Two brothers made an immeasurably great contribution to the development of Russian writing: Cyril (Constantine) and Methodius. But despite their great fame, some questions regarding the biography and activities of the brothers have still not been resolved. The only sources from which one can learn about the existence of the brothers are their lives. The Life of Cyril was written immediately after his death in 869 under the direction of his brother, Methodius. The writing of the “Life of Methodius” dates back to 885. Although these monuments give us a relatively complete picture of the life and deeds of the brothers, researchers are still tormented by the question of why there is not a single mention of Cyril and Methodius in various other sources. After all, they traveled throughout Great Moravia on behalf of the Tsar and Patriarch of Byzantium, while in Moravia they were engaged in church organization and actively interacted with Prince Rostislav, made a trip to Rome, where they were solemnly received by Pope Adrian II. All these events simply could not help but be reflected in some sources. There are two points of view on the problem of “Byzantine silence”. For example, S. B. Bernstein claims that documents recording the activities of the brothers Cyril and Methodius existed, but now they have been lost without a trace. But B. N. Florya presents a more complex explanation of this situation: “The complete absence of information about Constantine and Methodius in Byzantine sources of the 9th century is true evidence of how alien the ideas of the Thessaloniki brothers turned out to be in this environment, with whom we, through the distance of time, behind the ranks of theological arguments, we discover a deep conviction that all peoples are equal and that they all have the right to draw the best values ​​from the treasury of world culture, a conviction that is deeply humanistic in nature” Tales of the beginning of Slavic writing / Under. Ed. V. D. Korolyuk. - M., 1981. - P. 23.

Now it’s worth moving on to the biography of the creators of the alphabet themselves. The brothers were born in the Macedonian city of Thessaloniki. Cyril was born in 826, and Methodius in 820. Cyril's missionary activity began in the 850s. First he goes to Bulgaria, to the Bregalnitsa River, where he converts many Bulgarians to Christianity. Then he goes to Syria, where he very successfully speaks in theological disputes with Saracen scholars. Constantine’s third missionary journey was a trip to Khazaria; many sources also indicate that Methodius took part in the trip along with Cyril. On the way to Khazaria, the brothers stopped in the Greek city of Chersonese (in Slavic Korsun), where Kirill discovered the “Gospel” and the “Psalter”, written in “Russian letters”, and a man speaking Russian, and began to learn from this man to read and speak his language. The Khazar mission ended successfully, Cyril defeated the Jewish and Muslim sages in disputes and converted about 200 subjects to Christianity.

Soon after returning from Khazaria, Cyril and Methodius went to Moravia; this mission became the main one in the lives of both brothers. Soon a message arrived from the Moravian prince Rostislav, where he asked to send teachers to Moravia who could preach in a language understandable to the Moravians and rewrite the holy books. The Emperor of Byzantium called Cyril to carry out this task, since Cyril had proven himself very well as an educated person, in addition, he already had experience of such trips. Together with his brother Methodius and his disciples Gorazd, Clement, Savva, Naum and Angelyar, he compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated into Slavic the books without which divine services could not be performed: the Gospel, the Psalter and selected services. After completing the translation, the brothers went to the capital of Moravia - Veligrad, where they were received with honor and began to teach worship 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. In 866, Cyril and Methodius were summoned by Pope Nicholas I to Rome for trial to resolve this issue. Taking with them the relics of Saint Clement, Pope of Rome, Cyril and Methodius went to Rome. When they arrived in Rome, Nicholas I was no longer alive; his successor Adrian II, having learned that they were carrying with them the relics of St. Clement, met them solemnly outside the city. The Pope approved worship in the Slavic language, and ordered the books translated by the brothers to be placed in Roman churches and the liturgy to be performed in the Slavic language.

