The Fascinating Origins Of The Cyrillic Alphabet And Orthodox Christianity In Eastern Europe

I’ve always been fascinated by how small events can lead to massive changes—how one decision can lead to a ripple effect that alters the course of history forever.

In their own ways, the Cyrillic alphabet and Orthodox Christianity have played important roles in the shaping of Eastern European culture. The Cyrillic alphabet is used by around 250 million people around the world as the alphabet for their national language, and Eastern Orthodox Christianity is the second largest Christian Church—with over 250 million members.

The spread of Orthodox Christianity throughout eastern Europe would have likely failed, however, had it not been for the birth of the Cyrillic alphabet. Interestingly enough, the Cyrillic alphabet was born partially by accident… or was it divine intervention?

Sviatsolav I of Kiev

The Death of Sviatsolav I of Kyiv

During the 10th century modern-day Russia, Ukraine and Belarus were joined together in what was then known as Kievan Rus—a federation of Slavs ruled by the Rurik dynasty. The Rurik dynasty was founded by the Varangian (Scandinavian Vikings).

Kyiv was, strategically, a very important settlement. It’s location along the Dnieper allowed the Varangian to form a crucial trade route stretching from the north, all the way to Constantinople, and the Byzantine Empire—a vast, rich empire and trading partner.

Varangian Trading Routes

In the year 927, Sviatsolav, ruler of Kievan Rus, died. He had three sons. Two of his sons, Volodymyr and Iarpolk, were embattled in a feud for control of the empire. While familial feuds were very common in 10th century Europe, they would play a particularly prominent role in the failures of Rus over the next 800 years.

After many years of feuding, Volodymyr overthrew his half-brother and become Prince of Kyiv.

Vladimir_I_the_Great.jpg

Volodymyr the Great

Legitimizing His Claim

Overthrowing his half-brother was just the beginning. People were accustomed to familial feuds by this point and wanted stability throughout the empire. Volodymyr’s people were in a state of discontent. He needed a way to legitimize his claim to the throne.

To accomplish this, he embarked on a campaign of religious persuasion. According to legend, he stood atop a hill in Kyiv overlooking the Dnieper, and announced that he would welcome all gods in his empire; Norse, Slavic, Finnish and even Iranian. His ploy worked.

In a sudden turn of events, however, he suddenly abandoned these Pagan gods, and adopted a new religion. Volodymyr was exceptionally violent in his abandonment of the Pagan gods—destroying statues, and symbolically dragging them through the streets.

Volodymyr went as far as to proclaim he who does not adopt this new religion will be his enemy. While some suggest Volodymyr was hasty in his decision to abandon the Pagan faiths, it’s clear that he spent a lot of time pondering the decision to switch faiths and researched multiple religions before making his final decision.

Many point to this moment as emblematic of Slavic culture—prone to extremes, never able to choose the middle ground.

Choosing A Religion

Vladimir_Svyatoslavovich.jpg

Several years into his reign, Volodymyr, sent emissaries through Europe to inquire into the teachings of several different religions. These religions were Islam, Judaism, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity.

Record is perhaps hyperbolized here, but according to legend, he had no interest in Judaism, was unimpressed by Catholicism, and couldn’t fathom adopting Islam as it prohibited alcohol consumption. Alcohol was used as an effective tool to increase army morale and encourage male social bonding.

Volodymyr was thoroughly impressed with Orthodox Christianity and subsequently adopted Orthodoxy as the federation’s religion. While Rus’ sources say he was impressed with its beauty, it’s more likely he adopted Orthodox Christianity to strengthen his empires relationship with Byzantium—their largest trading partner at the time.

Secondary to strengthening his ties with Byzantium was that Orthodox Christianity legitimized his monarchial power, and demanded law and order throughout the empire… and for an empire in a state of near-chaos, Orthodoxy provided an optimistic respite.

The initial reaction to Volodymyr adopting Orthodox Christianity was initially negative, as for years the Slavs had been Pagans. What allowed Orthodox Christianity to succeed and flourish in eastern Europe, however, was something that happened, almost by accident, nearly a century earlier.

Divine Intervention

In 860 AD, Byzantium dispatched two Theologians, Cyril and Methodius, to convert Pagans in Europe, beginning in Moravia—modern day Czech Republic.  To do this, Cyril and Methodius learned the Slavonic language spoken in Moravia and devised an alphabet for it. This alphabet was called the Glagolitic Script, and is the oldest known Slavic alphabet.

Saint Cyril and Methodius

The Glagolitic Script did not receive much support in Moravia. The Germanic clerics in the region convinced Moravians that the Latin language was the only way to properly read, and recite scripture.

