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Cyril and Methodius –

Glagolitic script and the
Slavs
Žiga Zois, Man JULY
of the Yuriy Venelin: Ancient and
28, 2000 by ALEKSANDRA CEFERIN
Vladimir Bartol and his Maksim Gaspari. Artist for Lacemaking in Slovenia on Eusebius Sophronius
year Enlightenment Modern Slovenes novel Alamut the People Unesco Heritage List Hieronymus
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intended to be a metaphor for Europe intended to be a metaphor for Europe intended to be a metaphor for Europe his homeland. His is a priceless cultural
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0 SLOVENIAN L ANGUAGE

Language and Literacy – Politics of Religion in Middle

Ages Glagolitic script came into being during the 9th century. It
was invented to accommodate the complex sound system of the
old Slavic language for the purpose of spreading Christianity
among the Slavs. From a beginning in Macedonia, the glagolica
Self-study slovenian Language courses in CSF Course Outline Sample VCE outcomes, Unit 1-4 Stress, gender and number Declension
and its Christian message spread like wildfire over Bulgaria,
he materials Slovenia 1 The summary of outcomes and As in English, stress in Slovenian can Slovenian expresses with its endings
ounds Self-study slovenian language materials Croatia, Slovenia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, that
Numerous courses for study of CSF Course Outline tables showing assesment tasks fall on any syllable of a word : not only number and gender, but also
point is, over the
Slovenian whole
language, Slav
are world.by the objectives, outcomes and general
provided máti(mother); govorìti (to speak); relationships between the different
ation University of Ljubljana, at The Center instructions to the course. zakaj (why). In the vocabularies the words in the sentences (which in
an. for Slovene as a Second/Foreign stress is always marked. In diferent English are expressed by means of
Having made its mark, glagolica continued in use in Slavic church services in some cases forms of the same word, the stress prepositions). There are a total of six
Language, Faculty of Arts. Applicants
into athe
have 20th
choice ofcentury. However,
short courses, a half-by the 10th century a simpler script was introduced – the occurs quite on different syllables: forms for these relationships – which
year course, short nosìti – nósim, móž – možÃ¡, are called cases.
Cyrillic script orwinter and –
“cirilica” summer
which is to this day the official script of Russia, Bulgaria,
school, personal tuition, and the annual č​lôvek – č​lovèka. A few words have
Macedonia, full Montenegro
year course. and Serbia. It was named Cyrillic in honour of St.Cyril who was no stress whatsoever.
thought to have invented it. While glagolica continued in use particularly in Croatia into
the 20th century, Latin script was gradually adopted by the western Slavs – Slovenes,
Croats, Czechs, Slovaks and Poles – who came under the sphere of influence of the
Roman Catholic Church and Western European political sphere. Russians, Serbs,
Macedonians, Bulgarians came under the influence of the Byzantine empire, established
the Orthodox rite and retained Cyrillic script in religious as well as secular sphere.

For all the Slavs the common legacy bequeathed them by St.Cyril and Methodius was the
right to celebrate Mass and conduct all church services in their own tongue, while the
rest of the world retained the Latin services until the Vatican II.
The story of how it all came about makes a fascinating tale. It began with a request to the
Byzantine emperor for Christian missionaries who spoke the Slavic language. The request
came from Moravian Prince Rastislav and it was a move principally dictated by political
necessities. Rastislav wished to reduce the political power of German priesthood, which
they exercised by virtue of control over the new religion. Through German priests
German princes were able to wield the influence, which came with the authority and
sanction of the church. Prince Rastislav sought the assistance of the other great power of
the time – the Byzantine Empire to provide the counterbalance and support for his own
rule.

The history books tell us that the emperor promptly acceded to the request. Two
exceptionally able brothers Constantine (later known as Cyril) and Methodius were asked
to undertake the task. We know that they had already undertaken an important and
successful mission to Khazars and that they were fluent speakers of their native
Macedonian and that Constantine was a learned man, a linguist, who had been given the
honorary title Philosopher.

As part of preparation for their task, they wanted to translate a number of essential
religious texts into Slavic. Constantine found the Greek alphabet unsuitable, since it
lacked many of the Slavic sounds and consonantal groups. So he set out to invent a new
Slavic alphabet. With a background of knowledge of scripts current in Asia and Africa at
the time, he was able to construct an alphabet which was precise and complex and
included all the sounds specific to Slavic tongue, for instance the nasal O and E, the
reduced vowel, consonantal groups št and žd, etc, with as many letters as there were
sounds distinguishing words for their meanings.