At the beginning of February 869, Cyril, who was in poor health, became seriously ill and took the schema and his monastic name (in the world his name was Constantine). On February 14, Kirill died. Left alone, Methodius returned to Moravia, where he continued the work he and his brother had begun as an archbishop. But soon Prince Rostislav was overthrown from the throne by Svyatopolk, his nephew. Then Methodius and his disciples found themselves in a very difficult situation: Methodius was arrested, and he spent more than two years on trial and in prison. Having learned about this, Pope John VIII ordered the immediate release of Methodius and his reinstatement as an archbishop, since he saw this arrest as an attack on the authority of papal power. After many disputes with John VIII, Methodius managed to achieve the legitimation of Slavic worship and Slavic church books. But over time, Methodius’ strength increasingly leaves him; before his death, he decides to travel to Byzantium. He returned to Moravia in mid-884, where he died on April 19, 885.

Before his death, Methodius appointed one of his students, Gorazd, as his successor. But Pope Stephen V did not approve this appointment, worship in the Slavic language was again prohibited, and, moreover, persecution began against all students and followers of Cyril and Methodius. After this, most of the students fled to Bulgaria. This is how the beginnings of Slavic writing were driven out of Moravia.

The creation of Slavic writing is rightfully attributed to the brothers Constantine the Philosopher (in monasticism - Cyril) and Methodius. Information about the beginning of Slavic writing can be gleaned from various sources: the Slavic lives of Cyril and Methodius, several words of praise and church services in their honor, the work of the monk Khrabra “On Writing,” etc.

In 863, an embassy from the Great Moravian prince Rostislav arrived in Constantinople. The ambassadors conveyed to Emperor Michael III a request to send missionaries to Moravia who could preach in a language understandable to the Moravians (Moravians) instead of the Latin language of the German clergy.

The Great Moravian Empire (830-906) was a large early feudal state of the Western Slavs. Apparently, already under the first prince Moimir (reigned 830-846), representatives of the princely family adopted Christianity. Under Mojmir's successor Rostislav (846-870), the Great Moravian Empire waged an intensified fight against German expansion, the weapon of which was the church. Rostislav tried to counteract the German church by creating an independent Slavic bishopric, and therefore turned to Byzantium, knowing that Slavs lived in Byzantium and in its neighborhood.

Rostislav's request to send missionaries was in line with the interests of Byzantium, which had long sought to extend its influence to the Western Slavs. It was even more consistent with the interests of the Byzantine church, whose relations with Rome in the mid-9th century. became increasingly hostile. Just in the year of the arrival of the Great Moravian embassy, ​​these relations became so aggravated that Pope Nicholas even publicly cursed Patriarch Photius.

Emperor Michael III and Patriarch Photius decided to send a mission to Great Moravia led by Constantine the Philosopher and Methodius. This choice was not accidental. Konstantin already had extensive experience in missionary activity and showed himself to be a brilliant dialectician and diplomat. This decision was also due to the fact that the brothers, coming from the half-Slavic-half-Greek city of Thessaloniki, knew the Slavic language very well.

Constantine (826-869) and his older brother Methodius (820-885) were born and spent their childhood in the bustling Macedonian port city of Thessaloniki (now Thessaloniki, Greece).

In the early 50s, Constantine showed himself to be a skilled orator, winning a brilliant victory in a debate over the former patriarch Arius. It was from this time that Emperor Michael, and then Patriarch Photius, began to almost continuously send Constantine as an envoy of Byzantium to neighboring peoples to convince them of the superiority of Byzantine Christianity over other religions. So Constantine, as a missionary, visited Bulgaria, Syria and the Khazar Kaganate.

The character, and, consequently, the life of Methodius were in many ways similar, but in many ways they were different from the character and life of his younger brother.

They both lived a mainly spiritual life, striving to embody their beliefs and ideas, not attaching importance to wealth, career, or fame. The brothers never had wives or children, they wandered all their lives, never creating a home for themselves, and even died in a foreign land. It is no coincidence that not a single literary work of Constantine and Methodius has survived to this day, although both of them, especially Constantine, wrote and translated many scientific and literary works; finally, it is still not known which alphabet was created by Constantine the Philosopher - Cyrillic or Glagolitic.

In addition to similar traits, there were many differences in the brothers’ characters, however, despite this, they ideally complemented each other in working together. The younger brother wrote, the older brother translated his works. The younger one 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 worker.

