones, as was practiced in the alphabets of Western European peoples. Glagolitic and Cyrillic almost have the same letters. The order of the letters is also almost the same.
The merits of Cyril and Methodius in the history of culture are enormous. Firstly, they developed the first ordered Slavic alphabet and this marked the beginning of the widespread development of Slavic writing. Secondly, many books were translated from Greek, which was the beginning of the formation of the Old Church Slavonic literary language and Slavic bookmaking. There is information that Kirill also created original works. Thirdly, Cyril and Methodius during for long years carried out among Western and southern Slavs great educational work and greatly contributed to the spread of literacy among these peoples. Throughout all their activities in Moravia and Pannonia, Cyril and Methodius also waged an incessant, selfless struggle against the attempts of the German Catholic clergy to ban the Slavic alphabet and books. Fourth: Cyril and Methodius were the founders of the first literary and written language of the Slavs - the Old Church Slavonic language, which in turn was a kind of catalyst for the creation of the Old Russian literary language, Old Bulgarian and literary languages other Slavic peoples.
Finally, when assessing the educational activities of the Thessaloniki brothers, it should be borne in mind that they were not involved in the Christianization of the population as such (although they contributed to it), for Moravia by the time of their arrival was already a Christian state. Cyril and Methodius, having compiled the alphabet, translated from Greek, taught literacy and introduced the local population to Christian and encyclopedic literature rich in content and form, were precisely the teachers of the Slavic peoples.
Slavic monuments of the 10th-11th centuries that have reached us. indicate that, starting from the era of Cyril and Methodius, for three centuries the Slavs used, in principle, a single bookish literary language with a number of local variants. Slavic language world was quite uniform when compared to modern ones. Thus, Cyril and Methodius created an international, inter-Slavic language.

Koloskova Kristina

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Cyril and Methodius. The work was completed by a student of grade 4 “a” of the Municipal Educational Institution “ high school No. 11" Kimry, Tver region Kristina Koloskova

"And the native Rus' of the Holy Apostles of the Slavs will glorify"

Page I “In the beginning was the word...” Cyril and Methodius Cyril and Methodius, Slavic educators, creators of the Slavic alphabet, preachers of Christianity, the first translators of liturgical books from Greek into Slavic. Cyril (before taking monasticism in 869 - Constantine) (827 - 02/14/869) and his older brother Methodius (815 - 04/06/885) were born in the city of Thessaloniki in the family of a military leader. The boys' mother was Greek, and their father was Bulgarian, so from childhood they had two native languages ​​- Greek and Slavic. The brothers' characters were very similar. Both read a lot and loved to study.

Holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, educators of the Slavs. In 863-866, the brothers were sent to Great Moravia to present Christian teachings in a language understandable to the Slavs. Great teachers translated the books of the Holy Scriptures, using Eastern Bulgarian dialects as the basis, and created a special alphabet - the Glagolitic alphabet - for their texts. The activities of Cyril and Methodius had a pan-Slavic significance and influenced the formation of many Slavic literary languages.

Saint Equal to the Apostles Cyril (827 - 869), nicknamed the Philosopher, Slovenian teacher. When Konstantin was 7 years old, he had a prophetic dream: “My father gathered all the beautiful girls of Thessaloniki and ordered one of them to be chosen as his wife. Having examined everyone, Konstantin chose the most beautiful; her name was Sophia (Greek for wisdom).” So, even in childhood, he became engaged to wisdom: for him, knowledge and books became the meaning of his whole life. Konstantin received an excellent education at imperial court in the capital of Byzantium - Constantinople. He quickly studied grammar, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, and knew 22 languages. Interest in science, perseverance in learning, hard work - all this made him one of the most educated people of Byzantium. It is no coincidence that he great wisdom nicknamed the Philosopher. Saint Equal to the Apostles Cyril

Methodius of Moravia Saint Methodius Equal to the Apostles Methodius entered early military service. For 10 years he was the manager of one of the regions inhabited by the Slavs. Around 852, he took monastic vows, renouncing the rank of archbishop, and became abbot of the monastery. Polychron on the Asian shore of the Sea of ​​Marmara. In Moravia he was imprisoned for two and a half years and dragged through the snow in the bitter cold. The Enlightener did not renounce his service to the Slavs, but in 874 he was released by John VIII and restored to his episcopate rights. Pope John VIII forbade Methodius to perform the Liturgy in the Slavic language, but Methodius, visiting Rome in 880, achieved the lifting of the ban. In 882-884 he lived in Byzantium. In mid-884, Methodius returned to Moravia and worked on translating the Bible into Slavic.

Glagolitic is one of the first (along with Cyrillic) Slavic alphabets. It is assumed that it was the Glagolitic alphabet that was created by the Slavic enlightener St. Konstantin (Kirill) Philosopher for recording church texts in the Slavic language. Glagolitic

The Old Church Slavonic alphabet was compiled by the scientist Cyril and his brother Methodius at the request of the Moravian princes. That's what it's called - Cyrillic. This is the Slavic alphabet, it has 43 letters (19 vowels). Each has its own name, similar to ordinary words: A - az, B - beeches, C - lead, G - verb, D - good, F - live, Z - earth and so on. ABC - the name itself is derived from the names of the first two letters. In Rus', the Cyrillic alphabet became widespread after the adoption of Christianity (988). The Slavic alphabet turned out to be perfectly adapted to accurately convey the sounds of the Old Russian language. This alphabet is the basis of our alphabet. Cyrillic

In 863, the word of God began to sound in Moravian cities and villages in their native Slavic language, writings and secular books were created. Slavic chronicles began. The Soloun brothers devoted their entire lives to teaching, knowledge, and service to the Slavs. They did not attach much importance to wealth, honors, fame, or career. The younger, Constantine, read a lot, reflected, wrote sermons, and the eldest, Methodius, was more of an organizer. Constantine translated from Greek and Latin into Slavic, wrote, creating the alphabet, in Slavic, Methodius “published” books, led a school of students. Konstantin was not destined to return to his homeland. When they arrived in Rome, he became seriously ill, took monastic vows, received the name Cyril, and died a few hours later. He remained to live with this name in the blessed memory of his descendants. Buried in Rome. The beginning of Slavic chronicles.

Spread of writing in Rus' Ancient Rus' read letters and books. Historians and archaeologists believe that the total number of handwritten books before the 14th century was approximately 100 thousand copies. After the adoption of Christianity in Rus' - in 988 - writing began to spread faster. Liturgical books were translated into Old Slavonic language. Russian scribes rewrote these books, adding features to them native language. This is how the Old Russian literary language was gradually created, works of Old Russian authors appeared (unfortunately, often nameless) - “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, “The Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh”, “The Life of Alexander Nevsky” and many others.

