Aа

Бб Вв Гг
Дд Ее Жж Зз
Ии Йй Кк Лл
Мм Нн Оо
Пп Рр Сс Тт
Уу Фф Хх Цц Alphabet
Чч Шш Щщ and History
Ъъ Ьь Юю
Яя

The Cyrillic Alphabet State Institute for Culture Centre

in the European Union Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Slavo-Byzantine Studies
of the Republic of Bulgaria “Prof. Ivan Dujčev”
 ALPHABET AND HISTORY
Ока
СМОЛЕНСК
Нем
ан

К И Е В С К А

а
лб

сл
Е

Ви
др
НОВГОРОД

О
Г
МАГДЕБУРГ

Дн
еп
ър
Р У С И Я

В
Буг

н
Рей
Припят

Е
ЧЕРНИГОВ

Л
Map of the dissemination

До
К

н
О
М

М
КИЕВ

О
of the Glagolitic alphabet

Р
А

А
В
АУСБУРГ ВЕЛИХРАД
Д
ун

И
ав Дн
еп

Н
ър

Я
Ю

during the Morava Mission (863)

ЗЕМЛИНГРАД ж
ВИЕНА ен
НИТРАВА Дн бу
ЗАЛЦБУРГ ес г
ЕГЕР т

И
ър

СТОЛИЧНИ ВЕЛЕХРАД ПЕЩ

Я
and after the death of Methodius
СОЛНОГРАД

БЛАТНОГРАД
По
Др
ЗАГРЕБ ав МАРОШВАР
а

in 885 – Great Moravia,

КЕРЧ
ПУЛА
Са
ва СРЕМ
ХЕРСОН

ЗАДАР БЕЛГРАД
ПАНИЦА

а
The First Bulgarian Empire
в
Дуна

рав
СПЛИТ ДРЪСТЪР
БДИН
на

Мо
Д
ри
ПЛИСКА Е В К С И Н С К И П О Н Т
НИШ
ПРЕСЛАВ ВАРНА
ЛЕСКОВЕЦ
ДУБРОВНИК СРЕДЕЦ
НЕСЕБЪР
АНХИАЛО

and probably Croatia.

СТОБ ФИЛИПОПОЛ ДЕБЕЛ СОЗОПОЛ
ПРИЗРЕН АГАТОПОЛ
СКОПИЕ

ДИРАХИЙ СТРУМИЦА
ОХРИД АДРИАНОПОЛ
МИДИЯ
ЦАРИГРАД
ФИЛИПИ
ДЕВЕЛ ВОДЕН

САЛОНИКА

ЙОАНИНА

ЛАРИСА

Е
З А Н Т И Я
В И

Г
Е
Й
ПАТРАС

КОРИНТ АТИНА

Ока
СМОЛЕНСК
Нем
ан

К И Е В С К А
а

а
лб

сл
Е

Ви
др

НОВГОРОД
О
Г

МАГДЕБУРГ

Дн
еп
ър
Р У С И Я
Е

Буг
н
Рей

Припят
Е

ЧЕРНИГОВ
Л
Р

До
К

н
О
М

КИЕВ
О

Map of the dissemination

Р
А

А
В

АУСБУРГ ВЕЛИХРАД
Д
ун
И

ав Дн
еп
Н

ър
Я

of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets

ЗЕМЛИНГРАД ж
ВИЕНА ен
НИТРАВА Дн бу
ЗАЛЦБУРГ ес г
ЕГЕР т
И

ър

СТОЛИЧНИ ВЕЛЕХРАД ПЕЩ

Я

СОЛНОГРАД

in the second half of the 10th century.

БЛАТНОГРАД
По
Др
ЗАГРЕБ ав МАРОШВАР
а

КЕРЧ
ПУЛА
Са
ва СРЕМ
ХЕРСОН

ЗАДАР БЕЛГРАД
ПАНИЦА
а

в
Дуна
рав

СПЛИТ ДРЪСТЪР
а БДИН
Мо

Д
р ин
ПЛИСКА Е В К С И Н С К И П О Н Т
НИШ
ПРЕСЛАВ ВАРНА
ЛЕСКОВЕЦ
СРЕДЕЦ
ДУБРОВНИК НЕСЕБЪР
АНХИАЛО
СТОБ ФИЛИПОПОЛ ДЕБЕЛ СОЗОПОЛ
ПРИЗРЕН АГАТОПОЛ
СКОПИЕ

ДИРАХИЙ СТРУМИЦА
ОХРИД АДРИАНОПОЛ
МИДИЯ
ЦАРИГРАД
ФИЛИПИ
ДЕВЕЛ ВОДЕН

САЛОНИКА

ЙОАНИНА

ЛАРИСА
Е

З А Н Т И Я
В И
Г
Е
Й

ПАТРАС

КОРИНТ АТИНА

Ока
СМОЛЕНСК
Нем
ан

К И Е В С К А
а

а
лб

сл
Е

Ви
др

НОВГОРОД
О
Г

МАГДЕБУРГ
Дн
еп
ър

Р У С И Я
Е

Буг
н
Рей

Припят
Е

ЧЕРНИГОВ
Л
Р

До
К

н
О
М

КИЕВ
О
Р

Map of the dissemination

А

А
В

АУСБУРГ ВЕЛИХРАД
Д
ун
И

ав Дн
еп
Н

ър
Я

ЗЕМЛИНГРАД Ю
ж
ВИЕНА ен
НИТРАВА Дн

of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets

бу
ЗАЛЦБУРГ ес г
ЕГЕР т
И

ър

СТОЛИЧНИ ВЕЛЕХРАД ПЕЩ

Я

СОЛНОГРАД

in the 14th century.

