Cyril and Methodius - Misplaced Pages

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For other uses, see Cyril.

Cyril and Methodius were two Byzantine brothers born in Thessaloniki in the in the 9th century, who became missionaries of Christianity in Khazaria and Great Moravia. They are believed to have devised and spread the Glagolitic alphabet used for Slavonic manuscripts before the development of the Cyrillic, an alphabet derived from Glagolitic, which with small modifications is still used in a number of Slavic languages.

After their death their pupils became missionaries among other Slavic peoples.

Their father, Leon, was a military officer in the thema of Thessaloniki who was married to their mother Maria. Cyril's birth name was Constantine (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος) and he was probably renamed Cyril (Greek: 'Lordly') just before his death in Rome.

The two brothers lost their father at a young age, and their uncle Theoktistos (Greek: Θεόκτιστος) became their protector. Theoktistos was a "Logothetes tou dromou," a powerful Byzantine official, responsible for the postal services and the diplomatic relations of the Empire. He was also responsible, along with the regent Bardas, for initiating a far- reaching educational program within the Empire which founded The University of Magnaura at which later on Constantine-Cyril taught in.

He invited (843) Cyril to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire and helped him continue his studies at the University there.

Theoktistos also arranged the placement of Methodius (Greek: Μεθόδιος) as the commander of a Slavic administrative region of the Empire.

The fact that Cyril was a master theologian with a good command of both the Arabic and Hebrew languages made him eligible for his first state mission to the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mutawakkil in order to discuss the principle of the Holy Trinity with the Arab theologian and to tighten the diplomatic relations between the Abbashid Caliphate and the Empire.

The two brothers' second mission (860) by the Byzantine Emperor Michael III and the Patriarch of Constantinople Photius (a professor of Cyril's at the University and his guiding light in earlier years) was a missionary expedition to the Khazars Khagan in order to prevent the expansion of Judaism there. This mission was unsuccesful as later the Khagan imposed Judaism to his people as the national religion.

After their return to Constantinople, Cyril assumed the role of professor of Philosophy in the University while Methodius had been designated as the bishop of the Moni Polychroniou.

In 862 they were invited by prince Rastislav to propagate Christianity in the Slavic language in Great Moravia, which they did until their deaths in 869 (Cyril in Rome) and 885 (Methodius in Great Moravia) respectively. For the purpose of this mission, they devised the Glagolitic alphabet an alphabet derived from the Greek alphabet and used for Slavonic manuscripts before the development of the Cyrillic, an alphabet derived from Glagolitic and the Greek alphabet, that with small modifications is still used in a number of Slavic languages. They also translated Christian texts for Slavs into the language that is now called Old Church Slavonic and wrote the first Slavic Civil Code, which was used in Great Moravia. The language derived from Old Church Slavonic, known as Church Slavonic, is still used in liturgy by several Eastern Orthodox churches. Both brothers are canonized in Eastern Orthodoxy as "equal-to-apostles" and were celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church in 1880. Pope John Paul II promoted them to Patrons of Europe in 1980.

The common commemoration day for the two apostles in the Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran and Anglican Church is on February 14. The Eastern Orthodox Church has a commemoration day for Cyril on February 14 and for both brothers on May 11.

In the Czech lands and Slovakia, the two brothers were originally commemorated on March 9, but Pope Pius IX changed this date to July 5. Today, the St. Cyril and Methodius Day, believed to be the date of the arrival of the two brothers to Great Moravia in 863, is a national holiday both in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The SS. Cyril and Methodius Day on May 24, also known as 'Day of Macedonian Education and Culture and the Slavic Alphabet' (local name: Ден на македонската писменост и култура), is a holiday in Macedonia celebrating Macedonian culture and the invention of the Slavic (Glagolitic) alphabet by the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius. It is also celebrated as the day of "Salonica Brothers" (in Macedonian: Solunski braka).

The SS. Cyril and Methodius Day on May 24, also known as 'Day of Bulgarian Education and Culture and the Slavic Alphabet' (local name: Ден на българската култура и просвета и славянската писменост, "Den na bulgarskata kultura i prosveta i slavyanskata pismenost"), is a national holiday in Bulgaria celebrating Bulgarian culture and the invention of the Slavic (Glagolitic) alphabet by the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius.

For the separate articles on the two brothers, see:

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