Preface

• Authors: Maya Ivanova

Abstracts

The present number 2 of “Studies into the History of the Book and Book Collections” (“Z Badań nad Książką i Księgozbiorami Historycznymi”) journal is dedicated to the Cyrillo-Methodian literary culture seen from a historical perspective, as well as to the scholarly research on the topic. All studies included in the edition are interconnected since they focus on Slavonic, Greek, and Latin works related to the Cyrillo-Methodian subject. At the centre of the research field are the lives and the works of Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher and his brother Methodius, canonized as saints already in the Middle Ages and in more recent years declared as co-patrons of Europe. Born in Thessaloniki, they grew up in the bilingual Greek-Slavonic milieu of their hometown receiving the highest education in the Byzantine capital. Later, they became Christian missionaries on behalf of the Byzantine emperor, who sent them out to the Khazars, the Saracens and the Western Slavs. It was for the benefit of the Slavs of Great Moravia that Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher and Methodius devised the first Slavonic alphabet, called the Glagolitic alphabet (the name comes from the Old Slavonic word глаголат - I speak). By virtue of this achievement they were regarded as the first educators of the Slavs, and after their death were venerated as Slavonic saints of both the Eastern Orthodox and the Western Roman Catholic Churches. Included in the Cyrillo-Methodian subject are all sources related to the saintly brothers (especially the earliest ones dated to the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century), their own philological work (the Slavonic alphabet and their original literary compositions, as well as the first translations of the Bible to Old Church Slavonic). The scholarly research on the topic extends also to the teaching and literary activities of the disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius, and further to every literary and artistic work related to the Cyrillo-Methodian traditions from the 12th century to the present day. Already in the Middle Ages these works were considered Slavonic, while today in the Western vocabulary the language of Cyril and Methodius is known as Old Church Slavonic. In Bulgaria this language is called Old Bulgarian since the first Slavonic alphabet displays the characteristic features of old local variants of the Bulgarian language. Intended for the lands of Prince Rastislav, travelling to Venice and Rome, in the end of the 9th century, after the deaths of Cyril and Methodius, the Glagolitic alphabet arrived in Bulgaria, and the work of the saintly brothers saw its continuity and flourish among the Bulgarians. Furthermore, the second Slavonic alphabet, named after St Cyril and known as Cyrillic around the world, was created in Bulgaria. In the Middle Ages, the Cyrillic alphabet

Keywords

EN

Meyvaert Paul (1921–2015); Devos Paul (1913–1995); Sts Cyril and Methodius; Italian Legend; Leo of Ostia (1046–1115); Martinov Jean (1821–1894); Moravian Legend; Ludvikovský Jaroslav (1895–1984)

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Warszawski. Wydział Dziennikarstwa, Informacji i Bibliologii
• Journal: Z Badań nad Książką i Księgozbiorami Historycznymi
• Year: 2023
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 2 Cyrillo-Methodian Written Culture: From Medieval Sources to the Latest Research
• Pages: 161-166

Dates

published

2023

Contributors

author

Maya Ivanova

• Cyrillo-Methodian Research Centre at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria

Identifiers

Biblioteka Nauki

14288080