Yaroslav the Wise Grand Duke Yaroslav “loved books, read them often both night and day. And he gathered many scribes and they translated from Greek into the Slavic language and they wrote many books” (chronicle of 1037) Among these books were chronicles written by monks, old and young, secular people, these were “lives”, historical songs, “teachings” , "messages". Yaroslav the Wise

“They teach the alphabet and shout at the top of their voices” (V.I.Dal “ Dictionary living Great Russian language") V.I. Dal In Ancient Rus' there were no textbooks yet; education was based on church books, and it was necessary to memorize huge texts-psalms - instructive chants. The names of the letters were learned by heart. When learning to read, the letters of the first syllable were first named, then this syllable was pronounced; then the letters of the second syllable were named, and the second syllable was pronounced, and so on, and only after that the syllables were formed into a whole word, for example BOOK: kako, ours, izhe - KNI, verb, az - GA. That's how difficult it was to learn to read and write.

IV page “Revival of the Slavic holiday” Macedonia Ohrid Monument to Cyril and Methodius Already in the 9th – 10th centuries, the first traditions of glorifying and venerating the creators of Slavic writing began to emerge in the homeland of Cyril and Methodius. But soon the Roman Church began to oppose the Slavic language, calling it barbaric. Despite this, the names of Cyril and Methodius continued to live among the Slavic people, and in the middle of the 14th century they were officially canonized as saints. In Russia it was different. The memory of the Slavic enlighteners was celebrated already in the 11th century; here they were never considered heretics, that is, atheists. But still, only scientists were more interested in this. Wide celebrations of the Slavic word began in Russia in the early 60s of the last century.

On the holiday of Slavic writing on May 24, 1992, the grand opening of the monument to Saints Cyril and Methodius by sculptor Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Klykov took place on Slavyanskaya Square in Moscow. Moscow. Slavyanskaya Square

Kyiv Odessa

Thessaloniki Mukachevo

Chelyabinsk Saratov Monument to Cyril and Methodius was opened on May 23, 2009. Sculptor Alexander Rozhnikov

On the territory of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, near the Far Caves, a monument was erected to the creators of the Slavic alphabet, Cyril and Methodius.

Monument to Saints Cyril and Methodius Feast in honor of Cyril and Methodius - Public Holiday in Russia (since 1991), Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Republic of Macedonia. In Russia, Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia the holiday is celebrated on May 24; in Russia and Bulgaria it is called the Day of Slavic Culture and Literature, in Macedonia - the Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia the holiday is celebrated on July 5th.

Thank you for your attention!

The holy Slovenian teachers strove for solitude and prayer, but in life they constantly found themselves in the forefront - both when they defended Christian truths before Muslims, and when they took on great educational work. Their success sometimes looked like defeat, but as a result, it is to them that we owe the acquisition of “the gift of the most valuable and greater than all silver, and gold, and precious stones, and all transitory wealth.” This gift is .

Brothers from Thessalonica

The Russian language was baptized back in the days when our ancestors did not consider themselves Christians - in the ninth century. In the west of Europe, the heirs of Charlemagne divided the Frankish empire, in the East the Muslim states strengthened, squeezing Byzantium, and in the young Slavic principalities, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius, the true founders of our culture, preached and worked.

The history of the activities of the holy brothers has been studied with all possible care: the surviving written sources have been commented on many times, and pundits argue about the details of the biographies and acceptable interpretations of the received information. And how could it be otherwise when we are talking about the creators of the Slavic alphabet? And yet, to this day, the images of Cyril and Methodius are lost behind the abundance of ideological constructions and simple inventions. The Khazar Dictionary by Milorad Pavic, in which the enlighteners of the Slavs are embedded in a multifaceted theosophical mystification, is not the worst option.

Kirill, the youngest in both age and hierarchical rank, was simply a layman until the end of his life and received monastic tonsure with the name Kirill only on his deathbed. While Methodius, the elder brother, held great positions, was the ruler of a separate region of the Byzantine Empire, abbot of a monastery and ended his life as an archbishop. And yet, traditionally, Kirill takes honorable first place, and the alphabet - the Cyrillic alphabet - is named after him. All his life he bore another name - Constantine, and also a respectful nickname - Philosopher.

Konstantin was an extremely gifted man. “The speed of his abilities was not inferior to his diligence,” the life, compiled shortly after his death, repeatedly emphasizes the depth and breadth of his knowledge. Translating into the language of modern realities, Constantine the Philosopher was a professor at the capital's University of Constantinople, very young and promising. At the age of 24 (!), he received his first important government assignment - to defend the truth of Christianity in the face of Muslims of other faiths.

Missionary politician

This medieval inseparability of spiritual, religious tasks and state affairs looks bizarre these days. But even for it one can find some analogy in the modern world order. And today the superpowers, the newest empires, base their influence not only on military and economic power. There is always an ideological component, an ideology that is “exported” to other countries. For Soviet Union it was communism. For the United States, it is a liberal democracy. Some people accept exported ideas peacefully, while others have to resort to bombing.

For Byzantium, Christianity was the doctrine. The strengthening and spread of Orthodoxy was perceived by the imperial authorities as a primary state task. Therefore, as a modern researcher of the Cyril and Methodius heritage writes A.-E. Tahiaos, “a diplomat who entered into negotiations with enemies or “barbarians,” was always accompanied by a missionary.” Constantine was such a missionary. That is why it is so difficult to separate his actual educational activities from his political ones. Only just before his death did he symbolically lay down public service, having accepted monasticism.

“I am no longer a servant of the king or anyone else on earth; Only God Almighty was and will be forever,” Kirill will now write.

About his Arab and Khazar mission, oh tricky questions and with witty and deep answers the life tells. Muslims asked him about the Trinity, how Christians could worship “many gods,” and why, instead of resisting evil, they strengthened the army. Khazar Jews disputed the Incarnation and blamed Christians for non-compliance with Old Testament regulations. Konstantin's answers - bright, figurative and brief - if they did not convince all opponents, then, in any case, they delivered a polemical victory, leading those listening to admiration.

"Nobody else"

The Khazar mission was preceded by events that greatly changed the internal structure of the Solun brothers. At the end of the 50s of the 9th century, both Constantine, a successful scientist and polemicist, and Methodius, shortly before appointed archon (head) of the province, retired from the world and led a solitary ascetic lifestyle for several years. Methodius even takes monastic vows. The brothers were already distinguished by their piety from an early age, and the thought of monasticism was not alien to them; however, there were probably external reasons for such a drastic change: a change in the political situation or personal sympathies of those in power. However, the lives are silent about this.

But the bustle of the world receded for a while. Already in 860, the Khazar Kagan decided to organize an “interreligious” dispute, in which Christians had to defend the truth of their faith before Jews and Muslims. According to the life, the Khazars were ready to accept Christianity if the Byzantine polemicists “won the upper hand in disputes with the Jews and Saracens.” They found Constantine again, and the emperor personally admonished him with the words: “Go, Philosopher, to these people and talk about the Holy Trinity with Her help. No one else can take on this with dignity.” On the trip, Konstantin took his older brother as his assistant.

The negotiations ended generally successfully, although the Khazar state did not become Christian, the Kagan allowed those who wished to be baptized. There were also political successes. We should pay attention to an important incidental event. On the way, the Byzantine delegation stopped in Crimea, where near modern Sevastopol (ancient Chersonesos) Constantine found the relics of the ancient saint Pope Clement. Subsequently, the brothers will transfer the relics of St. Clement to Rome, which will further win over Pope Adrian. It is with Cyril and Methodius that the Slavs begin their special veneration of Saint Clement - let us remember the majestic church in his honor in Moscow not far from the Tretyakov Gallery.

