site.btaFebruary 14, 1969: Bulgaria Marks 1100th Death Anniversary of St Constantine Cyril the Philosopher

On February 14, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church commemorates the Repose of St Constantine Cyril the Philosopher (869, Rome), inventor of the Glagolitic script, Equal-to-the Apostles and Teacher of the Slavs, whose work laid the foundations of Slavic literacy and culture. 

For the first time in medieval Europe, Constantine Cyril the Philosopher and his brother Methodius created in the middle of the 9th century a new comprehensive and complete writing system – a phonetic script based on the spoken vernacular of the Slavs from the Bulgarian language group inhabiting the Thessaloniki region of Byzantium. This system perfectly reflected the peculiarities of the speech of the Thessalonian Slavs and fully complied with the principle of using phonetic writing, which was accepted at that time for European alphabets.

In 863, Constantine Cyril the Philosopher and his brother Methodius brought the Glagolitic script to Great Moravia - the only script in medieval Europe that developed in a language contemporary to its emergence, changing the configuration of European culture forever. For two decades, they and their students laid the foundations of Slavic literature and Slavic worship. After Cyril's death on February 14, 869, Methodius continued their joint work as Archbishop of Moravia, but after his death on April 6, 885, his followers were expelled from Moravia. 

This put an end to the development of Slavic writing among the Western Slavs, but the disciples of the Slavic apostles were accepted in Bulgaria. In this land of ancient writing, they continued the work of their teachers and created a new graphic system at the court of the Bulgarian rulers at the end of the 9th century, later named Cyrillic in honor of Constantine Cyril the Philosopher.

On the initiative of UNESCO, 1969 was declared the year of Constantine Cyril the Philosopher in connection with the 1100th anniversary of his death. The anniversary was included in the International Cultural Calendar. It was marked by a series of solemn gatherings and scientific sessions not only in Slavic countries, but throughout the world, organized with the assistance of UNESCO and French academic and cultural institutions.