БЛАТНОГРАД
По
Др
ЗАГРЕБ ав МАРОШВАР
а

КЕРЧ
ПУЛА
Са
ва СРЕМ
ХЕРСОН

ЗАДАР БЕЛГРАД
ПАНИЦА
а

в
Дуна
рав

СПЛИТ ДРЪСТЪР
БДИН
на
Мо

Д
ри
ПЛИСКА Е В К С И Н С К И П О Н Т
НИШ
ПРЕСЛАВ ВАРНА
ЛЕСКОВЕЦ
СРЕДЕЦ
ДУБРОВНИК НЕСЕБЪР
АНХИАЛО
СТОБ ФИЛИПОПОЛ ДЕБЕЛ СОЗОПОЛ
ПРИЗРЕН АГАТОПОЛ
СКОПИЕ

ДИРАХИЙ СТРУМИЦА
ОХРИД АДРИАНОПОЛ
МИДИЯ
ЦАРИГРАД
ФИЛИПИ
ДЕВЕЛ ВОДЕН

САЛОНИКА

ЙОАНИНА

ЛАРИСА
Е

З А Н Т И Я
В И
Г
Е
Й

ПАТРАС

КОРИНТ АТИНА

Abecedarium with Glagolitic

and Cyrillic alphabet from the
12th century kept in the National
Library of Munich.

Territory of the Glagolitic script.

Territory of the Cyrillic script.

1/2
 ALPHABET

AND

HISTORY

Author
Vassy a Velinov a

Catalogue of Exhibition with the support of the

State Institute for Culture
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Bulgaria
 ALPHABET AND HISTORY
Two inscriptions of names and images
of Crosses from the village of Ravna –
10th century.
Writing is one of the greatest inventions in the
history of human culture. As a graphic system
of recording the sounds of human speech, it
has existed in the form of various according to
their delineation and structure alphabets, but,
in many cases they have also been assigned
social functions, in addition to their purely lin-
guistic ones. This is due to their specific nature.
An alphabet is an enigma for those unenlight-
ened, an instrument of influence in the hands
of those enlightened, as well as ways and
means of preservation of the historic memory
of a community. It might be for this reason that
in the most ancient recorded history of man-
kind that has reached to our time the study of
an alphabet was sacralized and conferred the
same status as a religious sacrament. Letters
were perceived as the material expression of
mystic forces and even as building elements of
the universe. Because of these concepts liter-
acy was most often monopoly of the class of
priests. Even kings and queens were granted
restricted access to written monuments con-
Alphabet and Нistory
taining mostly mythological stories about the
creation of the world and the divine origin of
their power. The writing system used for secu-
lar and everyday needs was sometimes visually
different from the religious system (e.g. in an-
cient Egypt).
The situation, which was characteristic of the
antique and late Hellenistic era, changed when
Christianity appeared on the historic stage of
Europe. With its deepest respect for written
texts and striving for universalism, Christianity
keenly raised the issue of the language of God
inspired books and divine services, as well as of
literature as an instrument not only of ethnic
identity, but of confessional canon too. Only a
cursory glance is sufficient at the monuments
of the late Hellenistic and the early medieval
ages that have reached our times to outline the
changes brought about by Christianity as far as
writing and the concepts of an alphabet and its
significance are concerned.
4/5
 the 6th c., etc., are lavishly illustrated and rep-
resent the first attempts to present the written
book in its full brilliance of unity of the holy text
and the lavish decoration as a special object of
admiration and inspired by God reading at the
same time. The Greek biblical majuscule, used
for the writing of the purple codices, originat-
ed as early as in the end of the 3rd century and
it was styled under the influence of the more
rounded and official at the time Roman letters.
The use of purple and gold in manuscripts, as
well as the stately liturgical Greek writing, are
an expression of the imperial universalism of
Byzantium. However, in the royal courts of the
West European rulers the production of similar
codices was also a political act, a claim for in-
fluential presence on the geopolitical stage. Al-
though it is not illustrated, the Codex Argenteus
Christianity and its emblem: The Book from 6th c., kept in the library of the University
in Uppsala, Sweden (Silver Codex), containing a
Gothic translation of the Gospel and dated to
the time of Emperor Theoderic the Great (493
–526), impresses with the fineness of its exe-
cution. Bede the Venerable mentions a purple
gospel written in gold in the Anglo-Saxon court
in the 8th century and the Gospel of Godescalc
(Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale France. lat.1203)
was produced in 781–783 on the orders of
Charles the Great. The practice of writing the
so-called purple codices continued in Byzan-
tium by the end of the 9th century and its de-
cline coincided chronologically with the end of
the iconoclastic epoch although we can also
find isolated examples in the following centu-
ries, literally to the beginning of the 19th centu-
ry. In West Europe purple codices were created
by the end of the Medieval Period.

After the Milan edict/decree of Constantine
the Great in 313, Christianity gradually devel-
oped the stereotypes which replaced the an-
tique scrolls in favour of a new form of books,
i.e. the Codex. On its part the Book – Codex –
became a unique emblem of the Christian doc-
trine. Gradually and by means of stylization it
combined in itself all the necessary elements of
luxury and representation which had been mo-
nopoly of architecture, epigraphy, mosaic dec-
oration, stone sculpture, and fabrics during the
pagan ages. The Book of books, i.e. the Gospel,
designed as the body of the Logos and contain-
ing texts inspired by the Lord, was in the center
of a complex and continuous process which re-
sulted in a lasting harmony between content,
aesthetic design, and liturgical function.
Like the Gospel, every book pertaining to the
liturgical space of a temple became the object
of canonic requirements to the content and the
graphic system, because the unity of language,
writing and textual versions was one of the
prerequisites of religious unity. On its part, the
Gospel turned into a unique legitimization of
Alphabet and Нistory
the Christian sovereign who had commissioned Simeon’s Florilegium in a copy of 1073, made for the Russian prince Svyatoslav
(the so called Svyatoslav’s Florilegium), The State Museum of History, Moscow, Sinod. 1043.
its publication. The political and theological Miniature from the Ostromir Gospel from 1056–1057, kept in the Russian National Library,
Sankt Petersburg, № F.n.I.5.
idea of the Pantokrator (God Almighty) in heav-
ens and his earthly projection in the person of
an Autokrator (Basileus or King) at the head of
his kingdom on earth required from the latter
to devote special care to the Logos, to the Lo-
gos Incarnate and his House.
Among the first manifestations of this type of
attitude to writing as a graphic system and to
the written text as content we could mention
the luxurious manuscripts of the time of Em-
peror Justinian (Ruler of the Eastern Roman
Empire in the period 527–565), which were
written in gold and silver ink in stately biblical
majuscule on stained in purple parchment. In
addition, some manuscripts, such as the Gos-
pel of Rossano (Codex purpureus Rossanensis)
from 6th c., the Gospel of Sinope from 6th c. (Co-
dex Sinopensis, Suppl. Gr. 1286, Bibliotheque
Nationale a Paris), the Vienna Genesis (Vien-
na, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod.
theol. gr. 31) form the first half of the 6th c., the
Gospel of Berat (Codex Beratinus No1) from
6/7

