About Cyril and Methodius. Slavic writing. Cyril and Methodius short message

Probably everyone knows that many years ago there was no written language at all on earth. A little later, the prince from Moravia decided to send his people to the emperor of Byzantium in order for him to solve this problem. And almost immediately, the ambassadors began to look for scientists who knew Cyrillic and Glagolitic perfectly well, and were also able to teach it to all people. It was here that our main characters Cyril and Methodius were noted in this difficult matter.

The brothers were born in a city called Thessaloniki. Their father was a soldier. From childhood, their parents taught them to write and read, which is why they were not only educated, but also smart. Cyril still combined his studies and helped the prince deal with various matters. Of course, they could not do all this, but choose a completely different life. In addition, they could easily and freely live right next to the emperor. But most of all, the guys liked to study the church, and that is why they went to the priesthood. Now they studied every day different sciences and then tell their students about it.

When they arrived at the Slavs and began to teach them, they decided to create an alphabet with which they would be taught. Most of all, Cyril was engaged in all this, but Methodius supported him in everything and if help was needed, he always helped. It took them about a year to create the alphabet. When the alphabet was created, it was immediately given the name Cyrillic, in honor of the one who invented it. There were twenty-four letters in total. But it turned out, so that there were much more sounds than letters. And then the guys took a few letters from other alphabets, and some of them even came up with themselves. Now their alphabet was thirty-eight letters.

Each letter had its own personal sound, and with the help of these sounds it was possible to find out what in question. A little later, the alphabet again underwent changes, and there were much fewer letters in it. Now the alphabet consists of thirty-three letters.

Option number 2

The brothers Cyril and Methodius are known as the creators of the Slavic alphabet. They preached Christianity, and thanks to them the Church Slavonic language appeared. In Orthodoxy, brothers are considered saints.

Before the tonsure, the names of Cyril and Methodius were Constantine and Michael, respectively. The birthplace of the brothers is Byzantium, the city of Thessalonica, now called Thessaloniki. Their family was noble and wealthy. The father, who held the position of an officer, served with the military governor. In addition to Cyril and Methodius, the family had five more children. Methodius, born in 815, was the eldest child. Cyril was born in 827 and was the youngest.

Both brothers were well trained. Because of their place of birth, they knew both Slavic and Greek language And. Initially, Methodius, who decided to make a career in military service, served as commander-in-chief. Methodius became a monk later. Cyril studied science from his youth. The younger brother amazed his teachers with his abilities. After training, Cyril began to work in the library at the monastery.

The beginning of the creation of the Slavic alphabet dates back to 862. Then in Constantinople, on behalf of the prince of Moravia, Rostislav, the ambassadors conveyed his request to the emperor. The prince needed people who could teach his people about Christianity. The state was already religious, but the problem was that people did not understand worship in foreign language. The prince needed scientists who could translate religious books into Slavonic.

The emperor decided to entrust this task to Cyril in view of his excellent command of the language. To translate books, he went to Moravia. When creating the alphabet, Cyril's assistants were his older brother and several of his students. They have translated many Christian books, for example. "Gospel" and "Psalter". Scientists are still arguing about what kind of alphabet the brothers created. Some point to Cyrillic, others to Glagolitic. The most accurate date for the creation of the Slavic alphabet is 863. Cyril and Methodius stayed in Moravia for almost another three and a half years, translating books and teaching the Slavic alphabet to the people.

Due to the translation of liturgical books into Slavonic, conflicts arose in some churches. It was believed that worship was conducted only in Greek, Hebrew and Latin. The German clergy especially hindered the spread of the Slavic language. Cyril and Methodius were accused of heresy and summoned to Rome. After talking with the new pope, the brothers managed to eliminate the conflict, and worship in the Slavic language was approved.

During a trip to Rome, the younger brother fell ill. Cyril had a premonition of his death, so he decided to accept the schema and at the same time received a monastic name. Cyril died in 869 and was buried in Rome.

Methodius received the priesthood and decided to continue the educational work. However, upon returning to Moravia, it turned out that the German clergy again tried to ban worship in the Slavic language. Methodius was imprisoned in a monastery. He was released by the Pope of Rome, and a few years later he again obtained permission to worship in the Slavic language. Methodius died in 885.

4th, 5th, 6th grade, history

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Origin of Thessalonica x brothers.