Moravia ended up not adopting the Glagolitic script, eventually banishing Methodius and Cyril from their empire. Seeking refuge, the brothers traveled to Bulgaria. Khan Boris of Bulgaria wanted Methodius to help him create an alphabet for their language.

The Glagolitic Script

Khan Boris and his son eventually adopted and introduced Orthodox Christianity to his empire, with a brand new alphabet modelled on the Greek language—as opposed to the Glagolitic script, which was based on unknown sources—perhaps a loose mixture of Greek or other alphabets.

This new alphabet was known as the Cyrillic script, and helped spread Christianity throughout Bulgaria and Eastern Europe like the plague. Without this script, Orthodox Christianity would have not spread; Catholicism was already beginning to encroach on eastern European borders.

Orthodoxy Christianity Makes Its Mark On Rus

Eventually, Volodymyr married the sister of the Byzantine emperor, further strengthening the relationship between the two major empires at the time. After this marriage, and the adoption of Orthodox Christianity, Eastern Europe changed forever.

Greek craftsmen spread throughout Kievan Rus, building churches wherever they went. Bulgarian clerics appeared throughout the empire with their holy books and using the Cyrillic script in the Slavonic language—easily converted people. This led to a major shift in law, with a larger focus on ecclesiastical decree.

Blood feuds, at least for a time, were reduced. Marriage and social bonds were strengthened, people were more optimistic, and the monarchial rule of Volodymyr was affirmed, as well as the legitimacy of his reign.

The rest is history. Orthodoxy spread like wildfire, despite facing some tough tests later in Moscow. In Moscow and western Russia (notably, Novgorod) there was a conflict between Christianity, and Catholicism (the Lithuanian-Polish empire was Catholic). Some Russian citizens despised how Orthodoxy was being interpreted to create an authoritative, monarchial power, and veered towards adopting Catholicism for the prospect of a better life.

Nevertheless, Orthodoxy and the Cyrillic alphabet have stood the test of time. Had Saint Methodius and Cyril not been sent to Moravia, had they not survived, had they not been banished by Moravia (or had they been killed instead), it’s very likely that Catholicism would have prevailed, and would have eventually westernized Eastern Europe, destroying the traditional values that we admire today.

Read More: The Orthodox Church Is The Answer To Reviving Christianity In Europe And Saving The West

49 thoughts on “The Fascinating Origins Of The Cyrillic Alphabet And Orthodox Christianity In Eastern Europe”

  1. I love ROK. It was instrumental in my red pill conversion. I’ve even published a couple articles here, yet I wonder…
    Anyone ever wonder if ROK is funded or influenced by Russian government sources?
    Has there ever been an even vaguelyanti-russia article published here?

    1. If anything, this article is pro-Ukrainian independence, by drawing a clear line in between Russia (Moscow at the time), and the Kievan Rus empire.
      I wrote this article with an unbiased eye; mentioning that the alphabet originated in Bulgaria. You didn’t say it outright, but I’m curious as to how this article is even remotely pro-Russian.

      1. Why are you promoting Popery? Okay, it’s Popery without the Pope, but that’s about it. It’s the eastern branch of the Babylonian Mystery Religion, complete with priestcraft, idolatry (icons instead of statues), pagan doctrines about baptism, etc., a pantheon of minor gods and goddesses aka “saints” and rites-centric religion.
        I’m seeing the same tripe on Russia Insider’s website. Sick to the back teeth of this.

        1. It was the early church fathers that gave you your golden idol known as the Bible. The Ortodox and Catholic Churches are true Christianity as it was from the beginning pasted from the Apostles by Apostolic succession.

        2. Stay off the Pulpit and Pen website, and put down the Jack Chic tracks. Also, read up on church history and patristics before making dumb Asperger’s Syndrome style commentary. EOC is the church of Peter and Paul.

      2. no, that ‘alphabet’ originated during Vinca civilization, some 5000 yrs before Cyril and Methodius

      3. It’s even funnier given the fact modern-day “the Ukraine” has nothing to do with Rus, while Russia being the ONLY legitimate ancestor state to Rus.

    2. There is one why you must not trust Russian woman or something like that.Know once you have been burned by western law and all it’s institutions you start seeing the fact that really Russia is not the enemy of an average white male In the west.

    3. I can’t remember the last article critical of Samoans. Perhaps the Samoan and Papuan New Guinea cartels have taken control of ROK and even ….The World!
      It’s definitely not da joos though, we must look elsewhere nothing to see here. Yep evil Russians and Samoans.

    4. Why the fuck you want anti-Russian article? What the fuck Russians have done to you & your family? You should more worry about illegal immigrants & Zionist lobbying in your country.

