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The Life of Constantine, the Life of Methodius and the history of the Slavs in the ninth century: a reassessment
Author(s) -
Lienhard Thomas
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
early medieval europe
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.1
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1468-0254
pISSN - 0963-9462
DOI - 10.1111/emed.12390
Subject(s) - ninth , eleventh , slavic languages , theme (computing) , history , classics , biography , ancient history , art history , computer science , physics , acoustics , operating system
The Slavonic Lives of Constantine/Cyril (d. 869) and Methodius (d. 885) are generally considered to have been written shortly after the death of these two saints, and in any case in the ninth century. However, the present article tries to show that this contention is not conclusive. Instead, it argues for a later writing, in the course of the tenth or eleventh centuries, taking into account in particular the authors' use of older Latin sources on the same theme. As a result, the specific information from these two Lives is subject to caution, which has important consequences for the biography of Constantine/Cyril, for the modalities of the papal mission to Moravia, and more generally for the history of the Slavic countries in the ninth century .