Sculpture of the Holy Apostles Cyril and Methodius in the Czech Republic. Photo: pragagid.ru

Birth of writing

862 We have reached a historic milestone. This year, the Moravian prince Rostislav sends a letter to the Byzantine emperor with a request to send preachers capable of instructing his subjects in Christianity in the Slavic language. Great Moravia, which at that time included certain areas of the modern Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Poland, was already Christian. But the German clergy enlightened her, and all the services, holy books and theology were Latin, incomprehensible to the Slavs.

And again at court they remember Constantine the Philosopher. If not he, then who else will be able to complete the task, the complexity of which both the emperor and the patriarch, Saint Photius, were aware of?

The Slavs did not have a written language. But it was not even the fact of the absence of letters that represented main problem. They did not have abstract concepts and the wealth of terminology that usually develops in “book culture.”

High Christian theology, Scripture and liturgical texts had to be translated into a language that did not have any means to do so.

And the Philosopher coped with the task. Of course, one should not imagine that he worked alone. Konstantin again called on his brother for help, and other employees were also involved. It was kind of scientific institute. The first alphabet - the Glagolitic alphabet - was compiled on the basis of Greek cryptography. The letters correspond to the letters of the Greek alphabet, but look different - so much so that the Glagolitic alphabet was often confused with eastern languages. In addition, for sounds specific to the Slavic dialect, Hebrew letters were taken (for example, “sh”).

Then they translated the Gospel, checked expressions and terms, and translated liturgical books. The volume of translations carried out by the holy brothers and their direct disciples was very significant - by the time of the baptism of Rus', a whole library of Slavic books already existed.

The price of success

However, the activities of educators could not be limited only to scientific and translation research. It was necessary to teach the Slavs new letters, a new book language, a new worship. The transition to a new liturgical language was especially painful. It is not surprising that the Moravian clergy, who had previously followed German practice, reacted with hostility to the new trends. Even dogmatic arguments were put forward against the Slavic translation of services, the so-called trilingual heresy, as if one can only speak to God in “sacred” languages: Greek, Hebrew and Latin.

Dogmatics intertwined with politics, canon law with diplomacy and power ambitions - and Cyril and Methodius found themselves in the center of this tangle. The territory of Moravia was under the jurisdiction of the pope, and although the Western Church was not yet separated from the Eastern, the initiative of the Byzantine emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople (namely, this was the status of the mission) was still viewed with suspicion. The German clergy, closely associated with the secular authorities of Bavaria, saw in the brothers’ undertakings the implementation of Slavic separatism. And indeed, the Slavic princes, in addition to spiritual interests, also pursued state interests - their liturgical language and church independence would have significantly strengthened their position. Finally, the pope was in tense relations with Bavaria, and support for the revitalization of church life in Moravia against the “trilinguals” fit well into the general direction of his policy.

Political controversies cost the missionaries dearly. Due to the constant intrigues of the German clergy, Constantine and Methodius twice had to justify themselves to the Roman high priest. In 869, unable to withstand the overstrain, St. Cyril died (he was only 42 years old), and his work was continued by Methodius, who was ordained to the rank of bishop in Rome soon after. Methodius died in 885, having survived exile, insults and imprisonment that lasted several years.

The most valuable gift

Methodius was succeeded by Gorazd, and already under him the work of the holy brothers in Moravia practically died out: liturgical translations were prohibited, followers were killed or sold into slavery; many fled to neighboring countries themselves. But this was not the end. This was only the beginning of Slavic culture, and therefore Russian culture too. The center of Slavic book literature moved to Bulgaria, then to Russia. Books began to use the Cyrillic alphabet, named after the creator of the first alphabet. Writing grew and became stronger. And today, proposals to abolish Slavic letters and switch to Latin ones, which were actively promoted by People’s Commissar Lunacharsky in the 1920s, sound, thank God, unrealistic.

So the next time, dotting the “e” or agonizing over the Russification of a new version of Photoshop, think about what wealth we have.

Artist Jan Matejko

Very few nations have the honor of having their own alphabet. This was understood already in the distant ninth century.

“God has created even now in our years - having declared the letters for your language - something that was not given to anyone after the first times, so that you too would be numbered among the great nations who glorify God in their own language... Accept the gift, most valuable and greater than any silver, and gold, and precious stones, and all transitory wealth,” wrote Emperor Michael to Prince Rostislav.

And after this we are trying to separate Russian culture from Orthodox culture? Russian letters were invented by Orthodox monks for church books; at the very basis of Slavic book literature lies not just influence and borrowing, but a “transplantation” of Byzantine church book literature. The book language, cultural context, terminology of high thought were created directly together with the library of books by the Slavic apostles Saints Cyril and Methodius.

Cyril and Methodius are Slavic first teachers, great preachers of Christianity, canonized not only by the Orthodox, but also by the Catholic Church.

The life and work of Cyril (Constantine) and Methodius is reproduced in sufficient detail on the basis of various documentary and chronicle sources.

Cyril (826-869) received this name when he was tonsured into the schema 50 days before his death in Rome; he lived his whole life with the name Constantine (Constantine the Philosopher). Methodius (814-885) - the monastic name of the saint, his secular name is unknown, presumably his name was Michael.

Cyril and Methodius are siblings. They were born in the city of Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki) in Macedonia (now a territory of Greece). Since childhood, they have mastered the Old Church Slavonic language - Old Bulgarian. From the words of the emperor Michael III“Thessalonians” - everyone speaks purely Slavic.

Both brothers lived a mainly spiritual life, striving to embody their beliefs and ideas, attaching no importance to sensual joys, wealth, career, or fame. The brothers never had wives or children, they wandered all their lives, never creating a home or permanent shelter for themselves, and even died in a foreign land.

Both brothers went through life, actively changing it in accordance with their views and beliefs. But all that remained as traces of their deeds were the fruitful changes they made to folk life, and vague stories of lives, traditions, and legends.

The brothers were born into the family of Leo the Drungaria, a mid-ranking Byzantine military commander from the city of Thessalonica. There were seven sons in the family, with Methodius the eldest and Cyril the youngest.

According to one version, they came from a pious Slavic family who lived in the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki. From large number historical sources, mainly from the “Short Life of Clement of Ohrid” it is known that Cyril and Methodius were Bulgarians. Since in the 9th century the First Bulgarian Kingdom was a multinational state, it is not entirely possible to determine exactly whether they were Slavs or Proto-Bulgarians or even had other roots. The Bulgarian kingdom consisted mainly of the ancient Bulgarians (Turks) and Slavs, who were already forming a new ethnos - the Slavic Bulgarians, who retained the old name of the ethnos, but were already a Slavic-Turkic people. According to another version, Cyril and Methodius were Greek origin. There is also alternative theory ethnic origin of Cyril and Methodius, according to which they were not Slavs, but Bulgars (proto-Bulgarians). This theory also refers to the assumptions of historians that the brothers created the so-called. Glagolitic - an alphabet more similar to ancient Bulgarian than to Slavic.