Slavic Literature
The Slavic peoples obtained their alphabet and
literature in the second half of the 9th century –
a time of serious changes in the Byzantine Em-
pire and in the entire territory of Central and
Western Europe. According to its initial design
the Slavic Alphabet was conceived as an instru-
ment of political influence and cultural hege-
mony on the part of Byzantium. The Empire
reached to the idea because the tribes (Slavs
among them) coming to Europe as a result of
the continuous migration wave, known as the
Great Migration, used to practice pagan cus-
toms and rituals, which was not favourable for
active interference in the traditional popular
culture relying mostly on oral communication
of the information of significance for the com-
munity and the religious practices did not re-
quire reading of written texts to be performed.
Alphabet and Нistory
This might explain to a certain extent the free
use of the Greek language in the epigraphy of
the First Bulgarian Kingdom from its formation
in 681 to the Christianization of the Bulgarians
in 863–864. The foreign alphabet and language
were not perceived as a threat to the ethnic
identity as far as it was also ‘safe’ due to the
religious differences between pagan Bulgaria
and Christian Byzantium. At the time the Greek
language, and probably the Latin language as
well, were used in the secular sphere, i.e. the
sovereign’s correspondence, the fiscal prac-
prac
tices, various memorial inscriptions of secular
events. The sacred area of the pagan religious
practices and the mythological past remained
untouched by the foreign influence and it was
preserved and handed over from generation to
generation orally.
The grandeur of stone sculpture and its durabil-
ity as a material to write on were an impressive
expression of the authority and monocractic
power of the Bulgarian Khans. A monument,
such as the rock relief near the village of Mada-
ra, Shumen Region – the famous Madara Rider
of the time of Khan Tervel (700–721), the col-
umns with inscriptions commissioned by Khan
Krum (c. 800–814), Khan Omurtag (814–831),
Khan Malamir (831–836), and Khan Presian
(836–852) are an expressive proof of this – both
because of their representativeness and due to
the ideas expressed in the inscriptions.
As far as the Slavic people are concerned, the
situation changed with their mass conversion to
Christianity in the second half of the 9th centu-
ry. Regardless of the diocese of the church they
were affiliated to (Rome or Constantinople)
they were involved in a new type of religious re-
lations and practices relying on the knowledge
of a number of holy texts and sermons on their
content. In addition, by means of the private
sacraments, i.e. christening, communion, mar-
riage, confession, etc., the Church also acquired
control over the personal spiritual and emotion-
al space of the believers in order to affiliate them
with the congregation (ecclesia). The monarchs
of the newly converted states – Duke Rostislav
of Moravia and Prince Boris-Mikhail of Bulgaria
soon became aware of these consequences of
the conversion and the official spread of Christi-
anity among their peoples.
The Tarnovo inscription of Khan Omurtag.
building inscription in Greek carved before 822 in a column found
in the St. 40 Martyrs Church in Tarnovo in 1858.
8/9
According to the medieval sources available to
us today, namely the letter of Prince Rostislav
to Emperor Michael III of 863 in which the Slav-
ic ruler asked the emperor for educated men
who would be able to explain Christianity in
the language of his people and this was the
reason for the invention of the Slavic alphabet.
This act was presented as an inspired by the
Lord miracle, performed by God chosen men:
Constantine called for his profound erudition
Cyril the Philosopher and his brother, the edu-
cated monk Methodius. Certainly, through the
curtain of the cultural language of the texts of
the 9th century we can see the political ambi-
tions of the circle of the then Constantinople
Patriarch Photius (858–867 and 877–886) and
Emperor Michael III (842–867) to intensify the
influence of the empire on the European con-
tinent. After the loss of a serious part of the
provinces of Byzantium in Asia Minor the ruling
elite looked for compensation via expansion of
their influence to the West and Patriarch Pho-
tius proposed a policy of a hidden behind the
letters and the Cross hegemony. In this sense,
the invention of an alphabet for the Slavs was
a serious Byzantine project to provide a cover
for their political imperialistic and universalis-
tic ambitions.

