Cyril and Methodius Apostles to the Slavs
Two brothers who were Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic.
- Early Middle Ages
- Greece
- Feast day February 14
- 826 – 885
- Apostle
- Missionary
Cyril (Constantine) and Methodius (Michael), brothers born in Thessaloniki in the 9th century, are venerated as the Apostles to the Slavs. They were sent to Great Moravia by the Byzantine Emperor Michael III and Patriarch Photius I to Christianize the Slavic peoples. Cyril, a philosopher and linguist, devised the Glagolitic alphabet, the first Slavic script, enabling the translation of Scriptures and liturgy into Old Church Slavonic. Methodius, a jurist and former governor, was consecrated Archbishop of Pannonia and Great Moravia, continuing their missionary work and defending the Slavic liturgy against Germanic pressures. Their work had an immense cultural and religious impact, laying the foundations for Christian Slavic cultures.