What languages ​​did Kirill, the creator of the alphabet, know? Slavic alphabet

Cyril and Methodius are saints, equal to the apostles, Slavic educators, creators of the Slavic alphabet, preachers of Christianity, the first translators of liturgical books from Greek into Slavic. Cyril was born around 827, died on February 14, 869. Before taking monasticism at the beginning of 869, he bore the name Constantine. His elder brother Methodius was born around 820 and died on April 6, 885. Both brothers were originally from Thessalonica (Thessaloniki), their father was a military leader. In 863, Cyril and Methodius were sent by the Byzantine emperor to Moravia in order to preach Christianity in the Slavic language and assist the Moravian prince Rostislav in the fight against the German princes. Before leaving, Cyril created the Slavic alphabet and, with the help of Methodius, translated several liturgical books from Greek into Slavic: selected readings from the Gospel, apostolic epistles. Psalms, etc. There is no consensus in science on the question of which alphabet Cyril created - Glagolitic or Cyrillic, but the first assumption is more likely. In 866 or 867, Cyril and Methodius, at the call of Pope Nicholas I, headed to Rome, and on the way they visited the Principality of Blaten in Pannonia, where they also distributed Slavic literacy and introduced worship in the Slavic language. After arriving in Rome, Kirill became seriously ill and died. Methodius was ordained archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia and in 870 returned from Rome to Pannonia. In mid-884, Methodius returned to Moravia and worked on translating the Bible into Slavic. With their activities, Cyril and Methodius laid the foundation for Slavic writing and literature. This activity was continued in the South Slavic countries by their students who were expelled from Moravia in 886 and moved to Bulgaria.

CYRIL AND MEFODIUS - EDUCATION OF THE SLAVIC PEOPLES

In 863, ambassadors from Great Moravia from Prince Rostislav arrived in Byzantium to Emperor Michael III with a request to send them a bishop and a person who could explain the Christian faith in the Slavic language. The Moravian prince Rostislav strove for the independence of the Slavic church and had already made a similar request to Rome, but was refused. Michael III and Photius, just as in Rome, reacted to Rostislav’s request formally and, having sent missionaries to Moravia, did not ordain any of them as bishops. Thus, Constantine, Methodius and their associates could only conduct educational activities, but did not have the right to ordain their students to the priesthood and deaconship. This mission could not succeed and have of great importance, if Constantine had not brought the Moravians a perfectly developed and convenient alphabet for transmitting Slavic speech, as well as a translation into Slavic of the main liturgical books. Of course, the language of the translations brought by the brothers was phonetically and morphologically different from the living one. spoken language, spoken by the Moravians, but the language of the liturgical books was initially perceived as a written, bookish, sacred, model language. It was much more understandable than Latin, and a certain dissimilarity to the language used in everyday life gave it greatness.

Constantine and Methodius read the Gospel in Slavic at services, and the people reached out to their brothers and to Christianity. Constantine and Methodius diligently taught their students the Slavic alphabet, divine services, and continued their translation activities. Churches where services were held on Latin, emptied, the Roman Catholic priesthood was losing influence and income in Moravia. Since Constantine was a simple priest, and Methodius a monk, they themselves did not have the right to appoint their students to church positions. To solve the problem, the brothers had to go to Byzantium or Rome.

In Rome, Constantine handed over the relics of St. Clement to the newly ordained Pope Adrian II, so he received Constantine and Methodius very solemnly, with honor, took under his care the divine service in the Slavic language, ordered to put Slavic books in one of the Roman temples and perform worship over them. The Pope ordained Methodius as a priest, and his disciples as presbyters and deacons, and in a letter to princes Rostislav and Kotsel he legitimized the Slavic translation of the Holy Scriptures and the celebration of worship in the Slavic language.

The brothers spent almost two years in Rome. One of the reasons for this is Konstantin’s increasingly deteriorating health. At the beginning of 869, he accepted the schema and the new monastic name Cyril, and died on February 14. By order of Pope Adrian II, Cyril was buried in Rome, in the Church of St. Clement.