It is not surprising that at the council convened on the occasion of the Moravian embassy, ​​the emperor declared that no one would fulfill the request of Prince Rostislav better than Constantine the Philosopher. After this, according to the story of the Life, Constantine retired from the council and prayed for a long time. According to chronicle and documentary sources, he then developed the Slavic alphabet. “The Philosopher went and, according to the old custom, began to pray with other helpers. And soon God revealed to him that he was listening to the prayers of his servants, and then he folded the letters and began to write the words of the Gospel: from time immemorial the word and the word of God, and God the word(“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”) and so on.”  In addition to the Gospel, the brothers translated other liturgical books into Slavic (according to the “Pannorian Life” these were “The Chosen Apostle”, “The Psalter” and certain passages from the “Church Services”). Thus, the first Slavic literary language was born, many of whose words are still alive in Slavic languages, including Bulgarian and Russian.

Constantine and Methodius went to Great Moravia. In the summer of 863, after a long and difficult journey, the brothers finally arrived in the hospitable capital of Moravia, Velehrad.

Prince Rostislav received envoys from friendly Byzantium. With his help, the brothers chose students for themselves and diligently taught them the Slavic alphabet and church services in the Slavic language, and in their free time from classes they continued to translate the brought Greek books into the Slavic language. Thus, from the very moment of their arrival in Moravia, Constantine and Methodius did everything possible to quickly spread Slavic writing and culture in the country.

Gradually, the Moravians (Moravians) became more and more accustomed to hearing their native language in churches. Churches where services were conducted in Latin became empty, and the German Catholic clergy lost their influence and income in Moravia, and therefore attacked the brothers with malice, accusing them of heresy.

Having prepared disciples, Constantine and Methodius, however, faced a serious difficulty: since neither of them was a bishop, they did not have the right to ordain priests. But the German bishops refused this, since they were not at all interested in the development of divine services in the Slavic language. In addition, the brothers’ activities towards the development of divine services in the Slavic language, being historically progressive, came into conflict with the so-called theory of trilingualism created in the early Middle Ages, according to which only three languages ​​had the right to exist in worship and literature: Greek, Hebrew and Latin.

Constantine and Methodius had only one way out - to seek a solution to the difficulties that had arisen in Byzantium or Rome. However, oddly enough, the brothers choose Rome, although at that moment the papal throne was occupied by Nicholas, who fiercely hated Patriarch Photius and everyone associated with him. Despite this, Constantine and Methodius hoped for a favorable reception from the pope, and not without reason. The fact is that Constantine had the remains of Clement, the third in order of pope, found by him, if we consider that the very first was the Apostle Peter. Having such a valuable relic in their hands, the brothers could be sure that Nicholas would make great concessions, even allowing worship in the Slavic language.

In mid-866, after 3 years in Moravia, Constantine and Methodius, accompanied by their disciples, left Velehrad for Rome. On the way, the brothers met the Pannonian prince Kocel. He well understood the significance of the work undertaken by Constantine and Methodius and treated the brothers as a friend and ally. Kocel himself learned Slavic literacy from them and sent with them about fifty students for the same training and ordination. Thus, the Slavic letter, in addition to Moravia, became widespread in Pannonia, where the ancestors of modern Slovenes lived.

By the time the brothers arrived in Rome, Pope Nicholas was replaced by Adrian II. He favorably received Constantine and Methodius, allowed services in the Slavic language, ordained the brothers as priests, and their students as presbyters and deacons.

The brothers remained in Rome for almost two years. Konstantin becomes seriously ill. Feeling the approach of death, he becomes a monk and takes a new name - Cyril. Shortly before his death, he turns to Methodius: “Behold, brother, you and I were a couple in the same harness and plowed the same furrow, and I fall into the field, having finished my day. Love the mountain, but do not dare to leave your teaching for the sake of the mountain, for how else can you achieve salvation?”   February 14, 869 Konstantin-Cyril died at the age of 42.

Methodius, on the advice of Kotzel, seeks to be ordained Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia. In 870 he returned to Pannonia, where he was persecuted by the German clergy and imprisoned for some time. In mid-884, Methodius moved to Moravia and began translating the Bible into Slavic. He dies on April 6, 885.

