Old Church Slavonic alphabet Cyril and Methodius. The creation of the Slavic alphabet - the history of the origin of writing in Russia. Political influence on the Slavic alphabet

It is extremely difficult for a modern person to imagine a time when there was no alphabet. All these letters, which we are taught at school desks, appeared a long time ago. So in what year did the first alphabet appear, which, I'm not afraid of this phrase, changed our lives?

In what year did the Slavic alphabet appear?

Let's start with the fact that 863 is recognized as the year when the Slavic alphabet appeared. She owes her “birth” to two brothers: Cyril and Methodius. Once the ruler Rostislav, who owns the throne of Great Moravia, turned for help to Michael - the emperor of Byzantium. His request was simple: send preachers who spoke Slavic and thus promote Christianity among the people. The emperor took into account his request and sent two outstanding scientists at that time!
Their arrival coincides with the year when the alphabet appeared, because the brothers faced the problem of translating the Holy Scriptures into the language of the Slavs. By the way, there was no ABC then. This means that the basis for the entire attempt to translate holy speeches to ordinary people was missing.

The time when the first alphabet appeared can be safely called the moment of inception modern language and the alphabet, the development of culture and history of the Slavs themselves. Creation Slavic alphabet in 863 it was a significant day!

An interesting fact about the paragraphs in general: Louis Braille invented almost 1000 years later. When they ask you, they say, the creation of the Slavic alphabet began in what year, then you may well be able to answer! And also read ,. It's also educational!

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Problem: most students do not know the history of the creation of the Slavic alphabet.

Purpose: to increase the number of students who know about the origin of the Slavic alphabet.

collect material about the origin of the Slavic alphabet;

prepare a presentation on the origin of the Slavic alphabet;

INTRODUCTION

Language and writing represent the most important factors in the formation of the culture of any nation. When people begin to forget about the origins of their native language, this is the hardest blow to their native culture.

Throughout most of their lives, people use the alphabet to read and create various text documents. While most of the older population can still name the creators of the Slavic alphabet, the younger generation (students), unfortunately, rarely name the authors. And only a few can tell about who these people were, where they came from and why exactly they became the creators of the Slavic alphabet. I am sure that knowing the past is necessary, because this knowledge helps to understand the present. From time immemorial, messages are reaching us. It is extremely important to hear the voice of ancestors, to find answers to eternal questions, to feel like a part of the historical stream. It all definesrelevanceof this study, since the language is an indicator of the spiritual culture of the people.

Hypothesis: a large number of students do not know the history of the creation of the Slavic alphabet.

Research methods: study of literature on the topic, observation, comparison, generalization.

Theoretical and practicalsignificancework is determined by the possibility of using the research results in the process of learning the Russian language in the classroom, as well as in further research in this direction.

5.base

5.1. The founders of the Slavic alphabet: Cyril and Methodius.

The brothers Constantine (that was the name of Saint Cyril before he took monasticism) and Methodius were born in the Macedonian region of Byzantium, namely in the main city of the region - Thessalonica. The father of the future compilers of the Slavic alphabet was from the upper stratum of the Byzantine people.

Constantine was the youngest of the seven brothers, and Methodius was the oldest brother. The year of birth of each of the brothers is not known exactly. It is believed that the year of birth of Methodius belongs to the second decade of the 9th century. Constantine learned to read very early and amazed everyone with his ability to learn other languages. He received a good education at the court of the emperor in Constantinople under the leadership of the best Byzantine mentors, such as the future Patriarch of Constantinople Photius and Leo Grammaticus, an expert on ancient culture, creator of a unique bibliographic collection, mathematician, astronomer and mechanic.

The ancient heritage and all modern secular science were considered by the teachers of Constantine to be a necessary preliminary stage to the comprehension of the highest science - Theology. This corresponded to the ancient church Christian scientific tradition.

After passing all sciences in Magnavrskaya high school Constantinople, Constantine occupied the chair of philosophy, where he had previously studied himself, also fulfilling the duties of the librarian of the patriarch.

Returning to Byzantium, Cyril went to seek peace. In a monastery on the coast of the Marmara Sea of ​​Mount Olympus, after many years of separation, the brothers met again to open a new page in history.

5.2. The history of the origin of the Slavic alphabet.

In 863, ambassadors from Moravia arrived in Constantinople. Moravia was the name of one of the West Slavic states of the 9-10th centuries, which was located on the territory of present-day Bohemia. The capital of Moravia was the city of Velehrad, scientists have not yet established its exact location. The ambassadors asked to send preachers to their country to 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. The answer to the question was negative. The Moravians did not have the ABC. Then the brothers started to work. They had at their disposal not years, but months. V short term the alphabet was created for the language of the Moravians. It was named after one of its creators in "Cyrillic".

