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
Р

До
К

н
О
М

М
КИЕВ

О
Р
А

А
В
АУСБУРГ ВЕЛИХРАД
Д
ун

И
ав Дн
еп

Н
ър

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

И
ър

СТОЛИЧНИ ВЕЛЕХРАД ПЕЩ

Я
СОЛНОГРАД

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
ДУБРОВНИК СРЕДЕЦ
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
А

А
В

АУСБУРГ ВЕЛИХРАД
Д
ун
И

ав Дн
еп
Н

ър
Я

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

ър

СТОЛИЧНИ ВЕЛЕХРАД ПЕЩ

Я

СОЛНОГРАД

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

Map of the dissemination Нем

СМОЛЕНСК
Ока

of the Glagolitic alphabet

ан

К И Е В С К А
а

а
лб

сл
Е

Ви
др

НОВГОРОД
О

during the Morava Mission (863)

Г

МАГДЕБУРГ
Дн
еп
ър

Р У С И Я
Е

Буг
н
Рей

Припят
Е

ЧЕРНИГОВ
Л

and after the death of Methodius

Р

До
К

н
О
М

КИЕВ
О
Р

in 885 – Great Moravia,

А

А
В

АУСБУРГ ВЕЛИХРАД
Д
ун
И

ав Дн
еп
Н

ър
Я

ЗЕМЛИНГРАД Ю
ж
ВИЕНА ен
НИТРАВА Дн бу
ес

The First Bulgarian kingdom

ЗАЛЦБУРГ г
ЕГЕР т
И

ър

СТОЛИЧНИ ВЕЛЕХРАД ПЕЩ

Я

СОЛНОГРАД

БЛАТНОГРАД

and probably Croatia.

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

Map of the dissemination

ПРЕСЛАВ ВАРНА
ЛЕСКОВЕЦ
СРЕДЕЦ
ДУБРОВНИК НЕСЕБЪР
АНХИАЛО
СТОБ ФИЛИПОПОЛ ДЕБЕЛ СОЗОПОЛ
ПРИЗРЕН АГАТОПОЛ
СКОПИЕ

of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets

ДИРАХИЙ СТРУМИЦА
ОХРИД АДРИАНОПОЛ
МИДИЯ
ЦАРИГРАД
ФИЛИПИ
ДЕВЕЛ ВОДЕН

САЛОНИКА

in the second half of the 10th century.

ЙОАНИНА

ЛАРИСА
Е

З А Н Т И Я
В И
Г
Е
Й

ПАТРАС

КОРИНТ АТИНА

Map of the dissemination

of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets
in the 14th century.

An 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

титул
допълнителна информация?
 ALPHABET AND HISTORY
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
 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
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-
Christianity and its emblem: The Book fluential presence on the geopolitical stage. Al-
though it is not illustrated, the Codex Argenteus
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
Alphabet and Нistory
prerequisites of religious unity. On its part, the
Gospel turned into a unique legitimization of
the Christian sovereign who had commissioned Остромирово
its publication. The political and theological
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
6 /7

епиграфски 2
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-
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.
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: Con-
stantine called for his profound erudition Cyril
the Philosopher and his brother, the educated
monk Methodius. Certainly, through the cur-
tain of the cultural language of the texts of the
9th century we can see the political ambitions
of the circle of the then Constantinople Patri-
arch Photius (858 – 867 and 877 – 886) and
Emperor Michael III (842 – 867) to intensify
the influence of the empire on the European
continent. 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 universalistic
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,
as well as the translations of the holy Christian
books written in it, had to fight a heavy battle
in order to prove the right to existence not in
Alphabet and Нistory
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
at the head of the mission and their disciples
and followers had a precious gift for the Pope
– parts of the relics of Saint Clement of Rome,
which they had found in 861 during their pre-
vious mission to Chersonesus in Byzantium. St.
10 / 11
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;
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.”
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, жд (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,
жд (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
acquired skills of work with the Greek uncial
script during the preceding decades, even cen-
turies. This is also evidentiated by the epigra-
phy which was assigned representative func-
tions, as we have already mentioned above.
The Cyrillic alphabet 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 op-
posed 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
priority to a type of script, which would bring
closer the Bulgarian liturgical manuscripts
and the Greek ones. Having been educated in
Constantinople and called ‘half-Roman’ by his
contemporaries, he was clearly aware of the
significance of the representative luxuriously
produced Gospel Codex in the process of legit-
imatization of the ruler and he preferred the
script to visually resemble the Greek letters.
At the same time, he also encouraged the pro-
cess of replacement of the liturgical services in
Greek with services in Bulgarian and consecrat-
ed one of the disciples of Cyril and Methodi-
us as the first Bulgarian Bishop in 893/4. If in
the first several years after the arrival of the
disciples of Cyril and Methodius to Bulgaria
Alphabet and Нistory
the Glagolitic alphabet was the means to differ
from the Greek books used by the Greek cler-
gymen residing in the country, as well as a resis-
tance against the cultural assimilation and fight
for national Christian identity, after the adop-
tion of the Bulgarian language for liturgical ser-
vices, this problem was solved. Under the new
circumstances the Cyrillic alphabet could al-
ready demonstrate the grandeur of the Bulgar-
ian sovereign similar to the Greek manuscripts
designed for the Byzantine Basileus (Emperor).
Very little of this grandeur has reached to our
times, but the preserved early Russian codi-
ces, i.e. the Mstislav (1117) and the Ostromir
(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
Cyrillic alphabet became the commonly used зографско енински
script by the Slavs from the Orthodox world.
In addition, the unity of Slavia Orthodoxa (ac-
cording to the terminology of the great Italian
Slav scholar, Riccardo Picchio) on confessional,
language and liturgical level, was also consoli-
dated by the unity of the script. Probably this
historic fact is the most convincing evidence of
the “eternal significance of the Cyrillic alpha-
bet” (A. E. Tahiaos), which makes it not just a
graphic phenomenon, but also a premise for
the existence of medieval cultural unity of Byz-
antium 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 atti-
tude to the “other”.
 Follow-up fate of the Glagolitic alphabet

On its part the Glagolitic script did not definite- which continued with certain interruptions to
ly exit the historic stage – in Bulgaria it sporad- the end of the 19th century (1890).
ically appears to the end of the 14th century. The memory of the Glagolitic alphabet did
However, its true longevity is in Dalmatia of old not leave forever the lands of Moravians and
times and the territory of modern Croatia. One Pannonians, where Cyril and Methodius had
of the most ancient local monuments of the preached. There the use of the Glagolitic alpha-
Glagolitic script was found on the Island of Krk, bet came finally to an end by 1096. But in 1347
i.e the  Bašćanska Glagolitic Tablet of the end Emperor Charles II founded the Emmaus Mon-
of the 11th – the beginning of the 12th century, astery in Prague and invited there a number of
on which a donation to the local monastery “St. monks from the Benedictine Order from Croa-
Lucia” was documented. In the 12th century in tia and thanks to their activities the monastery
Croatia and under the influence of the Gothic became a secondary center of the Glagolitic
script the Glagolitic alphabet acquired angular written culture in Czechia.
form which lastingly defined it name as Angular Another patron of the Glagolitic alphabet in
or Croatian Glagolitic script. Central Europe is considered King Wladyslaw II
In the course of centuries, the Glagolitic al- Jagiello. His interest in the history of the Slav-
phabet served the Croatian medieval state ic script was ascribed to the Russian roots on
as an instrument for preservation of the na- his mother’s side and the Croatian background
tional identity and neutralization of the Latin of his wife – Jadwiga. In 1380 on the orders of
influence on the part of the Roman Catholic Wladyslaw II a monastery was founded in the
Church. The choice of a graphic system is again Silesian town of Olesnica where Glagolitic litur-
an illustration of the specific function of letters gical books were used.
which due to their visualized material nature,
are capable 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 authorship. In the middle of the 13th century
the Roman 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 Slavon-
ic books written in the Glagolitic script and
in spoken language. In practice the Glagolitic
script also acquired the status of a sacred al-
phabet along the Dalmatian coastline. There it
remained in active use by the 19th century and
Glagolitic book printing began in 1483 began

Alphabet and Нistory 19 / 20


хвалов
Development of the Cyrillic alphabet as an all-Slavic script
The development of the Cyrillic alphabet con-
tinued in the context of transfer and exchange
of cultural ideas among the South and East
Slavs. Its gradual adoption by the Serbs and the
Russians after their conversion between 867
and 874 and in 988 respectively made it an em-
blem of the Slavic unity. Manuscripts such as
the Miroslavljevo Gospel of 1180, the Ostromir
Gospel 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-
zegovina and Dalmatia by the Catholic Chris-
Alphabet and Нistory
Остромирово
раздвиловска
владислав
tians and later by the Muslims (Bosnians), and
in the 17th and the 18th centuries it was also
used by Franciscan monks in Bosnia and Her-
zegovina. 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 Croatians. The earliest known monu-
ments are: the famous Humac Tablet of the 11th
century (it contains also a number of graphic
signs of the Croatian Glagolitic alphabet), Char-
ter 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
Croatia in the 19th century.
21 / 22
 битолски триод

лондонско

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- томичов
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-
ment of the so-called quadratic module, e.g.