After the death of Cyril, Pope Adrian ordained Methodius as Archbishop of Moravia and Pannonia. Returning to Pannonia, Methodius began vigorous activity to spread Slavic worship and writing. However, after the removal of Rostislav, Methodius did not have strong political support left. In 871, German authorities arrested Methodius and put him on trial, accusing the archbishop of invading the domain of the Bavarian clergy. Methodius was imprisoned in a monastery in Swabia (Germany), where he spent two and a half years. Only thanks to the direct intervention of Pope John VIII, who replaced the deceased Adrian II, in 873 Methodius was released and restored to all rights, but Slavic worship became not the main one, but only an additional one: the service was conducted in Latin, and sermons could be delivered in Slavic.

After the death of Methodius, opponents of Slavic worship in Moravia became more active, and the worship itself, based on the authority of Methodius, was first oppressed and then completely extinguished. Some of the students fled to the south, some were sold into slavery in Venice, and some were killed. The closest disciples of Methodius Gorazd, Clement, Naum, Angellarius and Lawrence were imprisoned in iron, kept in prison, and then expelled from the country. The works and translations of Constantine and Methodius were destroyed. This is precisely why their works have not survived to this day, although there is quite a lot of information about their work. In 890, Pope Stephen VI anathematized Slavic books and Slavic worship, finally banning it.

The work begun by Constantine and Methodius was nevertheless continued by his disciples. Clement, Naum and Angellarius settled in Bulgaria and were the founders of Bulgarian literature. Orthodox Prince Boris-Mikhail, a friend of Methodius, supported his students. A new center of Slavic writing emerges in Ohrid (the territory of modern Macedonia). However, Bulgaria is under strong cultural influence Byzantium, and one of Constantine's students (most likely Clement) creates a writing system similar to Greek writing. This happens at the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th century, during the reign of Tsar Simeon. It is this system that receives the name Cyrillic in memory of the person who first attempted to create an alphabet suitable for recording Slavic speech.

QUESTION ABOUT THE INDEPENDENCE OF SLAVIC ABCs

The question of the independence of the Slavic alphabets is caused by the very nature of the outlines of the letters of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabet and their sources. What were the Slavic alphabet - a new writing system or just a variation of the Greek-Byzantine letter? When deciding this issue, the following factors must be taken into account:

In the history of writing, there was not a single letter-sound system that arose completely independently, without the influence of previous writing systems. Thus, Phoenician writing arose on the basis of ancient Egyptian (although the principle of writing was changed), ancient Greek - on the basis of Phoenician, Latin, Slavic - on the basis of Greek, French, German - on the basis of Latin, etc.

Consequently, we can only talk about the degree of independence of the writing system. In this case, it is much more important how accurately the modified and adapted original writing corresponds to the sound system of the language that it intends to serve. It was in this regard that the creators of Slavic writing showed great philological flair, a deep understanding of the phonetics of the Old Church Slavonic language, as well as great graphic taste.

THE ONLY STATE-CHURCH HOLIDAY

PRESIDIUM OF THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF THE RSFSR

RESOLUTION

ABOUT THE DAY OF SLAVIC WRITING AND CULTURE

Attaching great importance to the cultural and historical revival of the peoples of Russia and taking into account the international practice of celebrating the day of the Slavic educators Cyril and Methodius, the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR decides:

Chairman

Supreme Council of the RSFSR

In 863, 1150 years ago, the Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Cyril and Methodius began their Moravian mission to create our written language. It is spoken about in the main Russian chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years”: “And the Slavs were glad that they heard about the greatness of God in their language.”

And the second anniversary. In 1863, 150 years ago, the Russian Holy Synod determined: in connection with the celebration of the millennium of the Moravian mission of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Brothers, an annual celebration in honor of the Venerable Methodius and Cyril should be established on May 11 (24 AD).

In 1986, on the initiative of writers, especially the late Vitaly Maslov, the first Writing Festival was held in Murmansk, and next year it was widely celebrated in Vologda. Finally, on January 30, 1991, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR adopted a resolution on the annual holding of the Days Slavic culture and writing. Readers do not need to be reminded that May 24 is also the name day of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'.