There are various assumptions about the origin of the "Cyrillic". Some scholars believe that in the 9th century, the Slavs had almost simultaneously two writing systems: one was called "Glagolitic", and the other - "Cyrillic". Which alphabet was invented by Constantine? Perhaps, both of these writing systems were created by the first teachers of the Slavs, but later the Cyrillic alphabet became the most widespread, which became the basis of the modern Russian alphabet. These systems of writing existed in parallel and at the same time sharply differed in the shape of the letters.

Cyrillic was composed according to a fairly simple principle. At first, it included all the Greek letters, which among the Slavs and Greeks meant the same sounds, then new signs were added - for sounds that had no analogues in the Greek language. Each letter had its own name: "az", "beeches", "lead", "verb", "good" and so on. In addition, letters could denote numbers: the letter "az" stood for 1, "lead" -2, "verb" - 3. In total, the "Cyrillic" had 43 letters.

With the help of the Slavic alphabet, Cyril and Methodius very quickly translated the main liturgical books from the Greek alphabet into the Slavic. The first words, written using the Slavic alphabet, were the opening lines from the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The successful mission of Cyril and Methodius aroused sharp discontent among the Byzantine clergy, who tried to discredit Slavic educators... They were even accused of heresy. To defend themselves, the brothers went to Rome and achieved success: they were allowed to continue their work.

A long and long trip to Rome, an intense struggle with the enemies of the Slavic writing undermined Cyril's health. He fell seriously ill. Dying, he took the floor from Methodius to continue enlightening the Slavs.

Endless hardships fell on Methodius, he was persecuted, put on trial, imprisoned, but neither physical suffering nor moral humiliation broke his will, did not change his goal - serving the cause of Slavic enlightenment. Soon after the death of Methodius, Pope Stephen 5 banned Slavic worship in Moravia on pain of excommunication. The closest associates of Cyril and Methodius were arrested and driven out after torture. Three of them - Clement, Naum and Angelarius - found a favorable reception in Bulgaria. Here they still translated from the Greek alphabet into the Slavic alphabet, compiled various collections, and instilled literacy in the population.

It was not possible to destroy the cause of the Orthodox enlighteners Cyril and Methodius. Their alphabet began its march across the countries. Of particular importance was the introduction of the Slavic alphabet into divine services, because at that time the liturgical language was at the same time the language of literature. With the Baptism of Rus, books in the Slavic language began to spread very quickly in Kievan Rus.

5.3. Reforms of the Slavic alphabet

The Cyrillic alphabet existed without change in the Russian language almost until Peter I, when some changes were made to the outline of some letters. He removed the obsolete letters: "Ѫ, ѫ" (yus large), "Ѧ ѧ" (yus small), "Ωω" (omega) and "uk". They existed in the alphabet only by tradition, but, as it turned out, it was perfectly possible to do without them. Peter I deleted them from the civil alphabet - that is, from a set of letters intended for secular printing. In 1918, several more obsolete letters “left” from the Russian alphabet: “Ѣ, ѣ” (yat), “Ѳ, ѳ” (fit), “Ѵ, ѵ” (izhitsa), “b, b” (ep) and "B, b" (er).

For a thousand years, many letters have disappeared from our alphabet, and only two have appeared: "y" and "e". They were invented in the 18th century by the Russian writer and historian N.M. Karamzin.

Comparative analysis of the modern Russian alphabet and the Cyrillic alphabet of the pre-Petrine era

The modern Russian alphabet has 33 letters. We compared the Cyrillic alphabet with the modern Russian alphabet and got an interesting picture. For clarity, we have compiled a table.

Table 1

Modern alphabet	Cyrillic letter name	A comment
		survived
	beeches	survived
	lead	survived
	glagol	survived
	good	survived
	there is	survived
		added
	live	survived
	zelo	lost
	Earth	survived
	similar (octal)	survived
		added
	and (decimal)	lost
	how	survived
	people	survived
	think	survived
		survived
		survived
	rest	survived
		survived
	word	survived
	firmly	survived
		survived
	Firth	survived
		survived
	omega	lost
		survived
	worm	survived
		survived
		survived
		survived
	ery	survived
		survived
		lost
		added
		survived
		added
	And iotated	lost
	E iotated	lost
	yus small	lost
	yus big	lost
	yus small iotated	lost
	yus big iotated	lost
		lost
		lost
	fita	lost
	Izhitsa	lost

It turned out that during the existence of the Russian alphabet, based on the Cyrillic alphabet, 28 letters were preserved, 4 were added and 14 letters were lost. However, philological scholars may recognize my conclusions as inaccurate, because the added letters are not reinvented, but only replace sounds or combinations of sounds. For example, the lost letter "E iotated" can be recognized as the prototype of the modern letter "E", and the letter "small yus" - the prototype of the letter "I". But in any case, my research will make someone think and look at the familiar letters of the alphabet from a slightly different angle. I, in turn, am sure that each of the Russian letters deserves a separate study.

6. Conclusion

It is difficult even to imagine what a people would be like without an alphabet. Ignorant, ignorant, and simply - people with no memory, no past. It is with the help of writing that you can transfer information, share experiences with descendants.