The creators of slavyanskoh alphabet brothers Cyril (before becoming a monk Constantine) (827-869) and Methodius (815-885) came from the Byzantine city of Thessalonica, which had a large Slavic population.Today it is the city of Thessaloniki in Macedonia. The father of the brothers wasrich and of "good family", occupied a significant position in Thessalonicafalsity is the assistant to the military leader. NationallySince the father of Constantine and Methodius was a Bulgarian, and his mother was a Greek woman, therefore, from childhood, Greek and Slavic were native languages ​​for the brothers.

Constantine and Methodius before becoming a monk.

Konstantin began attending school at the age of eightage. He was distinguished by his ability, modesty, patience. He studied diligently, mastered the Greek language, counting, mastered horse riding and military techniques. ButHis favorite pastime was reading books. We can say that knowledge, books have become for him the meaning of his life.

To continue his education, Constantine went to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. He was taken as a comrade in teaching to the son of Emperor Michael III. Under the guidance of the best mentors - including Photius, the future famous Patriarch of Constantinople - Constantine studied ancient literature, rhetoric, grammar, dialectics, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music. He knew Hebrew, Slavic, Greek, Latin and Arabic well. Interest in the sciences, perseverance in learning, diligence - all this made him one of the most educated people Byzantium. It is no accident that he was called the Philosopher for his great wisdom.

At the end of his studies, refusing an advantageous marriage, as well as the administrative career offered by the emperor, Constantine became the patriarchal librarian at Hagia Sophia. But, neglecting the advantages of his position, he soon retired to one of the monasteries on Black Sea coast. For some time he lived in seclusion, and upon his return he began to teach philosophy at the university.

The wisdom and strength of faith of the still very young Constantine were so great that he managed to defeat the leader of the heretic iconoclasts Annius in the debate. After this victory, Constantine was sent by the emperor to debate the Holy Trinity with the Muslims and also won.

Around the year 850, Emperor Michael III and Patriarch Photius send Constantine to Bulgaria, where on the river Bregalnitsa he converts many Bulgarians to Christianity.

After that, Constantine retired to his brother Methodius on Olympus, spending time in unceasing prayer and reading the works of the holy fathers.

Methodius was 12 years older than his brother. He entered early military service. For 10 years he was the ruler of one of the regions inhabited by Slavs. About 852 he took monastic

It was in this monastery that a group of like-minded people formed around Constantine and Methodius and the idea of ​​creating a Slavic alphabet was born.

Khazar mission.

D the trial of Constantine with a Muslim imam and a Jewish rabbi, which took place in the presence of the kagan, according to the Life, ended in the victory of Constantine. The Kagan did not change his faith, but at the request of Constantine he released all the Greek captives - more than 200 people.

The brothers returned to Byzantium. Constantine remained in the capital, while Methodius went to the monastery where he had previously served.

Bulgarian mission.

Soon Konstantin, who knew well not only Greek, Arabic and Latin, but also the language of the Slavs, was sent to Bulgaria on an educational mission. But the enlightenment of the Slavs turned out to be impossible without books in their native language. Therefore, Constantine set about creating the Slavic alphabet. Methodius began to help him. May 24, 863 year they announced the invention of the Slavic alphabet.

Having invented the alphabet, the brothers began to translate the main liturgical books (the Gospel, the Apostle, the Psalter, etc.) from Greek into Slavonic.

His educational activities Constantine and Methodius contributed to the establishment of the Christian faith in Bulgaria. And from Bulgaria, the Christian faith and writing spread to neighboring Serbia.

Moravian mission.

In the same year 863, the Moravian prince Rostislav, oppressed by the German bishops, turned to the Byzantine emperor Michael III with a request to help him introduce church services in the Slavic language in Moravia. Rostislav needed this because the Western Slavs were under the yoke of the Roman catholic church, and they were allowed to serve only on Latin and in state affairs to use exclusively German. These restrictions, of course, were an obstacle to the national self-identification of the Western Slavs.

Rostislav asked to send clergy to Moravia who could preach in their native language for the Slavs. “Our land is baptized, but we do not have a teacher who would instruct and instruct us, and interpret the holy books ... send us teachers who could tell about book words and their meaning.”

The emperor called Constantine and told him: "You need to go there, because no one can do it better than you." Constantine, with fasting and prayer, embarked on a new feat. Methodius, at the request of his brother, went with him.

In the same year 863, the brothers arrived in Moravia with the created alphabet.

