Cyril, Methodios, and the conversion of the Slavs, with Mirela Ivanova

A conversation with Mirela Ivanova on the creation of the Slavonic alphabet and the lives of its creators, the Byzantine missionaries Constantine-Cyril and Methodios. Despite the huge importance attributed to these men and their activities in modern scholarship, national narratives, and Slavic Orthodox identity, our knowledge about them rests largely on two texts whose interests are quite different from our own. What do we really know about them?

Mirela Ivanova is a Lecturer in Medieval History at the University Sheffield, where her research focuses on intellectual and social history of Byzantium and Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages. You can learn more about her work on Mirela’s university webpage, her Academia.edu page, or follow Mirela on Twitter @_mirelaivanova_

The conversation is based on two of Mirela’s articles, ‘Re-thinking the Life of Constantine-Cyril the Philosopher,’ in Slavonic and East European Review, and ‘Inventing and Ethnicising Slavonic in the Long Ninth Century,’ in the Journal of Medieval History.

My article 'Inventing and Ethnicizing Slavonic in the Long Ninth Century' is now up and open access at the Journal of Medieval History. Spoiler alert: it's the Latins' fault.

Huge thanks to @Helen_Gittos! 🙏https://t.co/kldurhRX7j

— Mirela Ivanova (@_mirelaivanova_) October 6, 2021

Byzantium & Friends is hosted by Anthony Kaldellis, Professor and Chair of the Department of Classics at The Ohio State University. You can follow him on his personal website.

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Top Image: Saint Mary Byzantine Catholic Church (Marblehead, Ohio) – mosaic of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, detail. Photo by Nheyob / Wikimedia Commons

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