More than 1000 years ago, the Slavic scribes brothers Cyril and Methodius became the authors of the Slavic alphabet. Nowadays, one tenth of all existing languages ​​(about 70 languages) are written based on the Cyrillic alphabet.

Every spring, on May 24, the Day of Slavic Written Language and Culture is celebrated throughout Russia. Every person who does not want to lose his connection with the past and the history of his people should know and honor the history of the emergence of the Slavic alphabet.

Bibliographic list

Artemov V.V. Slavic encyclopedia / V. Artemov. - Moscow: OLMA Media Group, 2011 .-- 304 p. : ill.

Vereshchagin EM Cyril and Methodius book heritage: interlanguage, intercultural, intertemporal and interdisciplinary research: with two appendices: [dedicated to the 1150th anniversary of the beginning of the book activity of St. Cyril and Methodius] / EM Vereshchagin; Grew up. acad. Sciences, Institute of the Russian language.

Days of Slavic Written Language and Culture: materials of the Mezhdunar. scientific-practical Conf., May 23, 2008, Vladimir / [editorial board. : V.V. Gulyaeva (editor-in-chief)]. - Vladimir: VlGU, 2008 .-- 231 p.

Baiburova R. How did the writing of the ancient Slavs appear / R. Baiburova / Science and Life. - 2002. - No. 5. - S. 48-55.

Can you imagine life without electricity? Of course it's difficult! But it is known that people used to read and write by candlelight and torch. Imagine life without writing. Some of you will now think to yourself, well, well, it would be great: no need to write dictations and essays. But then there will be no libraries, books, posters, letters and even e-mail and SMS. In the language, as in a mirror, the whole world is reflected, our whole life. And reading written or printed texts, we sort of sit in a time machine and can travel back to recent times, and to the distant past.

But people did not always possess the art of writing. This art has been developing for a long time, over many millennia. Do you know to whom we should be grateful for our written word, on which our favorite books are written? For our diploma, which we learn at school? For our great Russian literature, with which you get to know and will still 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 tongueless without Christ!

It is necessary to create an alphabet for the Slavs ...

Thanks to the works of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, the Slavic alphabet was created.

The brothers were born in the Byzantine city of Soluni in the family of a military leader. Methodius was the eldest son, and, choosing the path of a military man, went to serve in one of the Slavic regions. His brother, Cyril, was born 7-10 years later than Methodius, and already in childhood, passionately falling in love with science, amazed teachers with brilliant abilities. At the age of 14, his parents sent him to Constantinople, where in a short time he studied grammar and geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and medicine, ancient art, mastered Slavic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin and Arabic languages ​​well. Refusing the high administrative position offered to him, Kirill took the modest position of a librarian in the Patriarchal Library and at the same time taught philosophy at the university, for which he received the nickname "philosopher". His older brother Methodius entered military service early. For 10 years he was the ruler of one of the regions inhabited by the Slavs. An honest and straightforward man, intolerant of injustice, he left with military service and withdrew to a monastery.

In 863, ambassadors from Moravia arrived in Constantinople to ask them to send preachers to their country and tell the population about Christianity. The emperor decided to send Cyril and Methodius to Moravia. Cyril, before setting off on the journey, asked if the Moravians had an alphabet for their language - "for the enlightenment of the people without writing their language is like trying to write on water," Cyril explained. To which he received a negative answer. The Moravians did not have the ABC, then the brothers began work. They had at their disposal not years, but months. They worked from early morning, barely in bloom, and until late at night, when the eyes were already dazzling with fatigue. In a short time, the alphabet was created for the Moravians. It was named after one of its creators - Cyril - Cyrillic.

With the help of the Slavic alphabet, Cyril and Methodius very quickly translated the main liturgical books from Greek into Slavic. The first book written in Cyrillic was - "Ostromir Gospel", the first words written using the Slavic alphabet was 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, the Church Slavonic language has been used in Russian Orthodox Church during the service.

The Slavic alphabet has existed in Russia unchanged 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 be beautiful, so that a person who barely saw them would immediately want to master writing.

Each letter had its own name - "az" - A; "Beeches" - B; "Lead" - B; "Verb" - Г; "Good" -D.

From here and catch phrases"Az and beeches - that's all sciences", "" Who knows "Az" and "Beeches" that books in hand. " In addition, it was possible to designate numbers with letters. There were 43 letters in Cyrillic.

The Cyrillic alphabet existed in the Russian language unchanged until Peter I, who removed obsolete letters without which it was quite possible to do without - "yus big", "yus small", "omega", "uk". In 1918, 5 more letters left the Russian alphabet - "yat", "fita", "Izhitsa", "er", "er". For 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, 33 letters remain in the modern alphabet.

Where do you think the word "AZBUKA" came from - by the name of the first letters of the alphabet, "az" and "beeches"; in Russia there were several more names for the alphabet - "abevega" and "initial".

Why is the alphabet called the 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". The native 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 a wonderful moment! .. The deaf began to hear, and the dumb began to speak, because until that time the Slavs were like deaf and dumb” - is written in the chronicles of those times.