They were received with great honour, and until the spring of 867 taught the Moravians how to read, write and worship in the Slavic language. The activities of Constantine and Methodius aroused the anger of the German bishops, who celebrated divine services in Latin in the Moravian churches, and they rebelled against the holy brothers, arguing that church services could only be conducted in one of three languages: Hebrew, Greek or Latin. The German bishops perceived Cyril and Methodius as heretics and filed a complaint with Rome. The Thessalonica brothers had to go to the Pope. They hoped to find support in the fight against the German clergy, who prevented the spread of Slavic writing.

Travel to Rome.

On the way to Rome, Constantine and Methodius visited another Slavic country - Pannonia, where Blatenskoye was located.

After Constantine handed over to Pope Adrian II the relics of St. Clement he had found on his Chersonese journey, he approved the service in the Slavic language and ordered that the translated books be placed in Roman churches. At the behest of the pope, Formosus (Bishop of Porto) and Gauderic (Bishop of Velletri) consecrated three brothers who were traveling with Constantine and Methodius as priests, and Methodius was ordained to the episcopal rank.

As you can see, the Thessalonica brothers were able to obtain permission to conduct services in the Slavic language from the Pope himself.

Intense struggle, years of wandering, excessive labor undermined vitality Constantine.

In Rome, he fell ill, and in a miraculous vision, informed by the Lord about the approach of death, he accepted the schema with the name Cyril. 50 days after the adoption of the schema, February 14, 869, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril died at the age of 42 and was buried in Rome in the church of St. Clement.

Departing to God, Saint Cyril commanded his brother Methodius to continue their common work - the enlightenment of the Slavic peoples with the light of the true faith. Before his death, he said to Methodius: “We are with you, like two oxen; from a heavy burden, one fell, the other must continue on his way.

Saint Methodius begged the Pope to allow the body of his brother to be taken away for burial in his native land, but the pope ordered the relics of Saint Cyril to be placed in the church of Saint Clement, where miracles began to be performed from them.

Educational activity of Methodius after the death of Cyril.

After the death of Cyril, the pope, following the request of the Slavic prince Kotsel, sent Methodius to Pannonia, consecrating him to the rank of archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia. In Pannonia, Saint Methodius, together with his disciples, continued to spread worship, writing, and books in the Slavonic language.

Methodius steadfastly endured the attacks of the Latin Church: at the slander of the Latin bishops, he was imprisoned for two and a half years, and in severe frost they dragged him through the snow. But the educator did not renounce serving the Slavs, and in 874 he was released by John VIII and restored to the rights of a bishopric. Pope John VIII forbade Methodius to celebrate the liturgy in the Slavic language, but Methodius, having visited Rome in 880, achieved the lifting of the ban and continued his ministry.

In 882-884 Methodius lived in Byzantium. In the middle of 884 he returned to Moravia and worked on translating the Bible into Slavonic.

Anticipating the approach of death, Saint Methodius pointed to one of his disciples, Gorazd, as a worthy successor to himself. The saint predicted the day of his death and died on April 6 (19), 885 at the age of about 70 years. He was buried in the cathedral church of Velegrad.

The Thessalonica brothers devoted their entire lives to teaching, knowledge, and serving the Slavs. They did not attach much importance to either wealth, or honors, or fame, or career.

May 24 is the day of Slavic writing and culture. It is also the day of veneration of the holy enlighteners Cyril and Methodius, who gave the Slavs that script, that alphabet that we still use.

Thessalonica Brothers

Leo and Mary, who lived in the Greek city of Thessaloniki (now called Thessaloniki), had seven children. The eldest of them is Mikhail, the youngest is Konstantin. It was they who later became known as the enlighteners Methodius and Cyril, the inventors of the Slavic alphabet. Thessaloniki, or as the Slavs called Thessalonica, was a port city, and therefore the brothers grew up surrounded by many languages. Moreover, some researchers believe that Mikhail and Konstantin were bilingual, because their father, a local military leader, was Slavic by origin, and their mother was Greek.

Michael Thessalonica

Both Methodius and Cyril did not immediately become enlighteners. The eldest of the Thessalonica brothers followed in his father's footsteps and chose military career. At the age of twenty, he was appointed manager of Slavinia, one of the Slavic-Bulgarian regions that were subordinate to Byzantium. But ten years later, he decided to radically change his life. Mikhail left both the military-administrative career and the world in order to go to Olympus and take the veil there as a monk. When he was tonsured, he took the name Methodius.

