CyrilCyrillMethodius

CyrilCyrillMethodius refers to the two 9th-century Byzantine brothers, commonly known as Saints Cyril and Methodius, who were pivotal in the Christianization of the Slavic peoples and in the development of Slavic literacy. Born in Thessalonica, Constantine, who became Cyril, and his brother Michael, who became Methodius, undertook missionary work among the Slavs under the auspices of the Byzantine Empire.

To translate liturgical texts and to teach the Christian faith in the vernacular, they developed the Glagolitic alphabet, a script aimed at rendering Old Church Slavonic. They established a Slavic literary culture and promoted liturgy in Slavonic, enabling worship in the native tongue. Their mission took them to Great Moravia and neighboring regions, where they translated the Gospels and other religious works and trained local clergy.

Although Glagolitic preceded it, the Cyrillic alphabet later emerged in the First Bulgarian Empire, drawing on Greek and Glagolitic sources, and became widely used across the Slavic world. The brothers’ work laid the foundations for Slavic literary and cultural development and influenced later ecclesiastical and educational efforts in Eastern Europe.

Cyril and Methodius are venerated as saints in both the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions. Their legacy endures in the enduring use of Slavic liturgy and in the alphabets that facilitated literacy and scholarly life across many Slavic peoples.