Not only children, but also adults began to study. They wrote with sharp sticks on wooden boards covered with wax. The children fell in love with their teachers Cyril and Methodius. Little Slavs gladly went to classes, 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 took shape! 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 take six to seven years and was very expensive. In a precious setting, 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, "she" was expensive. One of her could be exchanged for a herd of horses or a herd of cows, for sable fur coats. And the point here is not in the jewelry in which the beautiful and clever girl was dressed up. And she wore only expensive embossed leather, pearls and precious stones! Gold and silver clasps adorned her outfit! Admiring her, people said: "Light, you are ours!" They worked on its creation for a long time, but her fate could be very sad. During the invasion of enemies, she was taken prisoner along with people. She could have died in a fire or flood. She was very dear: she inspired hope, restored the strength of the spirit. What kind of curiosity is this. Yes, guys, this is Her Majesty - The Book. She preserved the Word of God and the traditions of distant years to us. The first books were handwritten. It took months, sometimes years, to rewrite one book. Monasteries have always been the centers of book learning in Russia. There, in fasting and prayer, hardworking monks copied and decorated books. A collection of books of 500-1000 manuscripts was considered a great rarity.

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

The Slavic alphabet is amazing and is still considered one of the most convenient writing systems. And the names of Cyril and Methodius, the “first teachers of Slovenia,” have become 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 wide Russia - our mother

The bells ringing overflows.

Now the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius

They are glorified for their labors.

“Learning is light, and ignorance is darkness,” says a Russian proverb. Cyril and Methodius, brothers from Solunya, 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, which means it moves life forward. Monuments to great enlighteners 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, on May 24, the Day of Slavic Written Language is celebrated all over the world. In the year of the millennium since the creation of Slavic writing in Russia, the Holy Synod adopted a decree establishing "every year, starting from this 1863, on the 11 (24) day of May, a church celebration of the Monks Cyril and Methodius." Until 1917, Russia celebrated the church holiday Day of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Brothers Cyril and Methodius. With coming 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. What year is considered the year of the emergence of Slavic writing and book business? (863)

3. Why Cyril and Methodius are called "The Solunski brothers"? (The birthplace of the brothers-educators, the city of Solun in Macedonia)

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

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

6 Which brother was a librarian and who was a warrior? (Cyril is a librarian, Methodius is a military leader)

7.How was Cyril called for intelligence and diligence? (Philosopher)

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

9. How many letters were in Cyrillic 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 Russia? (Ivan Fedorov)

12. What was the name of the first 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)

Where did our alphabet come from? Who does not know this! Long ago, two Bulgarians, Cyril and Methodius, came to Russia and invented the Cyrillic alphabet. But not so! Their name was not Cyril or Methodius at all, they were not born in Bulgaria, did not come to Russia and did not create the Cyrillic alphabet! Like this? What happened then? And there were amazing travels and adventures of the holy brothers, enlighteners of the Slavs. Let's follow their path from the very beginning!

About the time in which Cyril and Methodius lived

In the 9th century, in the vastness of Europe, there were two great Christian empires: one was Byzantium with its capital in Constantinople, the other was the Frankish Empire. In 843, it was divided among the heirs of King Charlemagne into several kingdoms. Between these empires stretched the lands on which mainly pagan Slavs lived. By that time, Greek became the official language in Byzantium, and Latin in the possession of the Franks, although in everyday life the inhabitants of all these states used the most different languages.

And what happened in those days on the lands where Russia later arose? Slavic tribes lived there - glade, Drevlyans, Krivichi, Vyatichi and others. The Rus state was just emerging.

How the brothers parted and then met

On the shores of the Aegean Sea is the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki, or, as the Slavs called it, Solun. Representatives of different peoples lived in this big city. There were also a lot of Slavs here, so many spoke the Slavic language in these places. They also knew him in the family of an officer named Lev. The eldest of his seven sons, the strongest and most courageous, was named Michael. The youngest, sickly, "big-headed", but very gifted boy, was named Constantine.

The brothers were friends, the elder always took care of and protected the younger.

Michael, following the example of his father, chose military career... Soon he achieved great success in the service - he became the head of one of the provinces of Byzantium, where the Slavs lived. For ten years, Michael honestly ruled the lands entrusted to him, and then decided to retire from the world and went to Mount Small Olympus, on the southern coast of the Sea of ​​Marmara. There was a monastery there. Michael was tonsured a monk, taking the name Methodius.

And the younger brother, Constantine, went to study in Constantinople. There he showed himself so well that he was appointed to help in his studies the future Byzantine king - the young heir Michael. The most respected teachers of that era instructed boys in grammar and astronomy, geometry and philosophy, music and arithmetic ... Konstantin studied more than six languages! Including perfectly - Slavic.

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The young man refused a profitable marriage, firmly deciding to devote himself to the sciences. Then the Byzantine queen and the Patriarch, wishing to bring Constantine closer to themselves, persuaded him to accept the priesthood and become a librarian at the church. Later, Constantine became a teacher of philosophy and even received the nickname Philosopher.

