The beginnings of this work are closely Byzantium's steppe-allies, the Khazars. Though associated with the brothers Constantine and primarily political, it provided them with Methodius, the 'Apostles of the Slavs'. Their first experience in the mission field. They put the case joint mission was in 860 when they were sent to for Christianity to the Khazars, who were
Converting to Judaism. They had limited success, but were the obvious choice, when in 862 the ruler of the Moravians turned to Byzantium for missionaries to counter the Frankish priests working from Passau and Salzburg. Coming from Thessalonica, Constantine and Methodius had the great advantage of knowing the Slavonic language. Their first task was to translate the liturgy and parts of the gospels into Slavonic for use among the Moravians. This angered the Frankish clergy who insisted that there could be no addition to the number of sacred languages. Constantine and Methodius went to Rome to put their case and secured the support of the papacy. After Constantine's death in 869 Methodius was appointed to Pannonia and the see of Sirmium. The immediate results of his work were unpromising. He was hampered by Frankish hostility, and the Hungarian invasion of 895 left almost no trace of his work among the Moravians. After his death in 885 the remnants of his mission were welcomed by the Bulgarian ruler Boris, who was unhappy with the ascendancy of the Greek clergy following his forced conversion in 865 in the aftermath of a Byzantine invasion. Recourse to the papacy was not a success, but with the help of Methodius' followers, Clement and Naum, the Bulgarian Church became the main centre of Slavonic Christianity. Much of this achievement passed to the Russians after the baptism at Cherson in 989 of Vladimir, the prince of Kiev. The success of Byzantine missions to the Slavs owed much to the use of Slavonic. It also allowed Slavonic Christianity to develop independently of Byzantium.
M. Angold
World History
