Re-thinking the Life of Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher

The invention of the Slavonic alphabet is widely celebrated across the Slavonic speaking world today. Due to this, its earliest account, the Life of Constantine-Cyril, has often been assumed to be a Slavonic text, imbued with Slavic patriotism. This article argues that the Life is a profoundly Byzan...

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Main Author: Ivanova, M
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Modern Humanities Research Association 2020
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author Ivanova, M
author_facet Ivanova, M
author_sort Ivanova, M
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description The invention of the Slavonic alphabet is widely celebrated across the Slavonic speaking world today. Due to this, its earliest account, the Life of Constantine-Cyril, has often been assumed to be a Slavonic text, imbued with Slavic patriotism. This article argues that the Life is a profoundly Byzantine text, and that its author was not primarily concerned with the invention of Slavonic. Rather, the text is best understood as an argument about sanctity, and about the harmony between ‘outside’ learning and piety. This argument was constructed with the resources of and was aimed at contemporary Byzantine intellectual culture.
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spelling oxford-uuid:b5edeee3-077f-447c-8db5-134d7745fd5c2022-03-27T04:37:11ZRe-thinking the Life of Constantine-Cyril the PhilosopherJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:b5edeee3-077f-447c-8db5-134d7745fd5cEnglishSymplectic ElementsModern Humanities Research Association2020Ivanova, MThe invention of the Slavonic alphabet is widely celebrated across the Slavonic speaking world today. Due to this, its earliest account, the Life of Constantine-Cyril, has often been assumed to be a Slavonic text, imbued with Slavic patriotism. This article argues that the Life is a profoundly Byzantine text, and that its author was not primarily concerned with the invention of Slavonic. Rather, the text is best understood as an argument about sanctity, and about the harmony between ‘outside’ learning and piety. This argument was constructed with the resources of and was aimed at contemporary Byzantine intellectual culture.
spellingShingle Ivanova, M
Re-thinking the Life of Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher
title Re-thinking the Life of Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher
title_full Re-thinking the Life of Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher
title_fullStr Re-thinking the Life of Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher
title_full_unstemmed Re-thinking the Life of Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher
title_short Re-thinking the Life of Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher
title_sort re thinking the life of constantine cyril the philosopher
work_keys_str_mv AT ivanovam rethinkingthelifeofconstantinecyrilthephilosopher