Cyril And Methodius

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A turning point in the history of the Macedonian Slavs was the development of an alphabet and the appearance of literacy. It was a means for spreading Christianity among them and for the development of the first Slavonic literary language. There are two stages in the literacy of the Macedonian Slavs: the first was reading and fortune-telling by means of lines and stripes, while the second includes the use of Greek and Latin alphabet after Christianization.
However, in order that Christianization could gain momentum and penetrate all strata of the population, it was essential that the Gospel be preached in the language of the people who were to be converted to Christianity. Otherwise, it would not have been possible for 54,000 Macedonian Slavs from the Bregalnitsa region to be introduced to Christ's teaching--they would not have converted if Christ's truth had not been explained to them in their own language and in language they understood. In the Ascension of Cyril, popularly called the Short Cyril's Hagiography and considered by a number of scholars to have been written by Clement of Ohrid, it is written: "Then he [Cyril] went to Bregalnitsa and he met unbaptized people, he baptized and introduced them to the Orthodox religion. He wrote books for them in Slavonic. Those who were converted by him to Christ's religion were of the number of 54,000..."
In the Panonia legends in the Cyril's Hagiography it is said that the Moravian prince, Rastislav, addressed Byzantine Emperor Michail III in a letter and asked him: "For our people who had renounced polytheism and accepted Christianity, we have not a teacher who would explain Christ's faith in our language... For that reason, my lord, please send us such a bishop and a teacher." In the fourth chapter of the same legends it is written that at the meeting, Cyril was also present, and when this application was on the agenda the philosopher was addressed by the emperor: "Philosopher, did you hear these words? Except for yourself, there is no other person who can carry out this task. Take these numerous presents and go, and take your brother Methodius the prior with you. You are Thessalonikians, and all the Thessalonikians speak pure
Slavonic." Cyril's Hagiography also includes the philosopher's reply: "Although I am tired and ill, I will go there with pleasure, if they have letters for their language."
Cyril, also known by his secular name of Constantine, was born in 826 or 827 A.D. in Thessaloniki. In the Praising Homily of Cyril and Methodius, reputedly written by Clement of Ohrid, it is written: "In the city of Thessaloniki there was a man named Lav, an irreproachable man, who respected the truth and God... He had seven children... The blessed Constantine was the youngest of them, but reached high through his intellect and good deeds... He was spiritually gifted as an apostle, to speak many languages." Constantine spoke Greek, Latin, Syrian and Hebrew and was educated at the Imperial Court in Constantinople. Upon finishing his education he became a librarian at the Church of St. Sophia in the same town and a lecturer of philosophy at Constantinople's university. Before leaving for Moravia, he attended two missions: one to the Arabian Caliph of Samaria and later, accompanied by his brother Methodius, one among the Turkish-Tartarian Khazars in southern Russia. After the mission in Moravia, the two brothers went to Venice, where Constantine had heated verbal duels with the tri-linguists. The latter held the opinion that the divine services of Christianity can and must be performed solely in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. Cyril's reply: "Does not it rain from God equally for everyone? Does the Sun not shine the same for everyone? Do not we all breath the air equally? Hence, are not you ashamed of yourselves to recognize only three languages, and wish that all other peoples should remain blind and stupid?" From Venice the brothers went to Rome, where Cyril died on February 14,869.
Methodius (his secular name is not known) was born sometime between 810 and 820 and was the eldest son of Lav, deputy of the military administrator of Thessaloniki. Together with his youngest brother Constantine he passed his youth in Thessaloniki, where the language of the Macedonian Slavs was spoken and which they had excellent knowledge of. Methodius' biography is included in the Praising Homily of Cyril and Methodius, where it is written :"...His elder brother, the blessed Methodius, on the other hand, was awarded secular honors since his early years. By his prudence he was like a fragrant flower in its bloom and was loved by all rulers. It was because in his talks he was like Solomon, narrating amazing stories, morals and questions from the bottom of his heart. In his service he was dear to everyone and in war he appeared like Samson and Gideon, but was innocent as Jesus Christ. For such reasons he
Slavic Literacy 39 was commissioned as governor and he held that rank for a certain time." Pursuing family tradition, Methodius became addicted to the military profession. He was appointed an archon (administrator) of the Bregalnitsa-Strumica region. He held this office for ten years, and then for unknown reasons retired to Olympus in Asia Minor, where it is thought he became a monk. At a later date, he was joined there by Constantine.