The activities of the brothers were continued in the South Slavic countries by their disciples, expelled from Moravia in 886. In the West, Slavic worship and literacy did not survive, but were established in Bulgaria, from where they spread from the 9th century to Russia, Serbia and other countries.

The significance of the activities of Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius was the creation of the Slavic alphabet, the development of the first Slavic literary and written language, and the formation of the foundations for creating texts in the Slavic literary and written language. Cyril and Methodius traditions were the most important foundation of the literary and written languages ​​of the southern Slavs, as well as the Slavs of the Great Moravian Empire. In addition, they had a profound influence on the formation of the literary-written language and texts in it in Ancient Rus', as well as its descendants - the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian languages. One way or another, Cyril and Methodius traditions are reflected in the Polish, Serbian, and Polabian languages. Thus, the activities of Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius had a pan-Slavic significance.

Cyril and Methodius, a story for children about Christian preachers, creators of the Slavic alphabet and the Church Slavonic language, is briefly summarized in this article.

Brief message about Cyril and Methodius

These two brothers were from Thessaloniki. Their father was a successful officer and served in the province under its governor. Cyril was born in 827, and Methodius in 815. The Greek brothers were fluent in both Greek and Slavic.

Life before becoming a monk

At the beginning of their journey, they took different paths. Methodius, whose name in the world was Michael, was a military man and had the rank of strategist of the province of Macedonia. Kirill, who bore the name Konstantin before his tonsure, on the contrary, from an early age was interested in the science and culture of neighboring peoples. He translated the Gospel into Slavic. He also studied dialectics, geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, philosophy and rhetoric in Constantinople. Thanks to his extensive knowledge, Constantine could marry an aristocrat and occupy important positions in the highest echelons of power. But he abandoned all this and became a simple keeper of the library in St. Sophia. Of course, Konstantin did not stay here for long and began teaching at the capital’s university. And Mikhail at that time also abandoned his military career and became the abbot of the monastery on Lesser Olympus. Constantine was familiar with the Emperor of Constantinople and, on his instructions, in 856 he went with scientists to Lesser Olympus. Having met his brother there, they decided to write the alphabet for the Slavs.

Cyril and Methodius, creators of the Slavic alphabet

Their further life is connected with church activities. The prerequisite for the decision to start creating the Slavic alphabet was that in 862, ambassadors of the Moravian prince Rostislav arrived in Constantinople. The prince asked the emperor of Constantinople to give him scientists who would teach his people the Christian faith in their language. Rostislav argued that his people had been baptized long ago, but the services were conducted in a foreign dialect. And this is very inconvenient, because not everyone understands it. The emperor, having discussed the request of the Moravian prince with the patriarch, sent the brothers to Moravia. Together with their students, they began to translate. First, the Solun brothers translated Christian books into Bulgarian. These were the Psalter, the Gospel and the Apostle. In Moravia, church leaders spent 3 years teaching the local population to read and write and conducted services. In addition, they visited Panonia and Transcarpathian Rus', where they also glorified the Christian faith.

One day they had a conflict with German priests who did not want to conduct services in the Slavic language. The Pope in 868 summoned the brothers to him. Here everyone came to a common compromise that the Slavs could conduct services in their native language.

While in Italy, Konstantin becomes very ill. Realizing that death is not far off, he takes the monastic name Cyril. On his deathbed, Kirill asks his brother to continue his educational activities. On February 14, 869 he died

Methodius' educational activities

Returning to Moravia, Methodius (he had already adopted a monastic name) does what his brother asked him to do. But there was a change of priests in the country, and the Germans imprisoned him in a monastery. Pope John VIII, having learned about the incident, forbade German church ministers to conduct liturgies until they released Methodius. In 874 he was released and became archbishop. Often rituals and sermons in the Slavic language had to be carried out secretly. Methodius died on April 4, 885.

After the death of both brothers, he was canonized.