Constantine of Thessalonica

The youngest of the Thessalonica brothers, Constantine, was twelve years younger than Michael. When the elder for a long time served in Slavinia, Constantine, as a capable young man, was accepted into an elite school at the court of the Byzantine emperor Michael III. There, the future enlightener studied philosophy, grammar, rhetoric, all the "Hellenic arts", as well as Slavic, Jewish, Khazar, Arabic, Samaritan, Syriac (Sura) languages.

Library instead of wife

Obviously, Konstantin was one of the best students in the court school, and brilliant career he was provided. In any case, this opinion was shared by one of the highest officials in the state and its actual ruler, the logothete Theoktist. Therefore, he proposed to the young Konstantin, who had just completed his studies, to marry his, Feoktist, goddaughter. But Konstantin refused, and first got a job in a library, then retired to a monastery and, in the end, became a teacher of philosophy in Constantinople. For this he was nicknamed Constantine the Philosopher.

The Miracle of Finding Relics

In 860, Constantine and Methodius were sent on an educational mission to the Khazar Khaganate. Along the way, they stopped in Chersonese, where they replenished their knowledge of the Hebrew language (Konstantin studied the Samaritan script), got acquainted with the mysterious "Russian" writings, which the researchers consider to be Sura, that is, Syrian. Here Constantine performed a miracle. Having learned that for half a century the parishioners could not worship the relics of St. Clement (the patron saint of Rome, the bishop of Rome, exiled to the Inkerman quarries and drowned in the Black Sea), Konstantin invited the local priest to hold a service for the acquisition of incorruptible relics. The service was completed, and Constantine, having brought the Chersonesites to the shore, pointed out a place in shallow water, where, indeed, the remains were found with an anchor chain around their necks. Since Clement was drowned with an anchor tied to his neck, no one had any doubts about the authenticity of the remains found. Subsequently, the relics of St. Clement served the brothers well.

Gospel for the Slavs

Apparently, the invention of the alphabet was not an end in itself for the illuminators. For some reason (maybe because they themselves were half, and according to some versions, exclusively Slavs), Constantine and Methodius sought to spread Slavic as the language of worship. Therefore, by the year 863, when Patriarch Photius of Constantinople sent the Thessalonica brothers on a mission to Moravia, they not only managed to come up with what later became known as the Cyrillic alphabet, but also translated a number of biblical texts into Slavonic, in particular, the Gospel. In Velehrad, the capital of Moravia, worship in the Slavic language quickly became popular. It is noteworthy that the brothers translated the Bible into a dialect common in Thessalonica, that is, into a language that was very familiar to them. But the Moravians understood the southern dialect with difficulty and therefore began to treat it as a bookish, sacred language. Soon a group of opponents of the actions of Constantine and Methodius, the so-called tri-pagans, arose. These people believed that the biblical texts should be read exclusively in the canonical languages, Hebrew, Greek and Latin. For support, the inventors of Slavic writing went to Rome.

Bishop Methodius of Moravia

In Rome, the Enlighteners were received cordially, perhaps largely due to the relics of St. Clement, part of which they took with them when they left Chersonesus, and now brought to the eternal City. The youngest of the brothers died here after a long illness, having taken the monastic vows under the name Cyril before his death. And the elder was ordained a priest, then appointed bishop of both Moravia and Pannonia. Returning to the Slavic lands, he continued the work of popularizing the Slavic language, but great success, despite the efforts expended, he could not achieve: the political situation in the principalities changed, the ruler Roslav, who supported the brothers, was overthrown, and the new authorities looked at the Slavic-language services without enthusiasm. After holding the bishop for two years in prison, they finally allowed him to preach in Slavic.

Name: Cyril and Methodius (Konstantin and Michael)

Activity: creators of the Old Slavonic alphabet and the Church Slavonic language, Christian preachers

Family status: were not married

Cyril and Methodius: biography

Cyril and Methodius became famous throughout the world as champions of the Christian faith and authors of the Slavic alphabet. The biography of the couple is extensive, even a separate biography is dedicated to Cyril, created immediately after the death of a man. However, today meet a brief history the fate of these preachers and the founders of the alphabet can be found in various manuals for children. The brothers have their own icon, where they are depicted together. They turn to her with prayers for good studies, luck for students, and an increase in intelligence.

