Glagolitic alphabet
Alfabeto glagolítico
- Date
- c. 862-863 · confidence medium
- Place
- Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey
- Credited to
- Constantine-Cyril of Thessaloniki
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
The first alphabet created to write Slavic, devised by Constantine-Cyril before the mission to Great Moravia. It made it possible to translate the liturgy and the gospels into a Slavic language.
It is attributed to Constantine-Cyril (born in Thessaloniki), who worked in Constantinople around 862-863; the place of creation is the Byzantine capital, not a present-day Balkan territory, but the milieu and disciples are Balkan. The order relative to Cyrillic is now accepted (Glagolitic is the older).
What it led to
- Church literature in Old Church Slavonic and the spread of Christianity among the Slavs
- Glagolitic use in Croatia into the 20th century, with printed books from 1483
- inspiration for the Cyrillic alphabet