Cyril and Methodius interesting facts

• The age difference between Methodius and Cyril becomes 12 years. In addition to them, there were 5 more sons in the family.
• Kirill himself learned to read at an early age.
• Kirill spoke Slavic, Greek, Arabic, Latin and Hebrew.
• May 24 is a day to honor the memory of the brothers.
• Methodius served in the monastery on Lesser Olympus for 10 years before they met with their brother and began their common preaching activities.

We hope that the message about Cyril and Methodius briefly helped you find out information about these Christian preachers. And you can leave your message about Cyril and Methodius using the comment form below.

Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation

Municipal Institution "Secondary School" No. 5

Educational activities

Cyril and Methodius

Examination essay on literature

student of grade 11B.

Supervisor : Leskova Valentina Alekseevna,

Russian language teacher

and literature MU secondary school No. 5.

Birobidzhan, 2004.

I. Introduction

1.1. Day of Slavic Literature, Education and Culture____________ 3

1.2. The significance of the acquisition of writing by the peoples of South-Eastern Europe__ 4

II. Main text

2.1. Brief biographical information

about Cyril and Methodius (before taking orders)_________________________________7

2.2. Educational activities of the holy brothers______________________________ 9

2.3. Spread of Slavic writing

after the death of Cyril and Methodius__________________________________________ 22

III. Conclusion

3.1. General assessment of the activities of Cyril and Methodius ___________________ 24

3.2. History of the holiday of Slavic writing______________________________ 27

List of sources_______________________________________ 29

§ 1.1. Day of Slavic Literature, Education and Culture

There is a great lyric -

Cyrillic!

Like Shostakovich’s cry - “Three lilies!” -

“Sh” turns white in Hillels’ keyboard -

Cyrillic!

And the “F” snorts, like an owl,

It will hit the horizontal “U” with its wings -

And the ducks will fly away for Ontario.

In Latin - the brass organ responded,

And the choir choirs -

To Cyrillic!

“B” looked into the distance from under her palm -

Like the Mother of God expecting a baby.

Andrey Voznesensky.

Every year on May 24, our country celebrates the Days of Slavic Literature and Culture. The history of their occurrence is inextricably linked with the names of the saints equal to the apostles, not only of the Orthodox, but also of the Roman Catholic Church, Cyril (in the world Constantine, born in 826 - 827) and Methodius (secular name unknown, presumably Michael, born before 820), "Slovenian teachers".

§ 1.2. The significance of the acquisition of writing by the peoples of South-Eastern Europe

The acquisition of writing by the Slavic peoples had the same historical and geopolitical significance as the discovery of America or the creation of the “Metternich System” in the 19th century by five European powers after the victory over Napoleon.

Sergei Mikhailovich Solovyov was the first to draw attention to this in his famous “History of Russia from Ancient Times,” describing the conditions in which the educational activities of Cyril and Methodius took place: “The 9th century is the century of the formation of states for both Eastern and Western Europe, the century of the great historical definitions that have been in effect throughout modern European history and are still in effect today.”
In the West, our famous historian writes, the empire of Charlemagne begins to disintegrate, individual peoples gradually emerge from it, independent states are formed, “members of the Western European confederation,” held together by the spiritual power of Rome. From the North, from “Scandinavia - the ancient cradle of nations”, the influx of “land Varangians” into the expanses of the European plain ends (obviously, one of the last were Rurik and his brothers), the path “from the Varangians to the Greeks” dries up. The continent is already occupied, S. M. Soloviev explains this situation, so crowds of Scandinavian pirates appear, devastating the sea and river shores of Europe, and at the same time, we add, discovering America long before Columbus.
Finally, in Byzantium, which is especially important for us, in 842 the century-long theological disputes ceased, and the church dogma subsequently transferred to the Slavs was finally established. The local Council of Constantinople establishes a festival - the “Triumph of Orthodoxy” and Emperor Michael III ascends the throne, under whom the apostolic and educational activities of Cyril and Methodius began.
As for the Slavs themselves, just by this time their “great migration” ends and in the places of final (current) settlement Slavic states begin to form - Great Moravia, Poland, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia and Kievan Rus, which accepted as a spiritual core the eastern branch of Christianity, despite constant military pressure from the followers of Charlemagne. And the reasons here are purely political. For example, writes S. M. Solovyov, “the Moravian prince had to understand that for the independent state of the Slavic state, an independent Slavic church was first of all necessary, that with the German clergy it was impossible to even think about the national and state independence of the Slavs, that with the Latin worship, Christianity was not could bring benefits to the people, who understood the new faith only from the external ritual side and, of course, could not help but shun it. That is why the Moravian prince had to turn to the Byzantine court. ... the close and recent example of Bulgaria should have pointed the Moravian prince to this path (a little earlier, the Bulgarian Tsar Boris adopted Christianity - Author's note); on the part of Byzantium there was nothing to fear from claims similar to the German ones: it was too weak for this, and so Rostislav sent to Constantinople to Emperor Michael with a request for Slavic teachers, and the famous brothers Cyril and Methodius appeared in Moravia, finishing the translation of sacred and liturgical books here books and spread Slavic worship in Moravia and Pannonia. The call of Cyril and Methodius, believed to be in 862, coincides with the founding of the Russian state, which was destined to take advantage of the work of the holy brothers.”
I deliberately quote the famous historian at such length, because here the essence of the historical situation and the very nature of Cyril’s mission are briefly given, thanks to which he, in fact, received the title of saint. Everything seems clear. But why then has scholarly debate on this issue continued for a millennium, despite the fact that the first life of Cyril was written in 885, just 16 years after the death of the forty-two-year-old saint in Rome? They argue about the authorship of the alphabet itself, the date of translation of the books of Holy Scripture, about the mysterious mission of the brothers to the Crimea, about who, finally, called whom: the Slavs to Byzantium or vice versa, etc.