Logically, it seems that the only state-church holiday in Russia has every reason to acquire not only a national significance, as in Bulgaria, but also pan-Slavic significance.

By the 9th century, East Slavic tribes occupied vast territories on the great waterway “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” i.e. territories from Lake Ilmen and the Western Dvina basin to the Dnieper, as well as to the east (in the areas of the upper reaches of the Oka, Volga and Don) and to the west (in Volyn, Podolia and Galicia). All these tribes spoke closely related East Slavic dialects and were at different stages of economic and cultural development; based on linguistic community Eastern Slavs the language of the Old Russian people was formed, which received its statehood in Kievan Rus.

The Old Russian language was unwritten. The emergence of Slavic writing is inextricably linked with the adoption of Christianity by the Slavs: liturgical texts that were understandable to the Slavs were needed.

Let's consider the history of the creation of the first Slavic alphabet.

In 862 or 863 Byzantine Emperor Ambassadors arrived for Michael from the Moravian prince Rostislav. They conveyed to the emperor a request to send missionaries to Moravia who could preach and conduct services in a language understandable to the Moravians. native language instead of the Latin language of the German clergy. “Our people have abandoned paganism and adhere to the Christian law, but we do not have a teacher who could instruct us in the Christian faith in our native language,” the ambassadors said. Emperor Michael and the Greek Patriarch Photius gladly received Rostislav's ambassadors and sent the scientist Constantine the Philosopher and his older brother Methodius to Moravia. The brothers Constantine and Methodius were not chosen by chance: Methodius for a number of years was the ruler of the Slavic region in Byzantium, probably in the southeast, in Macedonia. The younger brother, Konstantin, was a man of great learning, he received an excellent education. IN written sources he is usually called "The Philosopher". In addition, Constantine and Methodius were born in the city of Thessaloniki (now Thessaloniki, Greece), in the vicinity of which many Slavs lived. Many Greeks, including Constantine and Methodius, knew their language well.

Constantine was the compiler of the first Slavic alphabet - the Glagolitic alphabet. The Glagolitic graphics were not based on any of the known to science alphabets: Konstantin created it based on the sound composition of the Slavic language. In Glagolitic one can partially find elements or letters similar to the letters of other alphabets of developed languages ​​(Greek, Syriac, Coptic writing and other graphic systems), but it cannot be said that one of these alphabets is the basis of Glagolitic writing. The alphabet compiled by Kirill - Konstantin is original, author's and does not repeat any of the alphabets that existed at that time. The graphics of the Glagolitic alphabet were based on three figures: a cross, a circle and a triangle. Glagolic writing is uniform in style and round in shape. The main difference between Glagolitic writing and previous writing systems attributed to the Slavs is that it remarkably accurately reflected the phonemic composition of the Slavic language and did not require the introduction or establishment of combinations of other letters to denote certain specific Slavic phonemes.

The Glagolitic alphabet became widespread in Moravia and Pannonia, where the brothers carried out their missionary activities, but in Bulgaria, where the disciples of Constantine and Methodius went after their death, the Glagolitic alphabet did not take root. In Bulgaria, before the advent of the Slavic alphabet, letters of the Greek alphabet were used to record Slavic speech. Therefore, “taking into account the specifics of the situation, the students of Constantine and Methodius adapted the Greek alphabet to record Slavic speech. Moreover, to denote Slavic sounds ( Sh, SCH etc.), which were absent in Greek, Glagolitic letters were taken with some changes in their style according to the type of angular and rectangular Greek uncial letters. This alphabet received its name - Cyrillic - after the actual creator of Slavic writing, Cyril (Constantine): with whom, if not with him, should the name of the most common alphabet among the Slavs be associated.

The manuscripts of the Slavic translations of Constantine and Methodius, as well as their students, have not reached our time. The oldest Slavic manuscripts date back to the 10th-11th centuries. Most of them (12 out of 18) are written in Glagolitic alphabet. These manuscripts are closest in origin to the translations of Constantine and Methodius and their disciples. The most famous of them are the Glagolitic gospels Zografskoe, Mariinsky, Assemanievo, the Cyrillic Savvina book, the Supral manuscript, the Hilandar leaves. The language of these texts is called Old Church Slavonic.

