Part 4 – Cultural Revival

Part 4 – Cultural Revival

When we speak of struggles for independence we often think of uprisings, rebellions and insurrections but struggles are not always violent, they can also be peaceful. When people are prohibited from expressing their desires politically they often turn to the arts, even to religion. Even though centuries had past and much was forgotten, Macedonians still remembered the glory of Philip II and Alexander the Great, a constant reminder of who they once were and who they could again become. Unfortunately they also remembered the Roman shackles from which they still bore scars. After its consolidation as the official religion of the Byzantine Empire, Christianity began to gain strength in Macedonia giving the Macedonian people hope and reasons to live. In Christianity Macedonians found a voice and a common cause to unite not as warriors but as bearers of an ancient culture expressed through religion. Christianity and its interpretations soon became the talk of the town as it took deep root in every facet of Macedonian culture. Christianity in Macedonia became an expression of art. As Macedonian priests preached the word of Jesus to their parishes, Macedonian artists painted beautiful murals, icons and frescoes. As Macedonian craftsmen crafted the amazing church interiors, altars and carvings, Macedonian architects and builders built the churches and cathedrals. These spectacular works of art propelled Christianity into a new dimension giving it appeal and a life of its own. It is no wonder Macedonia became the center of Christian culture and the source of the Christian religion in all of Europe. The power of this new faith projected through artistic beauty began to influence worlds beyond Macedonia as Macedonian priests, iconographers, sculptors and church builders alike were called upon to teach and replicate Christianity and its beauty beyond Macedonia even beyond the domain of the Byzantine Empire. In addition to the artistic beauty of its Churches, Christianity needed a language of expression, a language by which the true meaning of the words of Jesus could be articulated. This language had to be the language the masses understood by which priests could read and eloquently articulate their message from Jesus. Although the Macedonians had a language, it was an oral language which served the people well in their oral traditions but the story of Jesus recorded in the gospels and in the bible was far too complicated to entrust to oral traditions. Therefore a written language was needed. By the fourth century AD the Latin language had almost disappeared from the institutions in Macedonia and was replaced by Koine. Koine unfortunately was a language of the educated and although sufficient to use in the cities and larger towns where the population was schooled, it was inadequate to use in the villages and smaller towns where the population did not understand it. It is unclear when first attempts were made to devise a script but there are indications that it was done as early as the fourth century AD. This information comes to us from Tsrnorizets Hrabar the defender of the Macedonian peoples’ language whose work has been preserved but not yet fully investigated. According to Tsrnorizets Hrabar there existed certain native characters consisting of “lines and incisions” in which the Macedonian language was committed to writing. Unfortunately this was a far too primitive and complex language to use to teach and express the complexities of the gospels. By the 5th century AD Macedonia was the center of Christianity controlled by a Metropolitan with its center in Solun. Subordinate to the Metropolitan were the Bishops of eighteen Macedonian cities and towns among which were Lerin, Voden, Kostur and Serres. The real push for a written script came around the 8th century AD with the need to Christianize the many Slavic speaking tribes beyond the empire’s borders. Failing to create a written language using the runic and primitive “lines and incisions”, scholars soon began to look at the Koine and Latin alphabets but also found them exceedingly difficult to record the complex sounds of the Slavonic language.