§ 2.1. Brief biographical information about Cyril and Methodius (before taking orders)

To answer all these questions, we must first take a closer look at the personality of Cyril himself, in the story about whom even the “Complete Orthodox Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary” first respectfully ascribes: “philosopher.”

The brothers were natives of the Greek port of Thessaloniki (now Thessaloniki), known as Thessaloniki. Here Byzantium ended, and the vast lands of the Slavs - our ancestors - began. The inhabitants of Thessaloniki knew the language of the Macedonian Slavs well, since a large Slavic population lived in the city itself and especially in its surroundings. The boys' father was a Greek military leader, and his mother was a Slav, so Methodius and Constantine knew the language well, although their nationality was more likely to be Greek. It is no coincidence that Emperor Michael said in his parting words: “You are both Solunians, and all Solunians speak Slavic well.”

The eldest of the brothers, Methodius, apparently was not devoid of organizational abilities and had administrative skills: for a number of years he was the ruler of some Slavic region in Byzantium, possibly in the southeast, in Macedonia, but resigned from his position in Monastery of Olympus (Asia Minor). The younger brother, Konstantin, showed extraordinary talents from childhood. Even at the age of 15, Constantine read Gregory the Theologian, one of the most thoughtful fathers of the Church. Rumors about the young man's abilities reached Constantinople, and Emperor Michael III took him to court as a fellow student of his son. He studied under the famous Photius, the future patriarch, and studied ancient literature and science. In the “Life” of Constantine it is said this way: “When he came to Constantinople, they gave him to teachers to study. And in three months he mastered all grammar and took up other sciences, learned Homer, and geometry, and dialectics from Photius, and all philosophical teachings, and moreover, rhetoric, and arithmetic, and astronomy, and music, and all other Hellenic teachings." Constantine, who had access to the court of Empress Theodora, after refusing a profitable marriage, accepted the priesthood and became a chartophylax (librarian) at the patriarchal library, and after secretly leaving for a monastery, he began teaching Hellenic and Christian philosophy at the Magnavra Academy - the Constantinople High School (from here Nicknamed Kirill - "philosopher"). Together with Photius, he persistently studied philology.