The Byzantine king and patriarch greatly appreciated the young scientist, invited him to councils and debates, where Constantine spoke on an equal footing with respectable sages. In 852, when the Philosopher was only 24 years old, he was even sent to the capital of the Arab Caliphate, Samara. They sent it because the Arabs often criticized the Christian faith during negotiations with Byzantium. We needed literate people who could change the opinion of the Arabs about Christianity. Constantine became a member of the embassy, ​​and took part in long disputes about faith. In Samara, a young man amazed the Arab scholars with reasonable statements and excellent knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. Home, to Constantinople, the Arabs accompanied him with honor and generous gifts.

Soon after his return, Constantine left the capital and went to Small Olympus, to his elder brother Methodius.

Here the brothers are finally reunited after a long separation. We lived together in a monastery, studied the works of the holy fathers, prayed and worked. But their quiet hermitage soon ended.

How Methodius and Constantine went to the Khazars

At that time, ambassadors from the Khazars came to Tsar Mikhail. This was the name of the people who lived far north of Byzantium, in the Khazar Kaganate, in the vicinity of the future ancient Russian lands (now it is Dagestan, part of the Crimea, the Don and the Lower Volga region). The Khazars asked to send them wise people who would tell about the teachings of Christ. The Khazar kagan - the supreme ruler, "khan khans" - chose at that time which faith to accept: Islam, Judaism or Christianity.

Tsar Michael appointed Constantine as an envoy to the Khazars, and he persuaded his brother, a former warrior, to help him on a dangerous and long journey.

The path through the steppes was not easy! The wild tribes of the Ugrians, which, as the chronicler testifies, walked in skins and howled like wolves, attacked the caravans of travelers. According to legend, the robbers also attacked the brothers when they stopped in the steppe for prayer. Constantine was not frightened, he only continued to repeat: "Lord, have mercy! .." When the saint finished the prayer, the fierce Ugrians suddenly calmed down, began to bow to him and ask for teachings. Having received the blessing, the robbers released the monks, and they continued on their way safely.

Constantine and Methodius had an important and long stop on the way to Khazaria in the Crimean city of Chersonesos, or, in Slavic, Korsun, which is not far from present-day Sevastopol. Preparing for the upcoming mission, the holy brothers continued to study the Khazar and Hebrew languages, and improved in Slavic.

In Chersonesos, thanks to Methodius and Constantine, a real miracle happened! In those places not far from the coast, the relics of the revered Christian Saint Clement, the closest disciple of the Apostle Peter, were hidden in the sea. Clement was executed in Chersonesos, in exile, at the very beginning of the 2nd century AD. Cyril and Methodius persuaded the local bishop to find the relics of the saint.

After sunset, the brothers, along with the bishop and many priests, boarded a ship and sailed out to sea. They prayed fervently there for a long time. At midnight, a light suddenly shone from the sea! The holy relics appeared before the astonished priests. They were put on a ship, taken to the city, and placed in the Apostolic Church. The brothers took part of the relics with them on a journey, in order to eventually take them to Rome.

From Chersonesos, Constantine and Methodius traveled a long journey by sea and land, until they reached the Caucasus Mountains, where the kagan, the ruler of Khazaria, was then located.

In the khan's palace, the brothers were greeted with honor and received a letter from them from Tsar Mikhail. In long conversations with Muslims, Jews and Khazars, Constantine explained the subtleties of the Christian faith, referring to the Old Testament, to the ancient prophets and forefathers, who were recognized and honored by both Jews and Muslims - Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses, David, Saul ...

The noble Khazars, who heard the long disputes between Jews, Muslims and Christians, liked the speeches of the young Byzantine preacher Constantine so much that two hundred of them adopted the Christian faith. As a token of gratitude, the Khazars released from the Kaganate, together with Methodius and Constantine, more than two hundred Greek captives.

The brothers set off on their way back to Constantinople. The returned messengers were received in the royal palace with triumph, like real apostles.

Methodius became abbot of the Polykhroniev Monastery on Little Olympus, and Constantine settled at the church. And again, their rest was short.

About letters for great Moravia

Great Moravia (now the territory of the Czech Republic) was baptized by German missionaries long ago. They also translated into Slavic, but translated only the most necessary prayers and teachings for the parishioners. In churches, believers heard only Latin, did not understand it, and therefore the German priests could explain Christian teachings to them the way they wanted. It was still impossible for the illiterate peasants to check whether they were telling the truth.

In 862, the Moravian prince Rostislav turned to Tsar Michael: “Our people rejected paganism and adopted the Christian law. Only we do not have such a teacher who would explain the faith of Christ to us in our language. Send us a bishop and a teacher! "

Tsar Michael responded to Rostislav's request and first of all called the Philosopher, educated in languages, Constantine:
- After all, you and your brother come from Thessaloniki (this is another name for the city of Thessaloniki, native to Cyril and Methodius), and the Solunians all speak Slavic well. So much for you to go to the Slavs in Moravia.