Little is known about the first years of Methodius' life. There was probably nothing outstanding in the life of Methodius until it crossed with the life of his younger brother. Methodius entered military service early and was soon appointed governor of one of the Slavic-Bulgarian regions subject to Byzantium. Methodius spent about ten years in this position. Then he left the military-administrative service, which was alien to him, and retired to a monastery. In the 860s, having renounced the rank of archbishop, he became abbot of the Polychron monastery on the Asian shore of the Sea of ​​Marmara, near the city of Cyzicus. Constantine also moved here, to a quiet shelter on Mount Olympus, for several years, in the interval between his travels to the Saracens and Khazars. The elder brother, Methodius, walked through life on a straight, clear path. Only twice did he change its direction: the first time by going to a monastery, and the second time by returning again under the influence of his younger brother to active work and struggle.

Kirill was the youngest of the brothers; from infancy he showed extraordinary mental abilities, but was not distinguished by health. The eldest, Mikhail, even in childhood games defended the youngest, weak with a disproportionately large head, with small and short arms. He will continue to protect his younger brother until his death - both in Moravia, and at the Council in Venice, and before the papal throne. And then he will continue his brotherly work in written wisdom. And, holding hands, they will go down in the history of world culture.

Cyril was educated in Constantinople at the Magnavra School, the best educational institution in Byzantium. Secretary of State Teoktist himself took care of Cyril’s education. Before reaching the age of 15, Kirill had already read the works of the most thoughtful father of the church, Gregory the Theologian. The capable boy was taken to the court of Emperor Michael III, as a fellow student of his son. Under the guidance of the best mentors - including Photius, the future famous Patriarch of Constantinople - Cyril studied ancient literature, rhetoric, grammar, dialectics, astronomy, music and other “Hellenic arts”. The friendship of Cyril and Photius largely predetermined future fate Kirill. In 850, Cyril became a professor at the Magnavra school. Having abandoned a profitable marriage and a brilliant career, Kirill accepted the priesthood, and after secretly entering a monastery, he began teaching philosophy (hence the nickname Konstantin - “Philosopher”). The closeness with Photius affected Cyril’s struggle with the iconoclasts. He wins a brilliant victory over the experienced and ardent leader of the iconoclasts, which undoubtedly gives Constantine wide fame. The wisdom and strength of faith of the still very young Constantine were so great that he managed to defeat the leader of the iconoclast heretics, Annius, in a debate. After this victory, Constantine was sent by the emperor to debate about the Holy Trinity with the Saracens (Muslims) and also won. Having returned, Saint Constantine retired to his brother Saint Methodius on Olympus, spending time in unceasing prayer and reading the works of the holy fathers.

The “Life” of the saint testifies that he knew Hebrew, Slavic, Greek, Latin and Arabic well. Refusing a profitable marriage, as well as an administrative career offered by the emperor, Kirill became the patriarchal librarian at the Hagia Sophia. Soon he secretly retired to a monastery for six months, and upon his return he taught philosophy (external - Hellenic and internal - Christian) at the court school - the highest educational institution of Byzantium. Then he received the nickname “Philosopher”, which remained with him forever. It was not for nothing that Constantine was nicknamed the Philosopher. Every now and then he would escape from noisy Byzantium somewhere into solitude. I read and thought for a long time. And then, having accumulated another supply of energy and thoughts, he generously squandered it in travel, disputes, disputes, in scientific and literary creativity. Cyril's education was highly valued in the highest circles of Constantinople, and he was often involved in various diplomatic missions.

Cyril and Methodius had many students who became their true followers. Among them I would especially like to mention Gorazd Ohrid and Saint Naum.

Gorazd Ohridski - a disciple of Methodius, the first Slavic archbishop - he was the archbishop of Mikulčica, the capital of Great Moravia. Revered by the Orthodox Church in the ranks of saints, commemorated on July 27 (after Julian calendar) in the Cathedral of Bulgarian Enlighteners. In 885-886, under Prince Svatopluk I, a crisis arose in the Moravian Church; Archbishop Gorazd entered into a dispute with the Latin clergy, headed by Wichtig, Bishop of Nitrava, against whom St. Methodius imposed an anathema. Wichtig, with the approval of the pope, expelled Gorazd from the diocese and 200 priests with him, and he himself took his place as archbishop. At the same time, Kliment of Ohrid fled to Bulgaria. They took with them the works created in Moravia and settled in Bulgaria. Those who did not obey - according to the testimony of the Life of St. Clement of Ohrid - were sold into slavery to Jewish merchants, from which they were redeemed by the ambassadors of Emperor Basil I in Venice and transported to Bulgaria. In Bulgaria, students created world-famous literary schools in Pliska, Ohrid and Preslavl, from where their works began to travel throughout Rus'.

Naum is a Bulgarian saint, especially revered in modern Macedonia and Bulgaria. Saint Naum, together with Cyril and Methodius, as well as with his ascetic Clement of Ohrid, is one of the founders of Bulgarian religious literature. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church includes Saint Naum among the Seven. In 886-893 he lived in Preslav, becoming the organizer of a local literary school. Afterwards he created a school in Ohrid. In 905 he founded a monastery on the shores of Lake Ohrid, today named after him. His relics are also kept there.

Mount St. Naum on the island of Smolensk (Livingston) is also named after him.

In 858, Constantine, at the initiative of Photius, became the head of the mission to the Khazars. During the mission, Constantine replenishes his knowledge of the Hebrew language, which was used by the educated elite of the Khazars after they adopted Judaism. On the way, during a stop in Chersonese (Korsun), Constantine discovered the remains of Clement, Pope of Rome (1st-2nd centuries), who died, as they thought then, here in exile, and took part of them to Byzantium. The journey deep into Khazaria was filled with theological disputes with the Mohammedans and Jews. Konstantin subsequently outlined the entire course of the dispute on Greek for reporting to the patriarch; Later, this report, according to legend, was translated by Methodius into the Slavic language, but, unfortunately, this work has not reached us. At the end of 862, the prince of Great Moravia (the state of the Western Slavs) Rostislav turned to the Byzantine Emperor Michael with a request to send preachers to Moravia who could spread Christianity in the Slavic language (sermons in those parts were read in Latin, unfamiliar and incomprehensible to the people). The emperor called Saint Constantine and told him: “You need to go there, because no one will do this better than you.” Saint Constantine, with fasting and prayer, began a new feat. Constantine goes to Bulgaria, converts many Bulgarians to Christianity; according to some scientists, during this trip he begins his work on the creation of the Slavic alphabet. Constantine and Methodius arrived in Great Moravia speaking the southern Slavic dialect of Soluni (now Thessalonica), i.e. the center of that part of Macedonia, which from time immemorial and up to our time belonged to Northern Greece. In Moravia, the brothers taught literacy and involved in translation activities, and not just rewriting books, people who undoubtedly spoke some kind of northwestern Slavic dialects. This is directly evidenced by lexical, word-formation, phonetic and other linguistic discrepancies in the oldest Slavic books that have come down to us (in the Gospel, Apostle, Psalter, Menaion of the 10th-11th centuries). Indirect evidence is the later practice of Grand Duke Vladimir I Svyatoslavich, described in the Old Russian Chronicle, when he introduced Christianity in Rus' as the state religion in 988. It was the children of his “deliberate children” (i.e., the children of his courtiers and the feudal elite) that Vladimir attracted for “book training,” sometimes even doing this by force, since the Chronicle reports that their mothers cried over them as if they were dead.