§ 2.2. Educational activities

holy brothers

When an embassy from the Khazar Kagan arrived to the Byzantine emperor with a request to send Muslim scholars to become acquainted with Christianity, the emperor and the patriarch unanimously chose Constantine. The emperor entrusted him with the most important and responsible missions. The history of the church marks the victory of Constantine in the disputes with Patriarch John, an adherent of iconoclasm, around whom church passions boiled over for more than a century. His victory over Islamic scholars in Baghdad in 851 brought him even greater fame. In other words, by the time he began his main mission in life - the enlightenment of the Slavs - Constantine was no longer known only to the entire Christian world, he was one of the most educated people of his time. Of course, who else if not him and his brother should have been entrusted by the emperor with the famous mission to Moravia in 863? Together with his brother Methodius, he spent several years in the Olympus monastery, and then the brothers went on a new mission to the Khazars.

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Tula State University

Department of Russian Language

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on the topic: " Life and work of Cyril and Methodius . Cyrillic. »

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The life and work of Cyril and Methodius.

Cyrillic and Glagolitic.

Did the ancient Slavs have a letter before the introduction of the Cyrillic alphabet, and what was this letter like?

List of used literature.

Life and work of Cyril and Methodius

Cyril (in the world Constantine) and Methodius are brothers, great Slavic educators. 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.

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

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

Constantine (826-869) and his older brother Methodius (820-885) were born and spent their childhood in the Macedonian city of Soluni (now Thessaloniki).

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 introduced into people’s life, and vague stories of lives, traditions, and legends.

Even as a child, Konstantin loved science most of all. One of Constantine’s teachers, who taught him philosophy, was the famous Photius, who twice served as Byzantine patriarch, compiler and author of many major literary works. The friendship of Constantine and Photius largely predetermined the future fate of Constantine.

Constantine, having abandoned a profitable marriage and a brilliant career, accepted the priesthood, and after secretly leaving for a monastery, he began teaching philosophy (hence the nickname Kirill - “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.

Emperor Michael, and then Patriarch Photius, began to continuously send Constantine, as an envoy of Byzantium, to neighboring peoples to convince them of the superiority of Byzantine Christianity over all other religions. 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. He participated in the embassy of Photius to the Arabs of the Baghdad Caliphate, on the occasion of the exchange of prisoners, and was an excellent polemicist with Muslim learned theologians.

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 into the depths of Khazaria was filled with theological disputes with the Mohammedans and Jews. Constantine subsequently outlined the entire course of the dispute in 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.

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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

Constantine, in the quiet of his refuge, was probably busy completing the work related to his not new plans for the conversion of the pagan Slavs. He compiled a special alphabet for the Slavic language, the so-called “Glagolic alphabet,” and began translating the Holy Scriptures into Old Bulgarian. Awareness of the existence of worship in the popular language among the peoples of the East inspired Constantine with the idea of ​​using the Slavic language in worship. It was destined for Constantine, together with Methodius, to realize this idea on the soil not of Bulgaria, but of Moravia, which was already considered Christian, but was churchly unorganized, was the subject of the claims of the Bavarian-German episcopate and at the same time was fighting for its political independence against Louis the German. With the support of the temporal and spiritual Byzantine authorities, Constantine and Methodius went to Moravia in 863. They worked here for more than three years; they converted pagans, confirmed the faith and morality of already believers, taught Slavic literacy, translated liturgical parts of the Holy Scriptures and the most important church rites, and with all this, and especially with their Slavic church service, they caused the displeasure of the Latin-German clergy. Almost insurmountable obstacles arose on the way to the spread of the Slavic rite in Moravia. Constantine and Methodius had only one way out - to seek solutions to the difficulties created by the Germans in Byzantium or Rome.

The brothers decided to return to their homeland and, in order to consolidate their business in Moravia, take with them some of their students, the Moravans, 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 of the Holy Scriptures, but also the 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 composed two new literary works in Rome: “The Discovery 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 on February 14 he died, before his death he made a promise from Methodius to continue the work begun in Moravia.

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 literature 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, upon Methodius’ return 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 Koceolus. 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 other Slavic peoples neighboring Moravia in the circle of his activities.

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, as 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. began translating the full text of the canonical books of Holy Scripture into Slavic (except for the Maccabees). Having finished his hard work, Methodius weakened even more. April 19, 885 Methodius died.

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 received further 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, the eastern Slavs, who united their destinies with Byzantium. This happened thanks to the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, expelled from Moravia.