  2. I love the Cyrillic alphabet. No black countries use it as their script so they tend to stay the fuck away from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, etc. when they are illegally trying to enter a white country to improve their economic lot and skunt the local white wimminz.
    They wanna go for France, Britain, or Sweden.

    1. I love the alphabet as well, but I’ve been to Western Ukraine – Ternopil is full of Africans coming to study at their medical schools.
      There aren’t any illegal African immigrants, but there are a TON of African students, that learn Ukrainian very quickly.

    2. I doubt its that script but rather economic opportunities there. Some well off African countries like SA have the same GDP per capita as Ukraine so why would any any African want to go there?.The salaries in Ukraine Belarus an educated African working in State company or gvt department in Gabon,Zimbabwe south Africa Botswana might earn same salary. Again why go there ?.
      Africans go to Italy and Spain yet they don’t know the languages of those countries but their economies are very well off. That’s what counts not language.

      1. Actually lots of African students come to Ukraine every year for higher education. The reason is simple it’s way cheaper for them.

        1. Yes education but not job or business opportunities as opposed to EU states and north America. I know of a few people there my self that are African.

        2. Sun
          There’s no job opportunity for African students even though some of them are very educated & talented. That’s why they can’t live there permanently.

  3. We admire the traditional values of most Russian women : Mercedes , Gucci, being the top tier prostitutes in Dubai and mostly known as gold diggers . In most major cities in Russia . They crave brand names more than they crave their own children

    1. Large population. Most Russian woman still want to be married and have children even if the Russian have a fair share of whores they still have a fair share of family values which is what counts in the end.

      1. Most ? Hardly. you guys are as delusional as American women . Russian women can be seen parading around major US CITIES without their husbands , smoking in bars ,or shopping in high end department stores . The only family oriented attractive russian women are the single mothers that got imported by a beta male who is waiting for her green card interview so she can runaway from him . Please don’t talk about moving there and keeping a wife in Russia . Th ere is a reason almost all of the ROK articles as of late are downplaying the so called unicorn paradise . The only time attractive women are compliant is when they are starving.

        1. Still Russians in Russia have it easy than Americans in America that was my point. I am confident there is factory worker in Russia 24 with a wife that is slim. Where as an american man of same age is lucky to have a relationship.
          Please know most woman the move out of their societies to live in foreign countries some time even dating foreigners are whores.

        2. Do you live there Keith ? Have you lived there ? If the answer to both or one is no , you have no clue what it’s lije to live there other than what’s in your dreams . The work is only stable in Siberia in the oil fields at -40 and no beautiful Russian woman will live there .

      2. Keith
        Most women want to get married & have children but after riding the cockcarousel. Russian women aren’t any batter than the Western white women. They’re just much more cunning & deceptive. We have the highest divorce rate & also the highest abortion rate. Of course we Russian men are get blamed all the time for the dysfunction of our society just like Western white men are blamed for everything.

        1. Do Russian man get divorce raped? Does a Russian 24 yr old working in a factory have a chance to start a family with a slim average looking woman? What about Western guy of the same class? The answer to that shows who has it worse.

        2. Keith
          On surface it seems that Russian men have the advantage. But the real question is what kind of advantage do we have over the most cunning, cold-hearted, disloyal, gold-digging, insecure & entitled women in the world?
          Most Russian men who are living overseas don’t have Russian girlfriends. Even in Russia a lot of us prefer to date Africans & Latinas or any other non Russian women over Russian women. Even African-American women are more joyful & appealing to us compared to our dull, soul-crushing & cold-hearted Russian women.

        3. Keith,
          Russian men get divorce-raped more than US men. Much more. The whole Russian law system is purely matriarchal.

  4. Moravia ended up not adopting the Glagolitic script, eventually banishing Methodius and Cyril from their empire. Seeking refuge, the brothers traveled to Bulgaria. Khan Boris of Bulgaria wanted Methodius to help him create an alphabet for their language.
    The two brothers have never been to Bulgaria. Their disciples fled to Bulgaria and created the Cyrillic alphabet named in honor of their teacher.
    Poorly researched.

  5. The Catholic and Greek Orthodox faiths were *officially* separated in the Great Schism of 1054. There were arguably a couple hundred years building up to this inflection point, but I think this article discounts the difference between the two faiths a bit too much– at that point in time.
    Cyrillic was largely conceived from an ongoing feud between the Latins and Greeks. Initially, the liturgy could only be performed in Latin, Greek, or Hebrew. Obviously that has changed through time.
    Latins have more in common culturally and genetically with Greeks than they do with northern Europeans. Most of mid-to-southern Italy was Orthodox before the Normans, Franks, Goths etc. came through and changed it all.