After completing the translation, the holy brothers were received with great honor in Moravia, and began to teach Divine services in the Slavic language. This aroused the anger of the German bishops, who performed divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they rebelled against the holy brothers, arguing that divine services could only be performed in one of three languages: Hebrew, Greek or Latin. Saint Constantine answered them: “You recognize only three languages ​​worthy of glorifying God in them. But David cries: Sing to the Lord, all the earth, praise the Lord, all nations, let every breath praise the Lord! And in the Holy Gospel it is said: Go and learn all languages...” The German bishops were disgraced, but became even more embittered and filed a complaint to Rome. The holy brothers were called to Rome to resolve this issue.

To be able to preach Christianity in the Slavic language, it was necessary to translate the Holy Scriptures into the Slavic language; however, there was no alphabet capable of conveying Slavic speech at that moment.

Constantine began to create the Slavic alphabet. With the help of his brother Saint Methodius and the disciples Gorazd, Clement, Savva, Naum and Angelar, he compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated into Slavic the books without which the Divine service could not be performed: the Gospel, the Apostle, the Psalter and selected services. All these events date back to 863.

The year 863 is considered the year of birth of the Slavic alphabet

In 863, the Slavic alphabet was created (the Slavic alphabet existed in two versions: the Glagolitic alphabet - from the verb - “speech” and the Cyrillic alphabet; until now, scientists do not have a consensus which of these two options was created by Cyril). With the help of Methodius, a number of liturgical books were translated from Greek into Slavic. The Slavs were given the opportunity to read and write in their own language. The Slavs not only acquired their own Slavic alphabet, but also the first Slavic literary language was born, many words of which still live in Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian and other Slavic languages.

Cyril and Methodius were the founders of the literary and written language of the Slavs - the Old Church Slavonic language, which in turn was a kind of catalyst for the creation of the Old Russian literary language, Old Bulgarian and the literary languages ​​of other Slavic peoples.

The younger brother wrote, the older brother translated his works. The younger created the Slavic alphabet, Slavic writing and bookmaking; the older one practically developed what the younger one created. The younger was a talented scientist, philosopher, brilliant dialectician and subtle philologist; the eldest is a capable organizer and practical activist.

Constantine, in the quiet of his refuge, was probably busy completing the work that was in connection with his not new plans for the conversion of the pagan Slavs. He compiled a special alphabet for the Slavic language, the so-called Glagolitic alphabet, and began translating the Holy Scriptures into Old Bulgarian. The brothers decided to return to their homeland and, in order to consolidate their business in Moravia, take with them some of the students, the Moravians, for education in the hierarchical ranks. On the way to Venice, which lay through Bulgaria, the brothers stayed for several months in the Pannonian principality of Kotsela, where, despite its ecclesiastical and political dependence, they did the same as in Moravia. Upon his arrival in Venice, Constantine had a violent clash with the local clergy. Here, in Venice, unexpectedly for the local clergy, they are given a kind message from Pope Nicholas with an invitation to Rome. Having received the papal invitation, the brothers continued their journey with almost complete confidence in success. This was further facilitated by the sudden death of Nicholas and the accession to the papal throne of Adrian II.

Rome solemnly greeted the brothers and the shrine they brought, part of the remains of Pope Clement. Adrian II approved not only the Slavic translation Holy Scripture, but also Slavic worship, consecrating the Slavic books brought by the brothers, allowing the Slavs to perform services in a number of Roman churches, and ordaining Methodius and his three disciples as priests. The influential prelates of Rome also reacted favorably to the brothers and their cause.

All these successes did not come easily to the brothers, of course. A skillful dialectician and experienced diplomat, Constantine skillfully used for this purpose the struggle of Rome with Byzantium, and the vacillations of the Bulgarian prince Boris between the Eastern and Western churches, and the hatred of Pope Nicholas for Photius, and Adrian’s desire to strengthen his shaky authority by acquiring the remains of Clement. At the same time, Byzantium and Photius were still much closer to Constantine than Rome and the popes. But during the three and a half years of his life and struggle in Moravia, the main, only goal of Constantine was to strengthen the Slavic writing, Slavic bookmaking and culture that he created.

For almost two years, surrounded by sugary flattery and praise, combined with hidden intrigues of temporarily quiet opponents of Slavic worship, Constantine and Methodius lived in Rome. One of the reasons for their long delay was Constantine’s increasingly deteriorating health.

Despite weakness and illness, Constantine makes two new literary works: “The Finding of the Relics of St. Clement” and a poetic hymn in honor of the same Clement.

The long and difficult journey to Rome, the intense struggle with the irreconcilable enemies of Slavic writing, undermined Constantine’s already weak health. At the beginning of February 869, he went to bed, took the schema and the new monastic name Cyril, and died on February 14. Going to God, Saint Cyril commanded his brother Saint Methodius to continue their common cause - the enlightenment of the Slavic peoples with the light of the true faith.

Before his death, Kirill told his brother: “You and I, like two oxen, drove the same furrow. I am exhausted, but don’t think about leaving the work of teaching and retiring to your mountain again.” Methodius outlived his brother by 16 years. Enduring hardships and reproaches, he continued his great work - translating holy books into Slavic, preaching the Orthodox faith, and baptizing the Slavic people. Saint Methodius begged the Pope to allow his brother's body to be taken away for burial in native land, but the pope ordered the relics of St. Cyril to be placed in the church of St. Clement, where miracles began to be performed from them.

After the death of St. Cyril, the pope, following the request of the Slavic prince Kocel, sent St. Methodius to Pannonia, ordaining him to the rank of Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia, to the ancient throne of St. Apostle Andronikos. After the death of Cyril (869), Methodius continued his educational activities among the Slavs in Pannonia, where the Slavic books also included features of local dialects. Subsequently, the Old Church Slavonic literary language was developed by the students of the Thessaloniki brothers in the area of ​​Lake Ohrid, then in Bulgaria proper.

With the death of a talented brother, for the modest, but selfless and honest Methodius, a painful, truly path of the cross begins, strewn with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, dangers and failures. But lonely Methodius stubbornly, in no way inferior to his enemies, follows this path to the very end.

True, on the threshold of this path, Methodius relatively easily achieves new great success. But this success gives rise to an even greater storm of anger and resistance in the camp of the enemies of Slavic writing and culture.