Childhood and youth

Cyril and Methodius were born in the Greek city of Thessalonica (present-day Thessaloniki) in the family of a military leader named Leo, whom the authors of the biography of a couple of saints characterize as " good kind and rich." Future monks grew up in the company of five more brothers.

Before the tonsure, the men bore the names Michael and Konstantin, and the first was older - he was born in 815, and Konstantin in 827. Controversy has not yet subsided over the ethnicity of the family in the circles of historians. Some attribute it to the Slavs, because these people were fluent in the Slavic language. Others attribute Bulgarian and, of course, Greek roots.

The boys received an excellent education, and when they matured, their paths diverged. Methodius applied for military service under patronage true friend family and grew even to the governor of the Byzantine province. In the "Slavic reign" he established himself as a wise and fair ruler.

Kirill s early childhood he was fond of reading books, struck the environment with an excellent memory and abilities for science, was known as a polyglot - in addition to Greek and Slavic, Hebrew and Aramaic were listed in the language arsenal. At the age of 20, a young man, a graduate of the University of Magnavra, was already teaching the basics of philosophy at the court school at Tsargrad.

Christian ministry

Cyril flatly refused a secular career, although such an opportunity was provided. Marrying the goddaughter of an official of the royal office in Byzantium opened up dizzying prospects - the leadership of the region in Macedonia, and then the position of commander in chief of the army. However, the young theologian (Konstantin was only 15 years old) preferred to step onto the church path.

When he was already teaching at the university, the man even managed to win in theological disputes over the leader of the iconoclasts, the former patriarch John Grammatik, also known as Ammius. However, this story is considered just a beautiful legend.

The main task for the government of Byzantium at that time was considered to be the strengthening and promotion of Orthodoxy. Together with the diplomats, who traveled around the cities and villages, where they negotiated with religious enemies, missionaries traveled. Konstantin became them at the age of 24, setting off with the first important task from the state - to instruct Muslims on the true path.

At the end of the 50s of the 9th century, the brothers, tired of worldly bustle, retired to the monastery, where the 37-year-old Methodius was tonsured. However, Cyril was not allowed to rest for a long time: already in 860, the man was called to the throne of the emperor and instructed to join the ranks of the Khazar mission.

The fact is that the Khazar Khagan announced an inter-religious dispute, where Christians were asked to prove the truth of their faith to Jews and Muslims. The Khazars were already ready to go over to the side of Orthodoxy, but they set a condition - only if the Byzantine polemicists won in disputes.

Cyril took his brother with him and brilliantly completed the task assigned to his shoulders, but still the mission was not completely successful. The Khazar state did not become Christian, although the kagan allowed people to be baptized. On this trip, something serious happened for believers. historical event. On the way, the Byzantines looked into the Crimea, where, in the vicinity of Chersonesus, Cyril found the relics of Clement, the fourth holy pope of Rome, which were then transferred to Rome.

The brothers are involved in another important mission. Once, the ruler of the Moravian lands (Slavic state) Rostislav asked for help from Constantinople - teachers-theologians were required to tell the people about the true faith in an accessible language. Thus, the prince was going to get away from the influence of the German bishops. This trip became a landmark - the Slavic alphabet appeared.

In Moravia, the brothers worked tirelessly: they translated Greek books, taught the Slavs the basics of reading and writing, and at the same time taught them how to conduct divine services. The trip took three years. The results of the labors played a big role in the preparation for the baptism of Bulgaria.

In 867, the brothers had to go to Rome to answer for "blasphemy". The Western Church called Cyril and Methodius heretics, accusing them of reading sermons, including in Slavonic, while talking about the Almighty can only be done in Greek, Latin and Hebrew.

On the way to the Italian capital, they stopped in the Principality of Blaten, where they taught the people book business. Those who arrived in Rome with the relics of Clement were so delighted that new dad Adrian II allowed worship services to be held in Slavic and even allowed the translated books to be distributed among the churches. During this meeting, Methodius received the episcopal rank.

Unlike his brother, Cyril took the veil as a monk only on the verge of death - it was necessary. After the death of the preacher, Methodius, overgrown with disciples, returned to Moravia, where he had to fight the German clergy. The deceased Rostislav was replaced by his nephew Svyatopolk, who supported the policy of the Germans, who did not allow the Byzantine priest to work in peace. Any attempts to spread the Slavic language as a church language were suppressed.