Constantine named the script glagolica, meaning speech. Since the word Slav also means
speaker, the name was appropriate and significant, reminding the user that here was a
tool of communication and empowerment. In its conception and as a linguistic tool,
glagolitic script was an amazing achievement – a tool to give power of the written word
to half the Europe. It was also a powerful demonstration of the effective use of the native
language in spreading a new religion and a new concept of the world.

Constantine proceeded to translate selections of Gospels, Acts of Apostles and liturgical

texts. These are the oldest texts in a Slavic language.

(The Freising Manuscripts / Brižinski rokopisi in Latin script, were written about this
time but were only known from 10th century copies and were also limited to a few texts.)

The language – the Macedonian variant of the 9th century Slavic – became known as Old
Church Slavic. It did not vary much from the Slavic spoken in the north. In time words
used exclusively in the north were added, for instance the word for cross – križ, which is
still used in Slovenian today. Together with translations that followed the initial ones, this
language was retained in the liturgy of the Orthodox Churches of the southern and
eastern Slavs, and continued in use also in Croatia and in Ukrainian Roman Catholic
Church of the Eastern rite.

By 863 the brothers were ready and started on their slow journey to Moravia, stopping to
teach on the way. Their journey took them through Bulgaria, Serbia, and drew them into a
power struggle that they did not want. The less successful German priesthood, which
insisted on the use of Latin in the church ritual, reported them to the pope, for their
“heretic” use of Slavic language in the celebration of the Mass. So they traveled to Rome
and defended their use of the vernacular in church liturgy. They did this so successfully
that they won pope’s approval. St.Cyril entered the church and died in Rome in 869.
Methodius could not return to Moravia, because of the political situation there. He was
asked by Slovenian Prince Kocel to work in Pannonia. Kocel supported his consecration as
Bishop, and welcomed the edge this gave him in breaking the power of the Salzburg
hierarchy over his land. So Methodius was consecrated bishop of Simium, with authority
over Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and Moravians.

The German bishops did not rest in their attempts to get rid of “this turbulent priest”,
accused him of infringing on their power and imprisoned him. He was released only after
German defeat in Moravia and pope’s intervention. However, to appease Germans,
Methodius was no longer permitted to celebrate the Slavic Mass. In 879 he was again
summoned to Rome to answer German charges that he had disobeyed the restriction.
Methodius was again given a chance to explain to the Pope, how important was to
celebrate church rites in the language that people understood. The result was, that the
Pope gave him permission to use Slavic tongue for the Mass, Scripture reading and the
Offices. He was also made Head of the hierarchy in Moravia. Methodius continued his
work and it is said that he translated most of the bible and the works of Church Fathers
before his death in 884.

In the Slavic world St. Cyril and Methodius became legend, revered as the Apostles of the
Slavs. They were great teachers, who brought to the Slav peoples, together with
Christianity and a new concept of the world, the written word, a pride in their own
tongue and an awareness of themselves, their language and their identity, separate from
the Latin based tradition of the Western Europe. This act was to divide Europe initially
into Eastern Byzantine and Western Roman both in professed religion and in political
allegiance. It split the Slavs themselves into those who established the Orthodox national
churches and those who looked to Rome as the supreme religious authority. In the 20th
century that thousand year old division split Europe once again into western democratic
and eastern communist political systems. From such divisions came conflicts and cross-
fertilizing of ideas, which still characterize the Europe of today and gives its special rich
tapestry of the present, flowing from a turbulent and energetic past.

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ALEKSANDRA CEFERIN
ALEKSANDRA CEFERIN (M.A., B.A., DIP.ED.) HAS INTRODUCED SLOVENIAN
LANGUAGE AS A SCHOOL SUBJECT IN AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM AND
FOUNDED THE SLOVENIAN TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION OF VICTORIA IN 1976. SHE
HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION: AS TEACHER,
LECTURER, CURRICULUM COORDINATOR, COURSE WRITER, LANGUAGE
CONSULTANT AND MANAGER, VCE STATE REVIEWER AND CHIEF EXAMINER.
SINCE 1998 SHE HAS BEEN THE PRESIDENT OF ISSV AND THE MANAGER AND
CHIEF EDITOR OF ITS PROJECTS. ALEKSANDRA VISITS SLOVENIAN ANNUALLY,
ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING CONTACTS WITH SLOVENIA, AND INITIATING
EXCHANGES AND COOPERATION BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS. IN 2004 SHE WAS
THE RECIPIENT OF THE NATIONAL EDUCATION AWARD OF RS SLOVENIA.

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