In 862, Michail III summoned them both and entrusted them with the mission to Moravia. The mission had an entirely political background: strengthening Byzantine influence in the northwest, where the Church of Rome had become increasingly aggressive in extending the zone of its presence. After Cyril's death in 869, Pope Hadrian sent Methodius to Prince Kotzel of Panonia. On his second visit to Rome, Methodius was ordained as Archbishop of Panonia. The reaction of the German clergy in Panonia and Moravia was so violent that they pronounced an anathema upon Methodius, and he, together with his disciples, was imprisoned for thirty months. In 873 he was released through the intervention of the Pope, but any Slavonic religious service was forbidden. Methodius did not adhere to the ban and the Slavonic liturgy spread to Moravia. In 879 Methodius had to go to Rome for a third time, to vindicate himself before the Pope. In order to preserve relations with Moravia, Pope John VIII allowed religious services to be practiced in Slavonic and in 882 this was approved by Patriarch Photius. Fearing that his last hour was near, Methodius translated the entire Bible into Slavonic, dying in Moravia in 885.
It is beyond doubt that Cyril and Methodius created their alphabet on the basis of their excellent knowledge of the language of the Macedonian Slavs, who were densely settled around Thessaloniki and in the town itself. It is also indisputable that it was a language understood throughout a large territory inhabited by Slavic tribes. Otherwise, what would be the explanation for the fact that the two brothers translated church literature into the language of the Macedonian Slavs for the inhabitants of relatively distant Moravia? There are many indications that Cyril created an alphabet (most likely the Glagolitic) for the requirements of Christianizing the Slavic pagans inhabiting the area between Vardar and Strymon rivers, the Bregalnitsa region, where his brother Methodius had been administrator before being asked by Michail Ill to go to Moravia. If this is true, then it is indisputable that the language of the Slavs was at this time general and common. It also means that the brothers, by using the language of the Macedonian Slavs, were the founders of the first literary Slavonic language and the forefathers of the Slavic literature.
Why Old Church Slavonic rather than Old Bulgarian? Because there are no arguments whatsoever to connect the medieval Bulgarians with the historical and linguistic events, such as the Christianization of the Slavs and the creation of the Slavonic alphabet. Taking into account the latest interpretations of recently-discovered inscriptions and comparing their texts with established historical facts, Slaveska comes to conclusions which confirm the opinion of Blaze Koneski that Old Church Slavonic is based on South Slavonic speech.
In the ancient town of Philippi, located 12 kilometers from Kavala, an inscription of Khan Pressian was discovered, which reads: "Pressian, appointed prince of the many Bulgars by God, sent the caukhan Isbul after giving him an army, and the boyila Ichurgu, and the khan boyila Kolovur, and the caukhan, against the Smolyans." It means that the Bulgars and the Slavic Smolyans, who inhabited southeastern Macedonia, waged war against each other. As can be observed, relations between Bulgars and Slavs were oft a state of war and the written records confirm this. However, there are not any written records about cohabitation between the Bulgars and Slavs. Furthermore, when the rebel Thomas the Slav and his soldiers besieged Constantinople in 821-823, a chronicler of that time noted: "...he had powerful enemy forces.., from the regions in Asia, Europe, Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly and from the surrounding Sclaveni." According to the peace treaty dated 814, the Bulgars fought on the side of the Romaeans in the defense of Constantinople and were direct opponents to the Slavs of Macedonia. In those years, the Bulgarian Slavs had newer been named as Sclaveni. In general, throughout the entire period, the Macedonian Sclaveni resisted both the Bulgars and the Byzantines in their attempts to enclose them into large administrative units, themes, similar to those of Thessaloniki and Strymon in the 9th century. Having in mind that the mass Christianization of the Macedonian Slavs was carried out in the mid-9th century, when no symbiosis of any kind existed between Bulgarians and Macedonian Slavs, it must be stressed that there are no arguments whatsoever to connect the medieval Bulgarians with the Christianization of the Slavs in Macedonia and with the appearance of literacy on Macedonian territory. The reason for this is simple: the Christianization of Prince Boris and his people began in 866, three years after the Moravia mission of the holy brothers.
Consequently, it can not be a question of an Old Bulgarian language in speaking of the appearance of Slav literacy and its subsequent dispersal over the entire territory settled by the Slavs. In support of this statement the following fact should be considered: the language in which literacy was spread was
Slavic Literacy 41 strange even to Prince Boris himself, because a Slavonic tongue was accepted as the state language in Bulgaria as late as 893, at the Preslav council. The concepts of "Bulgarian Slavs" and "Slavs of a Bulgarian group", particularly when used to label the Macedonian Slavs, are historically unsustainable because Old Bulgarian was formed and developed in Bulgaria as late as the second half of the 9th century and cannot be connected with the language of Cyril and Methodius. Irrespective of what efforts were and are made to suggest such a linkage, the Slavonic tongue of the Thessaloniki brothers is older than the Old Bulgarian language of Prince Boris.