Methodius was even imprisoned at the monastery for three years. Pope John VIII helped to get free, who imposed a ban on the liturgy as long as Methodius was in prison. However, in order not to escalate the situation, John also banned worship in the Slavic language. Only sermons were not punishable by law.

But a native of Thessaloniki, at his own peril and risk, continued to secretly conduct services in Slavic. At the same time, the archbishop baptized the Czech prince, for which he was later brought to trial in Rome. However, luck favored Methodius - he not only escaped punishment, but also received a papal bull and the opportunity to again conduct worship in the Slavic language. Shortly before his death, he managed to translate the Old Testament.

Creation of the alphabet

The brothers from Thessaloniki went down in history as the creators of the Slavic alphabet. The time of the event is 862 or 863. The Life of Cyril and Methodius claims that the idea was born as early as 856, when the brothers, together with their students Angelarius, Naum and Clement, settled on Mount Olympus Minor in the Polychron Monastery. Here Methodius served as rector.

The authorship of the alphabet is attributed to Cyril, but which one remains a mystery. Scientists tend to Glagolitic, this is indicated by 38 characters that it contains. As for the Cyrillic alphabet, it was brought to life by Clement of Ohrid. However, even if this is so, the student still used the achievements of Cyril - it was he who singled out the sounds of the language, which is the most important thing when creating writing.

The basis for the alphabet was the Greek cryptography, the letters are very similar, so the Glagolitic alphabet was confused with the Eastern alphabets. But for the designations of specific Slavic sounds, they took Hebrew letters, for example, “sh”.

Death

Constantine-Cyril, on a trip to Rome, was stricken by a serious illness, and on February 14, 869, he died - this day in Catholicism is recognized as the day of remembrance of the saints. The body was interred in the Roman temple of St. Clement. Cyril did not want his brother to return to the monastery in Moravia, and before his death he supposedly said:

“Here, brother, we were like two oxen in a harness, we plowed one furrow, and I fall into the forest, having finished my day. And although you love the mountain very much, you cannot leave your teaching for the sake of the mountain, for how else can you better achieve salvation?

Methodius outlived his wise relative by 16 years. Anticipating death, he ordered to carry himself to the church for a sermon. The priest died in Palm Sunday April 4, 885. Methodius was buried in three languages ​​- Greek, Latin and, of course, Slavonic.

At the post of Methodius, the disciple Gorazd replaced him, and then all the undertakings of the holy brothers began to collapse. In Moravia, liturgical translations were gradually banned again, followers and students were hunted down - they were persecuted, sold into slavery and even killed. Some of the adherents fled to neighboring countries. Nevertheless, Slavic culture survived, the center of book learning moved to Bulgaria, and from there to Russia.

The holy chief-apostle teachers are revered in the West and East. In Russia, in memory of the feat of the brothers, a holiday was established - May 24 is celebrated as the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture.

Memory

Settlements

• 1869 - the foundation of the village of Mefodievka near Novorossiysk

Monuments

• Monument to Cyril and Methodius at the Stone Bridge in Skopje, Macedonia.
• Monument to Cyril and Methodius in Belgrade, Serbia.
• Monument to Cyril and Methodius in Khanty-Mansiysk.
• Monument in honor of Cyril and Methodius in Thessaloniki, Greece. The statue in the form of a gift was given to Greece by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
• Statue in honor of Cyril and Methodius in front of the building National Library Saints Cyril and Methodius in Sofia, Bulgaria.
• Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and Saints Cyril and Methodius in Velehrad, Czech Republic.
• Monument in honor of Cyril and Methodius, installed in front of the building of the National Palace of Culture in the city of Sofia, Bulgaria.
• Monument to Cyril and Methodius in Prague, Czech Republic.
• Monument to Cyril and Methodius in Ohrid, Macedonia.
• Cyril and Methodius are depicted on the monument "1000th Anniversary of Russia" in Veliky Novgorod.

Books

• 1835 - poem "Cyrillo-Mephodias", Jan Golla
• 1865 - "Cyril and Methodius Collection" (edited by Mikhail Pogodin)
• 1984 - "Khazar Dictionary", Milorad Pavich
• 1979 - Thessalonica Brothers, Slav Karaslavov

Movies

• 1983 - "Konstantin the Philosopher"
• 1989 - Thessalonica Brothers
• 2013 - "Cyril and Methodius - Apostles of the Slavs"

Cyril (in the world Constantine) (c.827-869)

Methodius (815-885) Slavic enlighteners

Associated with the names of two enlightenment brothers major event in the history of Slavic culture - the invention of the alphabet, which gave rise to Slavic writing.

