The beginning of literacy in Russia is considered to be the appearance of a letter after the arrival of Christianity in these lands. The alphabet of Cyril and Methodius is what allowed our country to read the lives of the saints and the Bible in their native language. Until then, writing did not exist. At least, this is the official position of historians, and there is no evidence of the existence of Proto-Slavic records today.
The true enlighteners of Russia are considered the monks Cyril and Methodius. The Slavic alphabet created by them was widespread. However, not everything is so simple here, since there are not one, but two whole writing systems: Cyrillic and Glagolitic. The debate about which of them was the first is still underway. The Cyrillic alphabet that we still use in our lives may have been created by an older brother. However, historians and philologists for the most part believe that the Christian saint developed a glagolitic cardinally different from the Cyrillic alphabet. None of the modern Slavs can read this alphabet, only narrow specialists.
The lives of the saints, as well as The Tale of Bygone Years, tell about the brothers themselves. Who were these two who changed our world? They were born on the shores of the Aegean Sea, in the Macedonian city of Thessaloniki. Their father, Greek by nationality, held an honorable position, so all his seven sons received a good education. Mother could be a Slavic, since the brothers had been speaking in the local Slavic dialect since childhood. The extraordinary abilities of Konstantin (Cyril in monasticism) were noticed very early, so a brilliant career was predicted for him. The death of the patron encouraged the boy to become a novice at the monastery, and then take part in missionary work. Perhaps the alphabet of Cyril and Methodius was conceived during the baptism of Bulgaria, in which Cyril took part. However, the monk took up work in about 862 in Moravia, where he went on behalf of the emperor. The fact is that the local prince Rostislav asked to send pundits who will teach the people to read.
The alphabet of Cyril and Methodius at first had opponents, since many people believed that praise to the Lord God could be offered only in those languages in which they inscribed on the Lord’s Cross, that is, in Latin, Greek and Jewish.
But the brothers had the support of the Pope, so they continued to distribute
Slavic writing. The death of Cyril did not finish the work that had begun, since Methodius diligently fulfilled the will of his brother. Although the persecution continued, the brothers appeared followers who were active in Bulgaria and Croatia.
What is the alphabet of Cyril and Methodius? After all, in the Western countries they use the Latin alphabet, and the Glagolitic alphabet was in use for some time before it completely disappeared. Some researchers agree that it was she who was the brainchild of the monk brothers, and that the Cyrillic alphabet was already created by their students. There is a hypothesis that the Enlighteners of Russia adapted the Slavic runic characters, “traits and cuts” that were used here to their alphabet, but there is no evidence for this.
The creation of the alphabet by Cyril and Methodius is an epoch-making event, since it increased the level of literacy in Russia, spread Christianity, and also made it possible to read the works of European thinkers in their native language for many peoples.