Invention of the Slavic alphabet and its fate in the Principality
of Great Moravia – a struggle for recognition
The first Slavic alphabet, created by Constan-
tine the Philosopher and Methodius, was offi-
cially presented in 863, although an earlier date
of its completion is also presumed. At first sight
the first alphabet, i.e. the Glagolitic alphabet,
was of somewhat unusual graphics. In certain
aspects it resembled slightly the Byzantine mi-
nuscule (new for the 9th century Greek writ-
ing, where certain letters were written linked
together and their graphics resembled the old
clerical handwriting) which was gaining reputa-
tion in Constantinople at the time. Parallel with
this it rather preserved the uncial character of
the graphics, because every letter was written
separately. In a sense, the Glagolitic alphabet
visually resembled the alphabets in the periph-
ery of Byzantium – the Ethiopian, the Arme-
nian, and the Georgian alphabets. The alphabet
designed by Cyril and Methodius took into con-
sideration in detail the specifics of the Slavic
speech. In spite of this the Glagolitic alphabet,
Clemente of Rome is one of the seven apostles
and third pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
He was regarded as a patron of the papal insti-
tution and Rome was well informed about the
discovery of his relics.
Probably only the diplomatic intuition of Con-
stantine the Philosopher, the casket with the
parts of the relics of Saint Clement of Rome, as
well as the pragmatism of Pope Adrian II (867–
872) brought this meeting to a successful end.
Because right before the meeting in Venice
the two brothers had to repudiate the accu-
sations of the adherents of the ‘trilingual dog-
ma’ that they preached the word of the Lord
in a language which was not one of the sacred
languages according to the Holy Scripture, i.e.
Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. This concept was
first formulated by Saint Isidore of Seville (560–
636) and it was in the foundations of the unity
of the Roman Catholic Church professing the
the linguistic field, but rather in the geopolitical
maxim “one church – one language’. The break
field, where various interests of the strong of
through the status quo achieved at the dispute
the day were interwoven.
in Venice was of a great significance for the fur-
A short chronology of the events can convince
ther development of the Slavic cause. In 868
us: the Byzantine emissaries to Moravia were
Pope Adrian II received with honours the two
received with honors by Duke Rostislav and
brothers and their disciples in Rome, sanctified
with distrust and animosity by the German
the Slavic alphabet and the translations of the
clergy. This was because the state of Rostislav
holy books, ordained Constantine and Metho-
was under the jurisdiction of the Salzburg
dius as priests and enthroned Methodius as
Archdiocese. Very soon (probably by 867) Con-
Archbishop of Moravia. Thus, the first Slavic
stantine the Philosopher and his brother were
church administrative entity was established
summoned to Rome to provide explanations
where Christianity was preached in a language
concerning their activities on the background
that the local population could understand.
of the aggravated relations between the two
The unexpected death of Constantine the Phi-
big European churches – the Roman and the
losopher, who in his last days became a monk
Constantinople – and their fight for supremacy
and adopted the name Cyril, in Rome in 869,
on the continent.
left Methodius to fight alone in the battle for
The mission of Cyril and Methodius started for
the Slavic cause.
Rome well prepared. The Slavic Apostles were
Ordination of Archbishop Methodius of Moravia and Pannonia –
at the head of the mission and their disciples a miniature from the Radzivilovski Chronicle, a Russian manuscript of the 15th century.
and followers had a precious gift for the Pope Kept in the Library of the Academy of Science in Sankt Petersburg, № 34.5.30.
The following years were years of trial. The op-
ponents to the idea to use the Slavic language
for liturgical services (although it was restrict-
ed to reading the Gospel in the language of the
local population during mass after having read
it in Latin first) could not put up with the pres-
ence of Methodius as Archbishop of the lands
considered theirs by right. The open animosity
developed into accusations in violation of the
canon and in professing of heretic ideas only to
come to a second interference on the part of
Pope John VIII who reconfirmed and supported
the position of Methodius. But after the abdi-
cation of Duke Rostislav from the throne and
the ascension of Svatopluk the cause of the
Slavic alphabet was foredoomed. The death of
Methodius in 885 was the chance for a final ret-
ribution with his disciples and the total elimina-
tion of the Slavic alphabet and language from
the liturgical services in Moravia.
The disciples of Cyril and Methodius set off for
Bulgaria where they hoped to be received cor-
dially by Prince Boris (852–889). He also felt the
need of an alphabet, writing and translation of
the inspired by the Lord books into the native
language of the population of his kingdom, as
after the conversion of the Bulgarians to Chris-
tianity in 863 the Greek clergy was all over the
country. He was fully aware that without an al-
phabet and liturgical services in the native lan-
guage the new religion could facilitate the cul-
tural and spiritual hegemony of Byzantium over
Bulgaria. For this reason, he started his fight for
the alphabet and the holy books.
of April 885 a number of his disciples set off for
Bulgaria. According to the preserved sources
they were received with honours in the then
capital of the First Bulgarian Kingdom, Pliska;

as well as the translations of the holy Christian – parts of the relics of Saint Clement of Rome,
books written in it, had to fight a heavy battle which they had found in 861 during their pre-
in order to prove the right to existence not in vious mission to Chersonesus in Byzantium. St.

Alphabet and Нistory 10 / 11

 The fate of the Slavic alphabet after the arrival of the disciples
of Cyril and Methodius in Bulgaria
they were accommodated in the houses of the
most eminent boyars and provided with every-
thing necessary for their literary activities. The
books they brought with them were written
in the Glagolitic alphabet – the alphabet cre-
ated by Constantine Cyril the Philosopher for
the Moravian mission. From the moment the
alphabet was brought to Bulgaria a new stage
of its development commenced and this new
stage was the beginning of a series of signifi-
cant cultural and historic processes which had
their impact on the Bulgarian and generally
the Slavic literary culture in the course of many
centuries.
There is evidence that in the last decades of the
9th century bilingualism was observed in the
First Bulgarian Kingdom (Slavic – Greek, Slavic –
Latin according to the records of the Proto Bul-
garian writer Chernorizets Hrabar), as well as a
variety of the known and used graphic systems:
Greek uncial, Latin, and rune letters and com-
binations of language and graphic systems, e.g.
proto-Bulgarian inscriptions in Greek letters. In
Alphabet and Нistory
this non-homogeneous environment after the
adoption of the Christianity as an official state
religion and the affiliation of the diocese to the
Constantinople Church, the Greek language
was the official liturgical language and it had an
ever-growing influence on the writing practices
of the educated circles of the local population.
Under the influence of the epigraphic skills and
liturgical practices in the Bulgarian literary en-
vironment the stereotypes of the Greek uncial
script were formed especially as it was always
associated with the luxurious codices designat-
ed for liturgical services. Usually the educated
men of letters knew equally well both Greek
and Bulgarian. As Professor Krasimir Stanchev
noted in 2000, “It seems that digraphia and
bilingualism are genetically encoded in the Sla-
vonic literary culture.”
Wall Painting with the Images of the The Holy Septarithmoi
(The Holy seven Saints Cyril, Methodius and their disciples
Clement, Naum, Sabas, Angelarius and Gorazd) –
in the St. Archangels Monastery near the Ohrid lake,
founded by St. Naum in the beginning of the 10th century.
1/2

Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets in Bulgaria
The alphabet brought to Bulgaria by the disciples
of Cyril and Methodius graphically differed from
the familiar practically acquired writing skills.
It had the sacral aura of its author Constantine
Cyril the Philosopher as noted by Chernorizets
Hrabar, a Proto-Bulgarian writer of the 10th cen-
tury, in his work ‘On the Letters’ and it was used
as an official alphabet in the Bulgarian Kingdom.
In addition, it was also recognized by the two
great European churches: invented in Constan-
tinople on the instructions of the emperor and
solemnly consecrated in Rome. Possibly, it was
perceived as a graphic system providing ethnic
identity of Christianity in Bulgaria and marking
it off from the ever-growing Greek cultural influ-
ence. This would motivate its use mainly in the
liturgical and theological fields. The textual and
linguistic studies unambiguously prove that a
number of translations, as well as original works
of the so-called Golden Age of the rule of Tsar
Simeon, have a Glagolitic prototype.
Alphabet and Нistory
The rivalry between the Glagolitic and the
Cyrillic alphabets ended with the victory of
the latter. Notwithstanding its perfection, the
Glagolitic alphabet remained somewhat alien
as far as the writing skills of the Bulgarian men
of letters, who were educated in the traditions
of the Greek uncial script, were concerned.
The old Greek uncial alphabet, supplemented
with new signs and adapted to the Slavic pho-
netic system, gradually replaced the authentic
Slavic alphabet.
According to a number of authors, e.g. Acade-
mician Emil Georgiev, an initial form of the Cy-
rillic alphabet had existed even before the arriv-
al of the disciples of Cyril and Methodius. In his
opinion, the reason for Chernorizets Hrabar to
say that the Slavs used Greek letters, but with
no adjustment, i.e. without their final adaption
to the specifics of the native speech and with-
out graphic signs for the specific sounds, such
as ч, ц, дз, щ, дж (ʧ, ʦ, ʣ, ʃt, ʤ).
The complete version of the Cyrillic alphabet
was formed as an imitation of the Greek liturgi-
cal uncial, which was already of elegant graph-
ics with its elongated and pointed forms. Fol-
lowing the structure and the appearance of the
Greek manuscripts, the Cyrillic alphabet was
stylized to a geometrically regular symmetric
uncial script and it remained the same to the
end of the medieval ages. Like its prototype,
i.e. the Greek uncial, it is described in the earli-
est available monuments, e.g. the Enina Apos-
tle (beginning of 11th c.), the Zograf sheets (11th
c.), etc., as a straight script with a slight inclina-
tion to the right. In this connection we would
like to note that the example of the white-clay
ceramic tile from Preslav, containing a liturgical
text written in the Cyrillic script resembling the
Greek rounded majuscule, is rather an excep-
tion. Most probably it was a part of the com-
plex decorative system comprising images and
text and yet it is evidence, although isolated,
that this type of uncial Greek script was also
known and used in Bulgaria in the beginning of
the 10th century.
In the light of the new epigraphic discoveries
both the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets were
probably used simultaneously in Preslav and in
Ohrid – the two big literary centers of the First
Bulgarian State. Besides, the Glagolitic alpha-
bet was used in Preslav almost to the end of its
existence and this use was not limited only in
the area of Ohrid, as it was considered in old-
er studies. In current works the Cyrillic alpha-
bet is also considered to have been introduced
somewhat earlier. The rock Cyrillic inscription,
discovered by Professor Kazimir Popconstantin-
ov in the village of Krepcha, Targovishte Region,
speaks of a developed graphic system and it was
dated to 921. This means that the Cyrillic alpha-
bet was already a fact only three decades after
the dissemination of its rival – the Glagolitic al-
15 / 16
phabet in the Bulgarian lands. The delimitation
between the two alphabets along the semantic
differential ‘monastery (Glagolitic)’ – secular
(Cyrillic)’ is not of much help either to clarify
the process, as the above-mentioned inscrip-
tion of 921 comes from a rock monastery.
On the grounds of circumstantial data, it can be
assumed that the Cyrillic alphabet was in use at
least from 889 on, i.e. the year of the second
consecration of the monastery church in the vil-
lage of Ravna according to the preserved dated
Greek inscription there. Dozens of inscriptions
in Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabet were found in
this big monastery complex (including abece-
daries) and they are evidence of intensive ed-
ucational process/literacy courses organized
by mixed groups of Bulgarian and Greek men
of letters. The Ravna inscriptions remind us of
yet another circumstance – development and
refinement of the Cyrillic script into a full-val-
ue Slavic alphabet would have been impossi-
ble without the Glagolitic script. The Cyrillic
alphabet, stylized based on the 24 letters of the
Greek alphabet, was gradually supplemented
with the signs necessary to express the specific
sounds of the Slavic speech, such as ч, ц, дз, щ,
дж (ʧ, ʦ, ʣ, ʃt, ʤ, etc.) which were borrowed
from the Glagolitic alphabet – with or without
graphic changes. This process of development
and refinement can be partially reconstructed
based on the recently discovered lead amulets
with short texts written both in Glagolitic and in
Cyrillic script, which is evidence of the long pe-
riod during which the two alphabets were used
parallel – the Glagolitic script was in active use
at least by the middle of the 11th century. Am-
ulets were also found with parallel inscription
in the two scripts, as well as amulets, a mixed
graphic system was used – Cyrillic letters, sup-
plemented by Glagolitic signs for the specific
sounds.
 Glagolitic alphabet replaced by the Cyrillic script
With this state of the source base the replace-
ment of the Glagolitic alphabet by the Cyrillic
script is no longer an enigmatic process and it
was determined by two main factors – prag-
matic and political. Among the elements of the
pragmatic factor we could list the already ac-
quired skills of work with the Greek uncial script
during the preceding decades, even centuries.
This is also evidentiated by the epigraphy which
was assigned representative functions, as we
have already mentioned above. The Cyrillic al-
phabet was more familiar, simpler to use, and
more economic. The research work of a number
of scholars, e.g. Peter Schreiner, Axinia Djurova,
K. Popkonstantinov underline the continuity of
the process of imposing the Cyrillic alphabet as
the basic Slavic script as opposed to the esoteric
and more difficult to use Glagolitic script.
To these considerations we could probably also
add the political will of the Bulgarian monarch
– Tsar Simeon. His ambition to transform the
Christian capital city of his state – Preslav – into
a second Constantinople might have added pri-
ority to a type of script, which would bring clos-
er the Bulgarian liturgical manuscripts and the
Greek ones. Having been educated in Constanti-
nople and called ‘half-Roman’ by his contempo-
raries, he was clearly aware of the significance
of the representative luxuriously produced Gos-
pel Codex in the process of legitimatization of
the ruler and he preferred the script to visually
resemble the Greek letters. At the same time,
he also encouraged the process of replacement
of the liturgical services in Greek with services