Both brothers came from the family of a Greek military leader and were born in the city of Thessalonica (modern Thessaloniki in Greece). The elder brother, Methodius, entered the military service in his youth. For ten years he was the manager of one of the Slavic regions of Byzantium, and then left his post and retired to a monastery. In the late 860s, he became abbot of the Greek monastery of Polychron on Mount Olympus in Asia Minor.

Unlike his brother, Cyril from childhood was distinguished by a craving for knowledge and as a boy he was sent to Constantinople to the court of the Byzantine Emperor Michael III. There he received an excellent education, studied not only Slavic, but also Greek, Latin, Hebrew and even Arabic. He subsequently abandoned public service and was tonsured a monk.

For several years, Kirill worked as a librarian for Patriarch Photius, and then was appointed teacher at the court school. Already at this time, he had a reputation as a talented writer. On behalf of the patriarch, he wrote polemical speeches and participated in religious disputes.

Upon learning that his brother had become abbot, Cyril left Constantinople and went to the monastery of Polychron. Cyril and Methodius spent several years there, after which they made their first trip to the Slavs, during which they realized that in order to spread Christianity, it was necessary to create a Slavic alphabet. The brothers returned to the monastery, where they began this work. It is known that only the preparation for the translation of sacred books into Slavonic took them more than three years.

In 863, when the Byzantine emperor, at the request of the Moravian prince Rostislav, sent the brothers to Moravia, they had just begun translating the main liturgical books. Naturally, such a grandiose work would have dragged on for many years if a circle of translators had not formed around Cyril and Methodius.

In the summer of 863, Cyril and Methodius arrived in Moravia, already in possession of the first Slavonic texts. However, their activities immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the Bavarian Catholic clergy, who did not want to cede their influence over Moravia to anyone.

In addition, the appearance of Slavic translations of the Bible contradicted the establishment of the Catholic Church, according to which the church service had to be held in Latin, and the text Holy Scripture should not have been translated into any language other than Latin.

Therefore, in 866, Cyril and Methodius had to go to Rome at the call of Pope Nicholas I. To earn his blessing, the brothers brought to Rome the relics of St. Clement, which they discovered during their first trip to the Slavs. However, while they were getting to Rome, Pope Nicholas I died, so the brothers were taken over by his successor, Adrian II. He appreciated the benefits of the enterprise they had conceived and not only allowed them to worship, but also tried to achieve their initiation into church positions. Negotiations about this dragged on for a long time. At this time, Cyril unexpectedly dies, and only Methodius, at the direction of the Pope, was consecrated to the rank of archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia.

With the permission of Adrian II, he returned to Moravia, but was never able to start his activities, because the Salzburg Archbishop Adalvin, taking advantage of the unexpected death of Pope Adrian, summoned Methodius to himself, ostensibly for an introduction, and then arrested him and put him in prison. Methodius spent three years there and only at the insistence of the new Pope, John VIII, was he released. True, he was again forbidden to conduct worship in the Slavic language.

Returning to Pannonia, Methodius violated this rule, settled in Moravia, where he was engaged in translations of sacred books and continued to perform divine services. For six years, the group of students he created did a great job: they not only completed the translation into Slavonic of all the books of Holy Scripture, but also translated the most important documents that made up the collection Nomokannon. It was a collection of decrees that determined the norms for the celebration of worship and all church life.

The activities of Methodius caused new denunciations, and he was again summoned to Rome. However, Pope John VIII realized that nothing could prevent the spread of the Slavic alphabet, and once again allowed Slavic worship. True, at the same time he excommunicated Methodius from the Catholic Church.

Methodius returned back to Moravia, where he continued his activities. Only in 883 did he again go to Byzantium, and on his return he continued to work, but soon died, leaving as his successor a student named Gorazd.

To this day, the disputes of scientists about what kind of alphabet Cyril created - Cyrillic or Glagolitic - do not subside. The difference between them is that Glagolitic is more archaic in lettering, while Cyrillic turned out to be more convenient for conveying the sound features of the Slavic language. It is known that in the 9th century both alphabets were in use, and only at the turn of the 10th-11th centuries. Glagolitic has practically fallen out of use.

After the death of Cyril, the alphabet invented by him got its current name. Over time, the Cyrillic alphabet became the basis of all Slavic alphabets, including Russian.