Alphabet and Нistory 22 / 23


the Tarnovo Gospel of 1273 (Zagreb, Library
at the Academy of Science and Arts, III.a.30).
Parallel with this conservative trend, the Cyrillic
tradition was influenced by the Greek minus-
cule, although it still preserved its uncial char-
acteristics. Individual manuscript monuments
adopted elements of writing mannerisms,
which had appeared in the Greek codices as
early as in the 12th century. For instance, in a
very representative Bulgarian monument, such
as the Draganov Menaion of the 13th centu-
ry, kept in the Bulgarian Zograf monastery on
Mount Athos, written in exquisite uncial and
demonstrating certain tendencies of semi-un-
cial script, elongation of the vertical elements
of the letters, especially in the last lines or the
last characters in a line are observed. These
handwriting specifics have exact parallels in a
number of Greek manuscripts, for instance in
D. gr. 370 of the end of 12th century preserved
in the collection of the Center for Slavo-Byzan-
Alphabet and Нistory
Bulgarian and Greek scribes, as well as to the
striving for visual resemblance with the Greek
prototype. At the same time the tradition of
luxurious manuscripts 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 Lon-
don Gospel of 1355-1356 (kept in the British Li-
braryр Add. Mss. 39627) and the Tomić Psalter
of the 60s of the 14th century (Муз. 2752, kept
in the State Historical Museum in Moscow) are
evidence of such a conservative 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 proba-
bly Hesychasm, which became the common
ideological platform of a considerable part of
the clergy in the region. As a result of this big
multi-ethnic monastery complexes were estab-
lished in addition to the monasteries on Mount
Athos, for instance the Paroria monastery,
tine Studies “Professor Ivan Dujcev” in Sofia.
some of the monasteries near Tarnovo, etc. The
They suggest willingness to replicate the Greek
men of letters working there knew equally well
representative codices, which on its part result-
the two languages: Greek and Bulgarian. They
ed in disarray of the symmetry and the geomet-
were in search of ways to achieve maximum re-
ric neatness of the uncial Slavic script.
semblance of the Bulgarian manuscripts with
The tendency to convergence with the Greek
the Greek works, especially after Bulgarian Pa-
minuscule manuscripts is even more clearly
triarch Euthymius introduced spelling changes.
expressed in the 14th century. It developed on
His name is also associated with the so-called
several levels: writing of Cyrillic letters resem-
Tarnovo edition of the liturgical books. In addi-
bling the mannered letters, typical of the Fet-
tion to the level of the textual content, it also
taugen style – in the so-called Terter Gospel of
concerned the graphic aspects of the codices.
1322 and in the illustrated copy of the Constan-
The use was started of above-the-line letters
tine Manasses Chronicle of 1344-45 (Vat. Slav.
resembling the Greek script, which was aimed
2). Another aspect of imitation of the Greek
at visual unification of the Bulgarian and the
script is the adoption of the so-called Alexan-
Greek manuscripts. This can be easily observed
drian minuscule and its adaptation to the Slavic
in the manuscripts designated for monastery
script – the so-called Pop Gerasim script – see
services, which contained content related to
the part of the collection of Pop Fillip (Sin. 38 of
Hesychasm.
1344-45, kept in the State Historical Museum
As a result of the created by Patriarch Euthym-
in Moscow). The two tendencies resulted from
ius model this was the second time in the histo-
the closer and closer collaboration between
24 / 25
ry 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 de-
cades of the 14th century and the first half of
the 15th century to the north of the Danube, at
the Moldavian 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 tradi-
tion, Vladimir Moshin, this was a revolution
of the Slavic art of writing. Developing further
Moshin’s thesis Anatoly Turilov underlined that
the Cyrillic script, used by the Moldavian and,
later, by the South Russian scriptoria during
the whole 15th century, remains as an original
replica of the South Slavic and more precisely
Middle Bulgarian models of the time of Patri-
arch Euthymius. Most certainly processes are
also observed of specific Russian handwriting
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 delin-
eates 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.
 Вася,
нямам спомен и не съм отбелязал нищо
за това фолио

Alphabet and Нistory 26 / 27

Alphabet and Нistory 28 / 29
 The Cyrillic Alphabet in Modern Times

If in the Middle Ages the Cyrillic alphabet sym- much more – it is a unique message of cultural
bolized the unity of the Slavonic peoples, in the presence, of sovereign national identity. In our
modern epoch it has become an instrument modern world an alphabet is devoid of mysti-
to manifest differences. When in 1707 – 1710 cism, but namely it is in this pragmatic attitude
Emperor Peter I introduced the civil Cyrillic font to it that we can perceive the spirit of the new
in Russia, he presented this act as a part of his relations on the Old Continent. Today the Cyril-
reforms aimed at modernization of Russia and lic alphabet is an emissary of the spirit of tol-
integration of the country with Europe. For the erance and cultural diversity bequeathed to us
first time the Russian civil Cyrillic alphabet used since the disputes of Constantine Cyril. And if
Latin models and approximated the Baroque in that remote epoch more than a millennium
typography of its age especially with the intro- ago people had the wisdom and the strength to
duction of lower case (minuscule) letters. For change the cultural map of the continent, today
the first time the uncial character of the Cyril- our responsibility before the ‘small’ signs of the
lic alphabet was changed and this was done Slavic spirituality is even greater and expressed
following the model of the Latin typographic in the mission to present it as the third official
fonts. The clerical and the secular graphic sys- alphabet of the European Union, as the witness
tems were clearly delineated. of dramatic moments of fight for spiritual sur-
Similar process was also going on in Serbia vival and a triumph in the course of reclaiming
when in 1818 Vuk Stefanović Karadžić reformed cultural territories.
the old graphic system and designed a new
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

Alphabet and Нistory 30 / 31

каре