Constantine was unwell at that time, but agreed to go to a distant country. He only asked:
- Do the inhabitants of Moravia have letters in their language?
Michael replied:
- No, they don't.
- How am I going to preach to them? - the Philosopher was upset. “It's like recording a conversation on the water. In addition, if the Slavs misunderstand me, it will turn out that I preach heresy - the wrong church teaching!
- If you want, God will give you what you ask! - the Byzantine king assured Constantine. He understood that the creation of a written Slavic language is necessary not only for Moravia - new language will help Byzantine Empire convert thousands and thousands of pagan Slavs to Christianity!

Constantine again went to Small Olympus to Methodius. There he prayed, fasted for forty days, and then set to work. The brothers faced a very difficult task, but Cyril was able to come up with letters that took into account all the peculiarities of the pronunciation of the Slavs. The holy brothers took as a basis the dialects of the Slavs who lived near Thessaloniki, and created the Glagolitic alphabet - an alphabet that is understandable to the inhabitants of other parts of the Slavic world. Why? Because at that time the Slavs had a single language - different Slavic tribes and nationalities spoke about the same and understood each other perfectly.

Constantine had to translate the Holy Scriptures into a new language, a very complex text. Many words used there simply did not exist in the Slavic language, they had to be created anew. The holy philosopher took on such a difficult job. By Easter, the translation of the beginning of the Gospel of John into the new Slavic language was ready. Having completed their labors, the holy brothers set off on their journey again.

In Moravia, Methodius and Constantine began by going to schools with local children. The schools prepared future clergymen and for this they taught children the Latin language. The brothers showed the students a new, Slavic alphabet and books translated into the Slavic language.

The local prince Rostislav, under the leadership of Constantine and Methodius, began to build new churches, where services were held in the Slavic language.

The philosopher and his disciples continued to translate church services, people in Moravia finally began to understand what the prayers say and how to praise God correctly.

Unfortunately, the German priests did not like the apostolic activity of the brothers. The Germans were convinced that divine services could only be held in three languages- Latin, Hebrew and Greek. It was then common in Latin Western Europe erroneous opinion, which was later called "trilingual heresy". Constantine argued heatedly with the Germans, recalled the words of the ancient prophet David: "Praise the Lord in all languages!" and the words of the Gospel: "Come teach all languages ​​...", that is, he convinced everyone that you can praise God in any language.

Constantine and Methodius spent more than three years in Moravia. They walked around a lot of lands, equipped schools, everywhere taught people the Slavic letter and the word of God. Many Slavic disciples were ready to become priests and deacons, but only a bishop could give them priesthood. And then there was no bishop in Moravia. In addition, Western high-ranking clergy, dissatisfied with the popularity of the Byzantine preachers, sent a complaint to Rome that Constantine and Methodius were teaching the Slavs to worship in the Slavic language.

To defend their innocence, Constantine and Methodius had to go to Rome. They took with them the relics of Saint Clement, which they had brought from Chersonesos.

How the holy brothers arrived in the eternal city

On the way to Rome, Constantine and Methodius stopped in Pannonia, in the Blatensky principality (it was located near Lake Blatenskoe, modern Balaton - the territory of Hungary, eastern Austria and southwestern Slovakia). Prince Kotsel ruled there. He received the brothers very cordially, and the Byzantines stayed at Kocel's for about six months. The prince gathered 50 disciples from his people, and together with them he learned the Slavic alphabet from Constantine and Methodius. Saying goodbye, Kocel offered rich gifts to the preachers, but they refused. They only asked to release nine hundred Greek captives, which was done.

Then the saints moved to the Adriatic Sea, from there with their disciples arrived in the Italian city of Venice. In the city on the water they met and again many, heatedly argued with the priests, who also fell into the heresy of "trilingualism." Proving his innocence here too, Constantine recalled the words of the Apostle Paul: “Does it not rain from God equally on everyone, or the sun does not shine for everyone, or does the whole creation not breathe the same air? How are you not ashamed to think that apart from the three languages, all other tribes and languages ​​must be blind and deaf. "

The Byzantine listed the peoples who pray to the Christian God in their own language - Armenians, Persians, Abkhazians, Ivers, Sughds, Goths, Obry, Turks, Kozars, Aravians, Egyptians, Syrians and many others. "Let every breath praise the Lord!"

In Rome, the chief bishop Adrian with the priests greeted Constantine and Methodius "as angels of God." The relics of St. Clement were considered the greatest relic, therefore, the people who delivered the shrine were given every honor and patronage. Adrian approved the service in the Slavic language and blessed the translations made by the brothers. Slavic books were placed on the altar in the temples of Santa Maria Maggiore and San Paolo fuori le Mura, the largest Roman temples of the time. The brothers were allowed to conduct the main service in the Slavic language - the liturgy in the church of the Apostle Peter.