in Bulgarian and consecrated one of the disci-
ples of Cyril and Methodius as the first Bulgarian
Bishop in 893/4. If in the first several years after
Codex Zographensis – Glagolitic Gospel manuscript dated to the beginning of 11th century.
Kept in the Russian National Library, Sankt Petersburg, Глаг. 1.
Apostolos from the village of Enina, XI c., National Library in Sofia, № 1144.
Alphabet and Нistory
the arrival of the disciples of Cyril and Metho-
dius to Bulgaria the Glagolitic alphabet was the
means to differ from the Greek books used by
the Greek clergymen residing in the country, as
well as a resistance against the cultural assim-
ilation and fight for national Christian identity,
after the adoption of the Bulgarian language for
liturgical services, this problem was solved. Un-
der the new circumstances the Cyrillic alphabet
could already demonstrate the grandeur of the
Bulgarian sovereign similar to the Greek manu-
scripts designed for the Byzantine Basileus (Em-
peror). Very little of this grandeur has reached
to our times, but the preserved early Russian
codices, i.e. the Mstislav (1117) and the Ostro-
mir (1057) Gospels, the Svyatoslav Lectionary of
1073 – copies of the Old Bulgarian gospels from
Preslav, are a convincing proof of this.
Developed and established in Bulgaria, the Cyril-
lic alphabet became the commonly used script
by the Slavs from the Orthodox world. In addi-
tion, the unity of Slavia Orthodoxa (according to
the terminology of the great Italian Slav scholar,
Riccardo Picchio) on confessional, language and
liturgical level, was also consolidated by the uni-
ty of the script. Probably this historic fact is the
most convincing evidence of the “eternal signif-
icance of the Cyrillic alphabet” (A. E. Tahiaos),
which makes it not just a graphic phenomenon,
but also a premise for the existence of medieval
cultural unity of Byzantium and the Slavic world.
If we could speak about the historic message of
the Cyrillic script as graphics, this is the idea of
cultural equality of the Slavic nations and of the
tolerant attitude to the “other”.
 Follow-up fate of the Glagolitic alphabet
On its part the Glagolitic script did not definitely
exit the historic stage – in Bulgaria it sporadi-
cally appears to the end of the 14th century.
However, its true longevity is in Dalmatia of old
times and the territory of modern Croatia. One
of the most ancient local monuments of the
Glagolitic script was found on the Island of Krk,
i.e the Bašćanska Glagolitic Tablet of the end of
the 11th – the beginning of the 12th century, on
which a donation to the local monastery “St.
Lucia” was documented. In the 12th century in
Croatia and under the influence of the Gothic
script the Glagolitic alphabet acquired angular
form which lastingly defined it name as Angular
or Croatian Glagolitic script.
In the course of centuries, the Glagolitic alpha-
bet served the Croatian medieval state as an in-
strument for preservation of the national iden-
tity and neutralization of the Latin influence
on the part of the Roman Catholic Church. The
choice of a graphic system is again an illustra-
tion of the specific function of letters which due
to their visualized material nature, are capable
Alphabet and Нistory
to objectivize ideas different from their specific
function of phonetic signs. And what is more,
the Croatian Glagolitic script was ‘usurped’ by
Rome thanks to the legend about its author-
ship. In the middle of the 13th century the Ro-
man Curia officially acknowledged that author
of the Croatian Glagolitic alphabet was Blessed
Hieronymus of Stridon himself. Thanks to this
mystification the Croatians were in fact the only
nation allowed by the Catholic Church to not
use Latin liturgical books, but Slavonic books
written in the Glagolitic script and in spoken
language. In practice the Glagolitic script also
acquired the status of a sacred alphabet along
the Dalmatian coastline. There it remained in
active use by the 19th century and Glagolitic
book printing began in 1483 began which con-
tinued with certain interruptions to the end of
the 19th century (1890).
The memory of the Glagolitic alphabet did
not leave forever the lands of Moravians and
Pannonians, where Cyril and Methodius had
preached. There the use of the Glagolitic alpha-
bet came finally to an end by 1096. But in 1347
Emperor Charles II founded the Emmaus Mon-
astery in Prague and invited there a number of
monks from the Benedictine Order from Croatia
and thanks to their activities the monastery be-
came a secondary center of the Glagolitic writ-
ten culture in Czechia.
Another patron of the Glagolitic alphabet in
Central Europe is considered King Wladyslaw II
Jagiello. His interest in the history of the Slavic
script was ascribed to the Russian roots on his
mother’s side and the Croatian background of
his wife – Jadwiga. In 1380 on the orders of Wla-
dyslaw II a monastery was founded in the Sile-
sian town of Olesnica where Glagolitic liturgical
books were used.
Manuscript with Croatian Glagolitic script.
19 / 20
 Development of the Cyrillic alphabet as an all-Slavic script
The development of the Cyrillic alphabet contin-
ued in the context of transfer and exchange of
cultural ideas among the South and East Slavs.
Its gradual adoption by the Serbs and the Rus-
sians after their conversion between 867 and
874 and in 988 respectively made it an emblem
of the Slavic unity. Manuscripts such as the
Miroslavljevo Gospel of 1180, the Ostromir Gos-
pel of 1057, the Mstislav Gospel of 1117 marked
the advance of the Cyrillic alphabet as the third
liturgical script in medieval Europe.
In the beginning of the 11th century the Cyrillic
alphabet was modified into yet another script
type, i.e. the so-called Bosanchitsa (Bosnia Cy-
rillic alphabet). This Cyrillic script was stylized
under the influence of the Croatian Glagolitic
graphic design and it was in use in Bosnia, Her-
Hvalov Miscellany from the XIV c. (1404), kept in the Library of Bologna University. Bosnian Cyrillic alphabet.
An Initial Letter from the Ostromir Gospel from 1056–1057, kept in the Russian National Library, Sankt Petersburg, № F.n.I.5.
zegovina and Dalmatia by the Catholic Christians
and later by the Muslims (Bosnians), and in the
17th and the 18th centuries it was also used by
Franciscan monks in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This alphabet lacks graphic signs for nasal and
Jotun vowels, as well as for ‘Ъ’ and it reflects the
specifics of the local dialects. The Bosanchitsa is
an alphabet which delineates the local Christian
population both from the Serbs and the Croa-
tians. The earliest known monuments are: the
famous Humac Tablet of the 11th century (it con-
tains also a number of graphic signs of the Croa-
tian Glagolitic alphabet), Charter of Ban Kulin of
1189 and other diplomatic papers of this epoch.
The Bosnian Cyrillic alphabet was also used for
printing books of the protestant missions in Cro-
The Baptizing of the Preslav’s Court – a miniature from the Radzivilovski Chronicle, a Russian manuscript
atia in the 19th century. of the 15th century. Kept in the Library of the Academy of Science in Sankt Petersburg, № 34.5.30.
The Baptizing of Prince Vladimir – a miniature from the Radzivilovski Chronicle, a Russian manuscript
of the 15th century. Kept in the Library of the Academy of Science in Sankt Petersburg, № 34.5.30.
Christianization of the regiment of Prince Vladimir – a miniature from the Radzivilovski Chronicle, a Russian
manuscript of the 15th century. Kept in the Library of the Academy of Science in Sankt Petersburg, № 34.5.30.

