The Byzantine Mission Led by Constantine - Essay Example

The Byzantine mission led by Constantine (Cyril) the Philosopher and his brother Methodius was the turning point in the historical and cultural development of the Slavs. Since that time, the Slavs have has their own language. The Macedonian dialect spoken by the Slavs in Thessalonica remained the literary language of the Slavs for several centuries. This dialect is often referred to as the "Church Slavonic. Cyril was the well versed scholar in Byzantine civilization and literature. Cyril and Methodius mission has resulted in unexpected success among the Eastern Slavs, Serbians and Croat and became the basis of the oldest Christian Slavic culture. Unfortunately, very little is known about the history of two brothers and it is still unclear whether Cyril was the priest or simply the deacon. From religious point of view, the liturgical innovation of Cyril was accepted only by the Eastern Church, but it was also offered to the Roman Church. Despite of the numerous controversies about the important of brother's mission to Orthodox Church, their contribution to the Slavic culture and church history cannot be underestimated. Cyril and Methodius both rendered important services to Byzantine Empire and were sent by the Emperor and the Patriarch on the responsible mission to Moravia. It is apparent that the beginnings of the Russian Christianity coincide in time with the Moravian mission of Cyril and Methodius and with the conversion of Bulgaria to Christian Church. The Byzantine culture was the most highly developed of its time and was spreading fast. The Moravian mission of Cyril and Methodius has further extended Byzantine religious and cultural influences to remote Slavic regions in the central Europe. "The real and unique greatness of the Moravian mission lies not so much in its achievements in Moravia as in the outstanding and far-reaching results beyond the Moravian border" (Ostrogorsky 3). Two brothers have created the Slavonic alphabet which made possible the development of Slavic writing and opened the new era in the cultural life of Slavic people. In addition to cultural contribution of Cyril-Methodius mission to Slavic nations, the Moravian mission should be viewed as the missionary enterprise. Byzantium was consolidating the existing relations and establishing new relations with the Slavs. Some of the historical events of that time include: the Russian attack on Constantinople (860), the request of Moravian prince Rastislav to send Byzantine missionaries to his country (863), the official acceptance of Christianity by Bulgaria (864). These events took place within the four years, however, their importance to Byzantine Empire and to the Slavs was great. Byzantine state in the sixties of the ninth century was strengthened, the military power increased, the regions of the Balkan Peninsula were reoccupied, the influence and authority of Constantinople in the Christian Church increased (Ostrogorsky 15). These developments have laid the foundation for powerful expansion of Byzantine religious and cultural influences that took place during the activity of Cyril and Methodius. Cyril, being one of the most remarkable personalities in Byzantine Empire, endowed with secular and theological knowledge, was the exponent of the highest aspiration of the Byzantine Church (Ostrogorsky 15). Cyril and Methodius did preach and celebrated the liturgy in Slavic language; they created the alphabet and translated the Bible into Slavic. Because they did these things, they laid the foundation for the Slavic literacy, literature, and culture. In the result of their mission, Byzantine Church became the powerful factor in the Hellenization of the Slavic world. For example, in Moravia the Byzantines preached Christianity and celebrated Mass in Slavic language, the Slavic self-consciousness was deliberately supported. Cyril and Methodius opposed the trilingual heresy - the theory that Christian Church was being expressed only in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Notably, the intensive research of the Biblical text in Slavonic language shows that there is the similarity between the Byzantine collection of liturgical books and t he collection which is preserved in Slavonic manuscripts. Cyril and Methodius "intended to put into Slavonic the whole ensemble of Byzantine liturgical book" (Dostl 73). If this is true, the mission of brothers was to introduce the same religious order with all liturgical acts of Byzantium into Moravia and other Slavonic lands. It is worth to mention that not all of the Slavonic religious texts have been translated today and their meaning is partially uncovered. The language created by two brothers and the texts written in it, were adequate enough to express the Greek theological and philosophical terminology. Today, Slavonic liturgical texts present the difficultly for translators because they are written in poetic language and in accordance to metrical system. Cyril and Methodius have accomplished the enormous task and managed to translate the religious songs in the appealing manner to faithful. Even though most of the scholars pay closer attention to Cyril and his role in the mission to Slavs, it was Methodius who became the regular papal missionary to the Slavic lands. It is the historical fact that Methodius was ordained archbishop of Sirmium and dispatched as the papal envoy to the Slavic land (Alexander 268). Methodius was protected by Pope Hadrian II and John VIII in his struggle against enemies in Moravia. These enemies were the Bavarian missioners in Slavic lands. At the time Cyril and Methodius were sent on the mission to Moravia, the Slavic lands had been actively missionized by the Bavarian missions. The establishment of the new archdiocese in the territory of the Bavarian mission was the open declaration of war against Frankish clergy (Alexander 270). There must have been