The trip to Rome was the last trip for Constantine. A year after arriving in the Eternal City, the poorly healthy forty-year-old educator caught a serious cold. Konstantin the Philosopher bequeathed to his elder brother, faithful comrade and protector: "You and I are like two oxen: one fell from a heavy burden, the other must continue on his way."

Fifty days before his death, Constantine was tonsured a monk with the name Cyril. Methodius wanted to take his brother's body to bury in his homeland, but, on the advice of the Roman bishop, Cyril was buried in the church of St. Clement, next to the relics that the brothers brought to Rome. From that moment on, they began to venerate Cyril as a saint. And Methodius had to continue the work that the brothers started together.

About the long wanderings of Methodius

After some time, the prince of Pannonia Kotsel asked the Roman bishop to send Methodius back to him.

The Roman bishop Adrian II confirmed that Methodius had the right to conduct the liturgy in the Slavic language, and appointed him as his official envoy. Great Moravia and Pannonia were now the lands entrusted to Methodius.

On the way to Pannonia, Methodius stopped in Great Moravia. And there everything had already changed: Prince Rostislav, who had so cordially received the holy brothers before, no longer led the country. His nephew Svyatopolk was on the throne. This ruler again opened the country to German missionaries, and those, of course, did not want to see a rival preacher nearby who teaches and serves in the "wrong" language. In 870, during the campaign of King Louis of Germany against Moravia, Methodius was captured. The German bishops took advantage of this: Methodius was accused of seizing foreign church territories, arrested, tried and sent into exile in Swabia, a region in the south-west of modern Germany, to one of the monasteries. There, in prison, together with some of his students, he spent almost three years. Nobody reported anything to Rome about this; there was no one to protect the saint.

Methodius underwent a lot in prison - both hunger and deprivation ... In the end, the news of the metropolitan's misfortunes still reached the new Roman bishop John VIII. He immediately gave strict orders to release the prisoner.

Methodius was acquitted, his rights were restored, and the land that the metropolitan cared for (that is, he took care of, was responsible for it) was returned.

Having reached Great Moravia, the saint, surrounded by his disciples, continued his apostolic labors: he translated liturgical books into the Slavic language, preached the teachings of Christ to the locals, and converted the Czech prince Borivoj and his wife Lyudmila to Christianity.

Methodius's ministry was not cloudless. The government changed, and he was sometimes honored and helped in everything, then again accused of heresy, oppressed, interfered with the conduct of services in the Slavic language. At such moments, only the intervention of Rome saved the saint. Methodius became an archbishop, translated into the Slavic language almost the entire Old Testament, a collection of church canons, secular laws and many books.

Methodius had to travel a lot: from Pannonia to Moravia, from there to Rome, again to Moravia, to Constantinople and again to Moravia ... Robbers attacked him in the woods along the way, at sea he often got into storms, on the rivers he almost drowned in deep whirlpools. But despite the trials, the saint did not leave his ministry until his very death in 885. He was buried in the capital of Great Moravia, Velehrad. They sung it in Slavic, Greek and Latin... Before his death, Methodius appointed himself a successor. It was Gorazd Ohridsky - a Slav, archbishop, who not only preserved the legacy of Cyril and Methodius, but also, together with other disciples of the holy brothers, took part in the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet based on the Glagolitic alphabet, which we use today.

Why was Cyrillic needed if there was already Glagolitic? In Cyrillic, the style of letters is very similar to the Greek alphabet. And everyone knew her in those days - Greek was, as they would say now, “the language of interethnic communication,” like English today. The Cyrillic alphabet looked more familiar and was more easily perceived by scientists, merchants, princes, and common people, although all the letters, all the sounds in it passed from the alphabet of Cyril and Methodius - the Glagolitic alphabet.

All alphabets created after the Nativity of Christ are inextricably linked with the adoption of Christianity by the peoples. Both Goths, Ethiopians, and Slavs received their alphabets and their own literary languages ​​only after baptism. The holy brothers understood that Christ's teaching is addressed to all nations, and it is difficult for illiterate people to preach. Thanks to Cyril and Methodius, the Slavs received not only the Gospel and divine services for native language but also the ability to read Byzantine books.

Almost a thousand years after the birth of the Savior, Russia was also baptized. The legacy of the holy brothers and their disciples has become available to us as well. The Russians got acquainted with the books of Cyril, Methodius and their students, and began to write their own books! Ancient Russian literature appeared: "The Word about Law and Grace" by Metropolitan Hilarion, "The Teaching" by Vladimir Monomakh, "The Tale of Boris and Gleb" and others. We are rightfully the successors and keepers of the legacy of Cyril and Methodius.

Glagolitic

Konstantin got an alphabet of 41 letters (later reduced to 30). Only it was not known to us Cyrillic , and the other, the first Slavic alphabet is Glagolitic . The name may have come from the fourth letter of the alphabet - "verb", which meant "word". "Glagolati" - to speak. It turns out that with the help of the Glagolitic letters, the sacred books spoke to the Slavs in their native language.