Old Church Slavonic has never been a spoken, living language. It is impossible to identify it with the language of the ancient Slavs - the vocabulary, morphology and syntax of Old Church Slavonic translations largely reflect the features of the vocabulary, morphology and syntax of texts written in Greek, i.e. Slavic words repeat the models on which Greek words were constructed. Being the first (known to us) written language Slavs, Old Church Slavonic for the Slavs became an example, model, ideal of a written language. And in the future, its structure was largely preserved in the texts of the Church Slavonic language of various editions.

Is it possible to imagine life without electricity? Of course it's difficult! But it is known that people used to read and write by candles and torches. Imagine life without writing. Some of you will now think to yourself, well, it would be great: you don’t have to write dictations and essays. But then there will be no libraries, books, posters, letters, or even e-mail or text messages. Language, like a mirror, reflects the whole world, our whole life. And reading written or printed texts, it’s as if we are getting into a time machine and can be transported to both recent times and the distant past.

But people did not always master the art of writing. This art has been developing for a long time, over many millennia. Do you know who we should be grateful to for our written word, in which our favorite books are written? For our literacy, which we learn at school? For our great Russian literature, which you are becoming familiar with and will continue to study in high school.

Cyril and Methodius lived in the world,

Two Byzantine monks and suddenly

(No, not a legend, not a myth, not a parody),

Some of them thought: “Friend!

How many Slavs are speechless without Christ!

We need to create an alphabet for the Slavs...

It was thanks to the works of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius that the Slavic alphabet was created.

The brothers were born in the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki in the family of a military leader. Methodius was the eldest son, and, having chosen the military path, he went to serve in one of the Slavic regions. His brother, Cyril, was born 7-10 years later than Methodius, and already in childhood he passionately fell in love with science and amazed his teachers with his brilliant abilities. At the age of 14, his parents sent him to Constantinople, where he quickly studied grammar and geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and medicine, ancient art, and became proficient in Slavic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Arabic. Refusing the high administrative position offered to him, Kirill took a modest position as a librarian in the Patriarchal Library and at the same time taught philosophy at the university, for which he received the nickname “philosopher”. His elder brother Methodius entered early military service. For 10 years he was the manager of one of the regions inhabited by the Slavs. Being an honest and straightforward man, intolerant of injustice, he left military service and retired to a monastery.

In 863, ambassadors from Moravia arrived in Constantinople to ask for preachers to be sent to their country and tell the population about Christianity. The emperor decided to send Cyril and Methodius to Moravia. Cyril, before setting off, asked if the Moravians had an alphabet for their language - “for enlightening a people without writing their language is like trying to write on water,” Cyril explained. To which I received a negative answer. The Moravians did not have an alphabet, so the brothers began work. They had months, not years, at their disposal. They worked from early morning, just before dawn, until late in the evening, when their eyes were already dim with fatigue. In a short time, an alphabet for the Moravians was created. It was named after one of its creators - Kirill - Cyrillic.

Using the Slavic alphabet, Cyril and Methodius very quickly translated the main liturgical books from Greek into Slavic. The first book written in Cyrillic was the “Ostromir Gospel,” the first words written using the Slavic alphabet were the phrase “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And now, for more than a thousand years Church Slavonic language used in the Russian Orthodox Church during worship.

The Slavic alphabet existed unchanged in Rus' for more than seven centuries. Its creators tried to make each letter of the first Russian alphabet simple and clear, easy to write. They remembered that the letters should also be beautiful, so that a person, as soon as he saw them, immediately wanted to master writing.

Each letter had its own name - “az” - A; “beeches” - B; “lead” - B; “verb” - G; "good" -D.

This is where it comes from catchphrases“Az and beeches – that’s all science”, “Whoever knows “Az” and “Beeches” will have books in their hands.” In addition, letters could also represent numbers. There were 43 letters in the Cyrillic alphabet.

