that these simple words, as noted in the legend, express the true purpose of Rostislav. The mission had, however, undoubtedly also a political purpose. Rostislav and his uncle intended to form a great Moravian empire independent of the Franks, and for this purpose to free themselves from the Frankish hierarchy; for the German priests in Moravia endeavoured to serve the interests of their race, as well as those of their religion.
The emperor Michael received the envoys favourably and selected two priests, the brothers Constantine and Methodius, to accompany them to Moravia. "You are," he said, "citizens of Soluň,[1] and the citizens of Soluň generally speak pure Slavic."
We read that when the brothers started on their journey Constantine brought with him a translation of the Bible written in the language of the Slavic inhabitants of Macedonia. For this translation Constantine used the letters of the new alphabet, which he had himself invented, and which from the name he afterwards assumed became known as the Cyrillic alphabet. It renders with great precision the sounds peculiar to Slavic languages, and it is still largely used in Eastern Europe. This event is undoubtedly of great importance. Not only did the Slavic language thus become a written one, but by its use in religious services it took its position with Latin and Greek as a liturgic language.
The undertaking of the saintly brothers was fully successful. Numerous churches were built, and the inhabitants of Moravia eagerly flocked to the religious services, which were held in the Slavonic tongue. The fame of the new preachers spread beyond the borders of Moravia, and the Slavonic inhabitants of the adjoining districts of Pannonia (Hungary) also accepted the teaching of Constantine and Methodius.
It seems more than probable that the German priests, and particularly the Archbishop of Salzburg, to whose diocese these lands belonged, regarded the brothers as intruders, and attempts were repeatedly made to denounce them to the Holy See as heretics. These attempts were favoured by the Eastern origin of Constantine and Methodius. It became known that they had, while at Constantinople, enjoyed the favour of the patriarch Photius, through
- ↑ The present Salonike.