In the middle of 869, Adrian II, at the request of the Slavic princes, sent Methodius to Rostislav, his nephew Svyatopolk and Kocel, and at the end of 869, when Methodius returned to Rome, he elevated him to the rank of Archbishop of Pannonia, allowing worship in the Slavic language. Inspired by this new success, Methodius returns to Kotsel. With the constant help of the prince, he, together with his students, began a large and vigorous work to spread Slavic worship, writing and books in the Principality of Blaten and in neighboring Moravia.

In 870, Methodius was sentenced to prison, having been accused of violating hierarchical rights in Pannonia.

He remained in prison, under the most difficult conditions, until 873, when the new Pope John VIII forced the Bavarian episcopate to release Methodius and return him to Moravia. Methodius is prohibited from Slavic worship.

He continues the work of the church structure of Moravia. Contrary to the pope's prohibition, Methodius continues to worship in the Slavic language in Moravia. Methodius this time also involved others neighboring Moravia in the circle of his activities, Slavic peoples.

All this prompted the German clergy to take new actions against Methodius. German priests turn Svyatopolk against Methodius. Svyatopolk writes a denunciation to Rome against his archbishop, accusing him of heresy, violating the canons of the Catholic Church and disobeying the pope. Methodius manages not only to justify himself, but even to win over Pope John to his side. Pope John allows Methodius to worship in the Slavic language, but appoints Viching, one of Methodius’s most ardent opponents, to be his bishop. Viching began to spread rumors about the condemnation of Methodius by Pope, but was exposed.

Extremely tired and exhausted by all these endless intrigues, forgeries and denunciations, feeling that his health was constantly weakening, Methodius went to rest in Byzantium. Methodius spent almost three years in his homeland. In mid-884 He returns to Moravia. Returning to Moravia, Methodius in 883. started translating into Slavic full text canonical books of Holy Scripture (except the Maccabees). Having finished his hard work, Methodius weakened even more. IN last years During his lifetime, Methodius' activities in Moravia took place under very difficult conditions. The Latin-German clergy in every way prevented the spread of the Slavic language as the language of the church. In the last years of his life, Saint Methodius, with the help of two disciple-priests, translated the entire Old Testament, except for the Maccabean books, as well as the Nomocanon (Rules of the Holy Fathers) and the patristic books (Paterikon).

Anticipating the approach of his death, Saint Methodius pointed to one of his disciples, Gorazd, as a worthy successor. The saint predicted the day of his death and died on April 6, 885 at the age of about 60 years. The funeral service for the saint was performed in three languages ​​- Slavic, Greek and Latin. He was buried in the cathedral church of Velehrad.

With the death of Methodius, his work in Moravia came close to destruction. With the arrival of Viching in Moravia, the persecution of the disciples of Constantine and Methodius began, and the destruction of their Slavic church. Up to 200 clergy disciples of Methodius were expelled from Moravia. The Moravian people gave them no support. Thus, the cause of Constantine and Methodius died not only in Moravia, but also among the Western Slavs in general. But it got later life and flourishing among the southern Slavs, partly among the Croats, more among the Serbs, especially among the Bulgarians and, through the Bulgarians, among the Russians, Eastern Slavs who united their destinies with Byzantium. This happened thanks to the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, expelled from Moravia.

From the period of activity of Constantine, his brother Methodius and their closest disciples, no written monuments have reached us, except for the relatively recently discovered inscriptions on the ruins of the church of King Simeon in Preslav (Bulgaria). It turned out that these ancient inscriptions were made not with one, but with two graphic varieties of Old Church Slavonic writing. One of them received the conventional name “Cyrillic” (from the name Cyril, adopted by Constantine when he was tonsured a monk); the other received the name “glagolitic” (from the Old Slavonic “verb”, which means “word”).

In their alphabetic composition, the Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets were almost identical. Cyrillic, according to the manuscripts of the 11th century that have reached us. had 43 letters, and the Glagolitic alphabet had 40 letters. Of the 40 Glagolitic letters, 39 served to convey almost the same sounds as the letters of the Cyrillic alphabet. Like the letters of the Greek alphabet, Glagolitic and Cyrillic letters had, in addition to sound, also a digital meaning, i.e. were used to designate not only speech sounds, but also numbers. At the same time, nine letters served to designate units, nine - for tens and nine - for hundreds. In Glagolitic, in addition, one of the letters denoted a thousand; in Cyrillic it was used to denote thousands special sign. In order to indicate that a letter stands for a number and not a sound, the letter was usually highlighted on both sides with dots and a special horizontal line was placed above it.

In the Cyrillic alphabet, as a rule, only letters borrowed from the Greek alphabet had digital values: each of 24 such letters was assigned the same digital value that this letter had in the Greek digital system. The only exceptions were the numbers “6”, “90” and “900”.

Unlike the Cyrillic alphabet, in the Glagolitic alphabet the first 28 letters in a row received a numerical value, regardless of whether these letters corresponded to Greek or served to convey special sounds of Slavic speech. Therefore, the numerical value of most Glagolitic letters was different from both Greek and Cyrillic letters.

The names of the letters in the Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabet were exactly the same; However, the time of origin of these names is unclear. The order of letters in the Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets was almost the same. This order is established Firstly, based on the digital meaning of the letters of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabet, secondly, based on the acrostics of the 12th-13th centuries that have come down to us, thirdly, based on the order of letters in the Greek alphabet.

Cyrillic and Glagolitic were very different in the shape of their letters. In the Cyrillic alphabet, the shape of the letters was geometrically simple, clear and easy to write. Of the 43 letters of the Cyrillic alphabet, 24 were borrowed from the Byzantine charter, and the remaining 19 were constructed more or less independently, but in compliance with the uniform style of the Cyrillic alphabet. The shape of the Glagolitic letters, on the contrary, was extremely complex and intricate, with many curls, loops, etc. But the Glagolitic letters were graphically more original than the Kirillov ones, and were much less like the Greek ones.

The Cyrillic alphabet is a very skillful, complex and creative reworking of the Greek (Byzantine) alphabet. As a result of careful consideration of the phonetic composition of the Old Church Slavonic language, the Cyrillic alphabet had all the letters necessary for the correct transmission of this language. The Cyrillic alphabet was also suitable for accurately transmitting the Russian language in the 9th-10th centuries. The Russian language was already somewhat different phonetically from Old Church Slavonic. The correspondence of the Cyrillic alphabet to the Russian language is confirmed by the fact that for more than a thousand years it was necessary to introduce only two new letters into this alphabet; Multi-letter combinations and superscripts are not needed and are almost never used in Russian writing. This is precisely what determines the originality of the Cyrillic alphabet.

Thus, despite the fact that many letters of the Cyrillic alphabet coincide in form with Greek letters, the Cyrillic alphabet (as well as the Glagolitic alphabet) should be recognized as one of the most independent, creatively and innovatively constructed letter-sound systems.

The presence of two graphic varieties of Slavic writing still causes great controversy among scientists. After all, according to the unanimous testimony of all chronicles and documentary sources, Constantine developed one Slavic alphabet. Which of these alphabets was created by Constantine? Where and when did the second alphabet appear? These questions are closely related to others, perhaps even more important. Didn’t the Slavs have some kind of written language before the introduction of the alphabet developed by Constantine? And if it existed, what was it?