The Cyrillic alphabet existed in the Russian language without changes until Peter I, who removed outdated letters that could have been completely dispensed with - “yus big”, “yus small”, “omega”, “uk”. In 1918, 5 more letters left the Russian alphabet - “yat”, “fita”, “izhitsa”, “er”, “er”. Over the course of a thousand years, many letters have disappeared from our alphabet, and only two have appeared - “y” and “e”. They were invented in the 17th century by the Russian writer and historian Karamzin. And now, finally, there are 33 letters left in the modern alphabet.

Where do you think the word “AZBUKA” came from - from the names of the first letters of the alphabet, “az” and “buki”; in Rus' there were several more names for the alphabet - “abevega” and “letter letter”.

Why is the alphabet called alphabet? The history of this word is interesting. Alphabet. It was born in ancient Greece and consists of the names of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: “alpha” and “beta”. Speakers of Western languages ​​call it “alphabete.” And we pronounce it like “alphabet.”

The Slavs were very happy: other peoples of Europe (Germans, Franks, Britons) did not have their own written language. The Slavs now had their own alphabet, and everyone could learn to read a book! "That was wonderful moment!.. The deaf began to hear, and the dumb began to speak, for until that time the Slavs were both deaf and dumb” - recorded in the chronicles of those times.

Not only children, but also adults began to study. They wrote with sharp sticks on wooden tablets coated with wax. The children fell in love with their teachers Cyril and Methodius. The little Slavs happily went to class, because the journey along the roads of Truth was so interesting!

With the advent of the Slavic alphabet, written culture began to develop rapidly. Books appeared in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Rus'. And how they were designed! The first letter - a drop cap - began each new chapter. The initial letter is unusually beautiful: in the form of a beautiful bird or flower, it was painted with bright, often red, flowers. That is why the term “red line” exists today. A Slavic handwritten book could be created within six to seven years and was very expensive. In a precious frame, with illustrations, today it is a real monument of art.

A long time ago, when the history of the great Russian state was just beginning, “it” was expensive. She alone could be exchanged for a herd of horses or a herd of cows, or for sable fur coats. And it’s not about the jewelry in which the beauty and clever girl were dressed up. And she only wore expensive embossed leather, pearls and precious stones! Gold and silver clasps decorated her outfit! Admiring her, people said: “Light, you are ours!” We worked on its creation for a long time, but its fate could have been very sad. During the invasion of enemies, she was taken prisoner along with the people. She could have died in a fire or flood. They valued her very much: she inspired hope, restored strength of spirit. What kind of curiosity is this? Yes, guys, this is Her Majesty - the Book. She preserved to us the Word of God and the traditions of distant years. The first books were handwritten. It took months and sometimes years to rewrite one book. The centers of book learning in Rus' have always been monasteries. There, through fasting and prayer, hardworking monks copied and decorated books. A collection of books of 500-1000 manuscripts was considered very rare.

Life goes on, and in the middle of the 16th century, printing appeared in Rus'. The printing house in Moscow appeared under Ivan the Terrible. It was led by Ivan Fedorov, who is called the first book printer. Being a deacon and serving in the temple, he tried to realize his dream - to rewrite sacred books without scribes. And so, in 1563, he began to type the first page of the first printed book, “The Apostle.” In total, he published 12 books during his life, among them was the complete Slavic Bible.

Slavic alphabet is amazing and is still considered one of the most convenient writing systems. And the names of Cyril and Methodius, “the first Slovenian teachers,” became a symbol of spiritual achievement. And every person studying the Russian language should know and keep in his memory the holy names of the first Slavic enlighteners - the brothers Cyril and Methodius.

Across broad Rus' - our mother

The bells ring out.

Now the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius

They are glorified for their efforts.

“Learning is light, and ignorance is darkness,” says the Russian proverb. Cyril and Methodius, brothers from Thessaloniki, are Slovenian educators, creators of the Slavic alphabet, preachers of Christianity. They are called holy teachers. Enlighteners are those who bring light and illuminate everyone with it. Without the alphabet there is no writing, and without it there is no book that enlightens people, and therefore moves life forward. Monuments to great educators around the world remind us of the spiritual feat of Cyril and Methodius, who gave the world the Slavic alphabet.