Although there are varying opinions among scholars as to who created it and when, the next script to be put into use was the Glagolic script. The Glagolic script received its name from the Macedonian word “glagol” which in English means “word” and the word “glagolati” meaning “to speak”. For those who had never seen a book before it appeared as though the letters spoke to the reader and told him what to say. Even though the Glagolic script was complete and capable of delivering the complex sounds of the Slavonic speech, it was abandoned for the newer Cyrillic script. Because of the varying scholarly opinions on the origins and development of these scripts we will not get into their history but rather emphasize that both alphabets were developed in Macedonia by Macedonian scholars to serve one purpose; Christianize the Slav speaking people of Eastern Europe. We know that the brothers Kiril and Metodi instituted a revision of the written Macedonian language during the 8th and 9th centuries AD. This statement may be rather controversial, but we can say that the brothers did not invent but renovated the Macedonian alphabet, based on old Macedonian traditions, to properly capture the natural evolution of the spoken language. The Macedonian oral language always existed and naturally evolved. Unfortunately, due to prolonged Roman influence, the written form was neglected and in need of reformation. What the Macedonian brothers began was later taken up by their students. Kliment being the brightest was credited with the final reformation of the alphabet which became known as the Cyrillic alphabet. Kliment updated the written part of the Macedonian language to take advantage of its natural evolution and made it simpler and phonetic. Kliment was also credited for translating the gospels and other works and making them available in the Macedonian language commonly referred to as “Old Church Slavonic”. The brothers Kiril and Metodi were Macedonians, natives of Solun, who were acclaimed as the apostles of the southern Slavs and the fathers of Slav literary culture. Kiril, the younger of the two, was given the name Constantine when he was baptized. It was much later that he received the name Kiril. Macedonian scholars not only solved the problem of writing in the common Macedonian language in a relatively short period of time but they also managed to successfully promote and teach it to the entire Slav speaking world. This kind of success was not only paramount but unprecedented in the history of the world. Since there was no one to speak on behalf of the Macedonian people when Balkan histories were written after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, foreigners such as the Greeks and Bulgarians usurped parts of Macedonia’s history and took credit for Macedonian deeds and accomplishments. What is important here is that these deeds and accomplishments originated in Macedonia, not in Greece and not in Bulgaria and as such must be attributed to the people of Macedonia. It is a well known fact that the Bulgars never defeated, conquered or invaded Solun so how can modern Bulgarians claim that Kiril and Metodi, the Solun bothers, the very same people who are credited with “inventing” the Cyrillic alphabet be Bulgarians? Similarly, even though the Slavs never conquered Solun, according to Byzantine Emperor Michael III, the people of Solun spoke pure Slavonic. How is possible that they spoke “pure Slavonic” in Solun when no Slav ever set foot on that city? “The ‘Salonika Brothers’, the ‘Apostles to the Slavs’, as they are variously called, are claimed by different sources such as Greeks, Bulgarians or Macedonians. Such categories are inappropriate for the middle ages, before the formation of modern nations. Cyril (Kiril) and Methodius (Metodi) were Byzantine missionaries. They may have been of East South Slavonic stock or they may have learned the Salonika dialect from peasants in the area. When the Moravian Emperor Rastislav appealed to the Byzantine Emperor Michael III in Constantinople for missionaries to teach the gospel to the Slavs of Moravia, Michael chose Constantine and Methodius, who were well known as Byzantine scholars and diplomats.

Michael justified his choice with the famous sentence: ‘You are Thessalonians, and all the people of Salonika speak pure Slavonic’.” (Peter Hill. The Macedonians in Australia. Carlisle: Hesperian Press, 1989. Page 2) Again, if the Slavs never entered Solun, how was it that all the people of Solun spoke “pure Slavonic” and not Greek as the Greeks today want us to believe? Debates as to who the Macedonians were are absurd and counterproductive since it is well known that the Macedonian people were not only a dominant factor in the affairs of the Byzantine Empire but also major contributors to the world’s civilization. Macedonians took the initiative to create a written language not only for themselves as some cultures had done in the past, but also to educate a vast part of the world. If anyone should be credited for spreading their language and culture it should be the Macedonians. Christianizing and educating the entire East European world and part of Asia all the way to Siberia is an example of what the Macedonians had accomplished in a relatively short period of time. Today we have the following languages using the Cyrillic alphabet: Abaza, Abkhaz, Adyghe, Avar, Azeri, Belorussian, Bulgarian, Dungan, Kazak, Kyrkhyz, Komi, Macedonian, Moldovan, Mongolian, Old Church Slavonic, Russian, Ruthenian, Serbian, Slavio, Tajik, Tatar, Turkman, Ukrainian, Uzbek and Yakut. There are two questions that arise from the above: 1) why would Macedonians be willing to create a language and spread it so far away from their own domain? And 2) why would foreign tribes and nations as far north as Siberia accept a foreign language from a foreign people thousands of miles away? This is indeed an enigma to which, to this day, very little thought has been devoted, especially from academics and scholars. This however does not preclude us from theorizing. Angelina Markus always believed that the modern Macedonians are the natural inheritors of the entire Macedonian heritage from the day Macedonia came into being which according to her extends to Neolithic times. According to Markus “many of the people from the Balkans to Siberia today who are called ‘Slavs’ owe that title to the Macedonians”. When Alexander conquered Eastern Europe he created cities and populated them with Macedonians. These cities remained intact and vibrant even after the Macedonian empires disappeared. History has also recorded that when Rome attacked Macedonia half of the Macedonian population fled north beyond the Roman domain. The people that fled were mostly educated and prominent Macedonians who would have found it difficult to survive under Roman oppression and were invariably civilized and capable of spreading the Macedonian language and culture to the new worlds they settled. It is estimated that half a million people fled Macedonia some 2,100 years ago and since then have been populating and spreading the Macedonian language and culture to Eastern Europe and Asia all the way to Siberia. When the so called “Slav tribes” from the Danube to Siberia were Christianized during the 8th, 9th and 10th centuries AD, they were Christianized by teachers from Macedonia, a foreign world, a world that should have been alien to the Slavs. Yet this demand for Macedonian teachers did happen and lead to the formation of the Ohrid University, the first University in Europe. “The reason that these people were asking for teachers from Macedonia” explains Markus “is because they were themselves or believed to be themselves akin to the Macedonians”. This also explains why when the so called “Slavs” came to Macedonia they found a familiar culture and language. Angelina Markus also pointed out that: “To have a complete Macedonian History, Culture, Philosophy, we need to open the archives of the Vatican because old Rome was the last to take everything from Macedonia, and those documents today are hidden away in a secret place. The other places that need to be opened are the archives of the universal Constantinople (Istanbul) patriarchy.

