Rastislav - Mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius

Mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius

In order to increase his maneuverability, Rastislav attempted to curtail the activities of the Frankish missionaries in his realm. For this purpose, in around 862 he turned first to Rome. Having met with no success, he then asked for "teachers" in Constantinople, in order to educate local Moravians as priests. His embassy also emphasized the need for "teachers" capable of working in Slavic language.

Rastislav's request was granted when Constantine and Methodius, two brothers who had learned the Slavic dialect spoken in Thessaloniki (Greece), arrived with a few disciples in Moravia in 863. The two brothers undertook the task assigned to them by using the Slavonic language for teaching and for divine mass, and Constantine even created a script for the Slavs. The Frankish clergy soon came to realize that the activities of the two Byzantine brothers represented a threat to their influence. As the Byzantine missionaries enjoyed Rastislav's protection, Louis the German dispatched Bishop Solomon of Constance to Rome where he described how the diocese of Passau had been "fragmented and brought to ruin" by the defection of the Moravians.

Louis the German was also planning to launch a major campaign against Rastislav with the support of Boris I of Bulgaria. Although at the last minute the latter pulled out of the campaign, Louis new expedition against Rostislav was a success. In August 864 Louis the German invaded Moravia, crossing the Danube to besiege the civitas Dowina (identified, although not unanimously, with Devín Castle in Slovakia). The king apparently took Rastislav by surprise, and trapped him within the fortress. Unable to escape the Frankish siege, Rastislav surrendered, turned over a numerous high-ranking hostages and swore a new oath of fidelity.

The king's campaign, however, did not result in the subjugation of Rastislav. In 865, according to the Annals of St-Bertin, Louis the German sent his hosts against the "Wends" (Slavs), and the Annals of Fulda reports for the same year that Werner, a count in Upper Pannonia, was summoned before the king, accused of conspiring with Rastislav. In late 866 Constantine and Methodius departed from Moravia for Venice where the pope's envoys persuaded them to come to Rome. Here Pope Hadrian II approved their Slavic translations of the Scriptures, consecrated their Slavic disciples as priests, and even allowed them to sing the Slavic liturgy in Rome's churches.