Alphabet and Нistory 21 / 22

The Cyrillic alphabet in the period of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom

At the time the Cyrillic alphabet was already the
only official script on the territory of Bulgaria.
The use of the so-called business uncial script
of the preceding century, preserved in manu-
scripts like the Enina Apostle of the 11th centu-
ry and the Undolski Sheets of the 11th century,
began to expand and more and more codices
were written in this freer and not so sophis-
ticated form of the Cyrillic alphabet, e.g. the
Slepchenski Apostle, Grigorovichev Lectionary
of the 12th century, etc. They are manuscripts
produced in an epoch without autonomous pa-
leographic schools or big scriptoria.
A new stage of the history of the Cyrillic alpha-
bet is observed in the 13th century – the time
of restoration and consolidation of the Second
Bulgarian Kingdom. A new literary center was
established in Tarnovo and the influence of
monasteries on Mount Athos was expanding.
In the course of several decades after the fall of
Constantinople in 1204 Bulgaria remained the
only East Orthodox kingdom on the Balkans.
The Cyrillic script was gradually “opening up”
for Greek influence.
Most probably the places where this process
was developing were the scriptoria at the mon-
asteries on the Mount of Athos, where scribes
of various ethnic origins worked. According
to the church concept the unity of the Ortho-
dox Christianity developed as a main principle
structuring the monastery environment. Prob-
ably this unity had to find its exact, visible and
material expression.
In the 13th century the Cyrillic alphabet pre-
served its uncial appearance via the develop-

Bitola Triodion from XIII c, Bulgarian Academy of Science, № 38. Cyrillic and Glagolitic writing.
London Gospel of 1356. Kept in the British Library, Add. Ms. 39627.

Alphabet and Нistory 22 / 23

 ment of the so-called quadratic module, e.g. the
Tarnovo Gospel of 1273 (Zagreb, Library at the
Academy of Science and Arts, III.a.30). Parallel
with this conservative trend, the Cyrillic tradi-
tion was influenced by the Greek minuscule,
although it still preserved its uncial characteris-
tics. Individual manuscript monuments adopted
elements of writing mannerisms, which had ap-
peared in the Greek codices as early as in the
12th century. For instance, in a very representa-
tive Bulgarian monument, such as the Draganov
Menaion of the 13th century, kept in the Bulgari-
an Zograf monastery on Mount Athos, written in
exquisite uncial and demonstrating certain ten-
dencies of semi-uncial script, elongation of the
vertical elements of the letters, especially in the
last lines or the last characters in a line are ob-
served. These handwriting specifics have exact
parallels in a number of Greek manuscripts, for
instance in D. gr. 370 of the end of 12th century
London Gospel of 1356. Kept in the British Library, Add. Ms. 39627.
The Tomic Psalter dated at the 60s of the 14th century from the collection of the State Historical museum in Moscow, № Муз 2752.
Alphabet and Нistory
preserved in the collection of the Center for Sla-
vo-Byzantine Studies “Professor Ivan Dujcev” in
Sofia. They suggest willingness to replicate the
Greek representative codices, which on its part
resulted in disarray of the symmetry and the
geometric neatness of the uncial Slavic script.
The tendency to convergence with the Greek
minuscule manuscripts is even more clearly ex-
pressed in the 14th century. It developed on sev-
eral levels: writing of Cyrillic letters resembling
the mannered letters, typical of the Fettaugen
style – in the so-called Terter Gospel of 1322
and in the illustrated copy of the Constantine
Manasses Chronicle of 1344–45 (Vat. Slav. 2).
Another aspect of imitation of the Greek script
is the adoption of the so-called Alexandrian mi-
nuscule and its adaptation to the Slavic script –
the so-called Pop Gerasim script – see the part
of the collection of Pop Fillip (Sin. 38 of 1344–45,
kept in the State Historical Museum in Moscow).
24 / 25
 As a result of the created by Patriarch Euthymius
model this was the second time in the history
of the Cyrillic alphabet of the Slavs when the
Bulgarian Cyrillic model of writing and graphic
arrangement of the text became a paradigm of
the South and the East Slavs. In the last decades
of the 14th century and the first half of the 15th
century to the north of the Danube, at the Mol-
davian and later at the South Russian scriptoria
the works of the Tarnovo scriptoria were taught
as standard models carrying the authority of the
last Bulgarian Patriarch of the Second Bulgarian
Kingdom, conquered by the Ottoman invaders in
1393. According to the great connoisseur of the
Slavic literary tradition, Vladimir Moshin, this
was a revolution of the Slavic art of writing. De-
veloping further Moshin’s thesis Anatoly Turilov
underlined that the Cyrillic script, used by the
Moldavian and, later, by the South Russian scrip-
toria during the whole 15th century, remains as
an original replica of the South Slavic and more
precisely Middle Bulgarian models of the time of
Patriarch Euthymius. Most certainly processes
are also observed of specific Russian handwrit-
ing models related to the new centers of the 17th
and the 18th centuries – Moscow semi-uncial,
Pomorski semi-uncial, which remained in active
use mainly among the Old Believers’ followers.
Even its calligraphic versions were developed
there.
During the whole period of the Middle Ages the
Cyrillic alphabet was perceived as an emblem
of the Orthodox Slavic world. Tracing back its
development a conscientious researcher could
study the complex network of cultural interac-
tions within Slavia Orthodoxa, and sometimes
even among Catholic Slavs. The alphabet de-
lineates the spheres of the cultural influence of
the literary models created in Preslav in the 9th
century and in Tarnovo in the 14th century and
makes it possible to study their modifications
even to the invention of book printing.