In these archives are kept most highly treasured things about the writing and history of ancient Macedonia.” (Zac I) While Ohrid experienced a boom in the field of education and enlightenment, Solun experienced a golden age of its own not only in the arts and literature but also in commerce and industry. Celebrated scholars, orators, philosophers, mosaicists, wood carving craftsmen, hymnologists, architects, hagiographers, etc., all gathered together in Solun not only to build the most magnificent churches the world had ever seen but to also open schools and teach their crafts to foreign students for export. Besides the immense Macedonian contribution to the arts, crafts, literature and architecture, Macedonians also served the Byzantine Empire as soldiers, statesmen and even Emperors. Macedonians occupied the Empire’s throne during the period from 867 AD to 1081 AD in what came to be known as the Macedonian Epoch. The following Macedonian Emperors and Empresses served on the Byzantine throne: Basil I the Macedonian (867-886), Leo VI the Philosopher or the Wise (886-9I2), Alexander (886-913), Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (913-959), Romanus I Lecapenus (919-944), Romanus II (959-963), Nicephorus II Phocas (963-969), John Tzimisces (969-976), Basil II the Macedonian 976-1025), Constantine VIII (1025-1028), Romanus III Argyrus (1028-1034), Michael IV (1034-1041), Michael V Calaphates (1041-1042), Zoe and Theodora 1042, Constantine IX Monomachus (1042-1055) and Theodora (1055-1056). (A. Vasiliev. “History of the Byzantine Empire (324 - 1453)”. The University of Wisconsin Press. 1952. Pages 300-303) According to Vasiliev, the Macedonian dynasties fall into two periods. The first extends from 867 AD to 1025 AD with the death of Basil II. The second but brief period extends from 1025 AD to 1056 AD with the death of Empress Theodora. Historians have often referred to these periods, especially the first, as the most productive and politically successful in the Empire’s existence. The Empire was particularly productive under the leaderships of Nicephorus Phocas, John Tzimisces and Basil II. During Basil II’s reign the empire achieved its greatest accomplishments and glory. Among its successes were the suppression of the separatist movements in Asia Minor, its increased influence in Syria, its partial annexation of Armenia, its annexation of Bulgaria and its successful Christianization of Russia. Upon adopting Christianity from the Byzantines, Russia entered into closer religious, political, commercial, and cultural ties with the Byzantine Empire. After Basil II’s death the Empire slowly slid into anarchy and entered a troubled period until the Comneni seized the throne in 1081 AD at which point the Empire regained its strength, internal order was re-established and intellectual and artistic activities once again began to flourish. It seems that everything that is Macedonian has been contested and so is the identity of Emperor Basil I the Macedonian. Only recently scholars have determined that Basil was born in the city of Chariopolis in Macedonia. Although Basil did not directly contribute to the Macedonian struggle for independence, as a powerful Macedonian historic figure he did contribute to the shaping of the Byzantine Empire and through the dynasty he founded he preserved the name Macedonia and Macedonian in the annals of history. As a young man Basil went to Constantinople to seek his fortune and by his good looks, tall stature, enormous strength and ability to break the wildest of horses, attracted the attention of many onlookers. Stories about him even reached the Emperor Michael III who invited him to be his guest at his court. They soon became drinking buddies and in no time Basil’s charm and charisma took the best of the Emperor who proclaimed him co-ruler and crowned him in the temple of St. Sophia. Basil unfortunately became tired of Michael and within a year of their relationship he had him assassinated and proclaimed himself Emperor thus giving birth to the Macedonian dynasty which lasted for two centuries.