Cyril and Methodius shaped greatly the 19th century national movement, says Marek ****************************************************************************************** * Cyril and Methodius shaped greatly the 19th century national movement, says Marek Junek ****************************************************************************************** This year is the 1150th anniversary of the arrival of the missionary brothers, Saints Cyri to Great Moravia. Does their cult still live in any other country in Europe and does the l Slavic brothers still appeal to historians? Mgr. Marek Junek, Ph.D., Head of the Departmen European Studies, CUFA, explains. How would you summarize the importance that the personalities of Cyril and Methodius have Constantine, who took the name Cyril upon becoming a monk in Rome, and Methodius were invi to Great Moravia in the 9th century, bringing Christianity with them. However, the word br imprecise as Christianization had begun in Central Europe before they arrived, having spre what was then the East Franks Empire. The Christianity that they brought was in a language inhabiting Great Moravia understood. This made them the founders of Slavic literature. Their translations of religious texts as well as writings on the law left their mark on th also on the whole of Slavic Europe. This influence was later built upon during, among othe 19th century National Revival; the introduction to the oldest Slavic poem known as Proglas says how important it is to speak a national language. It was Thessaloniki that the brothers came from. Today, however, Czechs hardly understand It was not until later that Slavic languages became differentiated. The brothers, therefor take as their point of departure a dialect spoken in the region of Thessaloniki, creating which they would later use in Great Moravia. Languages in those days were very close indee Could you specify how much Great Moravia expanded in the ninth century? Great Moravia was located primarily in parts of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia, Hunga parts of Austria. In the ninth century, Great Moravia was, alongside the Byzantine and Fra prominent centre of power. Could we have a little bit of speculation? What direction would our country have taken if Methodius had not arrived? I think the development would have been the same. You could say that the arrival of the br more than an instrument of power which would serve Great Moravia to reduce its dependence Franks Empire. What they did is naturally beyond any doubt, but Great Moravia would have p raids of Hungarians anyway. What we know from what happened later is that the centre of po Moravia would later shift westwards to what is now Bohemia; Czech culture has no direct li culture because Slavic literature only had a marginal position in history. Do other countries commemorate Cyril and Methodius as strongly as we do? The cult of the brothers is very widespread in other Slavic countries. Dividing the Czech Bohemia and Moravia makes it more transparent that the cult is much stronger in Moravia. T have a prominent position in Slovakia; it was the cultural tradition dating back to Great served as a crucial stimulus during the rise of the Slovak national movement in the 19th c Czechs, Slovaks had no sovereignty to rely on, taking Cyril and Methodius as a basis inste Slovaks who created one of the most important works related to the cult – an epos entitled one of the founding stones of 19th century Slovak literature, written by Ján Hollý, an exp of Slovak linguist Anton Bernolák, The cult is equally strong in Bulgaria as it was the Balkans that the disciples of Cyril a moved to. The influence of Cyril and Methodius lives on in the Orthodox Church and this is brothers' legacies are strongly commemorated in Ukraine and Russia. Their importance has been acknowledged, among others, by the European Union which adopted as its patrons. The importance of Cyril and Methodius is truly international rather than r nation, which is the case with the Czech patrons, Saint Wenceslas (Václav) and Saint Agnes Do Cyril and Methodius still appeal to historians? The issue has not been closed; for instance, the place where Methodius is buried is still is known that he died somewhere in Great Moravia, with several locations claiming to be hi Archaeological research is still ongoing, and linguists are busy researching the language. of interest is the influence which the brothers had on the national movements of the 19th their role is in contemporary churches etc.