Stealing Beauty 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.
Continue reading The Rise of the First Bulgarian Kingdom part II
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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
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The creator of the
Slavic alphabet and the first translator of liturgical books from Greek into Old-Bulgarian was Constantine, the Philosopher, better known by his name in religion,
Cyril, adopted on his death bed. Constantine-Cyril was born in Salonika (now Thessaloniki in Greece). In 863 he and his brother
Methodius were sent by the Byzantine emperor Michael III to convert the Western Slavs to Christianity and arrange that the divine service in Greater Moravia is performed in their native tongue. This was done at the request of Rostislav, the prince of Greater Moravia, whose possessions comprised the lands of now the Czech Republic, Slovakia, part of Slovenia and part of Hungary, at that time inhabited by Slav population.
Continue reading Cyril and Methodius the Apostles of the Slavs
Without losing any more time, Knyaz Boris asked the Pope to appoint Formosa of Portua for Bulgarian Archbishop. Unfortunately for the Roman Church, the Pope flatly refused. It is likely that Nicholas I had some personal reasons for this, because his official argument that Formosa already had an eparchy of his own was untrue.
The Pope then ordered new leaders of the mission to be sent to Bulgaria — Dominic of Trivena and Grimwald of Polimarthia. Pope Nicolas I died soon after. His successor Pope Adrian II (867-872) turned out to be even less negotiable about Knyaz Boris’ demand that the archbishop be appointed by him.
The knyaz raised another candidature for Bulgarian archbishop, the Pope not sensing how important the moment was and refusing again. Instead, he suggested a cleric named Silvester, who stood so low in the hierarchy that he was not even allowed to carry out liturgy by himself. After a three-day stay in Pliska, Silverster was sent back to Rome, accompanied by emissaries carrying a rather impolite letter by Knyaz Boris.
Continue reading The Christianization of Bulgaria part III