  6. What is the purpose of this article? I live in Bulgaria and it’s a shithole society, it’s not even a society just a bunch of people lumped in the territory. Protestantism and partly Catholicism are the true western civilization, why are u bothering with shithole cultures like eastern orthodoxy?

    1. They are delusional like women . They think a pornstar looking Russian wife is waiting just around the corner

      1. Because I was born here maybe? Also reading more and more about life and stuff in the western dystopia makes me loose any motivation to move abroad.

        1. @Ti si sram za Bulgaria
          Don’t u have some calls to handle working at that call center for 500 euro so that u can pay ur 200 euro rent, u filthy peasant?

        2. Trollstein – even your name tells you are filthy troll. So, what, you suck americastani scum’s dicks? Geyrope’s dicks? We, at Bulgaria at least have the freedom to use slurs to those we dislike, and blacks we can call nigga, monkey, mangals. No one inprisons us. Feminism gains speed, but not as sick as in Geyrope or Americastan. And in fact, all shitwholes in our countr comes not because is ortodox, but because we are americastani colony, and they do not allow us be indepedent and happy(as they do not allow the rest of the world. You see what happens with those who disobey americastani scum. Ahem, Siria, Egypt, Libia, Iraq). And yes, i am programmer, and get lil above 2 k in USD, which with bg standart, allows me to live much more lavish than most americastani reading here.

    2. Trollstein, I’m sorry you don’t like your country, But it doesn’t matter that “Protestantism and partly Catholicism are the true western civilization.”
      In the west, those religions have been mostly derailed and usurped by liberals. The majority of our churchgoers, and much of the clergy, are now quite OK with gayness, illegal immigration, multiculturalism, and even abortion to varying degrees.
      So, many of us in the west have a soft spot for Eastern Orthodoxy… not because we think those countries are some sort of paradise or anything, but because we know that Orthodoxy is not buying into any of the liberal crap I previously mentioned.
      Orthodoxy appears to stick to its guns, and not cave into any of the PC bullshit. Of course, I suppose it helps that your politics, media outlets, and higher education are not controlled by the enemies of White Christian civilization.

      1. You are mistaken my friend, there is virtually no difference between the western world and eastern Europe when it comes down to religion and cultural values. Both the west and the east are nonreligious postmodern egoistic societies, believe me nobody goes to church here besides a few veeery old people. The only difference is that here in the east hypocrisy is far weaker than in the west so when somebody is black, smells bad and lives like an animal society doesn’t shy away from saying loud that he is an animal. If orthodoxy was so strong as u perceive it do be, eastern Europe would’t have fallen under the taliban hordes for centuries and eventually turn into a shithole.

        1. I am not sure about Bulgaria, but it’s a fact that the entire Orthodox clergy of Soviet union (former Russian Empire) was massacred by Jewish communists when they had usurped the power.
          The fact that Orthodoxy survived in Soviet Union was God’s Grace.

      2. BlueEyedDevil
        You should be more specific- “Russian Orthodox Church”. Influence of Russian Orthodox Church in Russian politics is very strong. Putin has reintegrated & connected Russian Orthodox Church with the Russian government. But most people in Russia aren’t really Christians. Most of us are Orthodox Christian culturally not religiously. Eastern Orthodox is a mystic religion so we can do all the Orthodox rituals as part of tradition without having to believe in the existence of God.
        Putin a former KGB officer gets blessed by the Patriarch Kirill.

        1. Non-sense.
          Mystical means occult.
          What kind of mysticism are you talking about? Eucharist? What’s mystical about it?
          Celebrating Christmas? Again, how is this mystical?

    3. Feminized liberal mainline Protestantism, and feminized touchy-feely evangelicalism (I use to be part of it) is one of the reasons western (American) society is declining. More Asperger’s Syndrome commentary!

  7. Some of this is a pure fake history of Russia which had been compiled by communistic Jews.
    I remember reading about Vladimir being a total douche towards pagans in grade 5, maybe.
    Vladimir had an army of about 40k men. How would he forcefully convert 9 mln pagans to Orthodoxy using such a “big” army?
    There are big reasons to suggest that conversion had been voluntary in general.

  8. I don’t know that saying Catholicism would “destroy” the traditions. All Christianity comes FROM Catholicism.

    1. Catholicism apostatized from true early Christianity introducing idols and other abominations, then persecuted the saints who disagreed with them based on Scriptures. Orthodoxy had a good ambition, but, unfortunately is also a false tradition-based religion.

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