In memory of the great feat of Cyril and Methodius, the Day of Slavic Literature is celebrated all over the world on May 24. In the year of the millennium since the creation of the Slavic script in Russia, the Holy Synod adopted a resolution that established “every year, starting from this 1863, on the 11th (24th) day of May, the church celebration of St. Cyril and Methodius.” Until 1917, Russia celebrated the church holiday Day of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Brothers Cyril and Methodius. With the advent of Soviet power, this great holiday was forgotten. It was revived in 1986. This holiday began to be called the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture.

Quiz

1.Who created the Slavic alphabet? (Cyril and Methodius)

2.Which year is considered the year of the emergence of Slavic writing and bookmaking? (863)

3.Why are Cyril and Methodius called “Thessalonica brothers”? (The birthplace of the enlightenment brothers is the city of Thessaloniki in Macedonia)

4.Who was the older brother: Cyril or Methodius? (Methodius)

5. What was the name of the first book written in Cyrillic? (Ostromir Gospel")

6.Which of the brothers was a librarian, and which was a warrior? (Cyril - librarian, Methodius - military leader,)

7.What was Kirill called for his intelligence and diligence? (Philosopher)

8. During whose reign the Slavic alphabet was changed - simplified. (Peter 1)

9. How many letters were there in the Cyrillic alphabet before Peter the Great? (43 letters)

10. How many letters are there in the modern alphabet? (33 letters)

11.Who was the first printer in Rus'? (Ivan Fedorov)

12.What was the name of the first one printed book? ("Apostle")

13.What words were first written in the Slavic language? (In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God)

Not all people know what May 24 is famous for, but it is even impossible to imagine what would have happened to us if this day in 863 had turned out to be completely different and the creators of writing had abandoned their work.

Who created Slavic writing in the 9th century? These were Cyril and Methodius, and this event happened precisely on May 24, 863, which led to the celebration of one of the most important events in the history of mankind. Now the Slavic peoples could use their own writing, and not borrow the languages ​​of other peoples.

The creators of Slavic writing - Cyril and Methodius?

The history of the development of Slavic writing is not as “transparent” as it might seem at first glance; there are different opinions about its creators. Eat interesting fact, that Cyril, even before he began working on the creation of the Slavic alphabet, was in Chersonesus (today it is Crimea), from where he was able to take the sacred writings of the Gospel or the Psalter, which at that moment turned out to be written precisely in the letters of the Slavic alphabet. This fact makes you wonder: who created the Slavic writing; did Cyril and Methodius really write the alphabet or take a finished work?

However, in addition to the fact that Cyril brought a ready-made alphabet from Chersonesos, there is other evidence that the creators of Slavic writing were other people, who lived long before Cyril and Methodius.

Arabic sources historical events They say that 23 years before Cyril and Methodius created the Slavic alphabet, namely in the 40s of the 9th century, there were baptized people who had books in their hands written specifically in the Slavic language. There is also another serious fact that proves that the creation of Slavic writing occurred even earlier than the stated date. The bottom line is that Pope Leo IV had a diploma issued before 863, which consisted precisely of the letters of the Slavic alphabet, and this figure was on the throne in the interval from 847 to 855 of the 9th century.

Another, but also important, fact is evidence of more ancient origin Slavic writing lies in the statement of Catherine II, who during her reign wrote that the Slavs are a more ancient people than is commonly believed, and they have had writing since the times before the birth of Christ.

Evidence of antiquity from other nations

The creation of Slavic writing before 863 can be proven by other facts that are present in the documents of other peoples who lived in ancient times and used other types of writing in their time. There are quite a few such sources, and they are found in the Persian historian named Ibn Fodlan, in El Massudi, as well as in slightly later creators in fairly well-known works, which say that Slavic writing was formed before the Slavs had books.

A historian who lived on the border of the 9th and 10th centuries argued that the Slavic people are more ancient and more developed than the Romans, and as proof he cited some monuments that make it possible to determine the antiquity of the origin of the Slavic people and their writing.

