"... and the Ecumenical Patriarch agreed to allow an autonomous Bulgarian Archbishop at Pliska. Missionaries from Constantinople, Cyril and Methodius..."
"... devised the Glagolitic alphabet, which was adopted in the Bulgarian Empire around 886.... In the early 9th century, a new alphabet — Cyrillic — was developed at the Preslav Literary School, adapted from the Glagolitic alphabet invented by Saints Cyril and Methodius...."
In Bulgaria, today's "History of" country.
In the following centuries Bulgaria established itself as a powerful empire, dominating the Balkans through its aggressive military traditions, which led to development of distinct ethnic identity. Its ethnically and culturally diverse people united under a common religion, language and alphabet which formed and preserved the Bulgarian national consciousness despite foreign invasions and influences.
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22 comments:
That is so cool to invent your own alphabet.
Kudos to Saints Cyril and Methodius.
So was the Holy Bible written in Cyrillic called the Bulgate?
If memory serves, they can lay claim to Spartacus.
Love this line, "a period of relative stabilisation began with the election of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as prime minister in 2001".
Sounds like more of the Holy Roman Empire.
chickelit said...
So was the Holy Bible written in Cyrillic called the Bulgate?
Only if you're a Vulgarian.
When I think of Bulgaria, I think of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer.
Is that a sausage in his left hand?
Inga said...
Is that a sausage in his left hand?
What a v/bulgar observation..
I had Bulgarian co-workers in Germany. They liked to cook and their specialty dishes were wrapped in grape leaves and they were given to strong liquors. That is all I remember.
The creation of the Glagolitic characters, with its characteristic loops and hoops and with its tendency to go veering off, up or down, or squished, or wavy, led to the development of lined parchments.
The creation of the lined parchment is popularly attributed to Saints Lineaus Straightatadious who many believe did that in order to facilitate reading.
The distance between the original Glagolitic lines is not known but may have been close to the width of one finger. The finger being that of Leneaus who is thought to be rather hefty, if the name Leneaus the Feistag is any clue.
The original parchment lines, and later the lines on stone were drawn by two monks. The first monk named "Pin" held a brad or a nail with a chord tied to it that had been coated and colored with chalk. The second monk, later Saint Snapcopius, positioned a second nail and stretched the chord between the two nails and snapped the chord leaving behind a straight chalk line that is easily erased.
These advancements in technology lead directly to lined paper in use today.
I once saw a travel show hosted by Michael Palin, probably the most likable of the original Monty Python crew. Anyway this was in some godforsaken corner of Bulgaria and the look on his face was priceless. Why was it priceless? He was seated at a table in the home of pure Bulgarian peasants and he was about to undergo the ordeal of being an honored guest, which is to say he was going to be tested to an inch of his life having to match his hosts drink for drink to the point of passing out in a stupor while singing some chant and response Hungarian folk song at the top of his lungs, failure to do so indicating he was less than a man. And he knew it. And the look said, "Dammit, I'm going to keep smiling, I'm not gonna lose face, I'm not gonna lose face if it kills me." Told me all I needed to know about Bulgaria.
Bulgarian folk song not Hungarian folk song, though they're all the same to me.
Under Boris I the Bulgarians became Christians, like, *snap* there it is because kings do that, and the court at the time, with cooperation of all the card manufacturers and players throughout the land commemorated by putting Boris I on all their decks of cards.
The words "bugger" and "buggery" are derived from "Bulgarian," due to their alleged fondness for Cornhole Action.
Peter
Balfegor said...
When I think of Bulgaria, I think of Basil the Bulgar-Slayer.
I thought so, but couldn't find a link.
Inga said...
Is that a sausage in his left hand?
No, his pet wussy.
Bulgaria is bizarre because of the opposition of Byzantines versus themselves, Greek Cyril and Methodius versus the actual military of the time. The Bulgarian Empire versus the Empire proper. As a descendant of western Slavs, I should feel some sympathy for the ancient Slavs, but they just seem like a bunch of hillbilly savages to me, compared to the cultured Byzantines.
Had never realised before, but Glagolitic looks a bit like Ge'ez, the script used for Amharic and some other Ethiopian languages.
May be it is not common knowledge, but some of the oldest arhiological artifacts have been discovered in Bulgaria
"archeological"
Yep, Khan Boris I was truly a piece of work. He converted the the Bulgars to Christianity the old-fashioned way - by destroying all the old cults that didn't like Jesus. In doing so, he convinced his Christian Slav neighbors not to invade and his kingdom was saved!
The moral of that story is that Christianity can hardly be a considered a "religion of peace" either. One can but wonder what little the Bulgarians knew about Christianity and the Bible during the 37 years that Boris I reigned.
St. Cyril did a good job with his alphabet. It kept the eastern/Byzantine Empire of Constantine from being influenced by the Holy Roman Empire.
Empires is Empires. Power to defend the Emperor and expand before a neighbor expands is still the name of the game.
Although they were both Christian after 330 AD, the Byzantine guys played out a thousand years more rule than the Roman guys did. They even out lived the Great Khan's army.
Was Boris's wife named Natasha?
Outliving the Great Khan - yes indeed. Escaping the Great Khan and his culture - with an asterisk. I learned they were conquered, rebelled, conquered again and told not to be so snotty, and then became part of the golden Horde Khanat (Djodji's outfit, the eldest son).
You know, from an Eastern point of view, central European countries have the most funny way of presenting their own history. Mongols are mainly blended out as some fairy tale menace, and not really quite there.
Well, at least everybody is still wearing Mongol garb
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