“St. St. Cyril and Methodius” also known as the Solun’s brothers are Methodius and Konstantin philosopher , creators and distributors of the first slavic alphabet the Glagolitic alphabet or just Glagolitsa. They are canonized as saints for the transliteration and popularization of the holy bible on Old Church Slavonic.
Methodius and Constantine philosopher were born in Sоlun (known as Thessaloniki), the Byzantian empire during the XIX century, at family of nine persons in the family of brass hat military superintendant Luv and his wife Maria. Methodius is the bigger one, he was born during the 810 year, Konstantin was born in 827 and almost at the end of his life he gets the name Cyril. Their father dies too early and they pass under the guardianship of their uncle Teoktisto, who’s a highly placed official at the Empire. During the year 843, Cyril arrives at Constantinople and starts his studies at the prestige University of the palace hall of Magnaura. For Methodius, Teoktisto has found another service as governor of administrative area, populated almost with Slavs from the bulgarian group.
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Any neighbour of the dazzling empire found its wealth an attraction difficult to resist. King Simeon was no exception. Around the end of the 9th century he engaged in endless wars with Byzantium. He was led by the misguided ambition not only to annex the maximum of Byzantine territory but also, if possible, to sit on the throne of the emperors in Constantinople. The Bulgarian ruler’s military and diplomatic genius could not be doubted. They allowed him to turn the power of his extensive realm into a fist of iron and to make the very existence of the empire questionable on several occasions. From the walls of the imperial city the officials of Byzantium could repeatedly enjoy the picture of nimble Bulgarian companies engaged in plunder. Simeon was also helped by the international situation. The Arabs persistently attacked from the east, compelling the empire to fight on two fronts. Cornered as they were, the Byzantines were forced to make an extreme sacrifice: Simeon was recognised as Tsar, i.e. almost equal to the emperor, the head of the Bulgarian Church - as Patriarch, while Byzantium committed itself to pay the Bulgarians annual due. In those days that was equal to being declared a Great Power. (Some historians, by the way, question the official character of this recognition and insist that it was his son Peter who became Tsar.)

Tsar Simeon in battle with the Byzantines - 14th century miniature.
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The elder brother, Methodius, returned to Great Moravia only to encounter the growing hostility of the German clergy. He and his disciples were vilified, persecuted, and imprisoned. After his death some of the disciples were sold as slaves in Italian markets. Others, who were luckier, sailed down the Danube and found refuge in one of the Bulgarian ports on the river. From there they went to the capital Pliska, where Prince Boris welcomed them as dear guests and created all the necessary conditions for their work. Schools for future priests and administrators were opened, establishments that were to give their disciples the invaluable advantage of being able to read and write in their mother tongue. In this case the language was based on the Slavonic, albeit with many borrowings from the Bulgarian. The state, however, was vast and one literary centre did not suffice. That was why one of Cyril’s most able disciples, Clement, was consecrated bishop of Koutmichevitsa, a region in present-daySouthwest Macedonia with Ochrid as a centre. This was where the second literary centre was established in which more than 3,500 students were trained over a period of twenty years.

Continue reading The Rise of the First Bulgarian Kingdom part III

As it turned out, Byzantium had little reason to rejoice. In the next few decades the Bulgarians conquered a large part of the empire’s Balkan territories step by step and by engaging in open warfare. By the middle of the 9th century Bulgaria already included all of Macedonia, most of the territories of present-day Albania, and had gained a firm foothold on the Adriatic coast. Slavs of the Bulgarian language group inhabited most of these territories. The state had become one of the largest in Europe. Bulgaria’s sovereign Tsar Boris I (852 - 889) was full of self-esteem but suffered from the fact that Byzantium did not regard him as an equal. The empire saw his state as an unstable barbarian alliance. At that, being heathen, it did not meet one of the fundamental requirements to be accepted in the family of peoples headed by the basileus.

The fact that there were two basic religions in the country was also an obstacle in the way of Bulgarians and Slavs blending into one.
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The victory of the Bulgarians over the Avars also marked the triumph of the ideas of sobriety. According to the chronicles, Krum, filled with apprehension, asked the defeated what they thought was the reason for their downfall. Their answer was that their state had declined because of lies, theft, and drunkenness. Krum introduced severe laws in order to avoid this very end. Legislation provided terrible punishment for criminals, and vineyards were uprooted so their fruit could not be made into enticing juice. judging by subsequent information, as with later reformations of this type, the restrictions were met only with the insatiable thirst for wine and fell through soon after.While the emperor inspected his farthest eastern borders, Krum took the chance, invaded the empire, and took the city of Serdica in 809. Centuries later it was to become the capital of the state under the name of Sofia. The conquest was accompanied with the then customary plunder and atrocities, which did not surprise anyone. The valley of the river Strouma also became part of the Bulgarian state.
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The Bulgarians found themselves on the Balkans at times that were difficult for Byzantium. Inspired by Islam, Arabs had begun the persistent onslaught from the east that was to continue for three centuries and at times bring the empire to the brink of ruin. The state borders so dear to the heart of contemporary man were practically nonexistent. The garrisons along the border were weak and could not stop invaders. There was a niche in power, which the Bulgarians were quick to fill. They began a series of pillaging attacks to the south. And what was more disconcerting from the point of view of Constantinople, the newcomers began to ally themselves with the Slavs on the time-honoured principle that the enemy of one’s enemy is one’s friend.

Emperor Constantine IV Pogonates decided to follow the example of Alexander the Great and cut through the Gordian knot of increasingly complex problems with one blow. He loaded a large army on ships, sent another by land, and besieged the Bulgarians in their fortified camp. The adversary, however, was experienced in making fortifications. The siege dragged on. There were also numerous Bulgarian parties in the steppe, which attacked the Byzantines from the rear.
Continue reading The Establishment of Danubian Bulgaria