It seemed as if the death of Methodius (885) marked a turn in the attitude of Great Moravia in respect to practicing the religious service in Slavonic. Prince Svalopluk banned the use of this language in a brutal manner, putting some of the disciples of Cyril and Methodius in chains and expelling others from the country. "... They arrived in the countries by the Danube River and immediately set off towards the Danube River. They tied three pieces of wood together with a traveler's joy and said a prayer.., and by God's miracle crossed the river and arrived in Belgrade [at that time under Bulgarian authority]." This refers to the coming to Belgrade of Clement, Naum, Gorazd and Angelarius. "There, a great honor was bestowed on them by Prince Radislav and they gave him their blessings and wished him luck... Then, some of them scattered in Mysia, while others went to Dalmatia and Dacia. Naum and Clement came to the Illyrian and Lichnidian countries."
According to the Short Hagiography of St. Clement, written by Demetrius Homatian, Clement was born "somewhere in Macedonia" in 840. In the Extensive Hagiography it is stated that the founder of Slavonic literacy and literature in Macedonia accompanied the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius since his youth.
Naum was also born in Macedonia, around 835. When Simeon ordained Clement as Bishop of Velika, Clement conditioned his acceptance of this ecclesiastic honor by requiring the presence of Nauru in Ohrid. He approached Prince Boris with the following words: "...Nauru is tired and ill. He wishes to spend the rest of his life in the place where he was born and which he left as a young boy, pure like myself. It is my duty to take care of him... Let father Naum come with me. If l take the bishop's scepter in my hand, then who is to continue my work as a teacher in Kutmichevitsa? Only Naum is capable of doing that...". It was not by accident that Prince Boris did his best to lure the scholarly and wise Clement to his side. At that time, the influence of Byzantium in Mace-
donia was intensified through the medium of Greek clergymen, who were free to operate in this territory ever since 864 when Boris allowed his subjects to be Christianized by the Orthodox church. The prince could not exert his influence through the church, as he had not yet established his own church organization. This was taken advantage of by the Church in Constantinople, which subjugated some of the Macedonian eparchies despite the fact that they belonged to the framework of the new Bulgarian state: these subjugated eparchies including the Ohrid eparchy. If this thesis is accepted as accurate, then a parallel can be made between the activities of the brothers Cyril and Methodhis in Moravia and of Clement and Nauru in Ohrid. In Greater Moravia the brothers were entrusted with the task of replacing the Latin religious service with a Slavonic one; likewise, in conquered Macedonia Clement and Naum were to replace the Greek religious service with a Slavonic one.
Consequently, Clement of Ohrid represents the generation of Macedonian educators who strengthened the awareness that the Slavs should take part in the cultural world as an active subject, not as a shapeless mass without its own cultural image. Through his achievements in the development of Slavonic literacy and language, the holy father Clement grew into a figure of pan-Slavic importance. When speaking about Clement's work, account is taken of the numerous homilies he created and designed for the people among whom he lived--which he very often narrated to them. Transcribed and copied, they were distributed and found their way to all the Slavs.
"The process of social and cultural adaptation of the Slavic masses in the sphere of European civilization went on with a low profile, but with significance for the future. In the 9th century, the results of that process were quite visible both in the stabilization of the life of the Slavs and in their cultural development. During that period, individuals already emerged from among them, who being culturally influenced were to intercede for their own people. Clement of Ohrid was the most distinguished among them", writes Koneski, adding: "The Moravian mission of Cyril and Methodius signified a far more ambitious conception. Slavonic was to become a liturgical language, like Greek and Latin. That was actually the strongest expression of the ambition to secure the cultural and political independence of the Slavs. The successful performance of that action was the basis for the emergence of the Slavs onto the cultural scene of the Middle Ages as a differentiated whole, which was not the case with the other tribal branches in Europe in their contacts with the RomanByzantine cultural sphere."
Slavic Literacy 43
The basic characteristic of the Ohrid literary school was the consistent continuation of the brothers' work. The school supported the use of the original Glagolitic alphabet created by Cyril as well as the form of the language of Cyril and Methodius with all its lexical and grammatical characteristics--the language of the Macedonian Slavs. The literary school in Preslav, unlike the older Ohrid school, developed quite indigenously, using the Cyrillic alphabet. The oldest known use of Cyrillic script is Samuil's inscription dating from 993, but in recent years two older examples of Cyrillic text have been discovered: a Bulgarian inscription dated 943, found in Dobruja and Gnyezdov's inscription in Russia, dating from the early X century.

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