serious reasons for sending two prominent individuals Cyril and Methodius to Moravian land. As Ihor Sevcenko has noted, there are several paradoxes of Cyrillo-Methodian mission (220). The first paradox is that the mission itself was the failure which turned into success. The Byzantine mission could "successfully function only so long as it was able to use, or was willing to be used by, the princes of Moravia and Pannonia and the papacy, the powers which were interested in keeping the ecclesiastical influence away" (Sevcenko 221). The Slavic disciples, however, have shared Methodius' conviction about the Holy Ghost. In addition, Methodius used the Slavic liturgy and there had been no previous adverse ruling on this subject. The Franks pointed out that in the eyes of the Slavs the introduction of the new language debased the worth of those accustomed to celebrate the Mass in Latin. In other words, Franks were hardly just in insinuating that Slavic letters were closely associated with the Latin language. A year after the death of Methodius (886), the Pope sided with the Franks in all matters vital to the functioning of the so-called Slavo-Byzantine Church in Great Moravia. It was the time of arrests and deportations which eliminated the elite of the Slavic hierarchy in the country. Thus, Cyril and Methodius were remembered in the non-Slavic world not for their missionary activity, but for bringing the relic of Pope Clement from the Crimea to Rome. The story of brothers' success began in exile: by 886 Bulgaria was less Christianized than Moravia and the Bulgarian ruler (Boris), not being pleased with the Greek missionaries) invited St. Clement. Methodius has been training ecclesiastics in Moravia for about 12 years before his death and he had many students. With such encouragement, the formation of Slavo-Byzantine Christian hierarchy in Bulgaria proceeded impressively. During the last quarter of the First Bulgarian Empire, the elite has added enough to the core of Cyrillo-Methodian writings to enable it not only to help in the re-Christianization of the Serbs, but to assist in the Christianisation of the Eastern Slavs as well. Thus, the success of the mission led by Cyril and Methodius is in Russia, the part of the Slavic world where the mission was never active. Among the Eastern Slavs the works of Thessalonican brothers survived most securely. The second paradox of the Cyrillo-Methodian mission is the spirit of friendliness and equality with which the mission was conducted. Byzantines have inherited from the Hellenic part the habit of dividing the world into Hellenes and barbarians. It was believed that God has imposed on Byzantines the mission to subdue barbarians and incorporate them into empire. Nevertheless, the two brothers, being the followers of St. Paul, knew that the Lord has called upon barbarians first and that in the eyes of God barbarians were their brothers. This perception was especially vivid during their missionary activities (Sevcenko 226). Byzantines encouraged the national Slavic liturgy even though the Slavic language invented by Cyril and Methodius was considered less perfect than Greek for the purpose of Christian worship. Cyril, being the highly cultivated man, was the protg of the emperor and the patriarch, and being accepted in the highest circles should have shared the cultural attitudes of Byzantine elites. People were astonished with his vast knowledge and in order to assert the Slav's rights to a liturgy in their own language, he referred to the following verses: "for He (God) makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust" (as quoted in Sevcenko 230). His plea was for the equality of all men before God, whether they were the barbarians or speakers of the Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. Moreover, with the development of Slavonic language, the whole mission of Cyril was as risk to being viewed as heresy. At the start of their mission, Cyril and Methodius probably had the purpose of furthering the Byzantium ideological and cultural interests. The mission to Moravia was an "aspect of the Byzantine desire to bring order, taxis, to the lands which lay beyond the empire's northern frontier" "it had the additional advantage of replacing German, Latin Christian influences" (Stephenson, http://homepage.mac.com/paulstephenson/trans/cyril&methodios.html). When Rastislav has accepted Cyril and Methodius who were willing to preach in Slavic language, he rejected his powerful neighbour - Germany. However, in the course of years brothers spent abroad, their purpose must have changed - they would not voluntary exchange peaceful contemplation in the monastery on the Bithynian Olympus for a dungeon in a Swabian prison just to further cultural values of Byzantium. Cyril and Methodius came to identify their lives with those of the people among whom they worked, even though they were the typical representatives of their culture. Despite of the accepted notion that Christianity in Moravia was not established prior to the arrival of Cyril and Methodius, there are some facts which clearly indicate that basic Christian foundations were already present in Moravia when brothers arrived. For example, in archaeological discoveries in Moravia confirm that at least five stone churches were erected before the arrival of Byzantine mission. As Sullivan notes, "the outstanding feature of eastern missionary method was the elaborate preparations made prior to the appearance of Christianity in pagan land" (18). This aim was achieved through political pressure and cultural penetration and Christianity was made desirable to pagans before it was presented by missionaries. Thus, it can be explained why Christian elements were already rooted in Moravian lands prior to arrival of Cyril and Methodius. Thus, Christianity was already established in Moravia and the primary purpose of Byzantine mission must have been different. Rastislav