Constantine came up with a completely new alphabet. Its letters by their very shape were ideal for preaching, as they were a combination of Christian elements symbolizing Christian teachings: a cross - the Passion of Christ, a circle - Divine perfection, a triangle - the Holy Trinity.

The Glagolitic alphabet lasted the longest in Croatia, the last printed edition was published in Rome at the beginning of the last century, however, the letters changed slightly outwardly under the influence of Gothic Western letters.

Cyrillic

The Cyrillic alphabet - Cyrillic - was compiled later, after the death of the holy brothers, on the basis of Glagolitic in sound and Greek writing in writing. It is believed that the new alphabet was compiled by Methodius' disciples who found shelter in Bulgaria after their expulsion from Great Moravia by the authorities.

Why was the Cyrillic alphabet needed and subsequently became popular, if there was already a Glagolitic alphabet? The fact is that the Cyrillic alphabet is very similar in spelling to the Greek alphabet, which was then widespread. The liturgical books were rewritten in Greek, therefore it was more convenient and understandable for the Slavs to write in a similar Cyrillic alphabet. Today they write in Cyrillic in Belarus, Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Abkhazia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, South Ossetia ...

Take our little quiz and see if you have carefully read the story of the Enlightenment Brothers!

The question that still torments modern researchers-philologists is this: what alphabet did the brothers invented - the verb or the Cyrillic alphabet?

Both Glagolitic and Cyrillic are two alphabets with which the surviving monuments of the Slavic language were written.

Both Glagolitic and Cyrillic - two alphabets of the Slavic language

We do not use the verb at all now: in the eyes of a modern person, it is a set of letters incomprehensible in outline. Cyrillic is much more familiar to us: this alphabet is the basis of modern Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Serbian and Bulgarian languages. It is believed that it originated on the territory of the first Bulgarian state as a kind of compromise between the Bulgarian clergy and nobility, who insisted on conducting divine services in the language of the local flock, and the dogmatic Greek clergy, who asserted the monopoly position of the Greek language.

However, let us return to the question that haunts modern philology.

The logic and consonance of words will incline you to the opinion that the Cyrillic alphabet is without a doubt the alphabet invented by Cyril. Nevertheless, the Old Slavonic sources that have come down to us do not provide unambiguous information: they date back to the tenth century, in which both Glagolitic and Cyrillic already existed. Accordingly, it is impossible to establish which alphabet appeared earlier and which of them was invented by the younger brother of the Sun (both Cyril and Methodius were natives of Thessaloniki). Therefore, this question is still open.

A bit of history ...

Cyril and Methodius went to Great Moravia from the Byzantine capital after the Moravian prince Rostislav came to Constantinople with an unusual request. The Christian principality subject to him on the Middle Danube was subordinate to the bishop in the German town of Passau, while Rostislav wanted to have his own bishop and people who preached not in Latin, but in a language understandable to the locals. In order to avoid possible conflicts with the Germans, the emperor and patriarch of Byzantium sent to Moravia not a new bishop, but the already known enlighteners Cyril and Methodius with the words: "You are Solunians, and all Solunians speak Slavic purely."

Both brothers had unique strengths: Methodius, for example, before his tonsure was the governor of one of the Byzantine provinces, which developed in him the talent of an organizer and a person versed in the laws. Cyril, in turn, was an experienced polemicist on religious issues: he took part in the Byzantine embassies to the Arab Caliphate, went to the Lower Volga to the Khazars.

Also, the younger Solunyan was distinguished by his exceptional ability in languages: he knew Arabic, Hebrew and Syriac, was interested in comparative grammar. It was Cyril who said about the need to create a new alphabet: "Who can write a conversation on the water and not be considered a heretic?" - I mean that the inhabitants of Moravia did not have their own alphabet.

Before monasticism Methodius was the governor of one of the Byzantine provinces

During their three and a half years in Moravia, the brothers translated all the texts for divine services from the Greek language, and also taught several dozen people to read and write. Their activities were not without difficulties: the Latin clergy, represented by the Germans, strongly opposed any translations, insisting that the texts can be studied only in one of the three "sacred" languages ​​- Hebrew / Latin / Greek, in the languages ​​of the local flock they can only be explained. Those accused of heresy Cyril and Methodius were summoned by Pope Nicholas I, but he died by their arrival. His successor, Andrian II, welcomed the “Slavic apostles” cordially: he allowed services in the Slavic language in some Roman churches, and the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, with his consent, were able to become priests.

Together, Cyril and Methodius translated the Bible almost completely, translated the Nomokanon - a collection of teachings on the main holidays of the church. They also made up the first legal monument in the Slavic language - "Judgment Law for People."

On his deathbed, on February 14, 869, Cyril said to his brother Methodius: “You and I, like two oxen, led the same furrow. I was exhausted, but do not think to leave the labors of teaching and retire to your mountain again. " Methodius heeded his instruction and continued to educate his students, to engage in literary work and translations, along with the post of archbishop, to which he was soon appointed.

“Life was given to a man so that she would serve him, not he,” one of the brothers once said. But they really succeeded.