AND last fact, which can seriously influence the train of thought of people in search of an answer to the question of who created the Slavic writing, are coins that have various letters Russian alphabet, dated earlier than 863, and located in the territories of such European countries like England, Scandinavia, Denmark and others.

Refutation of the ancient origin of Slavic writing

The supposed creators of Slavic writing missed the mark a little: they did not leave any books and documents written in this language. However, for many scientists it is enough that Slavic writing is present on various stones, rocks, weapons and household items that were used by the ancient inhabitants in their Everyday life.

Many scientists have worked to study the historical achievements in the writing of the Slavs, but the oldest Researcher by the surname Grinevich was able to reach almost the very source, and his work made it possible to decipher any text written in the ancient Slavic language.

Grinevich's work in the study of Slavic writing

In order to understand the writing of the ancient Slavs, Grinevich had to do a lot of work, during which he discovered that it was not based on letters, but had a more complex system that worked through syllables. The scientist himself absolutely seriously believed that the formation of the Slavic alphabet began 7,000 years ago.

The signs of the Slavic alphabet had a different basis, and after grouping all the symbols, Grinevich identified four categories: linear, dividing symbols, pictorial and limiting signs.

For the study, Grinevich used about 150 different inscriptions that were present on all kinds of objects, and all his achievements were based on deciphering these particular symbols.

During his research, Grinevich found out that the history of Slavic writing is older, and the ancient Slavs used 74 characters. However, for an alphabet there are too many characters, and if we talk about whole words, then there cannot be only 74 of them in the language. These reflections led the researcher to the idea that the Slavs used syllables instead of letters in the alphabet.

Example: “horse” - syllable “lo”

His approach made it possible to decipher the inscriptions that many scientists struggled with and could not understand what they meant. But it turned out that everything is quite simple:

1. The pot, which was found near Ryazan, had an inscription - instructions that said that it should be put in the oven and closed.
2. The sinker, which was found near the city of Trinity, had a simple inscription: “Weighs 2 ounces.”

All of the above-described evidence completely refutes the fact that the creators of Slavic writing are Cyril and Methodius, and prove the antiquity of our language.

Slavic runes in the creation of Slavic writing

The one who created Slavic writing was quite smart and a brave man, because such an idea at that time could destroy the creator due to the lack of education of all other people. But besides writing, other options for disseminating information to people were invented - Slavic runes.

A total of 18 runes have been found in the world, which are present on a large number of different ceramics, stone statues and other artifacts. Examples include ceramic products from the village of Lepesovka, located in southern Volyn, as well as a clay vessel in the village of Voiskovo. In addition to evidence located on the territory of Russia, there are monuments that are located in Poland and were discovered back in 1771. They also contain Slavic runes. We should not forget the temple of Radegast, located in Retra, where the walls are decorated with Slavic symbols. The last place that scientists learned about from Thietmar of Merseburg is a fortress-temple and is located on an island called Rügen. There are a large number of idols, whose names are written using runes of Slavic origin.

Slavic writing. Cyril and Methodius as creators

The creation of writing is attributed to Cyril and Methodius, and in support of this, historical data are provided for the corresponding period of their lives, which is described in some detail. They touch on the meaning of their activities, as well as the reasons for working on the creation of new symbols.

Cyril and Methodius was led to the creation of the alphabet by the conclusion that other languages ​​cannot fully reflect Slavic speech. This constraint is proven by the works of the monk Khrabra, in which it is noted that before the adoption of the Slavic alphabet for general use, baptism was carried out either in Greek or in Latin, and already in those days it became clear that they cannot reflect all the sounds that fill our speech .

Political influence on the Slavic alphabet

Politics began its influence on society from the very beginning of the birth of countries and religions, and it also had its hand in other aspects of people's lives.

As described above, the baptism services of the Slavs were conducted in either Greek or Latin, which allowed other churches to influence the minds and strengthen the idea of ​​their dominant role in the minds of the Slavs.

Those countries where liturgies were conducted not in Greek, but in Latin, received increased influence of German priests on the faith of people, but for the Byzantine Church this was unacceptable, and it took a reciprocal step, entrusting Cyril and Methodius with the creation of a written language in which it would be written service and sacred texts.