was asking to send the bishop; however, the Byzantines did send only Cyril and his brother. The desired establishment of the bishopric in Moravia was postponed until the period when the new Church would become independent, have its own liturgy, and big number of native clergy trained (Dvornik 197). Cyril and Methodius were called not to establish the Christianity but to help Slavic nation to develop its own identity and independent church. The brother translated liturgical books into Slavic idiom which was understood by all Slavic nations and trained the young men in Slavic letters. Cyrillo-Methodian mission was fully supported by the Byzantine emperor who assumed responsibility for organizing the mission to any pagan region that was prepared to receive Christianity. Emperor selected the personnel and motivated them by political considerations as well as by the piety. Cyril and Methodius were educated in Slavic customs and language. They were loyal servants to emperor who issued instructions concerning their conduct just as he would to any other diplomatic mission. Cyrillo-Methodian mission was targeted at instruction rather than intrusion. They gathered disciples who were prepared for priesthood in their nave languages. In addition, the two brothers were actively involved in literary activities. Their significant contribution was to provide young Churches with the liturgical books in the Slavic language. Two brothers have left Moravia in three years because they had given the young Church all she needed for an independent existence. They translated the Office and the Gospels as well as the Mass into Slavonic (Dvornik 202). However, when Cyril and Methodius left Moravia, their mission did not end. The real significance of Cyril and Methodius for cultural development of the Slavs has only started after the Moravian catastrophe. Both brothers were accepted in Bulgaria where they added numerous Christian works in Slavic language. The Bulgarian khagan Boris has used these Slavonic liturgies to further strengthen the Bulgarian Church. The Byzantines were never hostile to the introduction of national vernaculars into the liturgy, and have seen the opportunity to spread their cultural and political domination over the nations covered by Cyrillo-Methodian mission. Moreover, the mission of two brothers has contributed to the development of the Slavic literature in tenth century. Tsar Symeon (the successor of Boris) was educated in Constantinople and encouraged the translation of most of the Byzantine literature into Slavic language created by Cyril and Methodius. Further, the same literature development took place in Bulgaria and Serbia. The Slavic clerics in Bohemia further cultivated literal works in Slavic and numerous translations have been preserved till present day. Almost all Slavonic literature produced in Bohemia was taken to Kiev after the baptism of Vladimir (Dvornik 211). This short overview of the cultural developments in Slavic nations in the middle ages shows the real significance of Cyril and Methodius mission. Historians attach great significance to Cyrillo-Methodian mission today because of the reception, preservation, and further development of its legacy not only in Moravia, but also in Bulgaria, Serbia, Rumania and further Russia. For example, Clement has followed the example of Cyril and Methodius and first created the great educational center, which provided the trained priests and clerics needed for a Slavic Church. Clement has produced more than 3500 disciples who ordained as readers, deacons, and priests and were sent to spread the Slavic Word (Soulis 24). In the same manner the work of Cyril and Methodius was transplanted from Moravia to the fertile soil of Macedonia, which became the cradle of the Slavic Christianity. The mission of Cyril and Methodius to Moravia was more successful than predicted. They have not only created the new language and established Orthodox Church in Slavonic lands, they have contributed to the development of ethnic identity, literature advancement and cultural education. Cyril and Methodius were the typical representatives of Byzantine culture and they have managed to bring the best practices of their motherland to pagan Slavic people. With their help, Slavs were enabled to receive the word of God in their own language. Even after the death of Cyril and Methodius, their mission did not end and was continued by their followers who further spread Christianity and Byzantine values. One of the significant contribution of two brothers was the spread of idea that Christianity and liturgy was not intended only for Hebrews or Greeks and that representatives of all nations were equal before God and deserved having Holy Writing in their own unique language. Cyril and Methodius are regarded as Saints today and for many generations to come their contribution to cultural and religious development of Slavs will be appreciated. Word Count: 2613 Works Cited Alexander, Paul. "The Papacy, the Bavarian Clergy, and the Slavonic Apostles." Slavonic Year-Book, American Series 1 (1941): 266-293. Dostl, Antonn. "The Origins of the Slavonic Liturgy." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 19 (1965): 67-87. Dvornik, Francis. "The Significance of the Missions of Cyril and Methodius." Slavic Review 23.2 (1964): 195-211. Ostrogorsky, George. "The Byzantine Background of the Moravian Mission." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 19 (1965): 1-18. Sevcenko, Ihor. "Three Paradoxes of the Cyrillo-Methodian Mission." Slavic Review 23.2 (1964): 220-236. Soulis, George. "The Legacy of Cyril and Methodius to the Southern Slavs." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 19 (1965): 19-43. Stephenson, Paul. "The Lives of Saints Cyril and Methodius." Aug. 2001. 29 April 2007 . Sullivan, Richard. "Early Medieval Missionary Activity: A Comparative Study of Methods." Church History 23.1 (1954): 17-35. Read More