The two tendencies resulted from the closer
and closer collaboration between Bulgarian and
Greek scribes, as well as to the striving for vi-
sual resemblance with the Greek prototype. At
the same time the tradition of luxurious man-
uscripts preserved the Tarnovo liturgical uncial
script, which was a mark of a high order and of
prestige of the sovereign’s power – manuscripts
of the type of the London Gospel of 1355–1356
(kept in the British Libraryр Add. Mss. 39627)
and the Tomić Psalter of the 60s of the 14th cen-
tury (Муз. 2752, kept in the State Historical Mu-
seum in Moscow) are evidence of such a con-
servative line, bearer of the continuity are the
earliest Cyrillic books from the time of the First
Bulgarian Kingdom.
The conceptual base of the convergence of the
Bulgarian and the Greek script in the second half
of the 14th century was probably Hesychasm,
which became the common ideological platform
of a considerable part of the clergy in the re-
gion. As a result of this big multi-ethnic monas- The Slepche Apostolos from the XII c, kept in four different libraries –
Sankt Petersburg, Plovdiv, Kiev and Moscow.
tery complexes were established in addition to The first Bulgarian old printed book –
the Kiriakodromion (a miscellany with sermons for the Sundays) was published in 1806.
the monasteries on Mount Athos, for instance
the Paroria monastery, some of the monaster-
ies near Tarnovo, etc. The men of letters work-
ing there knew equally well the two languages:
Greek and Bulgarian. They were in search of
ways to achieve maximum resemblance of the
Bulgarian manuscripts with the Greek works,
especially after Bulgarian Patriarch Euthymius
introduced spelling changes. His name is also
associated with the so-called Tarnovo edition of
the liturgical books. In addition to the level of
the textual content, it also concerned the graph-
ic aspects of the codices. The use was started
of above-the-line letters resembling the Greek
script, which was aimed at visual unification of
the Bulgarian and the Greek manuscripts. This
can be easily observed in the manuscripts desig-
nated for monastery services, which contained
content related to Hesychasm.

Alphabet and Нistory 26 / 27

 The Cyrillic Alphabet in Modern Times
If in the Middle Ages the Cyrillic alphabet sym- presence, of sovereign national identity. In our
bolized the unity of the Slavonic peoples, in the modern world an alphabet is devoid of mysti-
modern epoch it has become an instrument to cism, but namely it is in this pragmatic attitude
manifest differences. When in 1707–1710 Em- to it that we can perceive the spirit of the new
peror Peter I introduced the civil Cyrillic font relations on the Old Continent. Today the Cyril-
in Russia, he presented this act as a part of his lic alphabet is an emissary of the spirit of tol-
reforms aimed at modernization of Russia and erance and cultural diversity bequeathed to us
integration of the country with Europe. For the since the disputes of Constantine Cyril. And if
first time the Russian civil Cyrillic alphabet used in that remote epoch more than a millennium
Latin models and approximated the Baroque ago people had the wisdom and the strength to
typography of its age especially with the intro- change the cultural map of the continent, today
duction of lower case (minuscule) letters. For our responsibility before the ‘small’ signs of the
the first time the uncial character of the Cyril- Slavic spirituality is even greater and expressed
lic alphabet was changed and this was done in the mission to present it as the third official
following the model of the Latin typographic alphabet of the European Union, as the witness
fonts. The clerical and the secular graphic sys- of dramatic moments of fight for spiritual sur-
tems were clearly delineated. vival and a triumph in the course of reclaiming
Similar process was also going on in Serbia cultural territories.
when in 1818 Vuk Stefanović Karadžić reformed
Samples with the Modern typography script in Russia, Serbia
the old graphic system and designed a new and Bulgaria.
modern Serbian Cyrillic alphabet with special
graphic elements for the specific sounds and
introduced the Latin letter ‘j’, which was called
Kopitaritsa for a very long time.
In Bulgaria this process was related with the Re-
vival and of modern Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet
we can speak after 1830. In contrast to the Rus-
sian and Serbian modernized Cyrillic systems,
the Bulgarian version preserved the signs for
yat vowels and the big yus, as well as the use of
‘ъ’ at the end of a word. The situation changed
after 09.09.1944 when these letters were also
removed from the graphic system and in this
way the alphabet visually reflected the new re-
alities and the changes were motivated by an
effort to provide simplicity and convenience.
An alphabet is an image and a sign material-
izing the ephemeral sounds of our speech. It
is a resistance against oblivion and transience
of history. But an alphabet is also something
much more – it is a unique message of cultural

Alphabet and Нistory 28 / 29

Alphabet and Нistory 30 / 31
 ALPHABET
AND
HISTORY

Catalogue of Exhibition with the support of the

State Institute for Culture
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Bulgaria

Vassya Velinova – Author

Atanaska Miteva – Translation into English
Kiril Gogov – Graphic designer

Photos from the Archive of the Research

Centre for Slavic and Byzantine Studies “Ivan Dujcev”, Sofia
and from the Archive of Prof. Kazimir Popkonstantinov.

ISBN