A number of works by Russian and Bulgarian scientists were devoted to evidence of the existence of writing in the pre-Cyrillic period among the Slavs, in particular among the eastern and southern ones. As a result of these works, as well as in connection with the discovery of the most ancient monuments of Slavic writing, the question of the existence of writing among the Slavs can hardly raise doubts. This is evidenced by many ancient literary sources: Slavic, Western European, Arabic. This is confirmed by the instructions contained in the treaties of the Eastern and Southern Slavs with Byzantium, some archaeological data, as well as linguistic, historical and general socialist considerations.

Fewer materials are available to resolve the question of what the ancient Slavic letter was and how it arose. Pre-Cyrillic Slavic writing, apparently, could only be of three types. Thus, in the light of the development of general patterns of development of writing, it seems almost certain that long before the formation of ties between the Slavs and Byzantium, they had various local varieties of the original primitive pictographic writing, such as the “traits and cuts” mentioned by Brave. The emergence of Slavic writing of the “devils and cuts” type should probably be attributed to the first half of the 1st millennium AD. e. True, the oldest Slavic letter could only have been a very primitive letter, which included a small, unstable and different assortment of simple figurative and conventional signs among different tribes. There was no way this writing could turn into any developed and ordered logographic system.

The use of the original Slavic script was also limited. These were, apparently, the simplest counting signs in the form of dashes and notches, family and personal signs, signs of ownership, signs for fortune telling, perhaps primitive route diagrams, calendar signs that served to date the start of various agricultural works, pagan holidays, etc. P. In addition to sociological and linguistic considerations, the existence of such writing among the Slavs is confirmed by quite numerous literary sources of the 9th-10th centuries. and archaeological finds. Having originated in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, this letter was probably preserved by the Slavs even after Cyril created an orderly Slavic alphabet.

The second, even more undoubted type of pre-Christian writing of the Eastern and Southern Slavs was a letter that can be conditionally called the “Proto-Cyril” letter. A letter of the “devils and cuts” type, suitable for indicating calendar dates, for fortune telling, counting, etc., was unsuitable for recording military and trade agreements, liturgical texts, historical chronicles and other complex documents. And the need for such records should have appeared among the Slavs simultaneously with the emergence of the first Slavic states. For all these purposes, the Slavs, even before they adopted Christianity and before the introduction of the alphabet created by Cyril, undoubtedly used Greek in the east and south, and Greek and Latin letters in the west.

The Greek script, used by the Slavs for two or three centuries before their official adoption of Christianity, had to gradually adapt to the transmission of the unique phonetics of the Slavic language and, in particular, be replenished with new letters. This was necessary for the accurate recording of Slavic names in churches, in military lists, for recording Slavic geographical names, etc. The Slavs have come a long way towards adapting Greek writing to more accurately convey their speech. To do this, ligatures were formed from the corresponding Greek letters, the Greek letters were supplemented with letters borrowed from other alphabets, in particular from the Hebrew, which was known to the Slavs through the Khazars. This is how the Slavic “Proto-Cyril” letter was probably formed. The assumption about such a gradual formation of the Slavic “proto-Cyril” letter is also confirmed by the fact that the Cyrillic alphabet in its later version that has come down to us was so well adapted for the accurate transmission of Slavic speech that this could only be achieved as a result of its long development. These are two undoubted varieties of pre-Christian Slavic writing.

The third, although not undoubted, but only a possible variety, can be called “proto-glagolic” writing.

The process of formation of the supposed proto-glagolic letter could occur in two ways. Firstly, this process could have taken place under the complex influence of Greek, Jewish-Khazar, and possibly also Georgian, Armenian and even runic Turkic writing. Under the influence of these writing systems, Slavic “lines and cuts” could gradually also acquire a letter-sound meaning, while partially retaining their original form. Secondly, and some Greek letters could have been graphically modified by the Slavs in relation to the usual forms of “lines and cuts”. Like the Cyrillic alphabet, the formation of proto-glagolic writing could also have begun among the Slavs no earlier than the 8th century. Since this letter was formed on the primitive basis of the ancient Slavic “traits and cuts”, by the middle of the 9th century. it was supposed to remain even less precise and orderly than the Proto-Cyril letter. Unlike the Proto-Cyrillic alphabet, the formation of which took place throughout almost the entire Slavic territory, which was under the influence of Byzantine culture, the Proto-Glagolitic letter, if it existed, was apparently first formed among the Eastern Slavs. In conditions of insufficient development in the second half of the 1st millennium AD. political and cultural connections between the Slavic tribes, the formation of each of the three supposed types of pre-Christian Slavic writing would have occurred in different tribes in different ways. Therefore, we can assume the coexistence among the Slavs not only of these three types of writing, but also of their local varieties. In the history of writing, cases of such coexistence were very frequent.

Currently, the writing systems of all the peoples of Russia are built on the Cyrillic basis. Writing systems built on the same basis are also used in Bulgaria, partly in Yugoslavia and Mongolia. A script built on the Cyrillic basis is now used by peoples who speak more than 60 languages. The Latin and Cyrillic groups of writing systems seem to have the greatest vitality. This is confirmed by the fact that more and more new peoples are gradually switching to the Latin and Cyrillic basis of writing.

Thus, the foundations laid by Constantine and Methodius more than 1100 years ago continue to be continuously improved and successfully developed up to the present day. At the moment, most researchers believe that Cyril and Methodius created the Glagolitic alphabet, and the Cyrillic alphabet was created on the basis of the Greek alphabet by their students.

From the turn of the X-XI centuries. the largest centers of Slavic writing become Kyiv, Novgorod, and the centers of other ancient Russian principalities. The oldest Slavic-language handwritten books that have come down to us, having the date of their writing, were created in Rus'. These are the Ostromir Gospel of 1056-1057, the Izbornik of Svyatoslav of 1073, the Izbornik of 1076, the Archangel Gospel of 1092, the Novgorod Menaions dated to the 90s. The largest and most valuable fund of ancient handwritten books dating back to the written heritage of Cyril and Methodius, like those named, is located in the ancient repositories of our country.

The unbending faith of two people in Christ and in their ascetic mission for the good of the Slavic peoples - that’s what it was driving force the penetration, in the end, of writing into Ancient Rus'. The exceptional intellect of one and the stoic courage of the other - the qualities of two people who lived very long before us, turned out to be the fact that we now write them in letters, and put together our picture of the world according to their grammar and rules.

It is impossible to overestimate the introduction of writing into Slavic society. This is the greatest Byzantine contribution to the culture of the Slavic peoples. And he was created by Saints Cyril and Methodius. Only with the establishment of writing does the true history of a people begin, the history of its culture, the history of the development of its worldview, scientific knowledge, literature and art.

Cyril and Methodius never, in their life's collisions and wanderings, found themselves in the lands of Ancient Rus'. They lived more than a hundred years before they were officially baptized here and their letters were accepted. It would seem that Cyril and Methodius belong to the history of other nations. But it was they who radically changed the existence of the Russian people. They gave him the Cyrillic alphabet, which became the blood and flesh of his culture. And this is the greatest gift to people from an ascetic man.

