born 0441; 827, Thessalonica, Macedonia
died Feb. 14, 869, Rome
born 0441; 825, Thessalonica
died April 6, 884, Moravia; feast day for both, Western church February 14; Eastern church May 11
Brothers who Christianized the Danubian Slavs.
They began missionary work among the Slavs of Moravia in 863. Gifted scholars and linguists, they translated the holy scriptures into the language later known as Old Church Slavic (or Slavonic) and are credited with inventing the Glagolithic alphabet (see Cyrillic alphabet ). In 868 they traveled to Rome to defend the use of a Slavic liturgy. When Cyril died, Methodius returned to Moravia as an archbishop. Known as the "apostles to the Slavs," the two brothers influenced the religious and cultural development of all Slavic peoples.