The Byzantine Church reasoned correctly at that moment, and its plans were such that whoever created the Slavic writing based on the Greek alphabet would help weaken the influence of the German Church on all Slavic countries at the same time and at the same time help bring the people closer to Byzantium. These actions can also be seen as motivated by self-interest.

Who created Slavic writing based on the Greek alphabet? They were created by Cyril and Methodius, and it was not by chance that they were chosen by the Byzantine Church for this work. Kirill grew up in the city of Thessaloniki, which, although Greek, about half of its inhabitants spoke fluent Slavic, and Kirill himself was well versed in it and also had an excellent memory.

Byzantium and its role

There is quite a serious debate about when the work on creating Slavic writing began, since May 24 is the official date, but there is a large gap in history that creates a discrepancy.

After Byzantium gave this difficult task, Cyril and Methodius began developing Slavic writing and in 864 arrived in Moravia with a ready-made Slavic alphabet and a fully translated Gospel, where they recruited students for the school.

After receiving a task from the Byzantine Church, Cyril and Methodius head to Morvia. During their journey, they are engaged in writing the alphabet and translating the texts of the Gospel into the Slavic language, and upon arrival in the city, the finished works are in their hands. However, the road to Moravia does not take that much time. Perhaps this time period makes it possible to create an alphabet, but it is simply impossible to translate the Gospel letters in such a short period of time, which indicates advance work on the Slavic language and translation of texts.

Kirill's illness and care

After three years of working in his own school of Slavic writing, Kirill abandoned this business and left for Rome. This turn of events was caused by illness. Kirill left everything for a peaceful death in Rome. Methodius, finding himself alone, continues to pursue his goal and does not retreat back, although now it has become more difficult for him, because the Catholic Church has begun to understand the scale of the work done and is not delighted with it. The Roman Church imposes bans on translations into the Slavic language and openly demonstrates its dissatisfaction, but Methodius now has followers who help and continue his work.

Cyrillic and Glagolitic - what laid the foundation for modern writing?

There are no confirmed facts that can prove which of the writing systems originated earlier, and there is no exact information about who created the Slavic one and which of the two possible ones Cyril had a hand in. Only one thing is known, but the most important thing is that it was the Cyrillic alphabet that became the founder of today’s Russian alphabet and only thanks to it we can write the way we write now.

The Cyrillic alphabet contains 43 letters, and the fact that its creator was Cyril proves the presence of 24 in it. And the remaining 19 were included by the creator of the Cyrillic alphabet based on the Greek alphabet solely to reflect complex sounds that were present only among peoples who used the Slavic language for communication.

Over time, the Cyrillic alphabet has been transformed, almost constantly influenced in order to simplify and improve it. However, there were moments that made writing difficult at first, for example, the letter “ё”, which is an analogue of “e”, and the letter “th” - an analogue of “i”. Such letters made spelling difficult at first, but reflected their corresponding sounds.

Glagolitic, in fact, was an analogue of the Cyrillic alphabet and used 40 letters, 39 of which were taken specifically from the Cyrillic alphabet. The main difference between the Glagolitic alphabet is that it has a more rounded writing style and is not inherently angular, unlike Cyrillic.

The disappeared alphabet (Glagolitic), although it did not take root, was intensively used by the Slavs living in the southern and western latitudes, and, depending on the location of the inhabitants, it had its own writing styles. The Slavs living in Bulgaria used the Glagolitic alphabet with a more rounded style to write, while the Croatians gravitated towards an angular script.

Despite the number of hypotheses and even the absurdity of some of them, each is worthy of attention, and it is impossible to accurately answer who the creators of Slavic writing were. The answers will be vague, with many flaws and shortcomings. And although there are many facts that refute the creation of writing by Cyril and Methodius, they are honored for their work, which allowed the alphabet to spread and transform into its present form.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He continues the work of the church structure of Moravia. Contrary to the pope's prohibition, Methodius continues to worship in the Slavic language in Moravia. Methodius this time also involved 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, to be his bishop. Viching began to spread rumors about the condemnation of Methodius by Pope, but was exposed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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