In addition to the invention of the Slavic alphabet, during the 40 months of their stay in Moravia, Constantine and Methodius managed to solve two problems: some liturgical books were translated into Church Slavonic (ancient Slavic literary) language and people were trained who could serve using these books. However, this was not enough to spread Slavic worship. Neither Constantine nor Methodius were bishops and could not ordain their disciples as priests. Cyril was a monk, Methodius was a simple priest, and the local bishop was an opponent of Slavic worship. To give their activities official status, the brothers and several of their students went to Rome. In Venice, Constantine entered into a debate with opponents of worship in national languages. In Latin spiritual literature, the idea was popular that worship could only be performed in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. The brothers' stay in Rome was triumphant. Constantine and Methodius brought with them the relics of St. Clement, Pope of Rome, who, according to legend, was a disciple of the Apostle Peter. Clement's relics were a precious gift, and Slavic translations Constantine received a blessing.

The disciples of Cyril and Methodius were ordained priests, while the Pope sent a message to the Moravian rulers in which he officially allowed the services to be performed in the Slavic language: “After reflection, we decided to send to your countries our son Methodius, ordained by us, with his disciples, a perfect man reason and true faith, so that he enlightens you, as you yourself asked, explaining to you in your language the Holy Scripture, the entire liturgical rite and the Holy Mass, that is, services, including baptism, as the philosopher Constantine began to do with God's grace and by prayers of Saint Clement."

After the death of the brothers, their activities were continued by their students, expelled from Moravia in 886, in the South Slavic countries. (In the West, the Slavic alphabet and Slavic literacy did not survive; Western Slavs- Poles, Czechs... - still use the Latin alphabet). Slavic literacy was firmly established in Bulgaria, from where it spread to the countries of the southern and eastern Slavs (9th century). Writing came to Rus' in the 10th century (988 - the baptism of Rus'). The creation of the Slavic alphabet was and still is of great importance for the development of Slavic writing, Slavic peoples, and Slavic culture.

The merits of Cyril and Methodius in the history of culture are enormous. Kirill developed the first ordered Slavic alphabet and thus marked the beginning of the widespread development of Slavic writing. Cyril and Methodius translated many books from Greek, which was the beginning of the formation of the Old Church Slavonic literary language and Slavic bookmaking. For many years, Cyril and Methodius carried out great educational work among the Western and Southern Slavs and greatly contributed to the spread of literacy among these peoples. There is information that Kirill also created original works. For many years, Cyril and Methodius carried out great educational work among the Western and Southern Slavs and greatly contributed to the spread of literacy among these peoples. Throughout all their activities in Moravia and Panionia, Cyril and Methodius also waged a constant, selfless struggle against the attempts of the German Catholic clergy to ban the Slavic alphabet and books.

Cyril and Methodius were the founders of the first literary and written language of the Slavs - the Old Church Slavonic language, which in turn was a kind of catalyst for the creation of the Old Russian literary language, Old Bulgarian and the literary languages ​​of other Slavic peoples. The Old Church Slavonic language was able to fulfill this role primarily due to the fact that it was not initially something rigid and stagnant: it itself was formed from several Slavic languages ​​or dialects.

Finally, when assessing the educational activities of the Thessaloniki brothers, it should be borne in mind that they were not missionaries in the generally accepted sense of the word: they were not involved in the Christianization of the population as such (although they contributed to it), for Moravia by the time of their arrival was already a Christian state.

May 24 Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius.

The name of these saints is known to everyone from school, and it is to them that all of us, native speakers of the Russian language, owe our language, culture, and writing.

Incredibly, all European science and culture were born within the monastery walls: it was at the monasteries that the first schools were opened, children were taught to read and write, and extensive libraries were collected. It was for the enlightenment of peoples, for the translation of the Gospel, that many written languages ​​were created. This happened with the Slavic language.

The holy brothers Cyril and Methodius came from a noble and pious family who lived in the Greek city of Thessaloniki. Methodius was a warrior and ruled the Bulgarian principality of the Byzantine Empire. This gave him the opportunity to learn the Slavic language.

Soon, however, he decided to leave the secular lifestyle and became a monk at the monastery on Mount Olympus. From childhood, Constantine showed amazing abilities and received an excellent education together with the young Emperor Michael 3rd at the royal court.

Then he became a monk in one of the monasteries on Mount Olympus in Asia Minor.

His brother Constantine, who took the name Cyril as a monk, was distinguished by great abilities from an early age and perfectly comprehended all the sciences of his time and many languages.

Soon the emperor sent both brothers to the Khazars to preach the gospel. As the legend says, along the way they stopped in Korsun, where Constantine found the Gospel and the Psalter written in “Russian letters,” and a man speaking Russian, and began to learn to read and speak this language.

When the brothers returned to Constantinople, the emperor again sent them on an educational mission - this time to Moravia. The Moravian prince Rostislav was oppressed by the German bishops, and he asked the emperor to send teachers who could preach in the native language of the Slavs.

The first of the Slavic peoples to turn to Christianity were the Bulgarians. The sister of the Bulgarian prince Bogoris (Boris) was held hostage in Constantinople. She was baptized with the name Theodora and was raised in the spirit of the holy faith. Around 860, she returned to Bulgaria and began to persuade her brother to accept Christianity. Boris was baptized, taking the name Mikhail. Saints Cyril and Methodius were in this country and with their preaching they greatly contributed to the establishment of Christianity in it. From Bulgaria, the Christian faith spread to its neighboring Serbia.

To fulfill the new mission, Constantine and Methodius compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated the main liturgical books (Gospel, Apostle, Psalter) into Slavic. This happened in 863.

In Moravia, the brothers were received with great honor and began to teach Divine services in the Slavic language. This aroused the anger of the German bishops, who performed divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they filed a complaint to Rome.

Taking with them the relics of St. Clement (Pope), which they discovered back in Korsun, Constantine and Methodius went to Rome.
Having learned that the brothers were carrying holy relics with them, Pope Adrian greeted them with honor and approved the service in the Slavic language. He ordered the books translated by the brothers to be placed in Roman churches and the liturgy to be performed in the Slavic language.

Saint Methodius fulfilled his brother’s will: returning to Moravia already in the rank of archbishop, he worked here for 15 years. From Moravia, Christianity penetrated into Bohemia during the lifetime of Saint Methodius. The Bohemian prince Borivoj received holy baptism from him. His example was followed by his wife Lyudmila (who later became a martyr) and many others. In the mid-10th century, the Polish prince Mieczyslaw married the Bohemian princess Dabrowka, after which he and his subjects accepted the Christian faith.

Subsequently, these Slavic peoples, through the efforts of Latin preachers and German emperors, were torn away from the Greek Church under the rule of the Pope, with the exception of the Serbs and Bulgarians. But among all Slavs, despite the centuries that have passed, the memory of the great Equal-to-the-Apostles enlighteners and that Orthodox faith which they tried to plant among them. The sacred memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius serves as a connecting link for all Slavic peoples.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources