Saints Cyril and Methodius
9th-century Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries
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Cyril and Methodius were 9th-century Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries who brought Christianity and literacy to Slavic peoples in Eastern Europe. They matter because they created the Glagolitic alphabet to write Slavic languages and translated religious texts, which helped establish Christianity and written culture across the Slavic world.
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Cyril (Greek: Κύριλλος, romanized: Kýrillos; born Constantine [Greek: Κωνσταντίνος, romanized: Konstantínos]; 826–869) and Methodius (Μεθόδιος, Methódios; born Michael [Greek: Μιχαήλ, romanized: Michaíl]; 815–885) were brothers, Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Early Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".
They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic. After their deaths, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs. Both brothers are venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as saints with the title of "equal-to-apostles". In 1880, Pope Leo XIII introduced their feast into the calendar of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. In 1980, the first Slav pope, Pope John Paul II declared them co-patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia.