1 50 16 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ef2e2e8a7aff230e4c71a8a6e3a12a03.pdf d8edca193738d3c50df9ad5bba2683a3 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 17 THE PAINTINGS IN THE BASILICA OF ST. CLEMENT JOSEPH G. CINCiK W:hen Sts. Cyril and Methodius labored among the Chazars (Kazars), in the Crimea on the Black Sea, preaching the Word of God, they discovered the corporal remains of St. Clement, pupil and fourth successor of St. Peter. In 863, the Slovak Apostles brought the remains of the martyr from Byzantium (Constantinople) to the territory of the ancient Slovaks, Great Moravia, after they had accepted the invitation of Prince Rastislav, sovereign of the Slovak lands, to preach the Word of God to his people in a language they could understand. In 867, when Cyril and Methodius went to Rome for an audience with the Holy Father, they took the remains of St. Clement with them. It was thus that St. Clement returned to his native city. Pope Adrian II expressed heartfelt thanks for the precious gift of the holy brothers. Leading the solemn procession ,h imself, the Holy Father had the remains of St. Clement placed in that part of the Basilica of St. Clement which today we call "the lower church." It is alleged that some time later, St. Cyril himself found :h is last resting place alongside the grave of St. Clement, on the right side of the main altar. Cyril, only 41, did not return to Slovakia; he died in Rome. His brother Methodius returned alone to continue in his apostolic work among the ancient Slovaks. From the artistic side, the Basilica of St. Clement offers many moments which can be connected with the presence of the Slovak Apostles and their group, especially the artistic decoration of the walls of the "lower church," many fragments of which have been preserved to this day. These are the same paintings that Cyril and Methodius admired in their day. There are also iconographic souvenirs which were motivated by the saintly brothers' stay in Rome, and it is with these that we shall deal here, because they interest us most. The Basilica of St. Clement in Ro~ is not a simple structure from one period. As a crosscut through the building demonstrates, it is composed of three different building eras: 1. The foundation walls extend deeply into Roman �St. Cyril taken to last resting place tn Basi- lica of St. Clement �SS. Cyril and Methodlua defe.nd the use of Slo• vak I n liturgy before Pope Adrian 11 In 867 �20 SLOVAKIA times; they were built in the last years of the Roman kings, during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus (534-510 B. C.), or in the earliest republican times. On the same level under today's surface of the earth - spread a later brick struclure from the period of the emperors. About the time of the birth of Christ this building belonged to the parents of St. Clement, and that is why it is also called "Dominicum Clementis." A part of the original home of St. Clement, which St. Peter and St. Paul often visited, served as an oratory after Clement was martyred. In the year 303 A .D., this oratory was changed by imperial edict into a pagan place of idolatrous worship to honor the god Mithras. The lowest parts of the Basilica were witness to t:he events of the first Christia.us from apostolic times. They were inhabited and visited 1by men who had personal con!.act with our Savior. In 311 A. D., Emperor Galerius ordered. the "Dominicum Clementis" returned to the Christians. But this place, desecrated by the blood of the pagan Bull Cult and called "Mithraeum," was no longer used by the Christians. They sealed the entrance into it. 2. After the victory of Emperor Constantine a large church was built out of quadrangular stones over the old "Dominicum Clementis." Under the arches of this church, Sts. Cyril and Methodius and their delegation had their quarters in 867. This part of the Basilica is today called the "lower church" - and the remains of St. Clement and St. Cyril are there. 3. In 1008, Pope Pascholis II had the present "upper church" built over the "lower church;" it is smaller and narrower than the original "lower church." In the "upper church" of the Basilica - renovated in the baroque style during the pontificate of Pope Clement XI (1715)-there is a side-chapel dedicated to Sts. Cyril and Methodius. Since the end of the 19th century, pilgrimages by the Slovaks an!,! other Slova.nic nations to the Basilica of St. Clement have increased greatly. In 1886, the Basilica was decorated with the frescoes of Nobili on the initiative Pope Leo XIII and the support of Croatian Bishop strossmayer. Three of them especially attract our attention. �SLOVAKIA 21 Behind the altar, the one on the right depicts Pope Leo Xill placing the Church in the form of a very small church under the protection of the Savior; St. Cyril stands to his right and St. Methodius to his left. Both are clothed in bishop's robes. On the right wall is a painting of the scene before Pope Adrian II and the bishops. Standing before them are Sts. Cyril and Methodius, refuting the charges that they had introduced harmful novelties into t:he liturgy. The painting on the left pictures the transfer of the corporal remains of St. Cyril to the "lower church" of St. Clement by Benedictine Brothers. In a certain sense, this chapel is a sort of national and Christian oratory of the Slovanic peoples in Rome. Today the Basilica is administered by Irish monks of the Dominican Order. Shortly after the end of World War II, Michael Sincak of Monessen, Pa., led a pilgrimage of American Slovaks to the Basilica, where they marked with a simple marble altar the alleged resting place of St. Cyril. During the excavations and reparations of the lowest part of the Basilica (the "Dominicum Clementis") many souvenirs were found: fragments of headpieces, columns, inscriptions, minute reliefs, staitu.es, vessels, lanterns, etc., of the Roman and early Christian era, which are very significant for the history of art and archeology. Numerous decorative fragments of stone and marble from the "lower church" may be found in the various municipal museums of Rome or are built into the walls of the front hallway of the "lower church" which once resounded with the footsteps of the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius. On the walls of the "lower- church" are interesting artistic souvenirs from the IV-IX centuries A.D. On the older skeins of mu1als-mostly of the Byzantium type-from the 8th . century, inl,pressive are the scenes from the life of St. Clement, the Virgin Mary, and several saints. There is a painting of the Virgin Mary with Jesus in the recess on the right side of the nave. The Mother of God is pictured as the Queen of Heaven, sitting on an emperor's throne, clothed in the robe of a Byzantium queen which is ornamented with jewels, pearls and precious stones, and wearing a rich diadem headpiece. Jesus sits in his �22 SLOVAKIA mother's lap a,nd also is clothed in the Byzantium style of the VII-IX centuries. As the Ruler of Christian souls, He is holding in his little hands the sign of power, a parchment scroll. Of the newer skein of paintings, depicting Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, four important iconographic fragments have been preserved: 1. St. Cyril kneeling before Emperor Michael III of Byzantium, accepting the mission to preach the Word of God to the Kazars or probably the Slovaks; 2. (Also from the second half of the 9th century), St. Cyril is shown baptizing a pagan standing in water, probably a Kazar or a member of some Slovanic people; 3. The third painting, comparatively well preserved, shows our Savior in the center, flanked by the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, and, in front of them, as smaller figures, St. Methodius without a beard and with a chalice, and St. Cyril with a beard and a book held to his bosom. Both are still without a "gloriola" above their heads, which indicates that this painting was done before they were proclaimed saints, probably while they lived and certainly before St. Cyril died. To the ri,g ht of $t. Methodiu.s, we see the figure of St. Andrew, and to the left of St. Cyril that of St. Clement. This painting represents the earliest portraits of Sts. Cyril and Methodius-and contemporaneously and relatively the most genuine, that is, styled in the Byzantium-Carolinian tradition. Once again we see the figure of the two brothers on the painting which depicts the transfer of the remains of St. Clement to the Basilica with a solemn procession, headed by Pope Adrian II and our Apostles Sts. Cyril and Methodius. The paintings are in the artistic spirit of the Benedictine school at Monte Cassino and are, from the iconographic and liturgical standpoint, very interesting, since the clothing worn and other marks depicted inform us about the robes and customs of the IX-X centuries. On the last painting, people are in solemn procession, carrying palm branches (symbol of martyrdom-victory), waving church banners, symbol of bishops and abbots, crosiers and crosses, while deacons incense the remains of St. Clement. In the left corner we see the figure of Pope Adrian II, his white tiara embellished with but a single �SLOVAKIA 23 crown (in the later Middle Ages the papal tiara had three crowm.s) . On the right of the Pope, we behold St. Cyril and, on his left, St. Methodius. We note that St. Cyril has a gloriola over his head, while St. Methodius has not, though he is depicted there as a bishop. This means that this painting is older than that of the Savior with the Archangels and the two saintly brothers. There is another conjecture, that later - perhaps after the death of St. Cyril - the painting was complemented with these details. We know that St. Method.ius later appeared on several occasions in Rome as a Bishop and Archbishop of Pannonia-Moravia, the land of the ancient Slovaks. Experts of Christian iconography also say that the absence of a gloriola above the head of St. Method.ius means that the painting probably did originate after St. Cyril's death, but during the lifetime of St. Methodius; some time after 870, when obviously, the gloriola was not appropriate for Methodius. There is evidence that the same type of paintings embellished the first Christian churches in old Slovakia in the 9th century A.D., in the building of which the creative hands of the Benedictines are undeniable. Above all else they are noticeable in the field of the artistic painting which came out of the area of Rome and Monte Cassino, and from northern Italy, from the middle of the 9th century, to the north through the Alps to the territory of the Blatnohrad principality in Pannonia and to southern Slovakia. Stylistic and compositional marks of paintings from the period of the Slovak rulers were used to the end of the 10th and the beginning of the eleventh century, as is demonstrated by the latest discoveries in the PannoniaBlatnohrad area (for example, in Hidegseg, near the Nezider Lake) . For other examples of the painting art, and even the creative art, from the period of Great Moravia and Sts. Cyril and Methodius, we do not have to go to Rome. Artistic souvenirs of Slovak pre-Roman-Carolingian art have been uncovered in areas which were inhabited by the Slovaks on both sides of the Danube in the 9th and 10th centuries. �24 SLOVAKIA REFERENCE LITERATURE R. L. Bensly: The Eplstolea of St. Clement to the Corinthians in Syriac, etc., CamlbTidge, 1899. Acta Sa,nctorum (Bollandia,na): Marti nus II, pp. H seq. Jacopo da Vara,gdne: Leggenda aurea, Vol. III, Firenze (A. Le- vasti), 1926, ,p p. 1464-1484. L . Duchesne: Llber Pontificalis, Paris, 1886, I. p. LXXI- LXXIII. R. S. Lipsius : Chronologie der romische Blachofe, Kdel, 1869. C. H. Tur.ner: The Early E·piscopal Liata (JournaJ of Theological Studies, XVHI, 1917). J. S. Franco: Klements in Cheraonesus, Lemberg (Lvov), 1906, pp. 293-301. Fr. Snopek: Clemens von Rom und seine Reliquien, K!romefilsky Slov.aik, 1918. K.Kiinstle: lkonographie der chrlstlichen Kunst, II, Ikonogr!llPhie der Hei1igen, 19·26, Frei-burg in Bref.sgau, p. 1'65 seq. (Clemens). L. Nolam: The Baslllca of San Clemente in Rome, IV Edition, 1943, Roma. Carlo Cecchelli: San Cemente, s. a., Danesi Editore Roma (Series "Le ch!ese di Roma il1ustrate"-Vols. 24-25). F. X. Zimmerma,n: Die Kirchen Roms, 1935, Ed. Piper, -M iinchen, p. 272 seq. G. B. De Rossi: I mo"umenti scoperti sot-to la basilica di S. Clemente studiati, etc. (fa " Bulletilna d i Archeolog. cristiana"-1870, 1874, 1875, 1882, 1884-85, 1887-89) . Dublin Review, Oct. 1871, p . 403 seq. Fels Th. Gsell: Romlsche ausgrabungen in letzten Decenium: Die Unterklrche S. Clemente, Hi!d•b erghau,sen, 1870. L. Nolan: De effoaaion~bus peractla ad S. Clementis in Urbe (Analecta samri Ord. Frat. Praooiatorum, Vol. XIII, 1918, pp. 344-351. J . H . Parr-k er: Archeology of Rome, OXford, 1874, Tv. XI, p . 58 seq. Al Thomson: Re<:ent Excavations in Rome, E<Unburg, 1866. A. L. Frothingham: The Monuments of Christian Rome, from Con,stainrtillle to -the Renai,ssamce, New York, 1908. J. G. Gray: The House and the Basilica of S. Clemente, i-n the Journal of the British and American Archeologtlcal Society in Rome, III, 1>art 3; The Church of S. Cemente In the light of Mons. Wilperts recent researches, 1907, IV, part 1, pp. 98-109. G. Mullooly: St. Clement, Pope and Martyr, and His Basilica in Rome, Rome, 1869; 2nd oo., 1873. X. X. X.: Basilica of St. Clemente in Rome, Rome , 1924. L. Nolrun: The Irish Dominicans in Rome, Rome, 1911. P. Toesca : Storia dell arte Italians, I, II Medioevo, Torino, 1927, pp.8, 584 seq . Ad. Ve nturd: Storla dell arte ltaliana, I, Mila.no, 1901, v. 1 ui vol. I-VITI, 1902-1923. J . W!lpert: Die romische Mosalken und Malerelen der Kirchli chen Kunstl. � SLOVAKIA 17 THE PAINTINGS IN THE BASILICA OF ST. CLEMENT JOSEPH G. CINCiK W:hen Sts. Cyril and Methodius labored among the Chazars (Kazars), in the Crimea on the Black Sea, preaching the Word of God, they discovered the corporal remains of St. Clement, pupil and fourth successor of St. Peter. In 863, the Slovak Apostles brought the remains of the martyr from Byzantium (Constantinople) to the territory of the ancient Slovaks, Great Moravia, after they had accepted the invitation of Prince Rastislav, sovereign of the Slovak lands, to preach the Word of God to his people in a language they could understand. In 867, when Cyril and Methodius went to Rome for an audience with the Holy Father, they took the remains of St. Clement with them. It was thus that St. Clement returned to his native city. Pope Adrian II expressed heartfelt thanks for the precious gift of the holy brothers. Leading the solemn procession ,h imself, the Holy Father had the remains of St. Clement placed in that part of the Basilica of St. Clement which today we call "the lower church." It is alleged that some time later, St. Cyril himself found :h is last resting place alongside the grave of St. Clement, on the right side of the main altar. Cyril, only 41, did not return to Slovakia; he died in Rome. His brother Methodius returned alone to continue in his apostolic work among the ancient Slovaks. From the artistic side, the Basilica of St. Clement offers many moments which can be connected with the presence of the Slovak Apostles and their group, especially the artistic decoration of the walls of the "lower church," many fragments of which have been preserved to this day. These are the same paintings that Cyril and Methodius admired in their day. There are also iconographic souvenirs which were motivated by the saintly brothers' stay in Rome, and it is with these that we shall deal here, because they interest us most. The Basilica of St. Clement in Ro~ is not a simple structure from one period. As a crosscut through the building demonstrates, it is composed of three different building eras: 1. The foundation walls extend deeply into Roman �St. Cyril taken to last resting place tn Basi- lica of St. Clement �SS. Cyril and Methodlua defe.nd the use of Slo• vak I n liturgy before Pope Adrian 11 In 867 �20 SLOVAKIA times; they were built in the last years of the Roman kings, during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus (534-510 B. C.), or in the earliest republican times. On the same level under today's surface of the earth - spread a later brick struclure from the period of the emperors. About the time of the birth of Christ this building belonged to the parents of St. Clement, and that is why it is also called "Dominicum Clementis." A part of the original home of St. Clement, which St. Peter and St. Paul often visited, served as an oratory after Clement was martyred. In the year 303 A .D., this oratory was changed by imperial edict into a pagan place of idolatrous worship to honor the god Mithras. The lowest parts of the Basilica were witness to t:he events of the first Christia.us from apostolic times. They were inhabited and visited 1by men who had personal con!.act with our Savior. In 311 A. D., Emperor Galerius ordered. the "Dominicum Clementis" returned to the Christians. But this place, desecrated by the blood of the pagan Bull Cult and called "Mithraeum," was no longer used by the Christians. They sealed the entrance into it. 2. After the victory of Emperor Constantine a large church was built out of quadrangular stones over the old "Dominicum Clementis." Under the arches of this church, Sts. Cyril and Methodius and their delegation had their quarters in 867. This part of the Basilica is today called the "lower church" - and the remains of St. Clement and St. Cyril are there. 3. In 1008, Pope Pascholis II had the present "upper church" built over the "lower church;" it is smaller and narrower than the original "lower church." In the "upper church" of the Basilica - renovated in the baroque style during the pontificate of Pope Clement XI (1715)-there is a side-chapel dedicated to Sts. Cyril and Methodius. Since the end of the 19th century, pilgrimages by the Slovaks an!,! other Slova.nic nations to the Basilica of St. Clement have increased greatly. In 1886, the Basilica was decorated with the frescoes of Nobili on the initiative Pope Leo XIII and the support of Croatian Bishop strossmayer. Three of them especially attract our attention. �SLOVAKIA 21 Behind the altar, the one on the right depicts Pope Leo Xill placing the Church in the form of a very small church under the protection of the Savior; St. Cyril stands to his right and St. Methodius to his left. Both are clothed in bishop's robes. On the right wall is a painting of the scene before Pope Adrian II and the bishops. Standing before them are Sts. Cyril and Methodius, refuting the charges that they had introduced harmful novelties into t:he liturgy. The painting on the left pictures the transfer of the corporal remains of St. Cyril to the "lower church" of St. Clement by Benedictine Brothers. In a certain sense, this chapel is a sort of national and Christian oratory of the Slovanic peoples in Rome. Today the Basilica is administered by Irish monks of the Dominican Order. Shortly after the end of World War II, Michael Sincak of Monessen, Pa., led a pilgrimage of American Slovaks to the Basilica, where they marked with a simple marble altar the alleged resting place of St. Cyril. During the excavations and reparations of the lowest part of the Basilica (the "Dominicum Clementis") many souvenirs were found: fragments of headpieces, columns, inscriptions, minute reliefs, staitu.es, vessels, lanterns, etc., of the Roman and early Christian era, which are very significant for the history of art and archeology. Numerous decorative fragments of stone and marble from the "lower church" may be found in the various municipal museums of Rome or are built into the walls of the front hallway of the "lower church" which once resounded with the footsteps of the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius. On the walls of the "lower- church" are interesting artistic souvenirs from the IV-IX centuries A.D. On the older skeins of mu1als-mostly of the Byzantium type-from the 8th . century, inl,pressive are the scenes from the life of St. Clement, the Virgin Mary, and several saints. There is a painting of the Virgin Mary with Jesus in the recess on the right side of the nave. The Mother of God is pictured as the Queen of Heaven, sitting on an emperor's throne, clothed in the robe of a Byzantium queen which is ornamented with jewels, pearls and precious stones, and wearing a rich diadem headpiece. Jesus sits in his �22 SLOVAKIA mother's lap a,nd also is clothed in the Byzantium style of the VII-IX centuries. As the Ruler of Christian souls, He is holding in his little hands the sign of power, a parchment scroll. Of the newer skein of paintings, depicting Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, four important iconographic fragments have been preserved: 1. St. Cyril kneeling before Emperor Michael III of Byzantium, accepting the mission to preach the Word of God to the Kazars or probably the Slovaks; 2. (Also from the second half of the 9th century), St. Cyril is shown baptizing a pagan standing in water, probably a Kazar or a member of some Slovanic people; 3. The third painting, comparatively well preserved, shows our Savior in the center, flanked by the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, and, in front of them, as smaller figures, St. Methodius without a beard and with a chalice, and St. Cyril with a beard and a book held to his bosom. Both are still without a "gloriola" above their heads, which indicates that this painting was done before they were proclaimed saints, probably while they lived and certainly before St. Cyril died. To the ri,g ht of $t. Methodiu.s, we see the figure of St. Andrew, and to the left of St. Cyril that of St. Clement. This painting represents the earliest portraits of Sts. Cyril and Methodius-and contemporaneously and relatively the most genuine, that is, styled in the Byzantium-Carolinian tradition. Once again we see the figure of the two brothers on the painting which depicts the transfer of the remains of St. Clement to the Basilica with a solemn procession, headed by Pope Adrian II and our Apostles Sts. Cyril and Methodius. The paintings are in the artistic spirit of the Benedictine school at Monte Cassino and are, from the iconographic and liturgical standpoint, very interesting, since the clothing worn and other marks depicted inform us about the robes and customs of the IX-X centuries. On the last painting, people are in solemn procession, carrying palm branches (symbol of martyrdom-victory), waving church banners, symbol of bishops and abbots, crosiers and crosses, while deacons incense the remains of St. Clement. In the left corner we see the figure of Pope Adrian II, his white tiara embellished with but a single �SLOVAKIA 23 crown (in the later Middle Ages the papal tiara had three crowm.s) . On the right of the Pope, we behold St. Cyril and, on his left, St. Methodius. We note that St. Cyril has a gloriola over his head, while St. Methodius has not, though he is depicted there as a bishop. This means that this painting is older than that of the Savior with the Archangels and the two saintly brothers. There is another conjecture, that later - perhaps after the death of St. Cyril - the painting was complemented with these details. We know that St. Method.ius later appeared on several occasions in Rome as a Bishop and Archbishop of Pannonia-Moravia, the land of the ancient Slovaks. Experts of Christian iconography also say that the absence of a gloriola above the head of St. Method.ius means that the painting probably did originate after St. Cyril's death, but during the lifetime of St. Methodius; some time after 870, when obviously, the gloriola was not appropriate for Methodius. There is evidence that the same type of paintings embellished the first Christian churches in old Slovakia in the 9th century A.D., in the building of which the creative hands of the Benedictines are undeniable. Above all else they are noticeable in the field of the artistic painting which came out of the area of Rome and Monte Cassino, and from northern Italy, from the middle of the 9th century, to the north through the Alps to the territory of the Blatnohrad principality in Pannonia and to southern Slovakia. Stylistic and compositional marks of paintings from the period of the Slovak rulers were used to the end of the 10th and the beginning of the eleventh century, as is demonstrated by the latest discoveries in the PannoniaBlatnohrad area (for example, in Hidegseg, near the Nezider Lake) . For other examples of the painting art, and even the creative art, from the period of Great Moravia and Sts. Cyril and Methodius, we do not have to go to Rome. Artistic souvenirs of Slovak pre-Roman-Carolingian art have been uncovered in areas which were inhabited by the Slovaks on both sides of the Danube in the 9th and 10th centuries. �24 SLOVAKIA REFERENCE LITERATURE R. L. Bensly: The Eplstolea of St. Clement to the Corinthians in Syriac, etc., CamlbTidge, 1899. Acta Sa,nctorum (Bollandia,na): Marti nus II, pp. H seq. Jacopo da Vara,gdne: Leggenda aurea, Vol. III, Firenze (A. Le- vasti), 1926, ,p p. 1464-1484. L . Duchesne: Llber Pontificalis, Paris, 1886, I. p. LXXI- LXXIII. R. S. Lipsius : Chronologie der romische Blachofe, Kdel, 1869. C. H. Tur.ner: The Early E·piscopal Liata (JournaJ of Theological Studies, XVHI, 1917). J. S. Franco: Klements in Cheraonesus, Lemberg (Lvov), 1906, pp. 293-301. Fr. Snopek: Clemens von Rom und seine Reliquien, K!romefilsky Slov.aik, 1918. K.Kiinstle: lkonographie der chrlstlichen Kunst, II, Ikonogr!llPhie der Hei1igen, 19·26, Frei-burg in Bref.sgau, p. 1'65 seq. (Clemens). L. Nolam: The Baslllca of San Clemente in Rome, IV Edition, 1943, Roma. Carlo Cecchelli: San Cemente, s. a., Danesi Editore Roma (Series "Le ch!ese di Roma il1ustrate"-Vols. 24-25). F. X. Zimmerma,n: Die Kirchen Roms, 1935, Ed. Piper, -M iinchen, p. 272 seq. G. B. De Rossi: I mo"umenti scoperti sot-to la basilica di S. Clemente studiati, etc. (fa " Bulletilna d i Archeolog. cristiana"-1870, 1874, 1875, 1882, 1884-85, 1887-89) . Dublin Review, Oct. 1871, p . 403 seq. Fels Th. Gsell: Romlsche ausgrabungen in letzten Decenium: Die Unterklrche S. Clemente, Hi!d•b erghau,sen, 1870. L. Nolan: De effoaaion~bus peractla ad S. Clementis in Urbe (Analecta samri Ord. Frat. Praooiatorum, Vol. XIII, 1918, pp. 344-351. J . H . Parr-k er: Archeology of Rome, OXford, 1874, Tv. XI, p . 58 seq. Al Thomson: Re<:ent Excavations in Rome, E<Unburg, 1866. A. L. Frothingham: The Monuments of Christian Rome, from Con,stainrtillle to -the Renai,ssamce, New York, 1908. J. G. Gray: The House and the Basilica of S. Clemente, i-n the Journal of the British and American Archeologtlcal Society in Rome, III, 1>art 3; The Church of S. Cemente In the light of Mons. Wilperts recent researches, 1907, IV, part 1, pp. 98-109. G. Mullooly: St. Clement, Pope and Martyr, and His Basilica in Rome, Rome, 1869; 2nd oo., 1873. X. X. X.: Basilica of St. Clemente in Rome, Rome , 1924. L. Nolrun: The Irish Dominicans in Rome, Rome, 1911. P. Toesca : Storia dell arte Italians, I, II Medioevo, Torino, 1927, pp.8, 584 seq . Ad. Ve nturd: Storla dell arte ltaliana, I, Mila.no, 1901, v. 1 ui vol. I-VITI, 1902-1923. J . W!lpert: Die romische Mosalken und Malerelen der Kirchli chen Kunstl. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 17 THE PAINTINGS IN THE BASILICA OF ST. CLEMENT JOSEPH G. CINCiK W:hen Sts. Cyril and Methodius labored among the Chazars (Kazars), in the Crimea on the Black Sea, preaching the Word of God, they discovered the corporal remains of St. Clement, pupil and fourth successor of St. Peter. In 863, the Slovak Apostles brought the remains of the martyr from Byzantium (Constantinople) to the territory of the ancient Slovaks, Great Moravia, after they had accepted the invitation of Prince Rastislav, sovereign of the Slovak lands, to preach the Word of God to his people in a language they could understand. In 867, when Cyril and Methodius went to Rome for an audience with the Holy Father, they took the remains of St. Clement with them. It was thus that St. Clement returned to his native city. Pope Adrian II expressed heartfelt thanks for the precious gift of the holy brothers. Leading the solemn procession ,h imself, the Holy Father had the remains of St. Clement placed in that part of the Basilica of St. Clement which today we call "the lower church." It is alleged that some time later, St. Cyril himself found :h is last resting place alongside the grave of St. Clement, on the right side of the main altar. Cyril, only 41, did not return to Slovakia; he died in Rome. His brother Methodius returned alone to continue in his apostolic work among the ancient Slovaks. From the artistic side, the Basilica of St. Clement offers many moments which can be connected with the presence of the Slovak Apostles and their group, especially the artistic decoration of the walls of the "lower church," many fragments of which have been preserved to this day. These are the same paintings that Cyril and Methodius admired in their day. There are also iconographic souvenirs which were motivated by the saintly brothers' stay in Rome, and it is with these that we shall deal here, because they interest us most. The Basilica of St. Clement in Ro~ is not a simple structure from one period. As a crosscut through the building demonstrates, it is composed of three different building eras: 1. The foundation walls extend deeply into Roman St. Cyril taken to last resting place tn Basi- lica of St. Clement SS. Cyril and Methodlua defe.nd the use of Slo• vak I n liturgy before Pope Adrian 11 In 867 20 SLOVAKIA times; they were built in the last years of the Roman kings, during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus (534-510 B. C.), or in the earliest republican times. On the same level under today's surface of the earth - spread a later brick struclure from the period of the emperors. About the time of the birth of Christ this building belonged to the parents of St. Clement, and that is why it is also called "Dominicum Clementis." A part of the original home of St. Clement, which St. Peter and St. Paul often visited, served as an oratory after Clement was martyred. In the year 303 A .D., this oratory was changed by imperial edict into a pagan place of idolatrous worship to honor the god Mithras. The lowest parts of the Basilica were witness to t:he events of the first Christia.us from apostolic times. They were inhabited and visited 1by men who had personal con!.act with our Savior. In 311 A. D., Emperor Galerius ordered. the "Dominicum Clementis" returned to the Christians. But this place, desecrated by the blood of the pagan Bull Cult and called "Mithraeum," was no longer used by the Christians. They sealed the entrance into it. 2. After the victory of Emperor Constantine a large church was built out of quadrangular stones over the old "Dominicum Clementis." Under the arches of this church, Sts. Cyril and Methodius and their delegation had their quarters in 867. This part of the Basilica is today called the "lower church" - and the remains of St. Clement and St. Cyril are there. 3. In 1008, Pope Pascholis II had the present "upper church" built over the "lower church;" it is smaller and narrower than the original "lower church." In the "upper church" of the Basilica - renovated in the baroque style during the pontificate of Pope Clement XI (1715)-there is a side-chapel dedicated to Sts. Cyril and Methodius. Since the end of the 19th century, pilgrimages by the Slovaks an!,! other Slova.nic nations to the Basilica of St. Clement have increased greatly. In 1886, the Basilica was decorated with the frescoes of Nobili on the initiative Pope Leo XIII and the support of Croatian Bishop strossmayer. Three of them especially attract our attention. SLOVAKIA 21 Behind the altar, the one on the right depicts Pope Leo Xill placing the Church in the form of a very small church under the protection of the Savior; St. Cyril stands to his right and St. Methodius to his left. Both are clothed in bishop's robes. On the right wall is a painting of the scene before Pope Adrian II and the bishops. Standing before them are Sts. Cyril and Methodius, refuting the charges that they had introduced harmful novelties into t:he liturgy. The painting on the left pictures the transfer of the corporal remains of St. Cyril to the "lower church" of St. Clement by Benedictine Brothers. In a certain sense, this chapel is a sort of national and Christian oratory of the Slovanic peoples in Rome. Today the Basilica is administered by Irish monks of the Dominican Order. Shortly after the end of World War II, Michael Sincak of Monessen, Pa., led a pilgrimage of American Slovaks to the Basilica, where they marked with a simple marble altar the alleged resting place of St. Cyril. During the excavations and reparations of the lowest part of the Basilica (the "Dominicum Clementis") many souvenirs were found: fragments of headpieces, columns, inscriptions, minute reliefs, staitu.es, vessels, lanterns, etc., of the Roman and early Christian era, which are very significant for the history of art and archeology. Numerous decorative fragments of stone and marble from the "lower church" may be found in the various municipal museums of Rome or are built into the walls of the front hallway of the "lower church" which once resounded with the footsteps of the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius. On the walls of the "lower- church" are interesting artistic souvenirs from the IV-IX centuries A.D. On the older skeins of mu1als-mostly of the Byzantium type-from the 8th . century, inl,pressive are the scenes from the life of St. Clement, the Virgin Mary, and several saints. There is a painting of the Virgin Mary with Jesus in the recess on the right side of the nave. The Mother of God is pictured as the Queen of Heaven, sitting on an emperor's throne, clothed in the robe of a Byzantium queen which is ornamented with jewels, pearls and precious stones, and wearing a rich diadem headpiece. Jesus sits in his 22 SLOVAKIA mother's lap a,nd also is clothed in the Byzantium style of the VII-IX centuries. As the Ruler of Christian souls, He is holding in his little hands the sign of power, a parchment scroll. Of the newer skein of paintings, depicting Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, four important iconographic fragments have been preserved: 1. St. Cyril kneeling before Emperor Michael III of Byzantium, accepting the mission to preach the Word of God to the Kazars or probably the Slovaks; 2. (Also from the second half of the 9th century), St. Cyril is shown baptizing a pagan standing in water, probably a Kazar or a member of some Slovanic people; 3. The third painting, comparatively well preserved, shows our Savior in the center, flanked by the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, and, in front of them, as smaller figures, St. Methodius without a beard and with a chalice, and St. Cyril with a beard and a book held to his bosom. Both are still without a "gloriola" above their heads, which indicates that this painting was done before they were proclaimed saints, probably while they lived and certainly before St. Cyril died. To the ri,g ht of $t. Methodiu.s, we see the figure of St. Andrew, and to the left of St. Cyril that of St. Clement. This painting represents the earliest portraits of Sts. Cyril and Methodius-and contemporaneously and relatively the most genuine, that is, styled in the Byzantium-Carolinian tradition. Once again we see the figure of the two brothers on the painting which depicts the transfer of the remains of St. Clement to the Basilica with a solemn procession, headed by Pope Adrian II and our Apostles Sts. Cyril and Methodius. The paintings are in the artistic spirit of the Benedictine school at Monte Cassino and are, from the iconographic and liturgical standpoint, very interesting, since the clothing worn and other marks depicted inform us about the robes and customs of the IX-X centuries. On the last painting, people are in solemn procession, carrying palm branches (symbol of martyrdom-victory), waving church banners, symbol of bishops and abbots, crosiers and crosses, while deacons incense the remains of St. Clement. In the left corner we see the figure of Pope Adrian II, his white tiara embellished with but a single SLOVAKIA 23 crown (in the later Middle Ages the papal tiara had three crowm.s) . On the right of the Pope, we behold St. Cyril and, on his left, St. Methodius. We note that St. Cyril has a gloriola over his head, while St. Methodius has not, though he is depicted there as a bishop. This means that this painting is older than that of the Savior with the Archangels and the two saintly brothers. There is another conjecture, that later - perhaps after the death of St. Cyril - the painting was complemented with these details. We know that St. Method.ius later appeared on several occasions in Rome as a Bishop and Archbishop of Pannonia-Moravia, the land of the ancient Slovaks. Experts of Christian iconography also say that the absence of a gloriola above the head of St. Method.ius means that the painting probably did originate after St. Cyril's death, but during the lifetime of St. Methodius; some time after 870, when obviously, the gloriola was not appropriate for Methodius. There is evidence that the same type of paintings embellished the first Christian churches in old Slovakia in the 9th century A.D., in the building of which the creative hands of the Benedictines are undeniable. Above all else they are noticeable in the field of the artistic painting which came out of the area of Rome and Monte Cassino, and from northern Italy, from the middle of the 9th century, to the north through the Alps to the territory of the Blatnohrad principality in Pannonia and to southern Slovakia. Stylistic and compositional marks of paintings from the period of the Slovak rulers were used to the end of the 10th and the beginning of the eleventh century, as is demonstrated by the latest discoveries in the PannoniaBlatnohrad area (for example, in Hidegseg, near the Nezider Lake) . For other examples of the painting art, and even the creative art, from the period of Great Moravia and Sts. Cyril and Methodius, we do not have to go to Rome. Artistic souvenirs of Slovak pre-Roman-Carolingian art have been uncovered in areas which were inhabited by the Slovaks on both sides of the Danube in the 9th and 10th centuries. 24 SLOVAKIA REFERENCE LITERATURE R. L. Bensly: The Eplstolea of St. Clement to the Corinthians in Syriac, etc., CamlbTidge, 1899. Acta Sa,nctorum (Bollandia,na): Marti nus II, pp. H seq. Jacopo da Vara,gdne: Leggenda aurea, Vol. III, Firenze (A. Le- vasti), 1926, ,p p. 1464-1484. L . Duchesne: Llber Pontificalis, Paris, 1886, I. p. LXXI- LXXIII. R. S. Lipsius : Chronologie der romische Blachofe, Kdel, 1869. C. H. Tur.ner: The Early E·piscopal Liata (JournaJ of Theological Studies, XVHI, 1917). J. S. Franco: Klements in Cheraonesus, Lemberg (Lvov), 1906, pp. 293-301. Fr. Snopek: Clemens von Rom und seine Reliquien, K!romefilsky Slov.aik, 1918. K.Kiinstle: lkonographie der chrlstlichen Kunst, II, Ikonogr!llPhie der Hei1igen, 19·26, Frei-burg in Bref.sgau, p. 1'65 seq. (Clemens). L. Nolam: The Baslllca of San Clemente in Rome, IV Edition, 1943, Roma. Carlo Cecchelli: San Cemente, s. a., Danesi Editore Roma (Series "Le ch!ese di Roma il1ustrate"-Vols. 24-25). F. X. Zimmerma,n: Die Kirchen Roms, 1935, Ed. Piper, -M iinchen, p. 272 seq. G. B. De Rossi: I mo"umenti scoperti sot-to la basilica di S. Clemente studiati, etc. (fa " Bulletilna d i Archeolog. cristiana"-1870, 1874, 1875, 1882, 1884-85, 1887-89) . Dublin Review, Oct. 1871, p . 403 seq. Fels Th. Gsell: Romlsche ausgrabungen in letzten Decenium: Die Unterklrche S. Clemente, Hi!d•b erghau,sen, 1870. L. Nolan: De effoaaion~bus peractla ad S. Clementis in Urbe (Analecta samri Ord. Frat. Praooiatorum, Vol. XIII, 1918, pp. 344-351. J . H . Parr-k er: Archeology of Rome, OXford, 1874, Tv. XI, p . 58 seq. Al Thomson: Re<:ent Excavations in Rome, E<Unburg, 1866. A. L. Frothingham: The Monuments of Christian Rome, from Con,stainrtillle to -the Renai,ssamce, New York, 1908. J. G. Gray: The House and the Basilica of S. Clemente, i-n the Journal of the British and American Archeologtlcal Society in Rome, III, 1>art 3; The Church of S. Cemente In the light of Mons. Wilperts recent researches, 1907, IV, part 1, pp. 98-109. G. Mullooly: St. Clement, Pope and Martyr, and His Basilica in Rome, Rome, 1869; 2nd oo., 1873. X. X. X.: Basilica of St. Clemente in Rome, Rome , 1924. L. Nolrun: The Irish Dominicans in Rome, Rome, 1911. P. Toesca : Storia dell arte Italians, I, II Medioevo, Torino, 1927, pp.8, 584 seq . Ad. Ve nturd: Storla dell arte ltaliana, I, Mila.no, 1901, v. 1 ui vol. I-VITI, 1902-1923. J . W!lpert: Die romische Mosalken und Malerelen der Kirchli chen Kunstl.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Paintings in the Basilica of St. Clement Description An account of the resource Joseph G. Cincík Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 17-24 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cincík, Jozef G., 1909-1992 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/86105fcfd848c81a6136d0b1137c17a0.pdf 8dc77e7bcb31d72620384fbf3335910d PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 2!l '.r.HE LANGUAGE OF STS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS P.A. H'ROBAK In what language did the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, speak to the ancestors of the Slovaks? Undoubtedly in a la,nguaige understandable to the Slovaks. '17he saintly brothera - set by Emperor Michael of Byzantium (Constantinople) in response to a request by Rastislav, ruler of the Greater Moravian ffimpire - came to the land of the Slovaks in 863 - 1,100 years aigo - to complete the work of converting his people to Christianity which was initiated earlier by missionaries who knew little or nothing aibout the language of the people of Great Moravia. It is well to remember that Cyril and Methodius did no Jtjissionary wpnk in the land settled by the Czeeihs, a part of Bohemia (the land of the Boii), because during the lifetime of the saintly brothers that territory was not identical with the territory (Slovensko) occupied by the Slovaks. The Czech country (Cechy, Cesko), first ruled by Prince Bof-i.voj, was conquered by Svatopluk only after the death of St. Methodius (1). The homeland of the ancient Czechs was ecclesiastically under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Regensburg, while the homelamd of the Slovaks was not. A Christian church already existed in Nitra, Slovakia, in 833, while Christianity was still very weak in the Czech country: Bofivoj's wife, St. Ludmila, and his grandson, St. Wenceslaus (Wenzel), were both murdered by their relatives . .St. Methodius of Nitra was already ain archbishop in 873 (2), while the first Czech bishopric was established in Prague in 973. According to Dobrovsky, "Slovakia was really Great Moravia" (3); and Skultety, Hrusovsky, Stanislav and Dekan (!Slovak :philologists and historians) agree with Jozef Safarik that Slovakia was the core of the Great Moravia Empire <4). Historical evidences prove conclusively that Sts. Cyril and Methodius labored in the homeland of the ancient Slovaks jjrom 863 to 8815 ( 5 ). Jozef Dobrovsky (1753-1829), the eminent Czech Slavist, divided the lang1Ua;ges of the Slovanic (Slavic) peoples �SLOVAKIA 30 into two groups: 1. Eastern and southern ; 2. western a,nd northern (6). Dobrovsk y's classifica tion was supported by V. F. Durych, a Czech, Bartolom ew Kopitar (1780-1844), a Slovene, and Paul J. Safarik (1795-1861), a Slovak. Dobrovsky's classifica tion of the Slovanic language, however, did not hold for long, because his choice of distinguis hing character istics was not comprehe nsive enough and his classifica tion did not include all the Slovanic tongues (iBulgarian, Ukrainian , Polabian, for example) - m. Alexande r Vostokov (1781-1864), a Russian philologist, came out with a more natural classifica tion of the Slovanic language s, which he based on the territorie s occupied or inhabited by the Slovaruk nations. He divided the languages into three groups: 1. Southern (Old Slovanic, Bulgaria,n, Srbo-Cro atian, and Slovene); 3. Western (Slovak and Czech, Lusatian- Ser.bian, and Polish with Kashubia n) - (8). Vostokov 's classifica tion was generally adopted after it gained the support of Vatroslav Jagic (1838-1923), the Slovene who is regarded as the greatest Slavist of the prewar era, (9) and Lulbor Niederle (18615-1944), the eminent Czech writer of antiquitie s (10). Now, into what classifica tion shall we place the language in which Sts. Cyril and Methodiu s preached the gospel of Christ to the ancestors of the Slovruks? We know that they came from the territory of Byzantiu m (Constantinople), but their native Salonica (Solun) was influence d by the gigantic waves of the Balkan Slavs. Emperor Michael sent them to the ancient homeland of the .Slovaks, because both could speak the la,nguge of the people there very fluently ("Va bo jesta Solunjani na, da Solunjane v'si cisto slovjen'sk y besjedujo nt" (11). Franc Miklosie (1813-1891), the Slovene philologist, advanced and defended the so-called •~Pannoniain Theory," that is, that the language of ancient manuscri pts of the time of Sts. Cyril and Methodiu s was the language of the Slavs of Pannonia (modern Hungary ) and, therefore , maintaine d that the language was old Slovenia,n (12). A. Leskien, a German, studied the question and concluded, on philological •g rounds, that the language was really old Bulgarian (13). �31 SLOVAKIA Vatroslav Jagic proved scientifically that the language used ·b y the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, was of south-Macedonian origin, the language used by the Slavs of the Salon.i!ka area. This view supported by the very words used by Emperor Michael when he told Cyril and '.Methodius to go to the land of Rastislav, "because both of you are natives of Salon.i!ka, and all Salonikans speaks in pure Slovak" (Iebo vy oba st,e Soluncania, a Soluncania vsetci cisto slovensky beseduju) - CN) . After on exhaustive study of both modern and old Bulgarian, Paul J . Safarik, eminent Slovak scholar cxf Slavistics, convinced him self of the Macedonian origin of Old Slovak which was used by Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the land cxf Rastislav ( 15) • .,tiJD J:UiffL:'JVH:Ul\ffiC0~. :J,Jb-aJUtMraUUl llill1' lfliYK 3. JfflJhm"l'~ 'i1 / ~ 3J!llllln'dbll7M1Dll ~--s IIIfurrruflixffit -::iµ llfflib~ JDK7MJ1J3 dfi, I F~ iffin<itK7..r.1m,m_p IlhPJ. jif{thlhrlJ,p ilfuJK :J~qJbK·BUbrhb!IDDtti jJ:I llIIMnJ,m iJh'r?DffKµ. GLAGOLICA - the most ancient language of Slovak literature The ancient Slovak manuscripts are all ecclesiastical in content. The two generally considered to be the most complete, linguistically purest and oldest, are the Old Slovak versions of the four Gospel referred to as "Codex Zographensis" and "Codex Marianus," which Jagic translated �32 SLOVAKIA into Cyrillic characters from the original Glagolitic (16). The Glagolitic alphabet was invented by St. Cyril (862) after he and his brother, Methodius, had accepted Ra.stislav's invitation to preach the Word of God to his people - the ancient Slovaks of Great Moravia - in a languaige they could understand <17). It was gradually superseded by the clearer Cyrillic, which was invented by the disciples of Cyril and Metlhodius. The majority of the Old Slovak manuscripts are in the Glagolitic script, only the •~Sava Gospels" and "Codex Suprasili~nsis" being originally in Cyrillic <18 >. Old Slov:ak was used for the same purposes as Latin was m Western Europe and Greek in Eastern Europe. The rut il/1 mw® l!i aJ ff 1& . .... ' ' :.,AJ0~~r.A ti Hi ._ P./1 JE4•Jt '"" rA ~w,rny• --. N r nA c-rro @t,ti:\Wf• .. ~ I\ I.IA~ '-;- . f "I:!' Y W f.A ( "r I~ H t:I : /4' 1.• ~t,.)K~ATHWA("H-.n~ C -royc H •C (\' A ,. r..&.-\A\'t'~- R'/1\ 4' e H &A·0& ·1.c½ \" b~~t' KHA~WA nCt\ltl I 6 Iii CT . I,. I( ~NH Ml..• Hr. rA" Nt\ni\l,.NH WA(~0 CYRI LICA - wh i ch developed from the Glagolica �SLOVAKIA 33 language of the aincient Slovaks of the Great Moravian Empire became ooe of the liturgical languages df that time ( the others were Greek and La.tin) ; it had the approval of the Catholic Church of Rome. It .b ecame a language of literature with all the attributes which a literary language could attain at that time; it was, in fact, the third international language of Europe which was used by a large part of the western and southern 'Slovanic peoples. Later, when it was no ionger used in the homeland of the Slovaks, it was spread and preserved, partially tranformed, as the literary medium of the southern and eastern Slovan<ic nations (19). The most importMlt mementos or souvenirs from Old Slovak literature, cultivated by the Slovaks during the Cyrilo-Methodius era, are: 1. The ''Kijevske Iisty" (Kijev letters) from the tenth · century (remains of a Missal according to the Latin rite) ; 2. the "Prai.ske zlomky" (Prague Fragments) from the eleventh century (remains of a Missal accordiing to the Greek, that is, the Eastern rite); 3. ''Zivot Konstan.tinov" (The Life of Constantine) ; the oldest manuscript is a Russian copy from the fifteenth century; 4. "tivot Mefud.01V" (The Life of Methodi,us) ; the oldest is the Russian copy from the twelfth century; 5. "Legenda o sv. Vaclavovi" (The Legend of St. Wenceslaus) - the oldest is the Croatian-Glagofitic copy from the 14th century; 6. "Homilie Gregora. Vel1keho" (The Homilies of Gregory; The Great) - the oldest is the Russian copy £rom the 13th century; 7. "Kazeii pred spoved'ou" (Lnstruction Before Confession) - preserved in the "Frizinske pamiatky" (The Freisingen Souvenirs>, Vol. 2, from the 10th century; 8. Pr:ayers for various occasions (20) . The .Slovaks, rightly proud of their Cyrilo.JMethodius heritage, are determined to let the world know it in 1963, when, wherever they are, they will solemnly commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the advent of the saintly brothers, Cyril and Methodius, to the homeland of their forefathers, the Great Moravian Empire of the Slovak sovereigns Rastislav, Svatopluk rund Mojmir. REFERENCES 1. J . Drrugos-Al:zbetincan. Kde posobili sv. Cyril a Metod? - JiEDNIOTA, Middle town , Pa., 1963 , p . 46. Kalendar �SLOVAKIA 34 2, Dr. Frant. Hrusovsky : Slovenski Vladari, 0brana Press, Scranton, J>a., 1948, p. 208. 3. Joseph M. Kirschbaum : Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of <Central Europe, Robert Speller & !Sons, New Yol'k, 1960, p. 18. 4. Pavel Jozef !:§afarik: Slovanake staroiltnos tl, Praigue, 1837, pp. 794-95. 5. Fr. Hrusovsky : Slovenske dejiny, Matica Slovenaka, Turc. sv. !Martin, 1940, pp. 32-46; Gil1bert L. Oddo: Slovakia And Its People, Robert Speller & Sons, Ne1W York, 1960, PP. 12-26; Joseph M. Kirsch,baum , op. cit., pp. 14-23; Jozef ~kultety: Nehailte l!.ud Moj! l'Ilure. sv. Martin, 1928, pp. 2-20 (transl. by 0 . D. Koref.f: Sketches From Slovak History, Jednota Printery, Middletmvn , Pa., 1930, pp. 10-39). 6. Josef Dobrovsky : lnstltutione s linguae slavicae dialecti veteris, 1822. 7. Fr. Jemelk.a: Putnik cyrllometod ejaky, Trnava, Slovakia, Aug.-Sept. 1947, pp. 137-138. 8. ,.bidem. 9. Vatroslav Jagic: Archlv fUr Slavlache Philologie, 1875-1920. 10. LU!bor Niederle, Slovanake Staro!ltnoa tl, 1902. 11. Jeme1ka: op , cit. 12. IR. G. A. De Bray: Gulde to the Slavonic Languages, London, and New York, 1951, p. 1. 13. A. Leskien: Handbuch der altbulgaris chen (altkirchen -slavischen ) Sprache, Heidel1b erg, 1919, p. XX!I. 14. Jemelka : op. cit.; Dr.Eugen Pa.uliny: Dejlny Splaovnej Slovenclny , ISlovenska Akademia Vied a Umeni, Bratislava, 1948, in which we read (,p. 17): "The !irst literary languaJge of our forefathers , rwhich can be regarded as a national literary language, was Old Slovak ("staroslov enclna"), which had its origin in the Macedonian dialect (ISou:th Slovanic) used in the area of Thessaloni ca ()Solun). In the oldest .Slovanic sources this langua,ge is called "Jenzyk alovenakyi, " and in the Latin sources of that time "lingua sclavinisca , sclavinlca, sclavina." 15. :Pavel Jozef $airarik: op. cit.; R. G. A. De Bray; op_ cit., p. 194. 16. IR.G.A. De Bray: op. cit., p. 1. 17. !Rev. Cyril J . Potocek : Saints Cyril and Methodius, New York, 1941, pp. 64, 124-127; Dr. John Rekem: The Origin and Development of the Slovak Language, SLOVtAK'IA, Middletown , Pa., Vol. lll, .March-Jun e, 1962, p, 2; Jan Stanislav: Kultura atarych Slovakov, Bratislava, 1944; Kalendar Jednota, 1915, !Middletow n, Pa., p, 140. 18. iR.G.IA.. De Bray: op, cit. p. 1; Kalendar Jednota, op. cit., p. 141. 19. Eugen Pauliny: op_ cit., p. 17. 20. Rev. Jan PoruJbaky: K Stemu Vyrociu Literarnej Slovenciny , !Scranton, Pa., 1944-, pp. 50-64; A. V. Isacenko : Jazyk a povod Frizlnskych pamiatok, Bratislava, 1943 - used by Eugen Pauliny, ,who reproduces several reconstruct ed texts and tra.n-slations in 01). cit., pp. 19..;!1. � SLOVAKIA 2!l '.r.HE LANGUAGE OF STS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS P.A. H'ROBAK In what language did the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, speak to the ancestors of the Slovaks? Undoubtedly in a la,nguaige understandable to the Slovaks. '17he saintly brothera - set by Emperor Michael of Byzantium (Constantinople) in response to a request by Rastislav, ruler of the Greater Moravian ffimpire - came to the land of the Slovaks in 863 - 1,100 years aigo - to complete the work of converting his people to Christianity which was initiated earlier by missionaries who knew little or nothing aibout the language of the people of Great Moravia. It is well to remember that Cyril and Methodius did no Jtjissionary wpnk in the land settled by the Czeeihs, a part of Bohemia (the land of the Boii), because during the lifetime of the saintly brothers that territory was not identical with the territory (Slovensko) occupied by the Slovaks. The Czech country (Cechy, Cesko), first ruled by Prince Bof-i.voj, was conquered by Svatopluk only after the death of St. Methodius (1). The homeland of the ancient Czechs was ecclesiastically under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Regensburg, while the homelamd of the Slovaks was not. A Christian church already existed in Nitra, Slovakia, in 833, while Christianity was still very weak in the Czech country: Bofivoj's wife, St. Ludmila, and his grandson, St. Wenceslaus (Wenzel), were both murdered by their relatives . .St. Methodius of Nitra was already ain archbishop in 873 (2), while the first Czech bishopric was established in Prague in 973. According to Dobrovsky, "Slovakia was really Great Moravia" (3); and Skultety, Hrusovsky, Stanislav and Dekan (!Slovak :philologists and historians) agree with Jozef Safarik that Slovakia was the core of the Great Moravia Empire <4). Historical evidences prove conclusively that Sts. Cyril and Methodius labored in the homeland of the ancient Slovaks jjrom 863 to 8815 ( 5 ). Jozef Dobrovsky (1753-1829), the eminent Czech Slavist, divided the lang1Ua;ges of the Slovanic (Slavic) peoples �SLOVAKIA 30 into two groups: 1. Eastern and southern ; 2. western a,nd northern (6). Dobrovsk y's classifica tion was supported by V. F. Durych, a Czech, Bartolom ew Kopitar (1780-1844), a Slovene, and Paul J. Safarik (1795-1861), a Slovak. Dobrovsky's classifica tion of the Slovanic language, however, did not hold for long, because his choice of distinguis hing character istics was not comprehe nsive enough and his classifica tion did not include all the Slovanic tongues (iBulgarian, Ukrainian , Polabian, for example) - m. Alexande r Vostokov (1781-1864), a Russian philologist, came out with a more natural classifica tion of the Slovanic language s, which he based on the territorie s occupied or inhabited by the Slovaruk nations. He divided the languages into three groups: 1. Southern (Old Slovanic, Bulgaria,n, Srbo-Cro atian, and Slovene); 3. Western (Slovak and Czech, Lusatian- Ser.bian, and Polish with Kashubia n) - (8). Vostokov 's classifica tion was generally adopted after it gained the support of Vatroslav Jagic (1838-1923), the Slovene who is regarded as the greatest Slavist of the prewar era, (9) and Lulbor Niederle (18615-1944), the eminent Czech writer of antiquitie s (10). Now, into what classifica tion shall we place the language in which Sts. Cyril and Methodiu s preached the gospel of Christ to the ancestors of the Slovruks? We know that they came from the territory of Byzantiu m (Constantinople), but their native Salonica (Solun) was influence d by the gigantic waves of the Balkan Slavs. Emperor Michael sent them to the ancient homeland of the .Slovaks, because both could speak the la,nguge of the people there very fluently ("Va bo jesta Solunjani na, da Solunjane v'si cisto slovjen'sk y besjedujo nt" (11). Franc Miklosie (1813-1891), the Slovene philologist, advanced and defended the so-called •~Pannoniain Theory," that is, that the language of ancient manuscri pts of the time of Sts. Cyril and Methodiu s was the language of the Slavs of Pannonia (modern Hungary ) and, therefore , maintaine d that the language was old Slovenia,n (12). A. Leskien, a German, studied the question and concluded, on philological •g rounds, that the language was really old Bulgarian (13). �31 SLOVAKIA Vatroslav Jagic proved scientifically that the language used ·b y the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, was of south-Macedonian origin, the language used by the Slavs of the Salon.i!ka area. This view supported by the very words used by Emperor Michael when he told Cyril and '.Methodius to go to the land of Rastislav, "because both of you are natives of Salon.i!ka, and all Salonikans speaks in pure Slovak" (Iebo vy oba st,e Soluncania, a Soluncania vsetci cisto slovensky beseduju) - CN) . After on exhaustive study of both modern and old Bulgarian, Paul J . Safarik, eminent Slovak scholar cxf Slavistics, convinced him self of the Macedonian origin of Old Slovak which was used by Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the land cxf Rastislav ( 15) • .,tiJD J:UiffL:'JVH:Ul\ffiC0~. :J,Jb-aJUtMraUUl llill1' lfliYK 3. JfflJhm"l'~ 'i1 / ~ 3J!llllln'dbll7M1Dll ~--s IIIfurrruflixffit -::iµ llfflib~ JDK7MJ1J3 dfi, I F~ iffin<itK7..r.1m,m_p IlhPJ. jif{thlhrlJ,p ilfuJK :J~qJbK·BUbrhb!IDDtti jJ:I llIIMnJ,m iJh'r?DffKµ. GLAGOLICA - the most ancient language of Slovak literature The ancient Slovak manuscripts are all ecclesiastical in content. The two generally considered to be the most complete, linguistically purest and oldest, are the Old Slovak versions of the four Gospel referred to as "Codex Zographensis" and "Codex Marianus," which Jagic translated �32 SLOVAKIA into Cyrillic characters from the original Glagolitic (16). The Glagolitic alphabet was invented by St. Cyril (862) after he and his brother, Methodius, had accepted Ra.stislav's invitation to preach the Word of God to his people - the ancient Slovaks of Great Moravia - in a languaige they could understand <17). It was gradually superseded by the clearer Cyrillic, which was invented by the disciples of Cyril and Metlhodius. The majority of the Old Slovak manuscripts are in the Glagolitic script, only the •~Sava Gospels" and "Codex Suprasili~nsis" being originally in Cyrillic <18 >. Old Slov:ak was used for the same purposes as Latin was m Western Europe and Greek in Eastern Europe. The rut il/1 mw® l!i aJ ff 1& . .... ' ' :.,AJ0~~r.A ti Hi ._ P./1 JE4•Jt '"" rA ~w,rny• --. N r nA c-rro @t,ti:\Wf• .. ~ I\ I.IA~ '-;- . f "I:!' Y W f.A ( "r I~ H t:I : /4' 1.• ~t,.)K~ATHWA("H-.n~ C -royc H •C (\' A ,. r..&.-\A\'t'~- R'/1\ 4' e H &A·0& ·1.c½ \" b~~t' KHA~WA nCt\ltl I 6 Iii CT . I,. I( ~NH Ml..• Hr. rA" Nt\ni\l,.NH WA(~0 CYRI LICA - wh i ch developed from the Glagolica �SLOVAKIA 33 language of the aincient Slovaks of the Great Moravian Empire became ooe of the liturgical languages df that time ( the others were Greek and La.tin) ; it had the approval of the Catholic Church of Rome. It .b ecame a language of literature with all the attributes which a literary language could attain at that time; it was, in fact, the third international language of Europe which was used by a large part of the western and southern 'Slovanic peoples. Later, when it was no ionger used in the homeland of the Slovaks, it was spread and preserved, partially tranformed, as the literary medium of the southern and eastern Slovan<ic nations (19). The most importMlt mementos or souvenirs from Old Slovak literature, cultivated by the Slovaks during the Cyrilo-Methodius era, are: 1. The ''Kijevske Iisty" (Kijev letters) from the tenth · century (remains of a Missal according to the Latin rite) ; 2. the "Prai.ske zlomky" (Prague Fragments) from the eleventh century (remains of a Missal accordiing to the Greek, that is, the Eastern rite); 3. ''Zivot Konstan.tinov" (The Life of Constantine) ; the oldest manuscript is a Russian copy from the fifteenth century; 4. "tivot Mefud.01V" (The Life of Methodi,us) ; the oldest is the Russian copy from the twelfth century; 5. "Legenda o sv. Vaclavovi" (The Legend of St. Wenceslaus) - the oldest is the Croatian-Glagofitic copy from the 14th century; 6. "Homilie Gregora. Vel1keho" (The Homilies of Gregory; The Great) - the oldest is the Russian copy £rom the 13th century; 7. "Kazeii pred spoved'ou" (Lnstruction Before Confession) - preserved in the "Frizinske pamiatky" (The Freisingen Souvenirs>, Vol. 2, from the 10th century; 8. Pr:ayers for various occasions (20) . The .Slovaks, rightly proud of their Cyrilo.JMethodius heritage, are determined to let the world know it in 1963, when, wherever they are, they will solemnly commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the advent of the saintly brothers, Cyril and Methodius, to the homeland of their forefathers, the Great Moravian Empire of the Slovak sovereigns Rastislav, Svatopluk rund Mojmir. REFERENCES 1. J . Drrugos-Al:zbetincan. Kde posobili sv. Cyril a Metod? - JiEDNIOTA, Middle town , Pa., 1963 , p . 46. Kalendar �SLOVAKIA 34 2, Dr. Frant. Hrusovsky : Slovenski Vladari, 0brana Press, Scranton, J>a., 1948, p. 208. 3. Joseph M. Kirschbaum : Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of <Central Europe, Robert Speller & !Sons, New Yol'k, 1960, p. 18. 4. Pavel Jozef !:§afarik: Slovanake staroiltnos tl, Praigue, 1837, pp. 794-95. 5. Fr. Hrusovsky : Slovenske dejiny, Matica Slovenaka, Turc. sv. !Martin, 1940, pp. 32-46; Gil1bert L. Oddo: Slovakia And Its People, Robert Speller & Sons, Ne1W York, 1960, PP. 12-26; Joseph M. Kirsch,baum , op. cit., pp. 14-23; Jozef ~kultety: Nehailte l!.ud Moj! l'Ilure. sv. Martin, 1928, pp. 2-20 (transl. by 0 . D. Koref.f: Sketches From Slovak History, Jednota Printery, Middletmvn , Pa., 1930, pp. 10-39). 6. Josef Dobrovsky : lnstltutione s linguae slavicae dialecti veteris, 1822. 7. Fr. Jemelk.a: Putnik cyrllometod ejaky, Trnava, Slovakia, Aug.-Sept. 1947, pp. 137-138. 8. ,.bidem. 9. Vatroslav Jagic: Archlv fUr Slavlache Philologie, 1875-1920. 10. LU!bor Niederle, Slovanake Staro!ltnoa tl, 1902. 11. Jeme1ka: op , cit. 12. IR. G. A. De Bray: Gulde to the Slavonic Languages, London, and New York, 1951, p. 1. 13. A. Leskien: Handbuch der altbulgaris chen (altkirchen -slavischen ) Sprache, Heidel1b erg, 1919, p. XX!I. 14. Jemelka : op. cit.; Dr.Eugen Pa.uliny: Dejlny Splaovnej Slovenclny , ISlovenska Akademia Vied a Umeni, Bratislava, 1948, in which we read (,p. 17): "The !irst literary languaJge of our forefathers , rwhich can be regarded as a national literary language, was Old Slovak ("staroslov enclna"), which had its origin in the Macedonian dialect (ISou:th Slovanic) used in the area of Thessaloni ca ()Solun). In the oldest .Slovanic sources this langua,ge is called "Jenzyk alovenakyi, " and in the Latin sources of that time "lingua sclavinisca , sclavinlca, sclavina." 15. :Pavel Jozef $airarik: op. cit.; R. G. A. De Bray; op_ cit., p. 194. 16. IR.G.A. De Bray: op. cit., p. 1. 17. !Rev. Cyril J . Potocek : Saints Cyril and Methodius, New York, 1941, pp. 64, 124-127; Dr. John Rekem: The Origin and Development of the Slovak Language, SLOVtAK'IA, Middletown , Pa., Vol. lll, .March-Jun e, 1962, p, 2; Jan Stanislav: Kultura atarych Slovakov, Bratislava, 1944; Kalendar Jednota, 1915, !Middletow n, Pa., p, 140. 18. iR.G.IA.. De Bray: op, cit. p. 1; Kalendar Jednota, op. cit., p. 141. 19. Eugen Pauliny: op_ cit., p. 17. 20. Rev. Jan PoruJbaky: K Stemu Vyrociu Literarnej Slovenciny , !Scranton, Pa., 1944-, pp. 50-64; A. V. Isacenko : Jazyk a povod Frizlnskych pamiatok, Bratislava, 1943 - used by Eugen Pauliny, ,who reproduces several reconstruct ed texts and tra.n-slations in 01). cit., pp. 19..;!1. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 2!l '.r.HE LANGUAGE OF STS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS P.A. H'ROBAK In what language did the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, speak to the ancestors of the Slovaks? Undoubtedly in a la,nguaige understandable to the Slovaks. '17he saintly brothera - set by Emperor Michael of Byzantium (Constantinople) in response to a request by Rastislav, ruler of the Greater Moravian ffimpire - came to the land of the Slovaks in 863 - 1,100 years aigo - to complete the work of converting his people to Christianity which was initiated earlier by missionaries who knew little or nothing aibout the language of the people of Great Moravia. It is well to remember that Cyril and Methodius did no Jtjissionary wpnk in the land settled by the Czeeihs, a part of Bohemia (the land of the Boii), because during the lifetime of the saintly brothers that territory was not identical with the territory (Slovensko) occupied by the Slovaks. The Czech country (Cechy, Cesko), first ruled by Prince Bof-i.voj, was conquered by Svatopluk only after the death of St. Methodius (1). The homeland of the ancient Czechs was ecclesiastically under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Regensburg, while the homelamd of the Slovaks was not. A Christian church already existed in Nitra, Slovakia, in 833, while Christianity was still very weak in the Czech country: Bofivoj's wife, St. Ludmila, and his grandson, St. Wenceslaus (Wenzel), were both murdered by their relatives . .St. Methodius of Nitra was already ain archbishop in 873 (2), while the first Czech bishopric was established in Prague in 973. According to Dobrovsky, "Slovakia was really Great Moravia" (3); and Skultety, Hrusovsky, Stanislav and Dekan (!Slovak :philologists and historians) agree with Jozef Safarik that Slovakia was the core of the Great Moravia Empire <4). Historical evidences prove conclusively that Sts. Cyril and Methodius labored in the homeland of the ancient Slovaks jjrom 863 to 8815 ( 5 ). Jozef Dobrovsky (1753-1829), the eminent Czech Slavist, divided the lang1Ua;ges of the Slovanic (Slavic) peoples SLOVAKIA 30 into two groups: 1. Eastern and southern ; 2. western a,nd northern (6). Dobrovsk y's classifica tion was supported by V. F. Durych, a Czech, Bartolom ew Kopitar (1780-1844), a Slovene, and Paul J. Safarik (1795-1861), a Slovak. Dobrovsky's classifica tion of the Slovanic language, however, did not hold for long, because his choice of distinguis hing character istics was not comprehe nsive enough and his classifica tion did not include all the Slovanic tongues (iBulgarian, Ukrainian , Polabian, for example) - m. Alexande r Vostokov (1781-1864), a Russian philologist, came out with a more natural classifica tion of the Slovanic language s, which he based on the territorie s occupied or inhabited by the Slovaruk nations. He divided the languages into three groups: 1. Southern (Old Slovanic, Bulgaria,n, Srbo-Cro atian, and Slovene); 3. Western (Slovak and Czech, Lusatian- Ser.bian, and Polish with Kashubia n) - (8). Vostokov 's classifica tion was generally adopted after it gained the support of Vatroslav Jagic (1838-1923), the Slovene who is regarded as the greatest Slavist of the prewar era, (9) and Lulbor Niederle (18615-1944), the eminent Czech writer of antiquitie s (10). Now, into what classifica tion shall we place the language in which Sts. Cyril and Methodiu s preached the gospel of Christ to the ancestors of the Slovruks? We know that they came from the territory of Byzantiu m (Constantinople), but their native Salonica (Solun) was influence d by the gigantic waves of the Balkan Slavs. Emperor Michael sent them to the ancient homeland of the .Slovaks, because both could speak the la,nguge of the people there very fluently ("Va bo jesta Solunjani na, da Solunjane v'si cisto slovjen'sk y besjedujo nt" (11). Franc Miklosie (1813-1891), the Slovene philologist, advanced and defended the so-called •~Pannoniain Theory," that is, that the language of ancient manuscri pts of the time of Sts. Cyril and Methodiu s was the language of the Slavs of Pannonia (modern Hungary ) and, therefore , maintaine d that the language was old Slovenia,n (12). A. Leskien, a German, studied the question and concluded, on philological •g rounds, that the language was really old Bulgarian (13). 31 SLOVAKIA Vatroslav Jagic proved scientifically that the language used ·b y the Slovak Apostles, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, was of south-Macedonian origin, the language used by the Slavs of the Salon.i!ka area. This view supported by the very words used by Emperor Michael when he told Cyril and '.Methodius to go to the land of Rastislav, "because both of you are natives of Salon.i!ka, and all Salonikans speaks in pure Slovak" (Iebo vy oba st,e Soluncania, a Soluncania vsetci cisto slovensky beseduju) - CN) . After on exhaustive study of both modern and old Bulgarian, Paul J . Safarik, eminent Slovak scholar cxf Slavistics, convinced him self of the Macedonian origin of Old Slovak which was used by Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the land cxf Rastislav ( 15) • .,tiJD J:UiffL:'JVH:Ul\ffiC0~. :J,Jb-aJUtMraUUl llill1' lfliYK 3. JfflJhm"l'~ 'i1 / ~ 3J!llllln'dbll7M1Dll ~--s IIIfurrruflixffit -::iµ llfflib~ JDK7MJ1J3 dfi, I F~ iffin<itK7..r.1m,m_p IlhPJ. jif{thlhrlJ,p ilfuJK :J~qJbK·BUbrhb!IDDtti jJ:I llIIMnJ,m iJh'r?DffKµ. GLAGOLICA - the most ancient language of Slovak literature The ancient Slovak manuscripts are all ecclesiastical in content. The two generally considered to be the most complete, linguistically purest and oldest, are the Old Slovak versions of the four Gospel referred to as "Codex Zographensis" and "Codex Marianus," which Jagic translated 32 SLOVAKIA into Cyrillic characters from the original Glagolitic (16). The Glagolitic alphabet was invented by St. Cyril (862) after he and his brother, Methodius, had accepted Ra.stislav's invitation to preach the Word of God to his people - the ancient Slovaks of Great Moravia - in a languaige they could understand <17). It was gradually superseded by the clearer Cyrillic, which was invented by the disciples of Cyril and Metlhodius. The majority of the Old Slovak manuscripts are in the Glagolitic script, only the •~Sava Gospels" and "Codex Suprasili~nsis" being originally in Cyrillic <18 >. Old Slov:ak was used for the same purposes as Latin was m Western Europe and Greek in Eastern Europe. The rut il/1 mw® l!i aJ ff 1& . .... ' ' :.,AJ0~~r.A ti Hi ._ P./1 JE4•Jt '"" rA ~w,rny• --. N r nA c-rro @t,ti:\Wf• .. ~ I\ I.IA~ '-;- . f "I:!' Y W f.A ( "r I~ H t:I : /4' 1.• ~t,.)K~ATHWA("H-.n~ C -royc H •C (\' A ,. r..&.-\A\'t'~- R'/1\ 4' e H &A·0& ·1.c½ \" b~~t' KHA~WA nCt\ltl I 6 Iii CT . I,. I( ~NH Ml..• Hr. rA" Nt\ni\l,.NH WA(~0 CYRI LICA - wh i ch developed from the Glagolica SLOVAKIA 33 language of the aincient Slovaks of the Great Moravian Empire became ooe of the liturgical languages df that time ( the others were Greek and La.tin) ; it had the approval of the Catholic Church of Rome. It .b ecame a language of literature with all the attributes which a literary language could attain at that time; it was, in fact, the third international language of Europe which was used by a large part of the western and southern 'Slovanic peoples. Later, when it was no ionger used in the homeland of the Slovaks, it was spread and preserved, partially tranformed, as the literary medium of the southern and eastern Slovan<ic nations (19). The most importMlt mementos or souvenirs from Old Slovak literature, cultivated by the Slovaks during the Cyrilo-Methodius era, are: 1. The ''Kijevske Iisty" (Kijev letters) from the tenth · century (remains of a Missal according to the Latin rite) ; 2. the "Prai.ske zlomky" (Prague Fragments) from the eleventh century (remains of a Missal accordiing to the Greek, that is, the Eastern rite); 3. ''Zivot Konstan.tinov" (The Life of Constantine) ; the oldest manuscript is a Russian copy from the fifteenth century; 4. "tivot Mefud.01V" (The Life of Methodi,us) ; the oldest is the Russian copy from the twelfth century; 5. "Legenda o sv. Vaclavovi" (The Legend of St. Wenceslaus) - the oldest is the Croatian-Glagofitic copy from the 14th century; 6. "Homilie Gregora. Vel1keho" (The Homilies of Gregory; The Great) - the oldest is the Russian copy £rom the 13th century; 7. "Kazeii pred spoved'ou" (Lnstruction Before Confession) - preserved in the "Frizinske pamiatky" (The Freisingen Souvenirs>, Vol. 2, from the 10th century; 8. Pr:ayers for various occasions (20) . The .Slovaks, rightly proud of their Cyrilo.JMethodius heritage, are determined to let the world know it in 1963, when, wherever they are, they will solemnly commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the advent of the saintly brothers, Cyril and Methodius, to the homeland of their forefathers, the Great Moravian Empire of the Slovak sovereigns Rastislav, Svatopluk rund Mojmir. REFERENCES 1. J . Drrugos-Al:zbetincan. Kde posobili sv. Cyril a Metod? - JiEDNIOTA, Middle town , Pa., 1963 , p . 46. Kalendar SLOVAKIA 34 2, Dr. Frant. Hrusovsky : Slovenski Vladari, 0brana Press, Scranton, J>a., 1948, p. 208. 3. Joseph M. Kirschbaum : Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of <Central Europe, Robert Speller & !Sons, New Yol'k, 1960, p. 18. 4. Pavel Jozef !:§afarik: Slovanake staroiltnos tl, Praigue, 1837, pp. 794-95. 5. Fr. Hrusovsky : Slovenske dejiny, Matica Slovenaka, Turc. sv. !Martin, 1940, pp. 32-46; Gil1bert L. Oddo: Slovakia And Its People, Robert Speller & Sons, Ne1W York, 1960, PP. 12-26; Joseph M. Kirsch,baum , op. cit., pp. 14-23; Jozef ~kultety: Nehailte l!.ud Moj! l'Ilure. sv. Martin, 1928, pp. 2-20 (transl. by 0 . D. Koref.f: Sketches From Slovak History, Jednota Printery, Middletmvn , Pa., 1930, pp. 10-39). 6. Josef Dobrovsky : lnstltutione s linguae slavicae dialecti veteris, 1822. 7. Fr. Jemelk.a: Putnik cyrllometod ejaky, Trnava, Slovakia, Aug.-Sept. 1947, pp. 137-138. 8. ,.bidem. 9. Vatroslav Jagic: Archlv fUr Slavlache Philologie, 1875-1920. 10. LU!bor Niederle, Slovanake Staro!ltnoa tl, 1902. 11. Jeme1ka: op , cit. 12. IR. G. A. De Bray: Gulde to the Slavonic Languages, London, and New York, 1951, p. 1. 13. A. Leskien: Handbuch der altbulgaris chen (altkirchen -slavischen ) Sprache, Heidel1b erg, 1919, p. XX!I. 14. Jemelka : op. cit.; Dr.Eugen Pa.uliny: Dejlny Splaovnej Slovenclny , ISlovenska Akademia Vied a Umeni, Bratislava, 1948, in which we read (,p. 17): "The !irst literary languaJge of our forefathers , rwhich can be regarded as a national literary language, was Old Slovak ("staroslov enclna"), which had its origin in the Macedonian dialect (ISou:th Slovanic) used in the area of Thessaloni ca ()Solun). In the oldest .Slovanic sources this langua,ge is called "Jenzyk alovenakyi, " and in the Latin sources of that time "lingua sclavinisca , sclavinlca, sclavina." 15. :Pavel Jozef $airarik: op. cit.; R. G. A. De Bray; op_ cit., p. 194. 16. IR.G.A. De Bray: op. cit., p. 1. 17. !Rev. Cyril J . Potocek : Saints Cyril and Methodius, New York, 1941, pp. 64, 124-127; Dr. John Rekem: The Origin and Development of the Slovak Language, SLOVtAK'IA, Middletown , Pa., Vol. lll, .March-Jun e, 1962, p, 2; Jan Stanislav: Kultura atarych Slovakov, Bratislava, 1944; Kalendar Jednota, 1915, !Middletow n, Pa., p, 140. 18. iR.G.IA.. De Bray: op, cit. p. 1; Kalendar Jednota, op. cit., p. 141. 19. Eugen Pauliny: op_ cit., p. 17. 20. Rev. Jan PoruJbaky: K Stemu Vyrociu Literarnej Slovenciny , !Scranton, Pa., 1944-, pp. 50-64; A. V. Isacenko : Jazyk a povod Frizlnskych pamiatok, Bratislava, 1943 - used by Eugen Pauliny, ,who reproduces several reconstruct ed texts and tra.n-slations in 01). cit., pp. 19..;!1.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Language of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Description An account of the resource P. A. Hrobák Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 29-34 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6a8a09c216e7b7661efe6c3de1a0d511.pdf b14e793df6c682021c427c97b9b4dde8 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA n ffiHE)RE DID ST. METHODIUS DIE? P.A. H'ROBAK All attempts to ascertain just exactly where St. Methodius breathed his last and where he was buried have thus far failed. However, we do know that he died on April 6, 885. It seems that at the time of his death it was generally known where St. Methodius, the apostle of the Slova;ks, had his Archbishopric, but no one thought it necessary to note the exact location. St. Methodius, according to historical sources, died i,n Great Moravia, where he was also buried. The center or nucleus of that empire was Slovakia, which included at that time Trans-.Danubian Pannonia. The question of the location of St. Method's grave came out in the open in 1885, when the millenium of his death was commemorated. At that time many historians and theologians, particularly those of Mora;via, claimed that Velehrad in Moravia was the place where Methodius not only died, but also was the seat of his ecclesiastical province. His Eminence, Fridrich Cardinal Furstenberg, Archbishop of Olomouc, issued a pastoral letter on December 25, 1884, on the occasion of the l,000th anniversary of the death of St. Methodius in which he said: "However, visit and this your Archbishop requests - the place where, according to tradition, the holy body of your apostle is hidden: make a visit to Velehrad in 1885 ... " In the pastoral letter, issued by the Bishop of Brno on December 115, 1884, we find the statement: ",S t. Methodius died and was buried in Moravia." The exact place of his grave, however, is not given; Velehrad is not even mentiooed. Quite underatandably, the community of Velehrad had its "Central Jubilee Committee" which issued a call to all people to come to Velehrad "where our Apostle parted with world." The ,p roclamation was signed by over two hundred individuals. On February 22, 1885, the Cardinal-Arch1bishop of �14 SLOVAKIA Prague, the Bishop of Kralovy Hradec, the Bishop of Litomerice, and the Bishop of Budejovice issued a joint pastoral letter in which they exhorted theiT faithful to make a pilgrimage to Velehrad, where, according to tradition, St. Methodius was buried. During the height of the celebrations, honoring the l,OOOth anniversary of the death of St. Methodius, an article relevant to the death of St. Methodius, written by the Ruthenian Canon Petrusevic of r..vov, reacted like a bombshell. He told the people of Moravia to look for the grave of St. Methodius not at Velehrad, but at Mosburg across the Danube. 1 Matej Procha~ of Moravia angrily expressed his dissent and vituperated Canon Petrusevic, telling him that only by a magic wand could he change Modoblll'lgus into Mosruburg. 2 In his book, which was published a bit later, Prochazka descri-b ed the last farewell of St. Methodius in the Velehrad Cathedral to his priests and people, and to Arch-Prince Svatopluk, but does not have anything to say about the grave of St. Methodius. 3 Morie Kraemer, writing a·b out St. Methodius's grave, first sought his grave in Rome, where, of course, he did not find it, and then, following the Bulgarian legend (by Konsnantm Galejdovic) and fragmentary reports from the book "About the Conversion of the Corutanians," he sought it in Moravia. 4 Kraemer thought the "great Moravian Cathedral," mentioned in Dobrovsky's: '\Mahrische Legende" (Moravian Legends), referred to Velehrad. But the fact is that no one can prove that St. Methodius's grave was there either in 1885 or is located there even now. Snopek fared no better with the question: "Where is St. Methodius, the Slovanic Apostole, buried ?" 5 He mentions the Bulgarian manuscript, discovered by Viktor J. Grigorovic, which describes the labors of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. This manuscript, supposed to have been written in the tenth century, refers to an inhabitant of Velehrad as a "velegraidanin". But even if we allow that it does, we still cannot definitely claim that the Velehrad referred to is the one in Moravia, ,b ecause in the ninth and tenth centuries there were many "Velehrads" - and we know that �SLOVAKIA 15 the Velehrad in Moravia. did not exist either in the ninth or the tenth century, inasmuch as historical records mention nothing a:bout it until the thirteenth century. But the "Velehradists" are stubborn and proud people; they still claim, without being able to offer any proof, that St. Methodius is buried at Velehrad in Moravia. Dudik was another of those who sought the grave of St. Methodius in Rome, but could not find it there. 6 Alexander Bruckner looked for his remains in the mighty fortress of Rastislav at "Grossburg" but did not indicate •t he exact location. 7 Anton Sin8 claims that Rab was the seat of government for Rastislav and Mojmir I, and that there, too, rest the remains of St. Methodius. His claim, however, is not supported by historical and archeological proofs. Dr. Robenek wrote that St. Methodi'llS is buried in Ostrihom.9 In 1822, when the foundations were being dug for the present basilica. there, a stone grave was uncovered which is still unidentified. Robenek thought it might be the grave of St. Methodius. Now we know definitely that St. Methodius labored for the most part in Slovakia and in Traru!.J)anubia, in former P8lll.Ilonia. Why then should we not assume that he could be buried in the territory inha,bited by the ancient Slovaks? History tells us that St. Methodius was in western Slovakia, in Nitra, where he installed his suffragan, Bishop Wiching. We also know that, in the ninth century, Devin was the impregnaible fortress of both Rastislav and Svatopluk. This fortress secured the independence of Grea;t Moravia and terrorized the F1:ranko-Germans. Devin, near Bratislava, was the subject of ma.ny historical and archeological treatises, some of which were even authored by Czechs. 10 Professor Dr. Jan Eisner came upon a huge Slov,anic burial ground in the vicinity of Devin which dates baok to the 6th or 7th century and contained many valuable archeological and historical relics. The excavations showed that Slovans (the ancient Slovaks) and Ava.rs were buried in individual graves with full armor and many other objects. 1He uncovered several hundred graves which indicated that the dead were buried according to pagan fashion, that is, before the Christian era in :Slovakia. These discoveries proved that this fortress must have existed long before �SLOVAKIA 16 Great Moravia and, therefore, had to exist during the life of the Great Moravian :IDmpire. Dr. Eisner also uncovered a Christian burial ground in the vicinity of Devin, where the dead were buried next to each other and on top of one another, just as they were in the cemetery near the Nitra church. So we can claim that there must have been a church cemetery at Devin. We must assume, on the basis of what history and archeology have uncovered thus far, that St. Methodius is buried either at Nitra or Devin, in the heart of the Great Moravia which was inhabited by the ancient Slovaks. REFERENCES 1. "Bohemia" No. 83, March 25, 1885; and "Hist. Blatter," Vol. 97, pp. 120-. 2. ••C•aaopia Katolickeho Duchovenstva," 1885, !ILi, p. 156; and "Blahovest," 1885, p . 156. 3. ·Matej Prochazka: "Zivot sv. Methoda," Brno, 1885, p. 208. 4. In "Cech," 188'5, No. 148 amd following ,numbers. 5. In "Obzor," Vol. XV1I, No. 7. 1893; P'P- 97-100. 6. J). Dudik: "lter Romanum," Vienna, 18'5'5, Vol. I, p. 63. 7. "Die Wahrhelt iiber die Slavenapostel," TiiJbill!gen, 1913, ii. 101. 8. A. !§In: "Omyl Dejin," Kyjov, 1926, p. 223. 9. In "H lidka," 1928, NO. 3. 10. J. L. Cervinka: "Devin a Velehrad," Kromefiz, 1902; Jozef Zavadil: "Devin a Nitra," Kromefiz, 1912; Dr. Em. l§i,mek: ''Devin," Pa•m atky archeologickt:5, 1920, Vols. 1, 2. 11. Jan Eisner: "Slovensko v praveku," Bratislava, 1933. RED CZECHS win another first: recenUy they alllllounced making tJhe firs,t gadget to jam TV programs, especially from Vienna, that does a ,real jamming job. They'•r e not doing 'badly for Castro, either - and the Reds of Laos, Africa, Vietnam, etc. Jamming and killing real demQcracy has been th e i r business si!nce 1918! 3(! 3(! 3(! awairded a doctora,te in Ecclesiastical and Civil Law, and the fo/1Iowi,n g ye-air a '<H•ploma for successfully concluding bis study on the Law of the Ela.stern Oburc'b.. In December, 1961, Father Faltin became a CQunsellor for ,t he Sacred Roman Rota. 3(! lit! 3(! Americans of Slovak descent will be in Rome, Italy, for the dedica- Rev. Daniel Faltin, 0.F.M.Conv., tion o'f the Institute of SS. Cyril wa,s named a,ssistant secretary of Mld Methodius on Sept. 15, 1963. the Papal Commission !or the Co- A delegartion of several hundred, dification of EcclesLastical Law for the Eastern Church. Father Faltin was born April 21, 1927, oi.n Kurimjany, near Levo-ca, Slovakia. He studiw hi Rome since 19-50 and received his doctorate in rtheology in 1955. In 1959, Father Fa!ltin wrus led by tile Most Rev. Andrew G. Grutka, Bi-shop of Gary, Ind., will be i-n Roane from Sept. 11-1'5 to commemora,te the 1100.th annivers,airy of the advent or the Slovak Apost-Les to the ancient homeland of ,t he Slovaks, Great Moravia. � SLOVAKIA n ffiHE)RE DID ST. METHODIUS DIE? P.A. H'ROBAK All attempts to ascertain just exactly where St. Methodius breathed his last and where he was buried have thus far failed. However, we do know that he died on April 6, 885. It seems that at the time of his death it was generally known where St. Methodius, the apostle of the Slova;ks, had his Archbishopric, but no one thought it necessary to note the exact location. St. Methodius, according to historical sources, died i,n Great Moravia, where he was also buried. The center or nucleus of that empire was Slovakia, which included at that time Trans-.Danubian Pannonia. The question of the location of St. Method's grave came out in the open in 1885, when the millenium of his death was commemorated. At that time many historians and theologians, particularly those of Mora;via, claimed that Velehrad in Moravia was the place where Methodius not only died, but also was the seat of his ecclesiastical province. His Eminence, Fridrich Cardinal Furstenberg, Archbishop of Olomouc, issued a pastoral letter on December 25, 1884, on the occasion of the l,000th anniversary of the death of St. Methodius in which he said: "However, visit and this your Archbishop requests - the place where, according to tradition, the holy body of your apostle is hidden: make a visit to Velehrad in 1885 ... " In the pastoral letter, issued by the Bishop of Brno on December 115, 1884, we find the statement: ",S t. Methodius died and was buried in Moravia." The exact place of his grave, however, is not given; Velehrad is not even mentiooed. Quite underatandably, the community of Velehrad had its "Central Jubilee Committee" which issued a call to all people to come to Velehrad "where our Apostle parted with world." The ,p roclamation was signed by over two hundred individuals. On February 22, 1885, the Cardinal-Arch1bishop of �14 SLOVAKIA Prague, the Bishop of Kralovy Hradec, the Bishop of Litomerice, and the Bishop of Budejovice issued a joint pastoral letter in which they exhorted theiT faithful to make a pilgrimage to Velehrad, where, according to tradition, St. Methodius was buried. During the height of the celebrations, honoring the l,OOOth anniversary of the death of St. Methodius, an article relevant to the death of St. Methodius, written by the Ruthenian Canon Petrusevic of r..vov, reacted like a bombshell. He told the people of Moravia to look for the grave of St. Methodius not at Velehrad, but at Mosburg across the Danube. 1 Matej Procha~ of Moravia angrily expressed his dissent and vituperated Canon Petrusevic, telling him that only by a magic wand could he change Modoblll'lgus into Mosruburg. 2 In his book, which was published a bit later, Prochazka descri-b ed the last farewell of St. Methodius in the Velehrad Cathedral to his priests and people, and to Arch-Prince Svatopluk, but does not have anything to say about the grave of St. Methodius. 3 Morie Kraemer, writing a·b out St. Methodius's grave, first sought his grave in Rome, where, of course, he did not find it, and then, following the Bulgarian legend (by Konsnantm Galejdovic) and fragmentary reports from the book "About the Conversion of the Corutanians," he sought it in Moravia. 4 Kraemer thought the "great Moravian Cathedral," mentioned in Dobrovsky's: '\Mahrische Legende" (Moravian Legends), referred to Velehrad. But the fact is that no one can prove that St. Methodius's grave was there either in 1885 or is located there even now. Snopek fared no better with the question: "Where is St. Methodius, the Slovanic Apostole, buried ?" 5 He mentions the Bulgarian manuscript, discovered by Viktor J. Grigorovic, which describes the labors of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. This manuscript, supposed to have been written in the tenth century, refers to an inhabitant of Velehrad as a "velegraidanin". But even if we allow that it does, we still cannot definitely claim that the Velehrad referred to is the one in Moravia, ,b ecause in the ninth and tenth centuries there were many "Velehrads" - and we know that �SLOVAKIA 15 the Velehrad in Moravia. did not exist either in the ninth or the tenth century, inasmuch as historical records mention nothing a:bout it until the thirteenth century. But the "Velehradists" are stubborn and proud people; they still claim, without being able to offer any proof, that St. Methodius is buried at Velehrad in Moravia. Dudik was another of those who sought the grave of St. Methodius in Rome, but could not find it there. 6 Alexander Bruckner looked for his remains in the mighty fortress of Rastislav at "Grossburg" but did not indicate •t he exact location. 7 Anton Sin8 claims that Rab was the seat of government for Rastislav and Mojmir I, and that there, too, rest the remains of St. Methodius. His claim, however, is not supported by historical and archeological proofs. Dr. Robenek wrote that St. Methodi'llS is buried in Ostrihom.9 In 1822, when the foundations were being dug for the present basilica. there, a stone grave was uncovered which is still unidentified. Robenek thought it might be the grave of St. Methodius. Now we know definitely that St. Methodius labored for the most part in Slovakia and in Traru!.J)anubia, in former P8lll.Ilonia. Why then should we not assume that he could be buried in the territory inha,bited by the ancient Slovaks? History tells us that St. Methodius was in western Slovakia, in Nitra, where he installed his suffragan, Bishop Wiching. We also know that, in the ninth century, Devin was the impregnaible fortress of both Rastislav and Svatopluk. This fortress secured the independence of Grea;t Moravia and terrorized the F1:ranko-Germans. Devin, near Bratislava, was the subject of ma.ny historical and archeological treatises, some of which were even authored by Czechs. 10 Professor Dr. Jan Eisner came upon a huge Slov,anic burial ground in the vicinity of Devin which dates baok to the 6th or 7th century and contained many valuable archeological and historical relics. The excavations showed that Slovans (the ancient Slovaks) and Ava.rs were buried in individual graves with full armor and many other objects. 1He uncovered several hundred graves which indicated that the dead were buried according to pagan fashion, that is, before the Christian era in :Slovakia. These discoveries proved that this fortress must have existed long before �SLOVAKIA 16 Great Moravia and, therefore, had to exist during the life of the Great Moravian :IDmpire. Dr. Eisner also uncovered a Christian burial ground in the vicinity of Devin, where the dead were buried next to each other and on top of one another, just as they were in the cemetery near the Nitra church. So we can claim that there must have been a church cemetery at Devin. We must assume, on the basis of what history and archeology have uncovered thus far, that St. Methodius is buried either at Nitra or Devin, in the heart of the Great Moravia which was inhabited by the ancient Slovaks. REFERENCES 1. "Bohemia" No. 83, March 25, 1885; and "Hist. Blatter," Vol. 97, pp. 120-. 2. ••C•aaopia Katolickeho Duchovenstva," 1885, !ILi, p. 156; and "Blahovest," 1885, p . 156. 3. ·Matej Prochazka: "Zivot sv. Methoda," Brno, 1885, p. 208. 4. In "Cech," 188'5, No. 148 amd following ,numbers. 5. In "Obzor," Vol. XV1I, No. 7. 1893; P'P- 97-100. 6. J). Dudik: "lter Romanum," Vienna, 18'5'5, Vol. I, p. 63. 7. "Die Wahrhelt iiber die Slavenapostel," TiiJbill!gen, 1913, ii. 101. 8. A. !§In: "Omyl Dejin," Kyjov, 1926, p. 223. 9. In "H lidka," 1928, NO. 3. 10. J. L. Cervinka: "Devin a Velehrad," Kromefiz, 1902; Jozef Zavadil: "Devin a Nitra," Kromefiz, 1912; Dr. Em. l§i,mek: ''Devin," Pa•m atky archeologickt:5, 1920, Vols. 1, 2. 11. Jan Eisner: "Slovensko v praveku," Bratislava, 1933. RED CZECHS win another first: recenUy they alllllounced making tJhe firs,t gadget to jam TV programs, especially from Vienna, that does a ,real jamming job. They'•r e not doing 'badly for Castro, either - and the Reds of Laos, Africa, Vietnam, etc. Jamming and killing real demQcracy has been th e i r business si!nce 1918! 3(! 3(! 3(! awairded a doctora,te in Ecclesiastical and Civil Law, and the fo/1Iowi,n g ye-air a '<H•ploma for successfully concluding bis study on the Law of the Ela.stern Oburc'b.. In December, 1961, Father Faltin became a CQunsellor for ,t he Sacred Roman Rota. 3(! lit! 3(! Americans of Slovak descent will be in Rome, Italy, for the dedica- Rev. Daniel Faltin, 0.F.M.Conv., tion o'f the Institute of SS. Cyril wa,s named a,ssistant secretary of Mld Methodius on Sept. 15, 1963. the Papal Commission !or the Co- A delegartion of several hundred, dification of EcclesLastical Law for the Eastern Church. Father Faltin was born April 21, 1927, oi.n Kurimjany, near Levo-ca, Slovakia. He studiw hi Rome since 19-50 and received his doctorate in rtheology in 1955. In 1959, Father Fa!ltin wrus led by tile Most Rev. Andrew G. Grutka, Bi-shop of Gary, Ind., will be i-n Roane from Sept. 11-1'5 to commemora,te the 1100.th annivers,airy of the advent or the Slovak Apost-Les to the ancient homeland of ,t he Slovaks, Great Moravia. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA n ffiHE)RE DID ST. METHODIUS DIE? P.A. H'ROBAK All attempts to ascertain just exactly where St. Methodius breathed his last and where he was buried have thus far failed. However, we do know that he died on April 6, 885. It seems that at the time of his death it was generally known where St. Methodius, the apostle of the Slova;ks, had his Archbishopric, but no one thought it necessary to note the exact location. St. Methodius, according to historical sources, died i,n Great Moravia, where he was also buried. The center or nucleus of that empire was Slovakia, which included at that time Trans-.Danubian Pannonia. The question of the location of St. Method's grave came out in the open in 1885, when the millenium of his death was commemorated. At that time many historians and theologians, particularly those of Mora;via, claimed that Velehrad in Moravia was the place where Methodius not only died, but also was the seat of his ecclesiastical province. His Eminence, Fridrich Cardinal Furstenberg, Archbishop of Olomouc, issued a pastoral letter on December 25, 1884, on the occasion of the l,000th anniversary of the death of St. Methodius in which he said: "However, visit and this your Archbishop requests - the place where, according to tradition, the holy body of your apostle is hidden: make a visit to Velehrad in 1885 ... " In the pastoral letter, issued by the Bishop of Brno on December 115, 1884, we find the statement: ",S t. Methodius died and was buried in Moravia." The exact place of his grave, however, is not given; Velehrad is not even mentiooed. Quite underatandably, the community of Velehrad had its "Central Jubilee Committee" which issued a call to all people to come to Velehrad "where our Apostle parted with world." The ,p roclamation was signed by over two hundred individuals. On February 22, 1885, the Cardinal-Arch1bishop of 14 SLOVAKIA Prague, the Bishop of Kralovy Hradec, the Bishop of Litomerice, and the Bishop of Budejovice issued a joint pastoral letter in which they exhorted theiT faithful to make a pilgrimage to Velehrad, where, according to tradition, St. Methodius was buried. During the height of the celebrations, honoring the l,OOOth anniversary of the death of St. Methodius, an article relevant to the death of St. Methodius, written by the Ruthenian Canon Petrusevic of r..vov, reacted like a bombshell. He told the people of Moravia to look for the grave of St. Methodius not at Velehrad, but at Mosburg across the Danube. 1 Matej Procha~ of Moravia angrily expressed his dissent and vituperated Canon Petrusevic, telling him that only by a magic wand could he change Modoblll'lgus into Mosruburg. 2 In his book, which was published a bit later, Prochazka descri-b ed the last farewell of St. Methodius in the Velehrad Cathedral to his priests and people, and to Arch-Prince Svatopluk, but does not have anything to say about the grave of St. Methodius. 3 Morie Kraemer, writing a·b out St. Methodius's grave, first sought his grave in Rome, where, of course, he did not find it, and then, following the Bulgarian legend (by Konsnantm Galejdovic) and fragmentary reports from the book "About the Conversion of the Corutanians," he sought it in Moravia. 4 Kraemer thought the "great Moravian Cathedral," mentioned in Dobrovsky's: '\Mahrische Legende" (Moravian Legends), referred to Velehrad. But the fact is that no one can prove that St. Methodius's grave was there either in 1885 or is located there even now. Snopek fared no better with the question: "Where is St. Methodius, the Slovanic Apostole, buried ?" 5 He mentions the Bulgarian manuscript, discovered by Viktor J. Grigorovic, which describes the labors of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. This manuscript, supposed to have been written in the tenth century, refers to an inhabitant of Velehrad as a "velegraidanin". But even if we allow that it does, we still cannot definitely claim that the Velehrad referred to is the one in Moravia, ,b ecause in the ninth and tenth centuries there were many "Velehrads" - and we know that SLOVAKIA 15 the Velehrad in Moravia. did not exist either in the ninth or the tenth century, inasmuch as historical records mention nothing a:bout it until the thirteenth century. But the "Velehradists" are stubborn and proud people; they still claim, without being able to offer any proof, that St. Methodius is buried at Velehrad in Moravia. Dudik was another of those who sought the grave of St. Methodius in Rome, but could not find it there. 6 Alexander Bruckner looked for his remains in the mighty fortress of Rastislav at "Grossburg" but did not indicate •t he exact location. 7 Anton Sin8 claims that Rab was the seat of government for Rastislav and Mojmir I, and that there, too, rest the remains of St. Methodius. His claim, however, is not supported by historical and archeological proofs. Dr. Robenek wrote that St. Methodi'llS is buried in Ostrihom.9 In 1822, when the foundations were being dug for the present basilica. there, a stone grave was uncovered which is still unidentified. Robenek thought it might be the grave of St. Methodius. Now we know definitely that St. Methodius labored for the most part in Slovakia and in Traru!.J)anubia, in former P8lll.Ilonia. Why then should we not assume that he could be buried in the territory inha,bited by the ancient Slovaks? History tells us that St. Methodius was in western Slovakia, in Nitra, where he installed his suffragan, Bishop Wiching. We also know that, in the ninth century, Devin was the impregnaible fortress of both Rastislav and Svatopluk. This fortress secured the independence of Grea;t Moravia and terrorized the F1:ranko-Germans. Devin, near Bratislava, was the subject of ma.ny historical and archeological treatises, some of which were even authored by Czechs. 10 Professor Dr. Jan Eisner came upon a huge Slov,anic burial ground in the vicinity of Devin which dates baok to the 6th or 7th century and contained many valuable archeological and historical relics. The excavations showed that Slovans (the ancient Slovaks) and Ava.rs were buried in individual graves with full armor and many other objects. 1He uncovered several hundred graves which indicated that the dead were buried according to pagan fashion, that is, before the Christian era in :Slovakia. These discoveries proved that this fortress must have existed long before SLOVAKIA 16 Great Moravia and, therefore, had to exist during the life of the Great Moravian :IDmpire. Dr. Eisner also uncovered a Christian burial ground in the vicinity of Devin, where the dead were buried next to each other and on top of one another, just as they were in the cemetery near the Nitra church. So we can claim that there must have been a church cemetery at Devin. We must assume, on the basis of what history and archeology have uncovered thus far, that St. Methodius is buried either at Nitra or Devin, in the heart of the Great Moravia which was inhabited by the ancient Slovaks. REFERENCES 1. "Bohemia" No. 83, March 25, 1885; and "Hist. Blatter," Vol. 97, pp. 120-. 2. ••C•aaopia Katolickeho Duchovenstva," 1885, !ILi, p. 156; and "Blahovest," 1885, p . 156. 3. ·Matej Prochazka: "Zivot sv. Methoda," Brno, 1885, p. 208. 4. In "Cech," 188'5, No. 148 amd following ,numbers. 5. In "Obzor," Vol. XV1I, No. 7. 1893; P'P- 97-100. 6. J). Dudik: "lter Romanum," Vienna, 18'5'5, Vol. I, p. 63. 7. "Die Wahrhelt iiber die Slavenapostel," TiiJbill!gen, 1913, ii. 101. 8. A. !§In: "Omyl Dejin," Kyjov, 1926, p. 223. 9. In "H lidka," 1928, NO. 3. 10. J. L. Cervinka: "Devin a Velehrad," Kromefiz, 1902; Jozef Zavadil: "Devin a Nitra," Kromefiz, 1912; Dr. Em. l§i,mek: ''Devin," Pa•m atky archeologickt:5, 1920, Vols. 1, 2. 11. Jan Eisner: "Slovensko v praveku," Bratislava, 1933. RED CZECHS win another first: recenUy they alllllounced making tJhe firs,t gadget to jam TV programs, especially from Vienna, that does a ,real jamming job. They'•r e not doing 'badly for Castro, either - and the Reds of Laos, Africa, Vietnam, etc. Jamming and killing real demQcracy has been th e i r business si!nce 1918! 3(! 3(! 3(! awairded a doctora,te in Ecclesiastical and Civil Law, and the fo/1Iowi,n g ye-air a '<H•ploma for successfully concluding bis study on the Law of the Ela.stern Oburc'b.. In December, 1961, Father Faltin became a CQunsellor for ,t he Sacred Roman Rota. 3(! lit! 3(! Americans of Slovak descent will be in Rome, Italy, for the dedica- Rev. Daniel Faltin, 0.F.M.Conv., tion o'f the Institute of SS. Cyril wa,s named a,ssistant secretary of Mld Methodius on Sept. 15, 1963. the Papal Commission !or the Co- A delegartion of several hundred, dification of EcclesLastical Law for the Eastern Church. Father Faltin was born April 21, 1927, oi.n Kurimjany, near Levo-ca, Slovakia. He studiw hi Rome since 19-50 and received his doctorate in rtheology in 1955. In 1959, Father Fa!ltin wrus led by tile Most Rev. Andrew G. Grutka, Bi-shop of Gary, Ind., will be i-n Roane from Sept. 11-1'5 to commemora,te the 1100.th annivers,airy of the advent or the Slovak Apost-Les to the ancient homeland of ,t he Slovaks, Great Moravia.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Where Did St. Methodius Die? Description An account of the resource P. A. Hrobák Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 13-16 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/c45f1d2c56012b6738f56b0c792ac597.pdf 0b12b1071ee898dc55ee4e6734578df8 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA Published by the Slovak League of America VOL. XIII MARCH, 1963 NO. 1 (36) HOW OHBIS'DANITY CAME TO THE SLOVAKS P.A. HROBAK Christianity came to the pagan Slovaks slowly and gradually. And there are no indications that the Slovaks, once Christianized, openly rebelled against Christianity and reverted to paganism. This is evidence that the SlovaJks of the early 9th century were under the influence of Christianity for several generations. They were converted to Christianity by missionaries who came from countries in which Christianity was already sufficiently developed and prepared for missionary activities among their pagan neighbors. There are certain indications that missionaries from the southern countries tried to spread Christianity on the territory of the Slovans (Slov,anic peoples) along the Danube River rwho were subjugated by the Avars before the end of the sixth century. The centers of this missionary activity were the ·b ishoprics and monasteries situated on the Adriatic Sea or in the northern countries of the Balkan Peninsula, where remnants of an ecclesiastical organization have been preserved. 1 But systematic missionary activity in this area, which included the territory of the ancient Slova.iks, was developed by missionaries from Bavaria. Christianity came to Bavaria both on the Danube and on the Rhine through soldiers and merchants. 2 Then, as is well :known, at first Irish, and later Frankish and AngloSa.xJon missionaries sowed the seed of the Gospel in the hearu; of the rude warriors. Among those missionaries were: St. Kilian and his ,p upils Colonat (Coloman) and Totnan at WtiriJburg; in the Alpgau region !St. Magnus; at Ratisbon and Freising St. Rupert, St. Emuneram and St. Corbinian.3 Stricter regulations were introduced by Winfrid (St. Boniface), familiarly known as the "Apostle of the Germans." St. Columban came to Bavaria from France, while St. Gall :was active in southern Germany and in 612 settled in what later became Switzerland. �2 SLOVAKIA St. Co11binian, the Apostle of Central Bavaria, worked in and out of ·F lreising where there was an Irish monastery, the monks of which later foll!Ilded other monasteries, among them the one established in 769 at Innichen in the Tyrol. This latter monastery had the special task to spread Christianity in neighboring Corutania which was inhabited by the Slovenes (ISlovinci). The Irish bishop St. Emmeram resided in Regensburg where he built a monastery and became its abbot with the dignity of a bishop.t Because the city was situated on the Danube, on the road that connected Bavaria with the territory of the Danubian Slovanic peoples, it had all the prerequisites for missionary work among them. St. Rupert, Bishop of Worms, ba,ptized Duke Theodo of Bavaria, erected at Waldersee a church in honor of St. Peter, and at the end of the seventh century made Juvavum (Salzburg), where he found the ruins of Roman buildings, his episcopal seat.5 The monastery, which St. Rupert built there in honor of St. Peter, became an important center for the activity of the Irish monks in Bavaria. From the life history of St. Emmeram we learn that he did .plan to do mission wor,k among the A vars. He actually left Bavaria but on the advice of the Bavarian prince remained in Regensburg, so that he himself did not get to the territory of the A vars and the Slovans (Slovanic peoples) whom the Avars dominated. There is evidence, however, that some members of his group, or some Irish missionaries from the Regensburg monastery, did some missionary work there. 6 The first Christian church on Slovak territory, built by Prince Pribina at Nitra, was dedicated to St. E)mmeram. in 833. It is significant, too, that among the churches built ,b y Slovak rulers in the ninth century in Pannonia, there is one dedicated to St. Rupert, Bishop of Salzburg. 7 In the eighth century quite a few Benedictine monasteries were established in Bavaria and Austria. One of the most significant was the monastery at Tegernsee, whose members did missionary work among the Al,p ian Slovans and also founded the monastery of St. Hippolitus in Lower Austria. It appears that it was this monastery of St. Hippolitus that was charged with the task of doing missionary work on the territory of Slovakia: on the slope of Mt. Zobor, near Nitra - the seat of Slovak princes, a monastery �SLOVAKIA 3 was built and dedicated to St. llippolitus. We do not know exactly when this monastery was founded, but there are indications that it was early in the 9th century. The Mt. Zobor Benedictine monastery wery well could have been a mission station of the Bavarian missionaries who labored in ancient Slovakia. 8 The Irish mission, which developed in Bavaria and extended to the lands occupied by the Avars and Slovans, had no political character; there was no political power backing it. Bavarian missionaries, however, alongside their religious and ecclesiastical mission fulfilled also a political role: there activity, especially at the end of the 8th century, had the full support of the Frankish Empire. Working out of Salzburg, missionaries ,b egan to develop their activity on the territory of the Slovanic tribes who had occupied the Danubian region and the eastern spurs of the Alps. In the beginning, while the Danubian Slovans ('Slovaks) were dominated by the Avars, the Salzburg missionaries worked more on the territory of the Corutanian Slovans (Slovenes-Slovinci) which was more accessible from Salzburg. The influence of Salzburg extended to Corutania already some time in the half of the eighth century, that is, in the very early years of the Bavarian ecclesiastical organization. It is more than probaJble that the Salzburg missionaries visited also other Slovanic provinces, especially Trans-Danubian Pannonia which was settled by Slovak tribes. They had to work cautiously ,a nd covertly, since the dominating Avars were .p agans.9 It is also very probable that missionaries from the Passau vicinity visited the Slovak tribes along the Danube and its tributaries. Some of the monasteries located near the banks of the Danube were devoted to mission work from their inception and it is very probable that they labored among the ancient Slovaks who suffered Avar hegemony. Of course, systematic and effective missionary activity could be developed by the Bavarian apostles only after the Frankish armies of Charles the Great (Charlemagne) subdued the Avars in the last decade of the eighth century and the Frankish Empire displayed a great interest in the extensive territory. Bishop Arno of Salzburg was entrusted by Charlemagne with the work of Christianizing the Avar- �4 SLOVAKIA Slovanic lands. When the latter suggested that Bishop Arno be elevated to an archbishop, Pope Leo m obliged in 798. 10 Letters, which the learned .Aibbot Alcuin wrote to the Archbishop of Sal~burg and to Charlemagne, reveal the preparations made for mission work among the Avars and Slovanic peoples; they learned their language to some extent, translated current prayers and the texts used for confession and baptism. The linguistic characteristics of these ancient literary souvenirs, probably from the end of the eighth and the beginning of the ninth century, prove that Bavarian missionaries did la,,bor on the territory of the ancient Slovaks. 11 Salzburg fulfilled its mission role during the lifetime of Archbishop Arno and continued in it under his succes-sors. Naturally, the Salzburg missionaries developed their actilvity first of all on the territory that was most accessible to them. This was Trans-Danubian Pannonia, which was occupied for the most part by Slovwk tribes who in the southwestern part af this country had contacts with the Slovene tribes. Among the missionaries, who came from Sabiburg, were also missionary bishops who, by the authority af the Archbishop of Salzburg, exercised ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Pannonia. Bishop Deodoric was one of them; he labored in Pannonia also under Archbishop Arno's successor, Archbishop Adalram (&21-836). Later, during the lifetime of Archbishop Adalwin (859-873), Bishop Osbald was head of the mission work Pannonia. 12 After the victory of the Fra:n'ks over the A vars a new situation arose on the German-Slovanic border on the middle Danube. Charlemagne sought to Christianize the peoples he subjugated. On the territory occupied by the Frankish armies, after the defeat of the Avars, on both ban!ks of the middle Danube, the East Mark (Ostmark) was established, which became the immediate neighbor of the land accupied by the Slovaks. In comparison with the Germans, the SlovaJks, and all Slovans generally, lagged behind in their political and cultural development. 13 Reports of Frankish chroniclers began to speak in a clear language how individual Slovanic tribes were forced under the sovereignty of the Frankish kings. Accorrnng to these reports representatives of Slovanic tribes came to German towns to pay �SLOVAKIA fj tribute to the German king. Among the first Slovanic princes, representatives of the Slovak tribes were also present. The report of 8~5 relates about chieftains and messengers of all Slovans, who lived along the eastern border of the Frankish Empire. The report of 822 states that the Empire Assembly, called to Frankfurt by Louis the Pious, was attended also by representatives of the Czechs, Moravians, and even the Avars who still remained in Pa:nnonia. All delegations came with gifts, for Louis, which demonstrated that the Slovanic tribes rec.ognized the Gennan sovereign as their master. 14 The Slovaks in this report appear under the name of Moravians, because in those times thus were indicated the Slovanic tribes which had settled on both sides of the Morava River. They were the Slovak tribes which settled on the territories of present day Moravi,a and Slovakia and were also called "iSloveni." We do not know exactly how many tribes composed the Slovak Moravians, but we can assume that they formed a tribal alliance made up of several tribes. According to some reports there were eleven Slovak tribes north of the Danube. Besides these there also were several tribes on the southern bank, on the territory of Pannonia, but these were not called Moravians. 15 From available records, it would appear that at the beginning of the 9th century the Slovak tribes were divided into three groups. The western group occupied both sides of the Morava River and was, therefore, called Moravian. The eastern group, settled on the plains, valleys and basins of present-day .Slovakia, was indicated by the name "Sloveni." The third group, disrupted both by Avar hegemony and anti-Avar wars and settled on the territory of TransDanubian Pannonia, also belonged to the ''Sloveni". 16 The three groups formed one tribal alliance, united by a bond of common origin, close relationship and a common language, settled on connected territory on the middle Danube, appearing under a common name and endur.ing or sharing, at least partially and for a time, even a common historic lot. History tells us that Archbishop Adalram of Salzburg came to Slowlkia to bless a church in Nitra, the seat of the Slovak Prince Pribina. Since he was Archbishop of �6 SLOVAKIA Saraburg from 821 to 836, this event must have taken place within those yeaTS, most .p robably a,'bout 833. The report of this blessing for the first time mentions the name of a Slovak ruler, the seat of Slovak princes and the Christian church built on the territory of ,p resent-day Slov~kia. There were, however, more churches in Pannonia, where the Slovaks had accepted Christianity at the beginning of the 9th century through the Bavarian missionaries. The greatest significaJllce of this event, however, is that it mar,ks the entrance of the Slovaiks into Christian society, the society of the cultured nations of Europe. The Slovaks are, therefore, not only the oldest Slovanic inhabitants of the Danube B~in, but also the oldest cultured nation on the middle Danube. 17 While Prince Pribina united the SlovaJk tribes of pre.sent day Slovakia and was related to the Slovak tribes of Pannonia, Prince Mojmiir united the Slovak tribes on both sides of the Morava River. Pribina's seat of government was the Nitra Castle, while that of Mojmir was Devin. Mojmir's people were Christianized by the Bavarian missionaries who came from the monasteries of the Passau bishopric. In time a struggle for supremacy took place and in the end Mojmir won out, banishing Pri-bina from Nitra. Mojmir thus became the ruler of all the Slovak tribes above the north bank of the Danube. Neighbol'ling on the exipanding Frankish Empire, the Slova!ks recognized the need for unification in the interest of their own security and welfare. Mojmir, the stronger Oif the two Slovak princes, imposed his will on Plribina without bloodshed and, it would appear, with thte a,p.proval of the Frankish sovereign. Pribina, his wife and son, Kocel', escorted by several magnates, were given asylum by Count Ratbod, Margrave of the Eastern Mark (Ostmark). There he sought the aid of the Frankish sovereign to regain his Nitra principality.18 &successful and falling out with Ratbod, Pribina, still intent on regainig his former principality, sougtht the aid of the Bulgairians, but to no avaiil. Then he went to Ratimir, the Croatian prince, who ruled the country along the Sava River, but he, too, could not help him, because he had his own troubles with the ,F rankish king. In 838, King Louis the German ordered Ratbod to subdue the troublesome �SLOVAKIA 7 subjects of Raltimir. In the battle that ensued, Ratimir was fortunate to escape, as was Pribina and his retinue. Wearied and dejected, Pribina crossed the Sava River and asked Count Salach of Corutania to attempt a reconciliation with Ratbod. 19 After Pribina made his peace with Ratbod, the latter used his influence witill King Louis the German who entrusted Pribina (in 847) with a principality in Pannonia, near Blatno. There Pribina built a formidable citadel which was called Blatnohrad (Moosburg). Prince Pribina build churches and endowed monasteries, and often welcomed the h-chbishop of Salzburg to his court.20 His son Kocef continued in his work: 32 churches were built in Pannonia. m the meantime, ~arlmann, oldest son of Louis the German, allied himse1f with Rastislav, ruler of Great Moravia and revolted against his father. Pribina remained loyal to the dcing. He lost his life in 861 in one of the many skirmishes with warriors of Rastislav, Slovak prince and Mojmir's nephew, who governed the Nitra principality.21 MojmiiI''s success in organizing a strong principality, uniting Slovak tribes and gaining the favor of the magnates, roused the suspicions of the Frankish king. AB a result Mojmir was unseated in 846 by King Louis the German, who then made Rastislav the governor of Great Moravia, the land of the Slovaks. .Prince Rastislav continued in his uncle's footsteps, building a stronger and mightier Great Moravia, which Kmg Louis eventually regarded with growing concern. The result was mutual distrust which led to the invasion of Rastislav's territory by the Frankish king in the spring of 855, when the Bavarian .Alrmy under Count Ernst invia.ded the Ozech lands. Louis attacked Rastislav's anny, but was repulsed. Not being aible to penetrate Rastislav's defense positions, Louis withdrew and in his rage ravaged the land of the Slovaks. Rastislav · retaliated in kind, took over the offensive, chased Louis out of the country and laid waste the German territory on the Danube.22 After this victory Rastislav gaive serious thought to organizing an ecclesiastical province in his land, one which would not be dependent on the Bavarian province, because he fully appreciated what the German missionaries. were �8 SLOVAKIA doing for the Frankish Empire: they spread not only Christianity but endeavored to extend tihe empire. Rastislav decided to emulate the Franks who influenced and were recognired by the Cln.1.rch. In 860, Rastislav sent a special mismon to Pope Nicholas I, in Rome with a request for missionaries who could speak the language of his people. After quite some delay, the mission returned to report to Rastislav, that the Pope could not oblige, ,b ecause there were no such missionaries in Rome. It was then, in 862, that Rastislav sent a delegation to Emperor Michael LH, to Constantinople, with the same request. The mission was successful. The saintly brothers, Consoontine (Cyril) and Methodius, came to the land of Rastislav, the homeland of the ancient Slovaks, in 863, to complete the work of Ohristianizing the Slovaks.23 REFERENCES 1. iDr. Frantisek Hrus ovsky : Sfovenski Vladari, Obrana Pre ss, Inc., !Scranton, Pa., 1948, p. 45. 2. iEiuber:Geschichte der Einfilhrung und Verbreitung des Chrlstenthums in SUdosten Deutschlands, Salzburg, 1874-75, 4 Vols.; Hefele : Geschichte der EinfUhrung des Christenthums im Siidwestlichen Deutschland, TU.bingen, 1837. 3. The Catholic Encyclopedia : Bavaria. 4. Hrui§ovsky, op. cit., p . 51. 6. The Oathollc Encyclopedia : Salzburg. 6. Hrusov,s ky : op. cit., p. 62. 7. ['bid em, p. 63. 8. IJlbidem, P. 55. 9. ,Ibidem, p. 60. 10. !llbid-em, p . 61. 11. lllbidem, pp. 63-64. 12. Elidem, p. 65. 13. 'Ilb!dem, p . 70. H. •I lbidem, p . 73. 15. i11bidem, p . 74. 16. \Ibidem, p. 7 4. 17. Jibiilem, p. 79 ; Hrusov.sky : Slovens kc dejiny, M atica Slovenska, Turciansky Svaty Martin, 1940; pp. 3'3-34 ; Gi!lbert L . Oddo : Slovakia And Its People, Robert Speller & S ons, New York, 1960 ; p. 10; Joseph M. Kirschbaum: Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, Robert Speller & Sons, New York, 1960.; p . 16. 18. Hrusovsky: Slovenski Vladari, pp. 84--86. 19. Ilbidem, p . 87. 20. illbidem, P. 91. 21. lllbidem, p. 95. 12. Ilbidem, p . 116. .23. l'bid~m, p . 134 . . . � SLOVAKIA Published by the Slovak League of America VOL. XIII MARCH, 1963 NO. 1 (36) HOW OHBIS'DANITY CAME TO THE SLOVAKS P.A. HROBAK Christianity came to the pagan Slovaks slowly and gradually. And there are no indications that the Slovaks, once Christianized, openly rebelled against Christianity and reverted to paganism. This is evidence that the SlovaJks of the early 9th century were under the influence of Christianity for several generations. They were converted to Christianity by missionaries who came from countries in which Christianity was already sufficiently developed and prepared for missionary activities among their pagan neighbors. There are certain indications that missionaries from the southern countries tried to spread Christianity on the territory of the Slovans (Slov,anic peoples) along the Danube River rwho were subjugated by the Avars before the end of the sixth century. The centers of this missionary activity were the ·b ishoprics and monasteries situated on the Adriatic Sea or in the northern countries of the Balkan Peninsula, where remnants of an ecclesiastical organization have been preserved. 1 But systematic missionary activity in this area, which included the territory of the ancient Slova.iks, was developed by missionaries from Bavaria. Christianity came to Bavaria both on the Danube and on the Rhine through soldiers and merchants. 2 Then, as is well :known, at first Irish, and later Frankish and AngloSa.xJon missionaries sowed the seed of the Gospel in the hearu; of the rude warriors. Among those missionaries were: St. Kilian and his ,p upils Colonat (Coloman) and Totnan at WtiriJburg; in the Alpgau region !St. Magnus; at Ratisbon and Freising St. Rupert, St. Emuneram and St. Corbinian.3 Stricter regulations were introduced by Winfrid (St. Boniface), familiarly known as the "Apostle of the Germans." St. Columban came to Bavaria from France, while St. Gall :was active in southern Germany and in 612 settled in what later became Switzerland. �2 SLOVAKIA St. Co11binian, the Apostle of Central Bavaria, worked in and out of ·F lreising where there was an Irish monastery, the monks of which later foll!Ilded other monasteries, among them the one established in 769 at Innichen in the Tyrol. This latter monastery had the special task to spread Christianity in neighboring Corutania which was inhabited by the Slovenes (ISlovinci). The Irish bishop St. Emmeram resided in Regensburg where he built a monastery and became its abbot with the dignity of a bishop.t Because the city was situated on the Danube, on the road that connected Bavaria with the territory of the Danubian Slovanic peoples, it had all the prerequisites for missionary work among them. St. Rupert, Bishop of Worms, ba,ptized Duke Theodo of Bavaria, erected at Waldersee a church in honor of St. Peter, and at the end of the seventh century made Juvavum (Salzburg), where he found the ruins of Roman buildings, his episcopal seat.5 The monastery, which St. Rupert built there in honor of St. Peter, became an important center for the activity of the Irish monks in Bavaria. From the life history of St. Emmeram we learn that he did .plan to do mission wor,k among the A vars. He actually left Bavaria but on the advice of the Bavarian prince remained in Regensburg, so that he himself did not get to the territory of the A vars and the Slovans (Slovanic peoples) whom the Avars dominated. There is evidence, however, that some members of his group, or some Irish missionaries from the Regensburg monastery, did some missionary work there. 6 The first Christian church on Slovak territory, built by Prince Pribina at Nitra, was dedicated to St. E)mmeram. in 833. It is significant, too, that among the churches built ,b y Slovak rulers in the ninth century in Pannonia, there is one dedicated to St. Rupert, Bishop of Salzburg. 7 In the eighth century quite a few Benedictine monasteries were established in Bavaria and Austria. One of the most significant was the monastery at Tegernsee, whose members did missionary work among the Al,p ian Slovans and also founded the monastery of St. Hippolitus in Lower Austria. It appears that it was this monastery of St. Hippolitus that was charged with the task of doing missionary work on the territory of Slovakia: on the slope of Mt. Zobor, near Nitra - the seat of Slovak princes, a monastery �SLOVAKIA 3 was built and dedicated to St. llippolitus. We do not know exactly when this monastery was founded, but there are indications that it was early in the 9th century. The Mt. Zobor Benedictine monastery wery well could have been a mission station of the Bavarian missionaries who labored in ancient Slovakia. 8 The Irish mission, which developed in Bavaria and extended to the lands occupied by the Avars and Slovans, had no political character; there was no political power backing it. Bavarian missionaries, however, alongside their religious and ecclesiastical mission fulfilled also a political role: there activity, especially at the end of the 8th century, had the full support of the Frankish Empire. Working out of Salzburg, missionaries ,b egan to develop their activity on the territory of the Slovanic tribes who had occupied the Danubian region and the eastern spurs of the Alps. In the beginning, while the Danubian Slovans ('Slovaks) were dominated by the Avars, the Salzburg missionaries worked more on the territory of the Corutanian Slovans (Slovenes-Slovinci) which was more accessible from Salzburg. The influence of Salzburg extended to Corutania already some time in the half of the eighth century, that is, in the very early years of the Bavarian ecclesiastical organization. It is more than probaJble that the Salzburg missionaries visited also other Slovanic provinces, especially Trans-Danubian Pannonia which was settled by Slovak tribes. They had to work cautiously ,a nd covertly, since the dominating Avars were .p agans.9 It is also very probable that missionaries from the Passau vicinity visited the Slovak tribes along the Danube and its tributaries. Some of the monasteries located near the banks of the Danube were devoted to mission work from their inception and it is very probable that they labored among the ancient Slovaks who suffered Avar hegemony. Of course, systematic and effective missionary activity could be developed by the Bavarian apostles only after the Frankish armies of Charles the Great (Charlemagne) subdued the Avars in the last decade of the eighth century and the Frankish Empire displayed a great interest in the extensive territory. Bishop Arno of Salzburg was entrusted by Charlemagne with the work of Christianizing the Avar- �4 SLOVAKIA Slovanic lands. When the latter suggested that Bishop Arno be elevated to an archbishop, Pope Leo m obliged in 798. 10 Letters, which the learned .Aibbot Alcuin wrote to the Archbishop of Sal~burg and to Charlemagne, reveal the preparations made for mission work among the Avars and Slovanic peoples; they learned their language to some extent, translated current prayers and the texts used for confession and baptism. The linguistic characteristics of these ancient literary souvenirs, probably from the end of the eighth and the beginning of the ninth century, prove that Bavarian missionaries did la,,bor on the territory of the ancient Slovaks. 11 Salzburg fulfilled its mission role during the lifetime of Archbishop Arno and continued in it under his succes-sors. Naturally, the Salzburg missionaries developed their actilvity first of all on the territory that was most accessible to them. This was Trans-Danubian Pannonia, which was occupied for the most part by Slovwk tribes who in the southwestern part af this country had contacts with the Slovene tribes. Among the missionaries, who came from Sabiburg, were also missionary bishops who, by the authority af the Archbishop of Salzburg, exercised ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Pannonia. Bishop Deodoric was one of them; he labored in Pannonia also under Archbishop Arno's successor, Archbishop Adalram (&21-836). Later, during the lifetime of Archbishop Adalwin (859-873), Bishop Osbald was head of the mission work Pannonia. 12 After the victory of the Fra:n'ks over the A vars a new situation arose on the German-Slovanic border on the middle Danube. Charlemagne sought to Christianize the peoples he subjugated. On the territory occupied by the Frankish armies, after the defeat of the Avars, on both ban!ks of the middle Danube, the East Mark (Ostmark) was established, which became the immediate neighbor of the land accupied by the Slovaks. In comparison with the Germans, the SlovaJks, and all Slovans generally, lagged behind in their political and cultural development. 13 Reports of Frankish chroniclers began to speak in a clear language how individual Slovanic tribes were forced under the sovereignty of the Frankish kings. Accorrnng to these reports representatives of Slovanic tribes came to German towns to pay �SLOVAKIA fj tribute to the German king. Among the first Slovanic princes, representatives of the Slovak tribes were also present. The report of 8~5 relates about chieftains and messengers of all Slovans, who lived along the eastern border of the Frankish Empire. The report of 822 states that the Empire Assembly, called to Frankfurt by Louis the Pious, was attended also by representatives of the Czechs, Moravians, and even the Avars who still remained in Pa:nnonia. All delegations came with gifts, for Louis, which demonstrated that the Slovanic tribes rec.ognized the Gennan sovereign as their master. 14 The Slovaks in this report appear under the name of Moravians, because in those times thus were indicated the Slovanic tribes which had settled on both sides of the Morava River. They were the Slovak tribes which settled on the territories of present day Moravi,a and Slovakia and were also called "iSloveni." We do not know exactly how many tribes composed the Slovak Moravians, but we can assume that they formed a tribal alliance made up of several tribes. According to some reports there were eleven Slovak tribes north of the Danube. Besides these there also were several tribes on the southern bank, on the territory of Pannonia, but these were not called Moravians. 15 From available records, it would appear that at the beginning of the 9th century the Slovak tribes were divided into three groups. The western group occupied both sides of the Morava River and was, therefore, called Moravian. The eastern group, settled on the plains, valleys and basins of present-day .Slovakia, was indicated by the name "Sloveni." The third group, disrupted both by Avar hegemony and anti-Avar wars and settled on the territory of TransDanubian Pannonia, also belonged to the ''Sloveni". 16 The three groups formed one tribal alliance, united by a bond of common origin, close relationship and a common language, settled on connected territory on the middle Danube, appearing under a common name and endur.ing or sharing, at least partially and for a time, even a common historic lot. History tells us that Archbishop Adalram of Salzburg came to Slowlkia to bless a church in Nitra, the seat of the Slovak Prince Pribina. Since he was Archbishop of �6 SLOVAKIA Saraburg from 821 to 836, this event must have taken place within those yeaTS, most .p robably a,'bout 833. The report of this blessing for the first time mentions the name of a Slovak ruler, the seat of Slovak princes and the Christian church built on the territory of ,p resent-day Slov~kia. There were, however, more churches in Pannonia, where the Slovaks had accepted Christianity at the beginning of the 9th century through the Bavarian missionaries. The greatest significaJllce of this event, however, is that it mar,ks the entrance of the Slovaiks into Christian society, the society of the cultured nations of Europe. The Slovaks are, therefore, not only the oldest Slovanic inhabitants of the Danube B~in, but also the oldest cultured nation on the middle Danube. 17 While Prince Pribina united the SlovaJk tribes of pre.sent day Slovakia and was related to the Slovak tribes of Pannonia, Prince Mojmiir united the Slovak tribes on both sides of the Morava River. Pribina's seat of government was the Nitra Castle, while that of Mojmir was Devin. Mojmir's people were Christianized by the Bavarian missionaries who came from the monasteries of the Passau bishopric. In time a struggle for supremacy took place and in the end Mojmir won out, banishing Pri-bina from Nitra. Mojmir thus became the ruler of all the Slovak tribes above the north bank of the Danube. Neighbol'ling on the exipanding Frankish Empire, the Slova!ks recognized the need for unification in the interest of their own security and welfare. Mojmir, the stronger Oif the two Slovak princes, imposed his will on Plribina without bloodshed and, it would appear, with thte a,p.proval of the Frankish sovereign. Pribina, his wife and son, Kocel', escorted by several magnates, were given asylum by Count Ratbod, Margrave of the Eastern Mark (Ostmark). There he sought the aid of the Frankish sovereign to regain his Nitra principality.18 &successful and falling out with Ratbod, Pribina, still intent on regainig his former principality, sougtht the aid of the Bulgairians, but to no avaiil. Then he went to Ratimir, the Croatian prince, who ruled the country along the Sava River, but he, too, could not help him, because he had his own troubles with the ,F rankish king. In 838, King Louis the German ordered Ratbod to subdue the troublesome �SLOVAKIA 7 subjects of Raltimir. In the battle that ensued, Ratimir was fortunate to escape, as was Pribina and his retinue. Wearied and dejected, Pribina crossed the Sava River and asked Count Salach of Corutania to attempt a reconciliation with Ratbod. 19 After Pribina made his peace with Ratbod, the latter used his influence witill King Louis the German who entrusted Pribina (in 847) with a principality in Pannonia, near Blatno. There Pribina built a formidable citadel which was called Blatnohrad (Moosburg). Prince Pribina build churches and endowed monasteries, and often welcomed the h-chbishop of Salzburg to his court.20 His son Kocef continued in his work: 32 churches were built in Pannonia. m the meantime, ~arlmann, oldest son of Louis the German, allied himse1f with Rastislav, ruler of Great Moravia and revolted against his father. Pribina remained loyal to the dcing. He lost his life in 861 in one of the many skirmishes with warriors of Rastislav, Slovak prince and Mojmir's nephew, who governed the Nitra principality.21 MojmiiI''s success in organizing a strong principality, uniting Slovak tribes and gaining the favor of the magnates, roused the suspicions of the Frankish king. AB a result Mojmir was unseated in 846 by King Louis the German, who then made Rastislav the governor of Great Moravia, the land of the Slovaks. .Prince Rastislav continued in his uncle's footsteps, building a stronger and mightier Great Moravia, which Kmg Louis eventually regarded with growing concern. The result was mutual distrust which led to the invasion of Rastislav's territory by the Frankish king in the spring of 855, when the Bavarian .Alrmy under Count Ernst invia.ded the Ozech lands. Louis attacked Rastislav's anny, but was repulsed. Not being aible to penetrate Rastislav's defense positions, Louis withdrew and in his rage ravaged the land of the Slovaks. Rastislav · retaliated in kind, took over the offensive, chased Louis out of the country and laid waste the German territory on the Danube.22 After this victory Rastislav gaive serious thought to organizing an ecclesiastical province in his land, one which would not be dependent on the Bavarian province, because he fully appreciated what the German missionaries. were �8 SLOVAKIA doing for the Frankish Empire: they spread not only Christianity but endeavored to extend tihe empire. Rastislav decided to emulate the Franks who influenced and were recognired by the Cln.1.rch. In 860, Rastislav sent a special mismon to Pope Nicholas I, in Rome with a request for missionaries who could speak the language of his people. After quite some delay, the mission returned to report to Rastislav, that the Pope could not oblige, ,b ecause there were no such missionaries in Rome. It was then, in 862, that Rastislav sent a delegation to Emperor Michael LH, to Constantinople, with the same request. The mission was successful. The saintly brothers, Consoontine (Cyril) and Methodius, came to the land of Rastislav, the homeland of the ancient Slovaks, in 863, to complete the work of Ohristianizing the Slovaks.23 REFERENCES 1. iDr. Frantisek Hrus ovsky : Sfovenski Vladari, Obrana Pre ss, Inc., !Scranton, Pa., 1948, p. 45. 2. iEiuber:Geschichte der Einfilhrung und Verbreitung des Chrlstenthums in SUdosten Deutschlands, Salzburg, 1874-75, 4 Vols.; Hefele : Geschichte der EinfUhrung des Christenthums im Siidwestlichen Deutschland, TU.bingen, 1837. 3. The Catholic Encyclopedia : Bavaria. 4. Hrui§ovsky, op. cit., p . 51. 6. The Oathollc Encyclopedia : Salzburg. 6. Hrusov,s ky : op. cit., p. 62. 7. ['bid em, p. 63. 8. IJlbidem, P. 55. 9. ,Ibidem, p. 60. 10. !llbid-em, p . 61. 11. lllbidem, pp. 63-64. 12. Elidem, p. 65. 13. 'Ilb!dem, p . 70. H. •I lbidem, p . 73. 15. i11bidem, p . 74. 16. \Ibidem, p. 7 4. 17. Jibiilem, p. 79 ; Hrusov.sky : Slovens kc dejiny, M atica Slovenska, Turciansky Svaty Martin, 1940; pp. 3'3-34 ; Gi!lbert L . Oddo : Slovakia And Its People, Robert Speller & S ons, New York, 1960 ; p. 10; Joseph M. Kirschbaum: Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, Robert Speller & Sons, New York, 1960.; p . 16. 18. Hrusovsky: Slovenski Vladari, pp. 84--86. 19. Ilbidem, p . 87. 20. illbidem, P. 91. 21. lllbidem, p. 95. 12. Ilbidem, p . 116. .23. l'bid~m, p . 134 . . . � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA Published by the Slovak League of America VOL. XIII MARCH, 1963 NO. 1 (36) HOW OHBIS'DANITY CAME TO THE SLOVAKS P.A. HROBAK Christianity came to the pagan Slovaks slowly and gradually. And there are no indications that the Slovaks, once Christianized, openly rebelled against Christianity and reverted to paganism. This is evidence that the SlovaJks of the early 9th century were under the influence of Christianity for several generations. They were converted to Christianity by missionaries who came from countries in which Christianity was already sufficiently developed and prepared for missionary activities among their pagan neighbors. There are certain indications that missionaries from the southern countries tried to spread Christianity on the territory of the Slovans (Slov,anic peoples) along the Danube River rwho were subjugated by the Avars before the end of the sixth century. The centers of this missionary activity were the ·b ishoprics and monasteries situated on the Adriatic Sea or in the northern countries of the Balkan Peninsula, where remnants of an ecclesiastical organization have been preserved. 1 But systematic missionary activity in this area, which included the territory of the ancient Slova.iks, was developed by missionaries from Bavaria. Christianity came to Bavaria both on the Danube and on the Rhine through soldiers and merchants. 2 Then, as is well :known, at first Irish, and later Frankish and AngloSa.xJon missionaries sowed the seed of the Gospel in the hearu; of the rude warriors. Among those missionaries were: St. Kilian and his ,p upils Colonat (Coloman) and Totnan at WtiriJburg; in the Alpgau region !St. Magnus; at Ratisbon and Freising St. Rupert, St. Emuneram and St. Corbinian.3 Stricter regulations were introduced by Winfrid (St. Boniface), familiarly known as the "Apostle of the Germans." St. Columban came to Bavaria from France, while St. Gall :was active in southern Germany and in 612 settled in what later became Switzerland. 2 SLOVAKIA St. Co11binian, the Apostle of Central Bavaria, worked in and out of ·F lreising where there was an Irish monastery, the monks of which later foll!Ilded other monasteries, among them the one established in 769 at Innichen in the Tyrol. This latter monastery had the special task to spread Christianity in neighboring Corutania which was inhabited by the Slovenes (ISlovinci). The Irish bishop St. Emmeram resided in Regensburg where he built a monastery and became its abbot with the dignity of a bishop.t Because the city was situated on the Danube, on the road that connected Bavaria with the territory of the Danubian Slovanic peoples, it had all the prerequisites for missionary work among them. St. Rupert, Bishop of Worms, ba,ptized Duke Theodo of Bavaria, erected at Waldersee a church in honor of St. Peter, and at the end of the seventh century made Juvavum (Salzburg), where he found the ruins of Roman buildings, his episcopal seat.5 The monastery, which St. Rupert built there in honor of St. Peter, became an important center for the activity of the Irish monks in Bavaria. From the life history of St. Emmeram we learn that he did .plan to do mission wor,k among the A vars. He actually left Bavaria but on the advice of the Bavarian prince remained in Regensburg, so that he himself did not get to the territory of the A vars and the Slovans (Slovanic peoples) whom the Avars dominated. There is evidence, however, that some members of his group, or some Irish missionaries from the Regensburg monastery, did some missionary work there. 6 The first Christian church on Slovak territory, built by Prince Pribina at Nitra, was dedicated to St. E)mmeram. in 833. It is significant, too, that among the churches built ,b y Slovak rulers in the ninth century in Pannonia, there is one dedicated to St. Rupert, Bishop of Salzburg. 7 In the eighth century quite a few Benedictine monasteries were established in Bavaria and Austria. One of the most significant was the monastery at Tegernsee, whose members did missionary work among the Al,p ian Slovans and also founded the monastery of St. Hippolitus in Lower Austria. It appears that it was this monastery of St. Hippolitus that was charged with the task of doing missionary work on the territory of Slovakia: on the slope of Mt. Zobor, near Nitra - the seat of Slovak princes, a monastery SLOVAKIA 3 was built and dedicated to St. llippolitus. We do not know exactly when this monastery was founded, but there are indications that it was early in the 9th century. The Mt. Zobor Benedictine monastery wery well could have been a mission station of the Bavarian missionaries who labored in ancient Slovakia. 8 The Irish mission, which developed in Bavaria and extended to the lands occupied by the Avars and Slovans, had no political character; there was no political power backing it. Bavarian missionaries, however, alongside their religious and ecclesiastical mission fulfilled also a political role: there activity, especially at the end of the 8th century, had the full support of the Frankish Empire. Working out of Salzburg, missionaries ,b egan to develop their activity on the territory of the Slovanic tribes who had occupied the Danubian region and the eastern spurs of the Alps. In the beginning, while the Danubian Slovans ('Slovaks) were dominated by the Avars, the Salzburg missionaries worked more on the territory of the Corutanian Slovans (Slovenes-Slovinci) which was more accessible from Salzburg. The influence of Salzburg extended to Corutania already some time in the half of the eighth century, that is, in the very early years of the Bavarian ecclesiastical organization. It is more than probaJble that the Salzburg missionaries visited also other Slovanic provinces, especially Trans-Danubian Pannonia which was settled by Slovak tribes. They had to work cautiously ,a nd covertly, since the dominating Avars were .p agans.9 It is also very probable that missionaries from the Passau vicinity visited the Slovak tribes along the Danube and its tributaries. Some of the monasteries located near the banks of the Danube were devoted to mission work from their inception and it is very probable that they labored among the ancient Slovaks who suffered Avar hegemony. Of course, systematic and effective missionary activity could be developed by the Bavarian apostles only after the Frankish armies of Charles the Great (Charlemagne) subdued the Avars in the last decade of the eighth century and the Frankish Empire displayed a great interest in the extensive territory. Bishop Arno of Salzburg was entrusted by Charlemagne with the work of Christianizing the Avar- 4 SLOVAKIA Slovanic lands. When the latter suggested that Bishop Arno be elevated to an archbishop, Pope Leo m obliged in 798. 10 Letters, which the learned .Aibbot Alcuin wrote to the Archbishop of Sal~burg and to Charlemagne, reveal the preparations made for mission work among the Avars and Slovanic peoples; they learned their language to some extent, translated current prayers and the texts used for confession and baptism. The linguistic characteristics of these ancient literary souvenirs, probably from the end of the eighth and the beginning of the ninth century, prove that Bavarian missionaries did la,,bor on the territory of the ancient Slovaks. 11 Salzburg fulfilled its mission role during the lifetime of Archbishop Arno and continued in it under his succes-sors. Naturally, the Salzburg missionaries developed their actilvity first of all on the territory that was most accessible to them. This was Trans-Danubian Pannonia, which was occupied for the most part by Slovwk tribes who in the southwestern part af this country had contacts with the Slovene tribes. Among the missionaries, who came from Sabiburg, were also missionary bishops who, by the authority af the Archbishop of Salzburg, exercised ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Pannonia. Bishop Deodoric was one of them; he labored in Pannonia also under Archbishop Arno's successor, Archbishop Adalram (&21-836). Later, during the lifetime of Archbishop Adalwin (859-873), Bishop Osbald was head of the mission work Pannonia. 12 After the victory of the Fra:n'ks over the A vars a new situation arose on the German-Slovanic border on the middle Danube. Charlemagne sought to Christianize the peoples he subjugated. On the territory occupied by the Frankish armies, after the defeat of the Avars, on both ban!ks of the middle Danube, the East Mark (Ostmark) was established, which became the immediate neighbor of the land accupied by the Slovaks. In comparison with the Germans, the SlovaJks, and all Slovans generally, lagged behind in their political and cultural development. 13 Reports of Frankish chroniclers began to speak in a clear language how individual Slovanic tribes were forced under the sovereignty of the Frankish kings. Accorrnng to these reports representatives of Slovanic tribes came to German towns to pay SLOVAKIA fj tribute to the German king. Among the first Slovanic princes, representatives of the Slovak tribes were also present. The report of 8~5 relates about chieftains and messengers of all Slovans, who lived along the eastern border of the Frankish Empire. The report of 822 states that the Empire Assembly, called to Frankfurt by Louis the Pious, was attended also by representatives of the Czechs, Moravians, and even the Avars who still remained in Pa:nnonia. All delegations came with gifts, for Louis, which demonstrated that the Slovanic tribes rec.ognized the Gennan sovereign as their master. 14 The Slovaks in this report appear under the name of Moravians, because in those times thus were indicated the Slovanic tribes which had settled on both sides of the Morava River. They were the Slovak tribes which settled on the territories of present day Moravi,a and Slovakia and were also called "iSloveni." We do not know exactly how many tribes composed the Slovak Moravians, but we can assume that they formed a tribal alliance made up of several tribes. According to some reports there were eleven Slovak tribes north of the Danube. Besides these there also were several tribes on the southern bank, on the territory of Pannonia, but these were not called Moravians. 15 From available records, it would appear that at the beginning of the 9th century the Slovak tribes were divided into three groups. The western group occupied both sides of the Morava River and was, therefore, called Moravian. The eastern group, settled on the plains, valleys and basins of present-day .Slovakia, was indicated by the name "Sloveni." The third group, disrupted both by Avar hegemony and anti-Avar wars and settled on the territory of TransDanubian Pannonia, also belonged to the ''Sloveni". 16 The three groups formed one tribal alliance, united by a bond of common origin, close relationship and a common language, settled on connected territory on the middle Danube, appearing under a common name and endur.ing or sharing, at least partially and for a time, even a common historic lot. History tells us that Archbishop Adalram of Salzburg came to Slowlkia to bless a church in Nitra, the seat of the Slovak Prince Pribina. Since he was Archbishop of 6 SLOVAKIA Saraburg from 821 to 836, this event must have taken place within those yeaTS, most .p robably a,'bout 833. The report of this blessing for the first time mentions the name of a Slovak ruler, the seat of Slovak princes and the Christian church built on the territory of ,p resent-day Slov~kia. There were, however, more churches in Pannonia, where the Slovaks had accepted Christianity at the beginning of the 9th century through the Bavarian missionaries. The greatest significaJllce of this event, however, is that it mar,ks the entrance of the Slovaiks into Christian society, the society of the cultured nations of Europe. The Slovaks are, therefore, not only the oldest Slovanic inhabitants of the Danube B~in, but also the oldest cultured nation on the middle Danube. 17 While Prince Pribina united the SlovaJk tribes of pre.sent day Slovakia and was related to the Slovak tribes of Pannonia, Prince Mojmiir united the Slovak tribes on both sides of the Morava River. Pribina's seat of government was the Nitra Castle, while that of Mojmir was Devin. Mojmir's people were Christianized by the Bavarian missionaries who came from the monasteries of the Passau bishopric. In time a struggle for supremacy took place and in the end Mojmir won out, banishing Pri-bina from Nitra. Mojmir thus became the ruler of all the Slovak tribes above the north bank of the Danube. Neighbol'ling on the exipanding Frankish Empire, the Slova!ks recognized the need for unification in the interest of their own security and welfare. Mojmir, the stronger Oif the two Slovak princes, imposed his will on Plribina without bloodshed and, it would appear, with thte a,p.proval of the Frankish sovereign. Pribina, his wife and son, Kocel', escorted by several magnates, were given asylum by Count Ratbod, Margrave of the Eastern Mark (Ostmark). There he sought the aid of the Frankish sovereign to regain his Nitra principality.18 &successful and falling out with Ratbod, Pribina, still intent on regainig his former principality, sougtht the aid of the Bulgairians, but to no avaiil. Then he went to Ratimir, the Croatian prince, who ruled the country along the Sava River, but he, too, could not help him, because he had his own troubles with the ,F rankish king. In 838, King Louis the German ordered Ratbod to subdue the troublesome SLOVAKIA 7 subjects of Raltimir. In the battle that ensued, Ratimir was fortunate to escape, as was Pribina and his retinue. Wearied and dejected, Pribina crossed the Sava River and asked Count Salach of Corutania to attempt a reconciliation with Ratbod. 19 After Pribina made his peace with Ratbod, the latter used his influence witill King Louis the German who entrusted Pribina (in 847) with a principality in Pannonia, near Blatno. There Pribina built a formidable citadel which was called Blatnohrad (Moosburg). Prince Pribina build churches and endowed monasteries, and often welcomed the h-chbishop of Salzburg to his court.20 His son Kocef continued in his work: 32 churches were built in Pannonia. m the meantime, ~arlmann, oldest son of Louis the German, allied himse1f with Rastislav, ruler of Great Moravia and revolted against his father. Pribina remained loyal to the dcing. He lost his life in 861 in one of the many skirmishes with warriors of Rastislav, Slovak prince and Mojmir's nephew, who governed the Nitra principality.21 MojmiiI''s success in organizing a strong principality, uniting Slovak tribes and gaining the favor of the magnates, roused the suspicions of the Frankish king. AB a result Mojmir was unseated in 846 by King Louis the German, who then made Rastislav the governor of Great Moravia, the land of the Slovaks. .Prince Rastislav continued in his uncle's footsteps, building a stronger and mightier Great Moravia, which Kmg Louis eventually regarded with growing concern. The result was mutual distrust which led to the invasion of Rastislav's territory by the Frankish king in the spring of 855, when the Bavarian .Alrmy under Count Ernst invia.ded the Ozech lands. Louis attacked Rastislav's anny, but was repulsed. Not being aible to penetrate Rastislav's defense positions, Louis withdrew and in his rage ravaged the land of the Slovaks. Rastislav · retaliated in kind, took over the offensive, chased Louis out of the country and laid waste the German territory on the Danube.22 After this victory Rastislav gaive serious thought to organizing an ecclesiastical province in his land, one which would not be dependent on the Bavarian province, because he fully appreciated what the German missionaries. were 8 SLOVAKIA doing for the Frankish Empire: they spread not only Christianity but endeavored to extend tihe empire. Rastislav decided to emulate the Franks who influenced and were recognired by the Cln.1.rch. In 860, Rastislav sent a special mismon to Pope Nicholas I, in Rome with a request for missionaries who could speak the language of his people. After quite some delay, the mission returned to report to Rastislav, that the Pope could not oblige, ,b ecause there were no such missionaries in Rome. It was then, in 862, that Rastislav sent a delegation to Emperor Michael LH, to Constantinople, with the same request. The mission was successful. The saintly brothers, Consoontine (Cyril) and Methodius, came to the land of Rastislav, the homeland of the ancient Slovaks, in 863, to complete the work of Ohristianizing the Slovaks.23 REFERENCES 1. iDr. Frantisek Hrus ovsky : Sfovenski Vladari, Obrana Pre ss, Inc., !Scranton, Pa., 1948, p. 45. 2. iEiuber:Geschichte der Einfilhrung und Verbreitung des Chrlstenthums in SUdosten Deutschlands, Salzburg, 1874-75, 4 Vols.; Hefele : Geschichte der EinfUhrung des Christenthums im Siidwestlichen Deutschland, TU.bingen, 1837. 3. The Catholic Encyclopedia : Bavaria. 4. Hrui§ovsky, op. cit., p . 51. 6. The Oathollc Encyclopedia : Salzburg. 6. Hrusov,s ky : op. cit., p. 62. 7. ['bid em, p. 63. 8. IJlbidem, P. 55. 9. ,Ibidem, p. 60. 10. !llbid-em, p . 61. 11. lllbidem, pp. 63-64. 12. Elidem, p. 65. 13. 'Ilb!dem, p . 70. H. •I lbidem, p . 73. 15. i11bidem, p . 74. 16. \Ibidem, p. 7 4. 17. Jibiilem, p. 79 ; Hrusov.sky : Slovens kc dejiny, M atica Slovenska, Turciansky Svaty Martin, 1940; pp. 3'3-34 ; Gi!lbert L . Oddo : Slovakia And Its People, Robert Speller & S ons, New York, 1960 ; p. 10; Joseph M. Kirschbaum: Slovakia - Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, Robert Speller & Sons, New York, 1960.; p . 16. 18. Hrusovsky: Slovenski Vladari, pp. 84--86. 19. Ilbidem, p . 87. 20. illbidem, P. 91. 21. lllbidem, p. 95. 12. Ilbidem, p . 116. .23. l'bid~m, p . 134 . . .  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource How Christianity Came to the Slovaks Description An account of the resource P. A. Hrobák Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 1-8 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/4f2af75243484897307a179315cab34a.pdf 9f221d4cbd3972e47a783e0e280c74f2 PDF Text Text 64 SLOVAKIA A HUNDRED YEARS OF THE MATICA SLOVENSKA IMRICH KRUZLIAK The concept of the Matica Sloven.ska. (The Slovak Institute of the Arts and Sciences) has its roots far in the times before its establishment in 1863. The earlier learned societies, federations of intellectuals, which often had only a confessional or local character, can be considered as the predecessors of the Matica Slovenska.: The Learned Society of Maly Hont, Societas Slavica, The Learned Society of the mining (Banska) area; also The Slovak Learned Society of Bernolaik, Hamuliak's Society of Admirers of the Slovak Language and Literature, and the Tatrin of Ludovit Stur. The programs of the last three societies were adopted by the Matica Slovenska.. Besides domestic efforts to establish the Matica Slovenska, we must also mention Safa.rik's interest who, at that time, was the director of the Serbian Gymnazium in Novy Sad. He used to write to his countrymen in Slovakia, particularly after the founding of the Serbian Matica in 1823 - which was founded with this help - to give serious thought to the idea of establishing a similar society in Slovakia. Safarik wrote a:bout the matter to, among others, Hamuliak, Kollar and Palacky. Hamuliak liked the idea very much, so much fo fact that, in 1857, when he was about to retire, he donated his personal library to the gymnazium at Banska. Bystrica only on tihe condition that it be handed over to the Matica Slovenska as soon as it was established. M. that time Hamuliak attempted to organize a literary society in Banska. Bystrica, which would be headed by Safarik, a recognized scientific authority. There were several such similar efforts in Slovakia in those years, but not one of them was realized. The Magyar authorities woulq not allow a charter either to Hamuliak or to Stur. With tihe revolutionary years at hand, 1848-49, the Slovaks, too, t ook up arms to seek political freedom. Having failed in the attempt, the Slovaks had to travel the bitter road of sacrifice and oppression. Many hopes were crushed, many enthusiasts were silenced, and many �SLOVAKIA 65 more self-sacrificing Slovaks withdrew to the background. Nevertheless, the concept of the Matica did not die, but continued to live in the hearts and minds of the people, awaiting an opportune moment. In 1859, a Slovak patriot, Natan J. Petian, bequeathed 9,000 Gold Crowns for the establishment of the Matica. Two years prior to that, Jonas Zaborsky established a literary foundation with the Czeoh Matica to support the publication of Slovak works, with the reservation, however, that the foundation be transferred to the Matica Slovenska once it came into being. Then followed the historical year 1861, the year of the famous Slovak Memorandum which brought new hopes to the Slovaks. Representatives of the Slovak provinces of Hungary came to Tuiiciansky Sviity Martin to the public meeting arranged for June 6-7, 1861. There in the presence of thousands of people they wholeheartedly adopted the historical Memorandum of the Slovak Nation, with which they hoped to gain recognition for national and political individuality and the political rights to which they felt entitled. There it was, too, that the decision was made to request permission to establish the Matica Slovenska. Emperor Francis Joseph very graciously received the Slovak delegation, headed by Bishop Stephen Moyses, on December 12, 1861. Impressed by the Memorandum, he promised to comply with their righteous requests. The Slovaks were jubilant, figuring that the way was cleared to establish the Matica Slovenska. In Pest'., Jan Franci sci worked feverishly to complete the By-Laws of the Matica; the work was ready on August 1. But the local regency council returned the By-Laws to Francisci, because it found that t:he Matica Slovenska would also be interested in political action. The Magyar authorities also opposed naming the building of the Matica the "Home of the Slovak Nation." Furthermore, they would not permit the organization of affiliates in Slovak communities and cities; they wished to limit the activity and influence of the Matica and make it subject to the control of a royal commissioner. Difficulties were also encountered when it came to selecting a location for the Matica. At first the Matica Slovenska was to be located at Brezno-above-the-Hron (Brez- �66 SLOVAKIA no nad Hronom). The town council had given its approval, but later recalled it, after pressure was applied by royal commissioner Havas of Zvolen. Other Slovak towns wanted the Matica, particularly Turciansky Svaty Martin and Liptovsky Sva.ty Mikulas. The St. Martin town iI'epresentat!on said that it considered it "a most sacred duty" to offer residence to the Matica Slovenska. On October 29, 1862, the local regency council announced the decision of the Emperor who had, by decree, on August 21, allowed the establishment of the Matica Slovenska. The temporary committee of the Matica proclaimed the joyous news in the Pesfbudinske Vedomosti on November 4, 1862. Thereupon a membership drive and a campaign for funds were instituted. The committee then called a meeting of the Matica on August 4, 1863. From, the fall of 1862 to the end of July 1863, more than 50,000 Gold Crowns were collected for the Matica. Francisci at that time joyously exclaimed: "My dear nation, you are indeed arising from the dust, but you are rising as a giant!" The Foundation of the Matica Slovenska On August 4, 1863, great throngs of Slovaks from practically all parts of Slovakia travelled to Turciansky Svaty Martin for the first general meeting of the Matica Slovenska.. Bishop Stephen Moyses was wildly acclaimed along the route to Martin by hundreds of thousands of his countrymen. After he had led the Slovak delegation in December, 1861, to the Emperor, Bishop Moyses became the most popular man in Slovakia, the leader of the Slovak people. In St. Martin, Charles Kuzma.ny, a Lutheran clergyman, welcomed Moyses with a memorable speech in whioh he sad: "Entire milleniums now look upon you and upon us from the height of these hills; all the valleys of our hallowed Tatra Mountains to the blue Danube gaze upon you with the eyes of the here present matured generation and from the faces of these children there looks upon you and upon llS the entire future of the Slovak nation. You are going to perform an act for the entire history of this nation, a monument to the past and a foundation for the future, the �SLOVAKIA 67 twofold gate, closed for the injustices of the past and opened for the glory of future ages." Tihe meeting was opened by Jan Francisci, chairman of the temporary committee, who, among other things, said: "We, the sons of the Slovak nation:, which had no haven to turn to in the face of injustice, have gathered here to place the cornerstone on which shall rest the temple and stability of Slovak national life." Wihen Francisci asked Bishop Moyses to preside at the meeting, the multitude went wild with joy. The spontaneous acclamation accorded Bishop Moyses was tantamount to electing him the first president of the Matica Slovenska. After the crowd quieted down, Bishop Moyses said: "Where there is a question of honors and decorations, I always like to be the last, because I do not and never did yearn for honors . . . Where, 1h owever, there is a question of service to my Slovak people and willingness to render service, as well as sacrifices for the development of our nation, I never did withdraw, I am not going to withdraw, I do not wish to withdraw, and I shall not withdraw... " Charles_Kuzmany became vice-president of the Matica. Francisci and Daxner were nominated for the function, to honor them for the services they rendered to the Slovak nation, but they declined the nomination, as they had agreed to beforehand t!hat the office should go to Kuzmany, who at that time had been expelled from Banska Bystrica by the enemies of the Slovak cause and had been accepted by the ecclesiastical community in Turciansky Svaty Martin. There were also other tactical reasons for this move. The Slovaks did not wish to have politically exposed individuals at the head of the Matica, especially not those who had taken an active part in the revolution. The personalities of Moyses and Kuzmany, representing ·b oth confessions (Catholic and Lutheran), reflected the solidarity and unity of the Slovak nation. In the act of allowing the establishment of the Matica, the Slovaks saw the recognition of the existence of the Slovak nation on the part of the Emperor. His gift of a thousand Gold Crowns to the Matica was joyously ac- �68 SLOVAKIA claimed by the Slovaks. When the Slovaks learned that the Emperor had named Bishop Moyses as his personal counsellor, their joy knew no bounds. The convention ordered a delegation to visit the Emperor to express its sin- ----cere gratefulness and fealty. The First Period of the Matica (1863-1875) The Matica Slovenska began its activity in 1863, that is, in the year the Slovaks commemorated the millenium of the advent of Sts. Cyril and Methodius to the territory of ancient Slovaks, Great Moravia. At that time there were grandiose celebrations in various cities of Slovakia, whereby the Slovaks demonstrated their cultural and political antiquity. J. M. Hurban had this in mind when, at the Matica meeting, he moved that "the establishment of the Matica Slovenska take place in commemoration of the CyriloMethodian baptism and the thousand-year-old Christianity of our nation." Because Sts. Cyril and Methodius brought to our forefathers not only Christianity but also the elements of Slovak literature, Bishop Moyses "wholeheartedly agreed with the motion of Dr. Hurban," as S. H. Vajansky later recorded. The establishment of the Matica Slovenska. was followed attentively by other Slovanic nations. The Croatian Bishop Strossmayer donated a thousand Gold Crowns to the Matica which sought the favor and support of cultural factors of other Slovanic nations. At its first and second meetings, the Matica elected outstanding Slovanic scholars as charter and honorary members. Paragraph 32 of the Matica By-Laws noted its cooperation with other Slovanic cultural institutions. According to paragraph 1, the Matica Slovenska was "a union of admirers of the nation and Slovak life" and it chief aim was: to cultivate and propagate Slovak literature and the fine arts, as well as to rouse moral and intellectual education and thereby also aid the material welfare of the Slovak nation. The cooperation of the intelligentsia and the people was the prerequisite to the cucce.ss of Matica activity. Bishop Moyses stressed this in his speeches. The Matica, from its very beginning, unfolded its acti- �SLOVAKIA 69 vity in two fields: the field of science and the field of enlightenment, that is in the field of educating people. The building of a great library and mus~um were on its program. Unfortunately, the activity of the Matica was dependent on the success of public drives for finances. And because the amounts raised thusly were less and less with passing years, they were not sufficient to c01Ver the needs of the Matica. John Gotcar suggested that the government subsidize the •a ctivity of the Matica as it did in the case of Magyar and German institutions. The matter was brought up in parliament, but the majority of deputies repudiated it. In the first period of its existence, the Matica published books and periodicals, built its home, supported the alumnea of the Slovak gymnasiums, gave stipends to students, and supported the artists Bohuii and Klemens. Altogether in these twelve years (1863-1875), the Matica published 40 books and newspapers, Moyses's and Kozacek's speeches in the Matica, which it distributed gratis among the people, two volumes of the Archives of Old Documents, a souvenir book to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Mikulas Subic Zrinsky, Dobsinsky's articles about Slovak folklore, two volumes of Slovak national songs and tales, a National Almanac, a Slovak Reader, Slovak school texts; then it also sought to fix orthographical usage according to Hattala's grammar, and even devoted itself to geological research in Slovakia. There were <voices that the Matica devote itself only to scientific activity. Jonas Zaborsky was especially vocal about this. But the Matica could not do this, because the need to educate the people at large was very great. From 1868, the Matica began to develop several scientific departments which became the motivators of Matica activity especially in its second period, after 1919. In the first period these departments could not sufficiently develop their activity because of the lack workers and financial means. In a few years the Matica gained so much respect and weight with the Slovak public that Vajansky, evaluating its activity, wrote gleefully: "For the Slovak nation the Matica was everything on which could depend our national feeling, national consciousness, national pride and hope." �70 SLOVAKIA The assemblies of the Matica, especially after Slovak cultural and economic life began to be concentrated in St. Martin, were important national and social occasions, during which Slovaks discussed their plans for the future. Thanks to the Matica, St. Martin became the bastion of the defensiive battle of the Slovaks and the cradle of Slovak activities. After Bishop Moyses's death in 1869, the office of president was left vacant for one year, out of deference to the Bishop, then Abbot Jozef Koza.eek took over the office. The participation of the Matica delegates in the various festivities of Slovanic nations meant much to the Slovaks politically and nationally. The Magyar authorities were alert; they readily recognized such activity as anti-Magyar, that is, "anti-State." Already in 1867, Vtliam Pauliny Toth complained that Slovak patriots were being vilified and made suspect of treason just because they were members of the Matica. This also characterized the position of the Matica. When the Matica Slovenska came into being, the conditions were not at all favorable for the national and cultural life of the Slovaks. The authorities repeatedly acc.uaed the Matica of "Pan-Slavism" and of making preparations to destroy Hungary. Soon enough the fight against the Matica was identified with the fight against the Slovak nation, against the freedom and independence of the Slovak nation: to Slovaks it became increasingly clear that probably the last fight for their national survival was at hand. In vain did officials of the Matica try to convince the Magyar State officials that their institution was not an enemy of the State. The Magyar press increased its attacks against everything Slov,ak, declaring: "the Slovak is not a man . . . there is no Slovak nation . . . The Slovaks are Pan-Slavists, enemies of the State . . . There is no Slovak language . . . the official and only recognized tongue in Hungary is Magyar." Slovak leaders felt the Matica's days were numbered. At the general meeting of the Matica on August 5, 1874, more Slovaks came to St. Martin than had come during the previous ten years. Daniel Lichard said �SLOVAKIA 71 on that occasion: (we are not supposed to exist) "nevertheless here we a.re!" The cause of the Slovaks once again seemed hopeless. After the settlement with Austria was reached in 1867, resulting in the Dual-Monarchy (Austria-Hungary), the Magyars had absolute control of Hungary with over half its population being non-Magyar. In Pest, the name of the Matica Slovenska was on the blacklist. The Magyars instituted hearings against the Matica on November 19, 1875, outlawed its activities on April 6, 1875, and dissolived it on November 12, 1875, by order of the Minister of the Interior, Koloman Tisza. The property of the Matica was confiscated only to be used against the Slovaks: Tisza declared cynically that the property cannot be given to the Slovak nation, because "in Hungary there is no Slovak nation." The Slovaks, however, were now more determined than ever to fight for their national survival against Magyar chauvinism. The Matica was not to be revived until 1919. The Matica's Second Period (1919-1954) Forty-four years had to elapse before the Matica Slovenska was revived. During that time many political changes had taken place. Old Hungary was split up and the Slovak nation-whose existence was denied by Koloman Tisza in 1875-was able to form a state in 1918. Much had been neglected since 1875; there was much to do for the Matice Slovenska after the collapse of Austria-Hungary. On January 1, 1919, representatives of the Slovak people, the sons of the founders of the Matica, gathered solemnly at Turciansky Svaty Martin to open the gates of the Matica in the newly-formed Czecho-Slovak State. Thus began its second period of activity, which was to last until 1954, when Matica activities came to an end at the hands of Communists. It soon became evident that the troubles of the Matica were not over and new storm clouds gathered over Slovakia to test anew the political capacity and political maturity of the Slovaks. That the struggles over the spiritual individuality of the Slovak nation - which this time were evoked by a mistaken "Czechoslovak" national conception- �72 SLOVAKIA were transferred over to the arena of the Matica, clearly demonstrated its important role in the life of the Slovaks. In this period, right from the beginning, the head of the Matica w.as Jozef Skultety, a direct descendant of the generation from the first Matica period. He was a worthy successor of the first Matica presidents, a recognized national authority, and a defender of the Moyses-Kuzmany tradition. Until 1932, Stefan Krcmery was executive secretary of the Matica; Jozef C. Hronsky succeeded Krcmery. When Hronsky became executive director of the Matica during the lifetime of the Slovak Republic (1939-1945), the secretaryship went to Jan Martak. The activity of the Matica during this period was twofold: scientific work and public instruction. The Matica attracted writers and educators, scientific workers, priests and students; it organized local units in many towns and communities. The tradition and the spirit of the Matica Slovenska. did not fit into the pattern of the concept of the "Czechoslovak" nation, which the Czechs defined as a single ethnic entity for world consumption. The Czechs, however, knew they were Czechs a,nd not Slovaks or "Czechoslovaks"and the Slovaks lmew they were Sl<Waks and not Czechs or "Czechoslovaks." The defenders and promoters of the "Czechoslovak" ideology, having the support of Czech politicians made an attempt to anchor themselves in the Matica and to influence especially the work of its linguistic and historic departments. Under their guidance the Matica, in 1931, publtshed the "Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu" (Rules of Slovak Orthography) which did not conform to the legality or purity of literary Slovak. This evoked a storm of opposition in Slovakia which was quelled with the victory of the Slovak tendency during the mass meeting of the Matica on May 12, 1932. The heralds and promoters of the conception of the "Czechoslovak" language and the "Czechoslovak" nation were voted out of office at this meeting and Jozef C. Hronsky, one of the most eminent of modern Slovak n<Wellists, was elected executive secretary of the Matica Slovenska. The Matica events evoked a strong response in the political life of the Slovaks, especially am~g the younger �SLOVAKIA 73 generation. At the end of June, 1932, members of this generation, representing all political parties, held ,a conference at Trencianske Teplice at which they unanimously backed a federated Czecho-Slovak State. It was from their rank's that the Matica recruited tl\e workers it needed to fulfil its mission. Historian Dr. Frantisek Hrusovsky was named secretary of the scientific departments of the Matica in 1934; Dr. Henrich Bartek and Dr. tudovit Nova.kl specialized as linguists; Dr. Andrew Mraz, Dr. Stanislav Meciar and Dr. Jan Marta.k were given the t~k of developing the ,h istory of Slovak literature; Dr. Jozef Cincik specialized in the art department; and Karol Plicka's forte was ethnology. As soon as the Matica Slovenska. was revived after World War I, it began to publish the literary monthly review "Slovenske Pohfady," which had been founded by Jozef M. Hurban in 1845. The indi'Vidual departments of the Matica gradually began to publish their own magazines. In time the Matica also publit;hed periodicals, such as "Slovensko" (review of culture in general), "Slovenska Rec" (linguistic) , "Slniecko" (youth magazine) , and others. The Matica's "Pedagogicky Zbornik' (Pedagogical Magazine) was, for many years, the only magazine of its kind in the entire Czecho-Slovak Republic. The Matica also supported amateur theater productions and published "Nase Divadlo" (Our Theater); Ferdinand Hoffman specialized in t~ field. Of course, the Matica Slovenska published various literary works of many authors-Slovak and non-Slova:kfor the edification and reading pleasure of the Slovaks: scientific and artistic tomes, children's readers and story books; the collected works of the Slovak classics; translations from foreign literature; textbooks; Rules of Orthography; Rizner's Bibliography of Slovak Letters (6 Vols.); Polivka's "Supis Slovenskych Rozpra.vok" (Inventory of Slovak Tales), etc. The Matica Slovenska. expanded its activities enormously during the life of the Slovak Republic (1939-1945), when its membership and staff personnel reached its highest peak. It was under Hronsky that the Matica built the great book-printing plant Neografia, one of the most modern in Central Europe. --- �74 SLOVAKIA From 1919 to 1944, the Matica Slovenska multiplied. Slovak literary and scientific works as never before. The reason for this was not only a more favorable climate, but especially because the Matica had the services of able and devoted men like Jozef Skultety, Stefan Krcmery, Jozef C. Hronsky, Frantisek Hrusovsky, and many others. At the end of World War II, the complexion of the Matica Slovenska changed completely. With Dr. Edward Benes, Stalin's errand boy, in the president's chair againthe same chair he voluntarily and willingly gave u,p in October, 1938, to flee to England - a Communist beachhead was established in Czecho-Slovakia, in the heart of Europe. A question mark hung over the fate of the Matica. Even though the first indications were that the Matica would be able to continue its wo:r1k, as the days and months rolled by the political power of the "people's democratic regime" began to intervene more and more in the :work of the Matica, violating its tradition and direction. For the first time in the history of the Matica, its president became an exposed politician, Laco N ovomesky, the Commissioner of Education. And the worst of it was that the Matica in those years had no personalities who could protect it with the weight of their authority. Jozef Skultety was a very old man, and the new director of the Matica, Dr. Jan Martak, lacked firmness. Under the circumstances, for which Slovak patriots cannot be held responsible, the Matica Slovenska was completely controlled by the Communists, even though the "Slovak Democrats" of Dr. Jozef Lettrich won 62 per cent of the Slovak electorate in 1946. Old workers were retired, investigated, jailed, disfranchised and persecuted. Already in 1945 it was quite apparent that the Matica was fast becoming a tool of communistic cultural politics. Even the name "Matica Sloven.ska" bothered the Reds. It meant something special, it was a symbol of the efforts and the masses of the people that were opposed to Communism; and the Reds feared that the hundreds of local assem!blies of the Matica could well .become dangerous centers or cells of anti-Communist resistance. It so happened that the Communist regime, by order of the Slovak National Council of April 'l:l, 1954, put a �Sl..OVAKIA 75 stop to the work of the Matica. The Matica building was changed into a central library and the State appropriated the property of the Matica. Shades of 1875 (when the Magyars dissolved the Matica) ! Attempts were made to organize a Matica Slovenska outside of Slovakia by Slovak exiles in the free world, notably by Hronsky, in 1959, in Argentina, with little success, however, thus far. About the closest thing to the Matica was organized in Cleveland, Ohio, by the Right Rev. Theodore J. Kojis, O.S.B., Abbot of St. Andrew-Svorad's Abbey, on September 15, 1952. It is called the Slovak Institute (Slovensky Ustav) and is devoted to practically the same work as the Matica of Slovakia. Lack of finances and personnel limit its activity, but the Slovak Institute of Cleveland, Ohio, nevertheless, is a going institution. Dr. Frantisek Hrusovsky, eminent Slovak historian, was the Institute's first director. His untimely death in 1956 was a setback for the Institute. Cleveland's Slovak Institute, however, definitely holds out the promise of a better future under the directorship of the youthful but energetic Father Andrew Pier, 0, S. B. The Institute has already proved its worth and deserves the support of all Slovaks in the free world. An earlier attempt to found a Matica Slovenska in America was made by Rev. Stephen Furdek of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1893. The meeting he called for Chicago, ID., Sept. 26, 1893, was attended by some 100 Slovak leaders, clergymen and layman, who approved the idea. The organization just about got off the ground when it folded because of dissention in Slovak ranks and lack of vision, tolerance and understanding among Slovak leaders. The Matica quit operation after August, 1899. BIBLIOGRAPHY Frantisek Bokes: Dejiny Slovenska a Slovakov, Bratislava, 1946; Viliam Pauliny-T6th, Turo. Sv. Martin, 194-2. JuHus Botto: Dejiny Matice slovenakej 1863-1875, Turi!. Sv. Martin, 1923. Konstanitln Culen : Rc>ky alove-nakych nadeji a sklamani 1843-1875, Tmava, 1932. Frantillek Hrusovaky : Slovenaky Uatav v Clevelande, reprint from "MOST"-Vol. 2, No. 2, 1955, Cleveland, Ohio. AJ-oj11: KoUse'k: U28. Borba katolfkov za alovenclnu a slobodu, Bratislava, �76 SLOVAKIA Stefa.n Krcmery: Stopit'desiat rokov elovenskej literatury, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1943. Da,nieiJ. Lichard: Rozhovory o Slovenskej Matici, Viedeii, 1865. Jan ,Mart.A'k: Otok na spisovnu 1lovenoi1nu, Turi!. Sv. Martin, 1942. Andrej Mra.z: Jozef Skult6ty, Tu~. Sv. Mar.Un, 1933; Matica slovenekA v rokoch 1863-1875, Tu.re. Sv. MarMn, 193-6. Jan V. Ol'lllis: Zo 1loven1kej minuloati narodnej a literarnej, Pra:ha, 1932. Stefan Pasiar: Dejiny slovenakych l'udovych kniinic, Martin, 1957. Eugen Pauliny: Dejiny spiaovnej 1lovenciny, Bratislava, 19·48. MiLam. P4M.t: Dejiny slovenakej literatury, Bratislava., 1960. Daniel Rapant: K pociatkom madarizacie, Bratis lava, 19.2-'7 and 1931; Tatrin, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1•950. Sbornik na poceat' Jozefa SkultHyho, Turi!. Sv. Martin, 1933. Jozef Skultety: Slivnoat' Mial!ice 1lovenakej ozivotvorenej, T,uro. Sv. Martin, 1919; Stodvadsat'pit' rokov zo alovenak6ho zivota 17901914, Turi!. Sv. Mlllrtin, 1•9 20; 0 Slovakoch, Turi!. Sv. Mal'tin, 1938. Svetozar Hurban Va.jamsk:S,: Zivot Stefana Moyaeaa, Turc. Sv. Martin, 193:5. Jan Vllikovskf: D~jiny literarnich apolecnostf malohontakych, Bratislava, 1935. l!.U D, Bratislava, 1954, No. 9'9, April 27, p. 1. MOST, Cleveland, Ohio, 1954, No. 1, pp. 26, 37; 195-6, No. 1, pp. 2-12; 1959, "No. 3, 'PP, 135-136 and No. 4, p , 14'5; 1960, No 3-4, pp, 97-104. SLOVENSKE NOVINY, Viedeii, 18-50, No. 39 ; 18.'il, Nos. 137, 149. VERB,UM, Kosice, 1947, No. 2, pp. 65-69, 98-102. SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE by Gilbert L. Oddo - the first complete history of the Slovak people and their country in the English language - may be ordered from the following: Jednota Printery fhe Slovak lnstitute <;\ ~d~et!~xn _l~ Mrs. Julia Krajcovic 1648 W 18th Street Chicago 8 m Mr. Paul C Kaz1mer 1122 Sylvan Avenue Homestead Pa M2~rlevM~1 ·l1aas~nBV~~lB~lhaazl~edk 19. 4922 S Leclaire Avenue Chicago 38 Ul Mr John Horecky 2264 Walton Avenue New York 53. N Y l'he book has 384 pages and a cloth cover and . sells for $6.00. Get your -copy today! 0 ;· g :A:R:IOQ01~~00000000000000<XI � 64 SLOVAKIA A HUNDRED YEARS OF THE MATICA SLOVENSKA IMRICH KRUZLIAK The concept of the Matica Sloven.ska. (The Slovak Institute of the Arts and Sciences) has its roots far in the times before its establishment in 1863. The earlier learned societies, federations of intellectuals, which often had only a confessional or local character, can be considered as the predecessors of the Matica Slovenska.: The Learned Society of Maly Hont, Societas Slavica, The Learned Society of the mining (Banska) area; also The Slovak Learned Society of Bernolaik, Hamuliak's Society of Admirers of the Slovak Language and Literature, and the Tatrin of Ludovit Stur. The programs of the last three societies were adopted by the Matica Slovenska.. Besides domestic efforts to establish the Matica Slovenska, we must also mention Safa.rik's interest who, at that time, was the director of the Serbian Gymnazium in Novy Sad. He used to write to his countrymen in Slovakia, particularly after the founding of the Serbian Matica in 1823 - which was founded with this help - to give serious thought to the idea of establishing a similar society in Slovakia. Safarik wrote a:bout the matter to, among others, Hamuliak, Kollar and Palacky. Hamuliak liked the idea very much, so much fo fact that, in 1857, when he was about to retire, he donated his personal library to the gymnazium at Banska. Bystrica only on tihe condition that it be handed over to the Matica Slovenska as soon as it was established. M. that time Hamuliak attempted to organize a literary society in Banska. Bystrica, which would be headed by Safarik, a recognized scientific authority. There were several such similar efforts in Slovakia in those years, but not one of them was realized. The Magyar authorities woulq not allow a charter either to Hamuliak or to Stur. With tihe revolutionary years at hand, 1848-49, the Slovaks, too, t ook up arms to seek political freedom. Having failed in the attempt, the Slovaks had to travel the bitter road of sacrifice and oppression. Many hopes were crushed, many enthusiasts were silenced, and many �SLOVAKIA 65 more self-sacrificing Slovaks withdrew to the background. Nevertheless, the concept of the Matica did not die, but continued to live in the hearts and minds of the people, awaiting an opportune moment. In 1859, a Slovak patriot, Natan J. Petian, bequeathed 9,000 Gold Crowns for the establishment of the Matica. Two years prior to that, Jonas Zaborsky established a literary foundation with the Czeoh Matica to support the publication of Slovak works, with the reservation, however, that the foundation be transferred to the Matica Slovenska once it came into being. Then followed the historical year 1861, the year of the famous Slovak Memorandum which brought new hopes to the Slovaks. Representatives of the Slovak provinces of Hungary came to Tuiiciansky Sviity Martin to the public meeting arranged for June 6-7, 1861. There in the presence of thousands of people they wholeheartedly adopted the historical Memorandum of the Slovak Nation, with which they hoped to gain recognition for national and political individuality and the political rights to which they felt entitled. There it was, too, that the decision was made to request permission to establish the Matica Slovenska. Emperor Francis Joseph very graciously received the Slovak delegation, headed by Bishop Stephen Moyses, on December 12, 1861. Impressed by the Memorandum, he promised to comply with their righteous requests. The Slovaks were jubilant, figuring that the way was cleared to establish the Matica Slovenska. In Pest'., Jan Franci sci worked feverishly to complete the By-Laws of the Matica; the work was ready on August 1. But the local regency council returned the By-Laws to Francisci, because it found that t:he Matica Slovenska would also be interested in political action. The Magyar authorities also opposed naming the building of the Matica the "Home of the Slovak Nation." Furthermore, they would not permit the organization of affiliates in Slovak communities and cities; they wished to limit the activity and influence of the Matica and make it subject to the control of a royal commissioner. Difficulties were also encountered when it came to selecting a location for the Matica. At first the Matica Slovenska was to be located at Brezno-above-the-Hron (Brez- �66 SLOVAKIA no nad Hronom). The town council had given its approval, but later recalled it, after pressure was applied by royal commissioner Havas of Zvolen. Other Slovak towns wanted the Matica, particularly Turciansky Svaty Martin and Liptovsky Sva.ty Mikulas. The St. Martin town iI'epresentat!on said that it considered it "a most sacred duty" to offer residence to the Matica Slovenska. On October 29, 1862, the local regency council announced the decision of the Emperor who had, by decree, on August 21, allowed the establishment of the Matica Slovenska. The temporary committee of the Matica proclaimed the joyous news in the Pesfbudinske Vedomosti on November 4, 1862. Thereupon a membership drive and a campaign for funds were instituted. The committee then called a meeting of the Matica on August 4, 1863. From, the fall of 1862 to the end of July 1863, more than 50,000 Gold Crowns were collected for the Matica. Francisci at that time joyously exclaimed: "My dear nation, you are indeed arising from the dust, but you are rising as a giant!" The Foundation of the Matica Slovenska On August 4, 1863, great throngs of Slovaks from practically all parts of Slovakia travelled to Turciansky Svaty Martin for the first general meeting of the Matica Slovenska.. Bishop Stephen Moyses was wildly acclaimed along the route to Martin by hundreds of thousands of his countrymen. After he had led the Slovak delegation in December, 1861, to the Emperor, Bishop Moyses became the most popular man in Slovakia, the leader of the Slovak people. In St. Martin, Charles Kuzma.ny, a Lutheran clergyman, welcomed Moyses with a memorable speech in whioh he sad: "Entire milleniums now look upon you and upon us from the height of these hills; all the valleys of our hallowed Tatra Mountains to the blue Danube gaze upon you with the eyes of the here present matured generation and from the faces of these children there looks upon you and upon llS the entire future of the Slovak nation. You are going to perform an act for the entire history of this nation, a monument to the past and a foundation for the future, the �SLOVAKIA 67 twofold gate, closed for the injustices of the past and opened for the glory of future ages." Tihe meeting was opened by Jan Francisci, chairman of the temporary committee, who, among other things, said: "We, the sons of the Slovak nation:, which had no haven to turn to in the face of injustice, have gathered here to place the cornerstone on which shall rest the temple and stability of Slovak national life." Wihen Francisci asked Bishop Moyses to preside at the meeting, the multitude went wild with joy. The spontaneous acclamation accorded Bishop Moyses was tantamount to electing him the first president of the Matica Slovenska. After the crowd quieted down, Bishop Moyses said: "Where there is a question of honors and decorations, I always like to be the last, because I do not and never did yearn for honors . . . Where, 1h owever, there is a question of service to my Slovak people and willingness to render service, as well as sacrifices for the development of our nation, I never did withdraw, I am not going to withdraw, I do not wish to withdraw, and I shall not withdraw... " Charles_Kuzmany became vice-president of the Matica. Francisci and Daxner were nominated for the function, to honor them for the services they rendered to the Slovak nation, but they declined the nomination, as they had agreed to beforehand t!hat the office should go to Kuzmany, who at that time had been expelled from Banska Bystrica by the enemies of the Slovak cause and had been accepted by the ecclesiastical community in Turciansky Svaty Martin. There were also other tactical reasons for this move. The Slovaks did not wish to have politically exposed individuals at the head of the Matica, especially not those who had taken an active part in the revolution. The personalities of Moyses and Kuzmany, representing ·b oth confessions (Catholic and Lutheran), reflected the solidarity and unity of the Slovak nation. In the act of allowing the establishment of the Matica, the Slovaks saw the recognition of the existence of the Slovak nation on the part of the Emperor. His gift of a thousand Gold Crowns to the Matica was joyously ac- �68 SLOVAKIA claimed by the Slovaks. When the Slovaks learned that the Emperor had named Bishop Moyses as his personal counsellor, their joy knew no bounds. The convention ordered a delegation to visit the Emperor to express its sin- ----cere gratefulness and fealty. The First Period of the Matica (1863-1875) The Matica Slovenska began its activity in 1863, that is, in the year the Slovaks commemorated the millenium of the advent of Sts. Cyril and Methodius to the territory of ancient Slovaks, Great Moravia. At that time there were grandiose celebrations in various cities of Slovakia, whereby the Slovaks demonstrated their cultural and political antiquity. J. M. Hurban had this in mind when, at the Matica meeting, he moved that "the establishment of the Matica Slovenska take place in commemoration of the CyriloMethodian baptism and the thousand-year-old Christianity of our nation." Because Sts. Cyril and Methodius brought to our forefathers not only Christianity but also the elements of Slovak literature, Bishop Moyses "wholeheartedly agreed with the motion of Dr. Hurban," as S. H. Vajansky later recorded. The establishment of the Matica Slovenska. was followed attentively by other Slovanic nations. The Croatian Bishop Strossmayer donated a thousand Gold Crowns to the Matica which sought the favor and support of cultural factors of other Slovanic nations. At its first and second meetings, the Matica elected outstanding Slovanic scholars as charter and honorary members. Paragraph 32 of the Matica By-Laws noted its cooperation with other Slovanic cultural institutions. According to paragraph 1, the Matica Slovenska was "a union of admirers of the nation and Slovak life" and it chief aim was: to cultivate and propagate Slovak literature and the fine arts, as well as to rouse moral and intellectual education and thereby also aid the material welfare of the Slovak nation. The cooperation of the intelligentsia and the people was the prerequisite to the cucce.ss of Matica activity. Bishop Moyses stressed this in his speeches. The Matica, from its very beginning, unfolded its acti- �SLOVAKIA 69 vity in two fields: the field of science and the field of enlightenment, that is in the field of educating people. The building of a great library and mus~um were on its program. Unfortunately, the activity of the Matica was dependent on the success of public drives for finances. And because the amounts raised thusly were less and less with passing years, they were not sufficient to c01Ver the needs of the Matica. John Gotcar suggested that the government subsidize the •a ctivity of the Matica as it did in the case of Magyar and German institutions. The matter was brought up in parliament, but the majority of deputies repudiated it. In the first period of its existence, the Matica published books and periodicals, built its home, supported the alumnea of the Slovak gymnasiums, gave stipends to students, and supported the artists Bohuii and Klemens. Altogether in these twelve years (1863-1875), the Matica published 40 books and newspapers, Moyses's and Kozacek's speeches in the Matica, which it distributed gratis among the people, two volumes of the Archives of Old Documents, a souvenir book to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Mikulas Subic Zrinsky, Dobsinsky's articles about Slovak folklore, two volumes of Slovak national songs and tales, a National Almanac, a Slovak Reader, Slovak school texts; then it also sought to fix orthographical usage according to Hattala's grammar, and even devoted itself to geological research in Slovakia. There were <voices that the Matica devote itself only to scientific activity. Jonas Zaborsky was especially vocal about this. But the Matica could not do this, because the need to educate the people at large was very great. From 1868, the Matica began to develop several scientific departments which became the motivators of Matica activity especially in its second period, after 1919. In the first period these departments could not sufficiently develop their activity because of the lack workers and financial means. In a few years the Matica gained so much respect and weight with the Slovak public that Vajansky, evaluating its activity, wrote gleefully: "For the Slovak nation the Matica was everything on which could depend our national feeling, national consciousness, national pride and hope." �70 SLOVAKIA The assemblies of the Matica, especially after Slovak cultural and economic life began to be concentrated in St. Martin, were important national and social occasions, during which Slovaks discussed their plans for the future. Thanks to the Matica, St. Martin became the bastion of the defensiive battle of the Slovaks and the cradle of Slovak activities. After Bishop Moyses's death in 1869, the office of president was left vacant for one year, out of deference to the Bishop, then Abbot Jozef Koza.eek took over the office. The participation of the Matica delegates in the various festivities of Slovanic nations meant much to the Slovaks politically and nationally. The Magyar authorities were alert; they readily recognized such activity as anti-Magyar, that is, "anti-State." Already in 1867, Vtliam Pauliny Toth complained that Slovak patriots were being vilified and made suspect of treason just because they were members of the Matica. This also characterized the position of the Matica. When the Matica Slovenska came into being, the conditions were not at all favorable for the national and cultural life of the Slovaks. The authorities repeatedly acc.uaed the Matica of "Pan-Slavism" and of making preparations to destroy Hungary. Soon enough the fight against the Matica was identified with the fight against the Slovak nation, against the freedom and independence of the Slovak nation: to Slovaks it became increasingly clear that probably the last fight for their national survival was at hand. In vain did officials of the Matica try to convince the Magyar State officials that their institution was not an enemy of the State. The Magyar press increased its attacks against everything Slov,ak, declaring: "the Slovak is not a man . . . there is no Slovak nation . . . The Slovaks are Pan-Slavists, enemies of the State . . . There is no Slovak language . . . the official and only recognized tongue in Hungary is Magyar." Slovak leaders felt the Matica's days were numbered. At the general meeting of the Matica on August 5, 1874, more Slovaks came to St. Martin than had come during the previous ten years. Daniel Lichard said �SLOVAKIA 71 on that occasion: (we are not supposed to exist) "nevertheless here we a.re!" The cause of the Slovaks once again seemed hopeless. After the settlement with Austria was reached in 1867, resulting in the Dual-Monarchy (Austria-Hungary), the Magyars had absolute control of Hungary with over half its population being non-Magyar. In Pest, the name of the Matica Slovenska was on the blacklist. The Magyars instituted hearings against the Matica on November 19, 1875, outlawed its activities on April 6, 1875, and dissolived it on November 12, 1875, by order of the Minister of the Interior, Koloman Tisza. The property of the Matica was confiscated only to be used against the Slovaks: Tisza declared cynically that the property cannot be given to the Slovak nation, because "in Hungary there is no Slovak nation." The Slovaks, however, were now more determined than ever to fight for their national survival against Magyar chauvinism. The Matica was not to be revived until 1919. The Matica's Second Period (1919-1954) Forty-four years had to elapse before the Matica Slovenska was revived. During that time many political changes had taken place. Old Hungary was split up and the Slovak nation-whose existence was denied by Koloman Tisza in 1875-was able to form a state in 1918. Much had been neglected since 1875; there was much to do for the Matice Slovenska after the collapse of Austria-Hungary. On January 1, 1919, representatives of the Slovak people, the sons of the founders of the Matica, gathered solemnly at Turciansky Svaty Martin to open the gates of the Matica in the newly-formed Czecho-Slovak State. Thus began its second period of activity, which was to last until 1954, when Matica activities came to an end at the hands of Communists. It soon became evident that the troubles of the Matica were not over and new storm clouds gathered over Slovakia to test anew the political capacity and political maturity of the Slovaks. That the struggles over the spiritual individuality of the Slovak nation - which this time were evoked by a mistaken "Czechoslovak" national conception- �72 SLOVAKIA were transferred over to the arena of the Matica, clearly demonstrated its important role in the life of the Slovaks. In this period, right from the beginning, the head of the Matica w.as Jozef Skultety, a direct descendant of the generation from the first Matica period. He was a worthy successor of the first Matica presidents, a recognized national authority, and a defender of the Moyses-Kuzmany tradition. Until 1932, Stefan Krcmery was executive secretary of the Matica; Jozef C. Hronsky succeeded Krcmery. When Hronsky became executive director of the Matica during the lifetime of the Slovak Republic (1939-1945), the secretaryship went to Jan Martak. The activity of the Matica during this period was twofold: scientific work and public instruction. The Matica attracted writers and educators, scientific workers, priests and students; it organized local units in many towns and communities. The tradition and the spirit of the Matica Slovenska. did not fit into the pattern of the concept of the "Czechoslovak" nation, which the Czechs defined as a single ethnic entity for world consumption. The Czechs, however, knew they were Czechs a,nd not Slovaks or "Czechoslovaks"and the Slovaks lmew they were Sl<Waks and not Czechs or "Czechoslovaks." The defenders and promoters of the "Czechoslovak" ideology, having the support of Czech politicians made an attempt to anchor themselves in the Matica and to influence especially the work of its linguistic and historic departments. Under their guidance the Matica, in 1931, publtshed the "Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu" (Rules of Slovak Orthography) which did not conform to the legality or purity of literary Slovak. This evoked a storm of opposition in Slovakia which was quelled with the victory of the Slovak tendency during the mass meeting of the Matica on May 12, 1932. The heralds and promoters of the conception of the "Czechoslovak" language and the "Czechoslovak" nation were voted out of office at this meeting and Jozef C. Hronsky, one of the most eminent of modern Slovak n<Wellists, was elected executive secretary of the Matica Slovenska. The Matica events evoked a strong response in the political life of the Slovaks, especially am~g the younger �SLOVAKIA 73 generation. At the end of June, 1932, members of this generation, representing all political parties, held ,a conference at Trencianske Teplice at which they unanimously backed a federated Czecho-Slovak State. It was from their rank's that the Matica recruited tl\e workers it needed to fulfil its mission. Historian Dr. Frantisek Hrusovsky was named secretary of the scientific departments of the Matica in 1934; Dr. Henrich Bartek and Dr. tudovit Nova.kl specialized as linguists; Dr. Andrew Mraz, Dr. Stanislav Meciar and Dr. Jan Marta.k were given the t~k of developing the ,h istory of Slovak literature; Dr. Jozef Cincik specialized in the art department; and Karol Plicka's forte was ethnology. As soon as the Matica Slovenska. was revived after World War I, it began to publish the literary monthly review "Slovenske Pohfady," which had been founded by Jozef M. Hurban in 1845. The indi'Vidual departments of the Matica gradually began to publish their own magazines. In time the Matica also publit;hed periodicals, such as "Slovensko" (review of culture in general), "Slovenska Rec" (linguistic) , "Slniecko" (youth magazine) , and others. The Matica's "Pedagogicky Zbornik' (Pedagogical Magazine) was, for many years, the only magazine of its kind in the entire Czecho-Slovak Republic. The Matica also supported amateur theater productions and published "Nase Divadlo" (Our Theater); Ferdinand Hoffman specialized in t~ field. Of course, the Matica Slovenska published various literary works of many authors-Slovak and non-Slova:kfor the edification and reading pleasure of the Slovaks: scientific and artistic tomes, children's readers and story books; the collected works of the Slovak classics; translations from foreign literature; textbooks; Rules of Orthography; Rizner's Bibliography of Slovak Letters (6 Vols.); Polivka's "Supis Slovenskych Rozpra.vok" (Inventory of Slovak Tales), etc. The Matica Slovenska. expanded its activities enormously during the life of the Slovak Republic (1939-1945), when its membership and staff personnel reached its highest peak. It was under Hronsky that the Matica built the great book-printing plant Neografia, one of the most modern in Central Europe. --- �74 SLOVAKIA From 1919 to 1944, the Matica Slovenska multiplied. Slovak literary and scientific works as never before. The reason for this was not only a more favorable climate, but especially because the Matica had the services of able and devoted men like Jozef Skultety, Stefan Krcmery, Jozef C. Hronsky, Frantisek Hrusovsky, and many others. At the end of World War II, the complexion of the Matica Slovenska changed completely. With Dr. Edward Benes, Stalin's errand boy, in the president's chair againthe same chair he voluntarily and willingly gave u,p in October, 1938, to flee to England - a Communist beachhead was established in Czecho-Slovakia, in the heart of Europe. A question mark hung over the fate of the Matica. Even though the first indications were that the Matica would be able to continue its wo:r1k, as the days and months rolled by the political power of the "people's democratic regime" began to intervene more and more in the :work of the Matica, violating its tradition and direction. For the first time in the history of the Matica, its president became an exposed politician, Laco N ovomesky, the Commissioner of Education. And the worst of it was that the Matica in those years had no personalities who could protect it with the weight of their authority. Jozef Skultety was a very old man, and the new director of the Matica, Dr. Jan Martak, lacked firmness. Under the circumstances, for which Slovak patriots cannot be held responsible, the Matica Slovenska was completely controlled by the Communists, even though the "Slovak Democrats" of Dr. Jozef Lettrich won 62 per cent of the Slovak electorate in 1946. Old workers were retired, investigated, jailed, disfranchised and persecuted. Already in 1945 it was quite apparent that the Matica was fast becoming a tool of communistic cultural politics. Even the name "Matica Sloven.ska" bothered the Reds. It meant something special, it was a symbol of the efforts and the masses of the people that were opposed to Communism; and the Reds feared that the hundreds of local assem!blies of the Matica could well .become dangerous centers or cells of anti-Communist resistance. It so happened that the Communist regime, by order of the Slovak National Council of April 'l:l, 1954, put a �Sl..OVAKIA 75 stop to the work of the Matica. The Matica building was changed into a central library and the State appropriated the property of the Matica. Shades of 1875 (when the Magyars dissolved the Matica) ! Attempts were made to organize a Matica Slovenska outside of Slovakia by Slovak exiles in the free world, notably by Hronsky, in 1959, in Argentina, with little success, however, thus far. About the closest thing to the Matica was organized in Cleveland, Ohio, by the Right Rev. Theodore J. Kojis, O.S.B., Abbot of St. Andrew-Svorad's Abbey, on September 15, 1952. It is called the Slovak Institute (Slovensky Ustav) and is devoted to practically the same work as the Matica of Slovakia. Lack of finances and personnel limit its activity, but the Slovak Institute of Cleveland, Ohio, nevertheless, is a going institution. Dr. Frantisek Hrusovsky, eminent Slovak historian, was the Institute's first director. His untimely death in 1956 was a setback for the Institute. Cleveland's Slovak Institute, however, definitely holds out the promise of a better future under the directorship of the youthful but energetic Father Andrew Pier, 0, S. B. The Institute has already proved its worth and deserves the support of all Slovaks in the free world. An earlier attempt to found a Matica Slovenska in America was made by Rev. Stephen Furdek of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1893. The meeting he called for Chicago, ID., Sept. 26, 1893, was attended by some 100 Slovak leaders, clergymen and layman, who approved the idea. The organization just about got off the ground when it folded because of dissention in Slovak ranks and lack of vision, tolerance and understanding among Slovak leaders. The Matica quit operation after August, 1899. BIBLIOGRAPHY Frantisek Bokes: Dejiny Slovenska a Slovakov, Bratislava, 1946; Viliam Pauliny-T6th, Turo. Sv. Martin, 194-2. JuHus Botto: Dejiny Matice slovenakej 1863-1875, Turi!. Sv. Martin, 1923. Konstanitln Culen : Rc>ky alove-nakych nadeji a sklamani 1843-1875, Tmava, 1932. Frantillek Hrusovaky : Slovenaky Uatav v Clevelande, reprint from "MOST"-Vol. 2, No. 2, 1955, Cleveland, Ohio. AJ-oj11: KoUse'k: U28. Borba katolfkov za alovenclnu a slobodu, Bratislava, �76 SLOVAKIA Stefa.n Krcmery: Stopit'desiat rokov elovenskej literatury, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1943. Da,nieiJ. Lichard: Rozhovory o Slovenskej Matici, Viedeii, 1865. Jan ,Mart.A'k: Otok na spisovnu 1lovenoi1nu, Turi!. Sv. Martin, 1942. Andrej Mra.z: Jozef Skult6ty, Tu~. Sv. Mar.Un, 1933; Matica slovenekA v rokoch 1863-1875, Tu.re. Sv. MarMn, 193-6. Jan V. Ol'lllis: Zo 1loven1kej minuloati narodnej a literarnej, Pra:ha, 1932. Stefan Pasiar: Dejiny slovenakych l'udovych kniinic, Martin, 1957. Eugen Pauliny: Dejiny spiaovnej 1lovenciny, Bratislava, 19·48. MiLam. P4M.t: Dejiny slovenakej literatury, Bratislava., 1960. Daniel Rapant: K pociatkom madarizacie, Bratis lava, 19.2-'7 and 1931; Tatrin, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1•950. Sbornik na poceat' Jozefa SkultHyho, Turi!. Sv. Martin, 1933. Jozef Skultety: Slivnoat' Mial!ice 1lovenakej ozivotvorenej, T,uro. Sv. Martin, 1919; Stodvadsat'pit' rokov zo alovenak6ho zivota 17901914, Turi!. Sv. Mlllrtin, 1•9 20; 0 Slovakoch, Turi!. Sv. Mal'tin, 1938. Svetozar Hurban Va.jamsk:S,: Zivot Stefana Moyaeaa, Turc. Sv. Martin, 193:5. Jan Vllikovskf: D~jiny literarnich apolecnostf malohontakych, Bratislava, 1935. l!.U D, Bratislava, 1954, No. 9'9, April 27, p. 1. MOST, Cleveland, Ohio, 1954, No. 1, pp. 26, 37; 195-6, No. 1, pp. 2-12; 1959, "No. 3, 'PP, 135-136 and No. 4, p , 14'5; 1960, No 3-4, pp, 97-104. SLOVENSKE NOVINY, Viedeii, 18-50, No. 39 ; 18.'il, Nos. 137, 149. VERB,UM, Kosice, 1947, No. 2, pp. 65-69, 98-102. SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE by Gilbert L. Oddo - the first complete history of the Slovak people and their country in the English language - may be ordered from the following: Jednota Printery fhe Slovak lnstitute <;\ ~d~et!~xn _l~ Mrs. Julia Krajcovic 1648 W 18th Street Chicago 8 m Mr. Paul C Kaz1mer 1122 Sylvan Avenue Homestead Pa M2~rlevM~1 ·l1aas~nBV~~lB~lhaazl~edk 19. 4922 S Leclaire Avenue Chicago 38 Ul Mr John Horecky 2264 Walton Avenue New York 53. N Y l'he book has 384 pages and a cloth cover and . sells for $6.00. Get your -copy today! 0 ;· g :A:R:IOQ01~~00000000000000<XI � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 64 SLOVAKIA A HUNDRED YEARS OF THE MATICA SLOVENSKA IMRICH KRUZLIAK The concept of the Matica Sloven.ska. (The Slovak Institute of the Arts and Sciences) has its roots far in the times before its establishment in 1863. The earlier learned societies, federations of intellectuals, which often had only a confessional or local character, can be considered as the predecessors of the Matica Slovenska.: The Learned Society of Maly Hont, Societas Slavica, The Learned Society of the mining (Banska) area; also The Slovak Learned Society of Bernolaik, Hamuliak's Society of Admirers of the Slovak Language and Literature, and the Tatrin of Ludovit Stur. The programs of the last three societies were adopted by the Matica Slovenska.. Besides domestic efforts to establish the Matica Slovenska, we must also mention Safa.rik's interest who, at that time, was the director of the Serbian Gymnazium in Novy Sad. He used to write to his countrymen in Slovakia, particularly after the founding of the Serbian Matica in 1823 - which was founded with this help - to give serious thought to the idea of establishing a similar society in Slovakia. Safarik wrote a:bout the matter to, among others, Hamuliak, Kollar and Palacky. Hamuliak liked the idea very much, so much fo fact that, in 1857, when he was about to retire, he donated his personal library to the gymnazium at Banska. Bystrica only on tihe condition that it be handed over to the Matica Slovenska as soon as it was established. M. that time Hamuliak attempted to organize a literary society in Banska. Bystrica, which would be headed by Safarik, a recognized scientific authority. There were several such similar efforts in Slovakia in those years, but not one of them was realized. The Magyar authorities woulq not allow a charter either to Hamuliak or to Stur. With tihe revolutionary years at hand, 1848-49, the Slovaks, too, t ook up arms to seek political freedom. Having failed in the attempt, the Slovaks had to travel the bitter road of sacrifice and oppression. Many hopes were crushed, many enthusiasts were silenced, and many SLOVAKIA 65 more self-sacrificing Slovaks withdrew to the background. Nevertheless, the concept of the Matica did not die, but continued to live in the hearts and minds of the people, awaiting an opportune moment. In 1859, a Slovak patriot, Natan J. Petian, bequeathed 9,000 Gold Crowns for the establishment of the Matica. Two years prior to that, Jonas Zaborsky established a literary foundation with the Czeoh Matica to support the publication of Slovak works, with the reservation, however, that the foundation be transferred to the Matica Slovenska once it came into being. Then followed the historical year 1861, the year of the famous Slovak Memorandum which brought new hopes to the Slovaks. Representatives of the Slovak provinces of Hungary came to Tuiiciansky Sviity Martin to the public meeting arranged for June 6-7, 1861. There in the presence of thousands of people they wholeheartedly adopted the historical Memorandum of the Slovak Nation, with which they hoped to gain recognition for national and political individuality and the political rights to which they felt entitled. There it was, too, that the decision was made to request permission to establish the Matica Slovenska. Emperor Francis Joseph very graciously received the Slovak delegation, headed by Bishop Stephen Moyses, on December 12, 1861. Impressed by the Memorandum, he promised to comply with their righteous requests. The Slovaks were jubilant, figuring that the way was cleared to establish the Matica Slovenska. In Pest'., Jan Franci sci worked feverishly to complete the By-Laws of the Matica; the work was ready on August 1. But the local regency council returned the By-Laws to Francisci, because it found that t:he Matica Slovenska would also be interested in political action. The Magyar authorities also opposed naming the building of the Matica the "Home of the Slovak Nation." Furthermore, they would not permit the organization of affiliates in Slovak communities and cities; they wished to limit the activity and influence of the Matica and make it subject to the control of a royal commissioner. Difficulties were also encountered when it came to selecting a location for the Matica. At first the Matica Slovenska was to be located at Brezno-above-the-Hron (Brez- 66 SLOVAKIA no nad Hronom). The town council had given its approval, but later recalled it, after pressure was applied by royal commissioner Havas of Zvolen. Other Slovak towns wanted the Matica, particularly Turciansky Svaty Martin and Liptovsky Sva.ty Mikulas. The St. Martin town iI'epresentat!on said that it considered it "a most sacred duty" to offer residence to the Matica Slovenska. On October 29, 1862, the local regency council announced the decision of the Emperor who had, by decree, on August 21, allowed the establishment of the Matica Slovenska. The temporary committee of the Matica proclaimed the joyous news in the Pesfbudinske Vedomosti on November 4, 1862. Thereupon a membership drive and a campaign for funds were instituted. The committee then called a meeting of the Matica on August 4, 1863. From, the fall of 1862 to the end of July 1863, more than 50,000 Gold Crowns were collected for the Matica. Francisci at that time joyously exclaimed: "My dear nation, you are indeed arising from the dust, but you are rising as a giant!" The Foundation of the Matica Slovenska On August 4, 1863, great throngs of Slovaks from practically all parts of Slovakia travelled to Turciansky Svaty Martin for the first general meeting of the Matica Slovenska.. Bishop Stephen Moyses was wildly acclaimed along the route to Martin by hundreds of thousands of his countrymen. After he had led the Slovak delegation in December, 1861, to the Emperor, Bishop Moyses became the most popular man in Slovakia, the leader of the Slovak people. In St. Martin, Charles Kuzma.ny, a Lutheran clergyman, welcomed Moyses with a memorable speech in whioh he sad: "Entire milleniums now look upon you and upon us from the height of these hills; all the valleys of our hallowed Tatra Mountains to the blue Danube gaze upon you with the eyes of the here present matured generation and from the faces of these children there looks upon you and upon llS the entire future of the Slovak nation. You are going to perform an act for the entire history of this nation, a monument to the past and a foundation for the future, the SLOVAKIA 67 twofold gate, closed for the injustices of the past and opened for the glory of future ages." Tihe meeting was opened by Jan Francisci, chairman of the temporary committee, who, among other things, said: "We, the sons of the Slovak nation:, which had no haven to turn to in the face of injustice, have gathered here to place the cornerstone on which shall rest the temple and stability of Slovak national life." Wihen Francisci asked Bishop Moyses to preside at the meeting, the multitude went wild with joy. The spontaneous acclamation accorded Bishop Moyses was tantamount to electing him the first president of the Matica Slovenska. After the crowd quieted down, Bishop Moyses said: "Where there is a question of honors and decorations, I always like to be the last, because I do not and never did yearn for honors . . . Where, 1h owever, there is a question of service to my Slovak people and willingness to render service, as well as sacrifices for the development of our nation, I never did withdraw, I am not going to withdraw, I do not wish to withdraw, and I shall not withdraw... " Charles_Kuzmany became vice-president of the Matica. Francisci and Daxner were nominated for the function, to honor them for the services they rendered to the Slovak nation, but they declined the nomination, as they had agreed to beforehand t!hat the office should go to Kuzmany, who at that time had been expelled from Banska Bystrica by the enemies of the Slovak cause and had been accepted by the ecclesiastical community in Turciansky Svaty Martin. There were also other tactical reasons for this move. The Slovaks did not wish to have politically exposed individuals at the head of the Matica, especially not those who had taken an active part in the revolution. The personalities of Moyses and Kuzmany, representing ·b oth confessions (Catholic and Lutheran), reflected the solidarity and unity of the Slovak nation. In the act of allowing the establishment of the Matica, the Slovaks saw the recognition of the existence of the Slovak nation on the part of the Emperor. His gift of a thousand Gold Crowns to the Matica was joyously ac- 68 SLOVAKIA claimed by the Slovaks. When the Slovaks learned that the Emperor had named Bishop Moyses as his personal counsellor, their joy knew no bounds. The convention ordered a delegation to visit the Emperor to express its sin- ----cere gratefulness and fealty. The First Period of the Matica (1863-1875) The Matica Slovenska began its activity in 1863, that is, in the year the Slovaks commemorated the millenium of the advent of Sts. Cyril and Methodius to the territory of ancient Slovaks, Great Moravia. At that time there were grandiose celebrations in various cities of Slovakia, whereby the Slovaks demonstrated their cultural and political antiquity. J. M. Hurban had this in mind when, at the Matica meeting, he moved that "the establishment of the Matica Slovenska take place in commemoration of the CyriloMethodian baptism and the thousand-year-old Christianity of our nation." Because Sts. Cyril and Methodius brought to our forefathers not only Christianity but also the elements of Slovak literature, Bishop Moyses "wholeheartedly agreed with the motion of Dr. Hurban," as S. H. Vajansky later recorded. The establishment of the Matica Slovenska. was followed attentively by other Slovanic nations. The Croatian Bishop Strossmayer donated a thousand Gold Crowns to the Matica which sought the favor and support of cultural factors of other Slovanic nations. At its first and second meetings, the Matica elected outstanding Slovanic scholars as charter and honorary members. Paragraph 32 of the Matica By-Laws noted its cooperation with other Slovanic cultural institutions. According to paragraph 1, the Matica Slovenska was "a union of admirers of the nation and Slovak life" and it chief aim was: to cultivate and propagate Slovak literature and the fine arts, as well as to rouse moral and intellectual education and thereby also aid the material welfare of the Slovak nation. The cooperation of the intelligentsia and the people was the prerequisite to the cucce.ss of Matica activity. Bishop Moyses stressed this in his speeches. The Matica, from its very beginning, unfolded its acti- SLOVAKIA 69 vity in two fields: the field of science and the field of enlightenment, that is in the field of educating people. The building of a great library and mus~um were on its program. Unfortunately, the activity of the Matica was dependent on the success of public drives for finances. And because the amounts raised thusly were less and less with passing years, they were not sufficient to c01Ver the needs of the Matica. John Gotcar suggested that the government subsidize the •a ctivity of the Matica as it did in the case of Magyar and German institutions. The matter was brought up in parliament, but the majority of deputies repudiated it. In the first period of its existence, the Matica published books and periodicals, built its home, supported the alumnea of the Slovak gymnasiums, gave stipends to students, and supported the artists Bohuii and Klemens. Altogether in these twelve years (1863-1875), the Matica published 40 books and newspapers, Moyses's and Kozacek's speeches in the Matica, which it distributed gratis among the people, two volumes of the Archives of Old Documents, a souvenir book to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Mikulas Subic Zrinsky, Dobsinsky's articles about Slovak folklore, two volumes of Slovak national songs and tales, a National Almanac, a Slovak Reader, Slovak school texts; then it also sought to fix orthographical usage according to Hattala's grammar, and even devoted itself to geological research in Slovakia. There were <voices that the Matica devote itself only to scientific activity. Jonas Zaborsky was especially vocal about this. But the Matica could not do this, because the need to educate the people at large was very great. From 1868, the Matica began to develop several scientific departments which became the motivators of Matica activity especially in its second period, after 1919. In the first period these departments could not sufficiently develop their activity because of the lack workers and financial means. In a few years the Matica gained so much respect and weight with the Slovak public that Vajansky, evaluating its activity, wrote gleefully: "For the Slovak nation the Matica was everything on which could depend our national feeling, national consciousness, national pride and hope." 70 SLOVAKIA The assemblies of the Matica, especially after Slovak cultural and economic life began to be concentrated in St. Martin, were important national and social occasions, during which Slovaks discussed their plans for the future. Thanks to the Matica, St. Martin became the bastion of the defensiive battle of the Slovaks and the cradle of Slovak activities. After Bishop Moyses's death in 1869, the office of president was left vacant for one year, out of deference to the Bishop, then Abbot Jozef Koza.eek took over the office. The participation of the Matica delegates in the various festivities of Slovanic nations meant much to the Slovaks politically and nationally. The Magyar authorities were alert; they readily recognized such activity as anti-Magyar, that is, "anti-State." Already in 1867, Vtliam Pauliny Toth complained that Slovak patriots were being vilified and made suspect of treason just because they were members of the Matica. This also characterized the position of the Matica. When the Matica Slovenska came into being, the conditions were not at all favorable for the national and cultural life of the Slovaks. The authorities repeatedly acc.uaed the Matica of "Pan-Slavism" and of making preparations to destroy Hungary. Soon enough the fight against the Matica was identified with the fight against the Slovak nation, against the freedom and independence of the Slovak nation: to Slovaks it became increasingly clear that probably the last fight for their national survival was at hand. In vain did officials of the Matica try to convince the Magyar State officials that their institution was not an enemy of the State. The Magyar press increased its attacks against everything Slov,ak, declaring: "the Slovak is not a man . . . there is no Slovak nation . . . The Slovaks are Pan-Slavists, enemies of the State . . . There is no Slovak language . . . the official and only recognized tongue in Hungary is Magyar." Slovak leaders felt the Matica's days were numbered. At the general meeting of the Matica on August 5, 1874, more Slovaks came to St. Martin than had come during the previous ten years. Daniel Lichard said SLOVAKIA 71 on that occasion: (we are not supposed to exist) "nevertheless here we a.re!" The cause of the Slovaks once again seemed hopeless. After the settlement with Austria was reached in 1867, resulting in the Dual-Monarchy (Austria-Hungary), the Magyars had absolute control of Hungary with over half its population being non-Magyar. In Pest, the name of the Matica Slovenska was on the blacklist. The Magyars instituted hearings against the Matica on November 19, 1875, outlawed its activities on April 6, 1875, and dissolived it on November 12, 1875, by order of the Minister of the Interior, Koloman Tisza. The property of the Matica was confiscated only to be used against the Slovaks: Tisza declared cynically that the property cannot be given to the Slovak nation, because "in Hungary there is no Slovak nation." The Slovaks, however, were now more determined than ever to fight for their national survival against Magyar chauvinism. The Matica was not to be revived until 1919. The Matica's Second Period (1919-1954) Forty-four years had to elapse before the Matica Slovenska was revived. During that time many political changes had taken place. Old Hungary was split up and the Slovak nation-whose existence was denied by Koloman Tisza in 1875-was able to form a state in 1918. Much had been neglected since 1875; there was much to do for the Matice Slovenska after the collapse of Austria-Hungary. On January 1, 1919, representatives of the Slovak people, the sons of the founders of the Matica, gathered solemnly at Turciansky Svaty Martin to open the gates of the Matica in the newly-formed Czecho-Slovak State. Thus began its second period of activity, which was to last until 1954, when Matica activities came to an end at the hands of Communists. It soon became evident that the troubles of the Matica were not over and new storm clouds gathered over Slovakia to test anew the political capacity and political maturity of the Slovaks. That the struggles over the spiritual individuality of the Slovak nation - which this time were evoked by a mistaken "Czechoslovak" national conception- 72 SLOVAKIA were transferred over to the arena of the Matica, clearly demonstrated its important role in the life of the Slovaks. In this period, right from the beginning, the head of the Matica w.as Jozef Skultety, a direct descendant of the generation from the first Matica period. He was a worthy successor of the first Matica presidents, a recognized national authority, and a defender of the Moyses-Kuzmany tradition. Until 1932, Stefan Krcmery was executive secretary of the Matica; Jozef C. Hronsky succeeded Krcmery. When Hronsky became executive director of the Matica during the lifetime of the Slovak Republic (1939-1945), the secretaryship went to Jan Martak. The activity of the Matica during this period was twofold: scientific work and public instruction. The Matica attracted writers and educators, scientific workers, priests and students; it organized local units in many towns and communities. The tradition and the spirit of the Matica Slovenska. did not fit into the pattern of the concept of the "Czechoslovak" nation, which the Czechs defined as a single ethnic entity for world consumption. The Czechs, however, knew they were Czechs a,nd not Slovaks or "Czechoslovaks"and the Slovaks lmew they were Sl<Waks and not Czechs or "Czechoslovaks." The defenders and promoters of the "Czechoslovak" ideology, having the support of Czech politicians made an attempt to anchor themselves in the Matica and to influence especially the work of its linguistic and historic departments. Under their guidance the Matica, in 1931, publtshed the "Pravidla slovenskeho pravopisu" (Rules of Slovak Orthography) which did not conform to the legality or purity of literary Slovak. This evoked a storm of opposition in Slovakia which was quelled with the victory of the Slovak tendency during the mass meeting of the Matica on May 12, 1932. The heralds and promoters of the conception of the "Czechoslovak" language and the "Czechoslovak" nation were voted out of office at this meeting and Jozef C. Hronsky, one of the most eminent of modern Slovak n<Wellists, was elected executive secretary of the Matica Slovenska. The Matica events evoked a strong response in the political life of the Slovaks, especially am~g the younger SLOVAKIA 73 generation. At the end of June, 1932, members of this generation, representing all political parties, held ,a conference at Trencianske Teplice at which they unanimously backed a federated Czecho-Slovak State. It was from their rank's that the Matica recruited tl\e workers it needed to fulfil its mission. Historian Dr. Frantisek Hrusovsky was named secretary of the scientific departments of the Matica in 1934; Dr. Henrich Bartek and Dr. tudovit Nova.kl specialized as linguists; Dr. Andrew Mraz, Dr. Stanislav Meciar and Dr. Jan Marta.k were given the t~k of developing the ,h istory of Slovak literature; Dr. Jozef Cincik specialized in the art department; and Karol Plicka's forte was ethnology. As soon as the Matica Slovenska. was revived after World War I, it began to publish the literary monthly review "Slovenske Pohfady," which had been founded by Jozef M. Hurban in 1845. The indi'Vidual departments of the Matica gradually began to publish their own magazines. In time the Matica also publit;hed periodicals, such as "Slovensko" (review of culture in general), "Slovenska Rec" (linguistic) , "Slniecko" (youth magazine) , and others. The Matica's "Pedagogicky Zbornik' (Pedagogical Magazine) was, for many years, the only magazine of its kind in the entire Czecho-Slovak Republic. The Matica also supported amateur theater productions and published "Nase Divadlo" (Our Theater); Ferdinand Hoffman specialized in t~ field. Of course, the Matica Slovenska published various literary works of many authors-Slovak and non-Slova:kfor the edification and reading pleasure of the Slovaks: scientific and artistic tomes, children's readers and story books; the collected works of the Slovak classics; translations from foreign literature; textbooks; Rules of Orthography; Rizner's Bibliography of Slovak Letters (6 Vols.); Polivka's "Supis Slovenskych Rozpra.vok" (Inventory of Slovak Tales), etc. The Matica Slovenska. expanded its activities enormously during the life of the Slovak Republic (1939-1945), when its membership and staff personnel reached its highest peak. It was under Hronsky that the Matica built the great book-printing plant Neografia, one of the most modern in Central Europe. --- 74 SLOVAKIA From 1919 to 1944, the Matica Slovenska multiplied. Slovak literary and scientific works as never before. The reason for this was not only a more favorable climate, but especially because the Matica had the services of able and devoted men like Jozef Skultety, Stefan Krcmery, Jozef C. Hronsky, Frantisek Hrusovsky, and many others. At the end of World War II, the complexion of the Matica Slovenska changed completely. With Dr. Edward Benes, Stalin's errand boy, in the president's chair againthe same chair he voluntarily and willingly gave u,p in October, 1938, to flee to England - a Communist beachhead was established in Czecho-Slovakia, in the heart of Europe. A question mark hung over the fate of the Matica. Even though the first indications were that the Matica would be able to continue its wo:r1k, as the days and months rolled by the political power of the "people's democratic regime" began to intervene more and more in the :work of the Matica, violating its tradition and direction. For the first time in the history of the Matica, its president became an exposed politician, Laco N ovomesky, the Commissioner of Education. And the worst of it was that the Matica in those years had no personalities who could protect it with the weight of their authority. Jozef Skultety was a very old man, and the new director of the Matica, Dr. Jan Martak, lacked firmness. Under the circumstances, for which Slovak patriots cannot be held responsible, the Matica Slovenska was completely controlled by the Communists, even though the "Slovak Democrats" of Dr. Jozef Lettrich won 62 per cent of the Slovak electorate in 1946. Old workers were retired, investigated, jailed, disfranchised and persecuted. Already in 1945 it was quite apparent that the Matica was fast becoming a tool of communistic cultural politics. Even the name "Matica Sloven.ska" bothered the Reds. It meant something special, it was a symbol of the efforts and the masses of the people that were opposed to Communism; and the Reds feared that the hundreds of local assem!blies of the Matica could well .become dangerous centers or cells of anti-Communist resistance. It so happened that the Communist regime, by order of the Slovak National Council of April 'l:l, 1954, put a Sl..OVAKIA 75 stop to the work of the Matica. The Matica building was changed into a central library and the State appropriated the property of the Matica. Shades of 1875 (when the Magyars dissolved the Matica) ! Attempts were made to organize a Matica Slovenska outside of Slovakia by Slovak exiles in the free world, notably by Hronsky, in 1959, in Argentina, with little success, however, thus far. About the closest thing to the Matica was organized in Cleveland, Ohio, by the Right Rev. Theodore J. Kojis, O.S.B., Abbot of St. Andrew-Svorad's Abbey, on September 15, 1952. It is called the Slovak Institute (Slovensky Ustav) and is devoted to practically the same work as the Matica of Slovakia. Lack of finances and personnel limit its activity, but the Slovak Institute of Cleveland, Ohio, nevertheless, is a going institution. Dr. Frantisek Hrusovsky, eminent Slovak historian, was the Institute's first director. His untimely death in 1956 was a setback for the Institute. Cleveland's Slovak Institute, however, definitely holds out the promise of a better future under the directorship of the youthful but energetic Father Andrew Pier, 0, S. B. The Institute has already proved its worth and deserves the support of all Slovaks in the free world. An earlier attempt to found a Matica Slovenska in America was made by Rev. Stephen Furdek of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1893. The meeting he called for Chicago, ID., Sept. 26, 1893, was attended by some 100 Slovak leaders, clergymen and layman, who approved the idea. The organization just about got off the ground when it folded because of dissention in Slovak ranks and lack of vision, tolerance and understanding among Slovak leaders. The Matica quit operation after August, 1899. BIBLIOGRAPHY Frantisek Bokes: Dejiny Slovenska a Slovakov, Bratislava, 1946; Viliam Pauliny-T6th, Turo. Sv. Martin, 194-2. JuHus Botto: Dejiny Matice slovenakej 1863-1875, Turi!. Sv. Martin, 1923. Konstanitln Culen : Rc>ky alove-nakych nadeji a sklamani 1843-1875, Tmava, 1932. Frantillek Hrusovaky : Slovenaky Uatav v Clevelande, reprint from "MOST"-Vol. 2, No. 2, 1955, Cleveland, Ohio. AJ-oj11: KoUse'k: U28. Borba katolfkov za alovenclnu a slobodu, Bratislava, 76 SLOVAKIA Stefa.n Krcmery: Stopit'desiat rokov elovenskej literatury, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1943. Da,nieiJ. Lichard: Rozhovory o Slovenskej Matici, Viedeii, 1865. Jan ,Mart.A'k: Otok na spisovnu 1lovenoi1nu, Turi!. Sv. Martin, 1942. Andrej Mra.z: Jozef Skult6ty, Tu~. Sv. Mar.Un, 1933; Matica slovenekA v rokoch 1863-1875, Tu.re. Sv. MarMn, 193-6. Jan V. Ol'lllis: Zo 1loven1kej minuloati narodnej a literarnej, Pra:ha, 1932. Stefan Pasiar: Dejiny slovenakych l'udovych kniinic, Martin, 1957. Eugen Pauliny: Dejiny spiaovnej 1lovenciny, Bratislava, 19·48. MiLam. P4M.t: Dejiny slovenakej literatury, Bratislava., 1960. Daniel Rapant: K pociatkom madarizacie, Bratis lava, 19.2-'7 and 1931; Tatrin, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1•950. Sbornik na poceat' Jozefa SkultHyho, Turi!. Sv. Martin, 1933. Jozef Skultety: Slivnoat' Mial!ice 1lovenakej ozivotvorenej, T,uro. Sv. Martin, 1919; Stodvadsat'pit' rokov zo alovenak6ho zivota 17901914, Turi!. Sv. Mlllrtin, 1•9 20; 0 Slovakoch, Turi!. Sv. Mal'tin, 1938. Svetozar Hurban Va.jamsk:S,: Zivot Stefana Moyaeaa, Turc. Sv. Martin, 193:5. Jan Vllikovskf: D~jiny literarnich apolecnostf malohontakych, Bratislava, 1935. l!.U D, Bratislava, 1954, No. 9'9, April 27, p. 1. MOST, Cleveland, Ohio, 1954, No. 1, pp. 26, 37; 195-6, No. 1, pp. 2-12; 1959, "No. 3, 'PP, 135-136 and No. 4, p , 14'5; 1960, No 3-4, pp, 97-104. SLOVENSKE NOVINY, Viedeii, 18-50, No. 39 ; 18.'il, Nos. 137, 149. VERB,UM, Kosice, 1947, No. 2, pp. 65-69, 98-102. SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE by Gilbert L. Oddo - the first complete history of the Slovak people and their country in the English language - may be ordered from the following: Jednota Printery fhe Slovak lnstitute <;\ ~d~et!~xn _l~ Mrs. Julia Krajcovic 1648 W 18th Street Chicago 8 m Mr. Paul C Kaz1mer 1122 Sylvan Avenue Homestead Pa M2~rlevM~1 ·l1aas~nBV~~lB~lhaazl~edk 19. 4922 S Leclaire Avenue Chicago 38 Ul Mr John Horecky 2264 Walton Avenue New York 53. N Y l'he book has 384 pages and a cloth cover and . sells for $6.00. Get your -copy today! 0 ;· g :A:R:IOQ01~~00000000000000<XI  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Hundred Years of the Matica Slovenská Description An account of the resource Imrich Kružliak Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 64-76 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kružliak, Imrich, 1914-2019 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/72ae2df1d1cdf5152db9c5f89f2ed7a7.pdf d9c4a0a36a86f95851b02290cdc71713 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 83 PRAGUE BETWEEN MOSOOW AND BERLIN By Heinrich Kuhn Politically speaking, Czecho-Slovakia is a product of World War I. At its very creation the State was handicapped by the German problem: internally by more than three and a half million Germans who were incorporated into it against their will by the peace treaty of St. Germain, and foreign politically as well as geopolitically by the fact that it was born of decisions made by the Great Powers and directed against Germany. Between the two world wars Czecho-Slovakia was a strategic spearhead aimed at Germany even long before Hitler became head of the German State. It was of strategic importance to France, and the foreign-political conception Czecho-Slovakia, linked for all time with the name of Benes, was based on the irrelevant idea that it could amount to anything if it played the role of mediator between East and West, between Paris and Moscow. As a result of the second world war, Czecho-Slovakia was divested of the internal problem of "its Germans." They were ruthlessly expelled from their native homes. Czecho-Slovakia's geopolitical situation had likewise undergone a critical change. The "strategic spearhead," until then encircled by the German language area as if by a pincers, had lost its original significance as a foreign-political factor. Germany had been completely defeated. Soviet Army troops stood at the Elbe, the Danube, in the north and in the south, troops of a State to which CzechoSlovakia had sold its-:!lf lock, stock and barrel. Sold out primarily in the sense that the Soviet Union had not only "liberated" Czecho-Slovakia but, by its resolute attitude, had made possible the "cleansing of the State of its German minority." With that move the switches were set, from the standpoint of foreign policy, for the future. No longer was there a road open to Paris, to the West, but only to Moscow. This fact makes it possible to understand the tactical attitude of Czecho-Slovak foreign policy within recent years as regards the German question. Czecho-Slovakia and tnbricht's State, the Soviet Zone of Germany, are the only �84 SLOVAKIA countries of the East Block that border on the free part of Germany. No amount of barbed-wire is capable of relieving the Czechs of the danger that - despite the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans - the German people are still their immediate neighbor. The psychological factor of guilt has become the main driving force behind Prague's foreign policy. Since 1945, fear has been the primary factor involved. For approximately ten years the "fight against German revengism" has really been at the bottom of Prague's policy toward Germany. As long as Moscow could still hope to win the population of West Germany in some form or other for the East (as has happened in the "solution of the Ulbricht State"), or at least to neutralize the German Federal Republic as a political power, these trends in Czecho-Slovak policy toward Germany remained chiefly in the background. To the degree, however, to which the Ulbricht State became an important card in Moscow's foreign-political game, Moscow's and Prague's foreign~political goals grew closer and closer. Ulbricht's State became, just as Prague's former ambassador to Pankov, Dr. Ota Klicka, described on television, a bastion of Czecho-Slovak security. As long as the "GDR" (German Democratic Republic) existed, no aggression against Czecho-Slovakia would be possible. State President Antonin Novotny stated in similar terms, at his very first international appearance before the General Assembly of the UN, in the fall of 1960, that GDR was a guarantee of Czecho-Slovak security. Paralleling the deeping bond between Prague and Pankov was a common incitement of both Satellite States against the German Federal Republic. Some 400,000 foreignlanguage propaganda pamphlets have been sent from Prague to Western countries within the past years in order to spread abroad a frightful picture of German militarism coupled with anti-Czech revengism. When Khrushchev triggered the German question last year with his Berlin ultimatum, the CSSR warmly welcomed his initiative. At the time the Czech Communist Party politicians, in keeping with Khrushchev's political line, were still talking of the two German States with equal �SLOVAKIA 85 rights. The world at large ha.s scarcely noticed· that Prague and Pankov have meanwhile reached beyond this political line. Even during the visit to Prague of Ulbricht's president of the People's Chamber, Dr. Dieckmann, in April 1961, an attempt was made to forge a new policy according to which the "GDR would be the only legally valid German State because, in conformance with the Potsdam Agreement, the roots of German militarism" have been removed. This new tactic as to Prague's policy on Germany, which has become more pronounced ever since April of last year, dovetails nicely with Khrushchev's strategic concept a.s to policy on Germany. It enables him now and again to appear before the international public a.s a moderating factor, meanwhile pursuing with even greater intensity his immediate goal in the German issue: Making a free city of West Berlin, concluding a peace treaty between "all interested States" and Ulbricht's State in order to bring about the de facto recognition of the conditions established within Central Europe by World War II. In the coming weeks and months it will be left to Prague to make new tactical moves with roles assigned to different players in the drama that is directed from Moscow, thus reaching out beyond the issues that are important to Moscow and Ulbricht. Details as to Prague's new tactical role within Moscow's broader strategic plan as to Germany were revealed at an international press conference in July of last year by Vaclav Kathy, head of the department of Socialist States in Prague's Institute for International Politics and Economy. The tenor of this role is, that since the German Federal Government is virtually the main source of "political revengism," the "change in the social and economic structure of the German Federal Republic by the signing of a German peace treaty," would be a timely move. This, it claimed, is the only possibility for peaceful coexistence in Europe, since these changes alone would guarantee the liquidation of "German militarism and revengism." This alone would be the actual and ultimate aim of CzechoSlovakia's foreign-political endeavors. Indeed, one can hardly describe that country's foreignpolicy aims more clearly. � SLOVAKIA 83 PRAGUE BETWEEN MOSOOW AND BERLIN By Heinrich Kuhn Politically speaking, Czecho-Slovakia is a product of World War I. At its very creation the State was handicapped by the German problem: internally by more than three and a half million Germans who were incorporated into it against their will by the peace treaty of St. Germain, and foreign politically as well as geopolitically by the fact that it was born of decisions made by the Great Powers and directed against Germany. Between the two world wars Czecho-Slovakia was a strategic spearhead aimed at Germany even long before Hitler became head of the German State. It was of strategic importance to France, and the foreign-political conception Czecho-Slovakia, linked for all time with the name of Benes, was based on the irrelevant idea that it could amount to anything if it played the role of mediator between East and West, between Paris and Moscow. As a result of the second world war, Czecho-Slovakia was divested of the internal problem of "its Germans." They were ruthlessly expelled from their native homes. Czecho-Slovakia's geopolitical situation had likewise undergone a critical change. The "strategic spearhead," until then encircled by the German language area as if by a pincers, had lost its original significance as a foreign-political factor. Germany had been completely defeated. Soviet Army troops stood at the Elbe, the Danube, in the north and in the south, troops of a State to which CzechoSlovakia had sold its-:!lf lock, stock and barrel. Sold out primarily in the sense that the Soviet Union had not only "liberated" Czecho-Slovakia but, by its resolute attitude, had made possible the "cleansing of the State of its German minority." With that move the switches were set, from the standpoint of foreign policy, for the future. No longer was there a road open to Paris, to the West, but only to Moscow. This fact makes it possible to understand the tactical attitude of Czecho-Slovak foreign policy within recent years as regards the German question. Czecho-Slovakia and tnbricht's State, the Soviet Zone of Germany, are the only �84 SLOVAKIA countries of the East Block that border on the free part of Germany. No amount of barbed-wire is capable of relieving the Czechs of the danger that - despite the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans - the German people are still their immediate neighbor. The psychological factor of guilt has become the main driving force behind Prague's foreign policy. Since 1945, fear has been the primary factor involved. For approximately ten years the "fight against German revengism" has really been at the bottom of Prague's policy toward Germany. As long as Moscow could still hope to win the population of West Germany in some form or other for the East (as has happened in the "solution of the Ulbricht State"), or at least to neutralize the German Federal Republic as a political power, these trends in Czecho-Slovak policy toward Germany remained chiefly in the background. To the degree, however, to which the Ulbricht State became an important card in Moscow's foreign-political game, Moscow's and Prague's foreign~political goals grew closer and closer. Ulbricht's State became, just as Prague's former ambassador to Pankov, Dr. Ota Klicka, described on television, a bastion of Czecho-Slovak security. As long as the "GDR" (German Democratic Republic) existed, no aggression against Czecho-Slovakia would be possible. State President Antonin Novotny stated in similar terms, at his very first international appearance before the General Assembly of the UN, in the fall of 1960, that GDR was a guarantee of Czecho-Slovak security. Paralleling the deeping bond between Prague and Pankov was a common incitement of both Satellite States against the German Federal Republic. Some 400,000 foreignlanguage propaganda pamphlets have been sent from Prague to Western countries within the past years in order to spread abroad a frightful picture of German militarism coupled with anti-Czech revengism. When Khrushchev triggered the German question last year with his Berlin ultimatum, the CSSR warmly welcomed his initiative. At the time the Czech Communist Party politicians, in keeping with Khrushchev's political line, were still talking of the two German States with equal �SLOVAKIA 85 rights. The world at large ha.s scarcely noticed· that Prague and Pankov have meanwhile reached beyond this political line. Even during the visit to Prague of Ulbricht's president of the People's Chamber, Dr. Dieckmann, in April 1961, an attempt was made to forge a new policy according to which the "GDR would be the only legally valid German State because, in conformance with the Potsdam Agreement, the roots of German militarism" have been removed. This new tactic as to Prague's policy on Germany, which has become more pronounced ever since April of last year, dovetails nicely with Khrushchev's strategic concept a.s to policy on Germany. It enables him now and again to appear before the international public a.s a moderating factor, meanwhile pursuing with even greater intensity his immediate goal in the German issue: Making a free city of West Berlin, concluding a peace treaty between "all interested States" and Ulbricht's State in order to bring about the de facto recognition of the conditions established within Central Europe by World War II. In the coming weeks and months it will be left to Prague to make new tactical moves with roles assigned to different players in the drama that is directed from Moscow, thus reaching out beyond the issues that are important to Moscow and Ulbricht. Details as to Prague's new tactical role within Moscow's broader strategic plan as to Germany were revealed at an international press conference in July of last year by Vaclav Kathy, head of the department of Socialist States in Prague's Institute for International Politics and Economy. The tenor of this role is, that since the German Federal Government is virtually the main source of "political revengism," the "change in the social and economic structure of the German Federal Republic by the signing of a German peace treaty," would be a timely move. This, it claimed, is the only possibility for peaceful coexistence in Europe, since these changes alone would guarantee the liquidation of "German militarism and revengism." This alone would be the actual and ultimate aim of CzechoSlovakia's foreign-political endeavors. Indeed, one can hardly describe that country's foreignpolicy aims more clearly. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 83 PRAGUE BETWEEN MOSOOW AND BERLIN By Heinrich Kuhn Politically speaking, Czecho-Slovakia is a product of World War I. At its very creation the State was handicapped by the German problem: internally by more than three and a half million Germans who were incorporated into it against their will by the peace treaty of St. Germain, and foreign politically as well as geopolitically by the fact that it was born of decisions made by the Great Powers and directed against Germany. Between the two world wars Czecho-Slovakia was a strategic spearhead aimed at Germany even long before Hitler became head of the German State. It was of strategic importance to France, and the foreign-political conception Czecho-Slovakia, linked for all time with the name of Benes, was based on the irrelevant idea that it could amount to anything if it played the role of mediator between East and West, between Paris and Moscow. As a result of the second world war, Czecho-Slovakia was divested of the internal problem of "its Germans." They were ruthlessly expelled from their native homes. Czecho-Slovakia's geopolitical situation had likewise undergone a critical change. The "strategic spearhead," until then encircled by the German language area as if by a pincers, had lost its original significance as a foreign-political factor. Germany had been completely defeated. Soviet Army troops stood at the Elbe, the Danube, in the north and in the south, troops of a State to which CzechoSlovakia had sold its-:!lf lock, stock and barrel. Sold out primarily in the sense that the Soviet Union had not only "liberated" Czecho-Slovakia but, by its resolute attitude, had made possible the "cleansing of the State of its German minority." With that move the switches were set, from the standpoint of foreign policy, for the future. No longer was there a road open to Paris, to the West, but only to Moscow. This fact makes it possible to understand the tactical attitude of Czecho-Slovak foreign policy within recent years as regards the German question. Czecho-Slovakia and tnbricht's State, the Soviet Zone of Germany, are the only 84 SLOVAKIA countries of the East Block that border on the free part of Germany. No amount of barbed-wire is capable of relieving the Czechs of the danger that - despite the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans - the German people are still their immediate neighbor. The psychological factor of guilt has become the main driving force behind Prague's foreign policy. Since 1945, fear has been the primary factor involved. For approximately ten years the "fight against German revengism" has really been at the bottom of Prague's policy toward Germany. As long as Moscow could still hope to win the population of West Germany in some form or other for the East (as has happened in the "solution of the Ulbricht State"), or at least to neutralize the German Federal Republic as a political power, these trends in Czecho-Slovak policy toward Germany remained chiefly in the background. To the degree, however, to which the Ulbricht State became an important card in Moscow's foreign-political game, Moscow's and Prague's foreign~political goals grew closer and closer. Ulbricht's State became, just as Prague's former ambassador to Pankov, Dr. Ota Klicka, described on television, a bastion of Czecho-Slovak security. As long as the "GDR" (German Democratic Republic) existed, no aggression against Czecho-Slovakia would be possible. State President Antonin Novotny stated in similar terms, at his very first international appearance before the General Assembly of the UN, in the fall of 1960, that GDR was a guarantee of Czecho-Slovak security. Paralleling the deeping bond between Prague and Pankov was a common incitement of both Satellite States against the German Federal Republic. Some 400,000 foreignlanguage propaganda pamphlets have been sent from Prague to Western countries within the past years in order to spread abroad a frightful picture of German militarism coupled with anti-Czech revengism. When Khrushchev triggered the German question last year with his Berlin ultimatum, the CSSR warmly welcomed his initiative. At the time the Czech Communist Party politicians, in keeping with Khrushchev's political line, were still talking of the two German States with equal SLOVAKIA 85 rights. The world at large ha.s scarcely noticed· that Prague and Pankov have meanwhile reached beyond this political line. Even during the visit to Prague of Ulbricht's president of the People's Chamber, Dr. Dieckmann, in April 1961, an attempt was made to forge a new policy according to which the "GDR would be the only legally valid German State because, in conformance with the Potsdam Agreement, the roots of German militarism" have been removed. This new tactic as to Prague's policy on Germany, which has become more pronounced ever since April of last year, dovetails nicely with Khrushchev's strategic concept a.s to policy on Germany. It enables him now and again to appear before the international public a.s a moderating factor, meanwhile pursuing with even greater intensity his immediate goal in the German issue: Making a free city of West Berlin, concluding a peace treaty between "all interested States" and Ulbricht's State in order to bring about the de facto recognition of the conditions established within Central Europe by World War II. In the coming weeks and months it will be left to Prague to make new tactical moves with roles assigned to different players in the drama that is directed from Moscow, thus reaching out beyond the issues that are important to Moscow and Ulbricht. Details as to Prague's new tactical role within Moscow's broader strategic plan as to Germany were revealed at an international press conference in July of last year by Vaclav Kathy, head of the department of Socialist States in Prague's Institute for International Politics and Economy. The tenor of this role is, that since the German Federal Government is virtually the main source of "political revengism," the "change in the social and economic structure of the German Federal Republic by the signing of a German peace treaty," would be a timely move. This, it claimed, is the only possibility for peaceful coexistence in Europe, since these changes alone would guarantee the liquidation of "German militarism and revengism." This alone would be the actual and ultimate aim of CzechoSlovakia's foreign-political endeavors. Indeed, one can hardly describe that country's foreignpolicy aims more clearly.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Prague Between Moscow and Berlin Description An account of the resource Heinrich Kuhn Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 83-85 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kuhn, Heinrich, 1922-1997 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/f0889b6e509447fe7e5207ea74a376f2.pdf f3ee84cb470dfeb7c01a92045869edf1 PDF Text Text 58 SLOVAKIA SS. Cyril And Methodius: Tl.lEIR FIRST TRIP TO ROME MIC.HAEIL LACKO, S. J. After forty months in Great Moravia, why did SS. Cyril and Methodius go to Rome? Another question that has puzzled many in past centuries: Did they set out for Rome or Constantinople (By,zantium) ? In the 1aTIE (biography) of Constantine-Cyril, written in Old Slovaik, it is noted that "after 40 months in Mora'V'ia, they (Cyril and Methodius) set out to ha,ve their disctples ordained" 1 . It is rather clear then that we are here concerned with their first journey to Rome. The Italian version of the ZITIE, referring to this journey, says: '4Manserunt autem in Moravia per annos quattuor et dim.idium ... " 2 • The la,tter version tells us that the trip to Rome was under.taken by the saintly brathers after they had spent four and a half years in the land of Rastislav, while the Old Slova!k text relates that they went to Rome after a:bout three and a half years in Great Moravia. F. Grivec explained this difference excellently: in the Old Slovak text only the time spent in Great Moravia is considered, while in the Italian text we have included also the time Cyril and Methodius spent with Kocel' (Pribina's son) and in Venice, as well as the time spent on their journey to Rome3 • The SloV'ak Arpostles came to Rome with their group shortly after the election of Pope Adrian IL that is, after December 14, 867. Therefore, they came to Great Moravia four and a half years prior to that date, that is, about the .b eginning of the summer of 863, and set out for Rome at the end of 866 or the beginning of 867. Why did they saintly brothers go to Rome at that time? To have their disciples ordained to the priesthood is the simple and usual reply of many authors. Some authors, however, claim that Pope Nicholas I called them directly to R'Ome when he had learned of their missionary activity. But from the Old SlovaJk text of the filTIE. it ie very much more probably that Pope Nicholas sent them an invitation (litteras aipostolicas) after they had arrived �SLOVAKIA 59 in Venice. Could there be any other reason why Cyril and fMethodius went to Rome just at that time ? l see an indirect reply to this question in one document which seems to have escaped the attention of historians: the "Responsa Papae Nicolai I ad consultationes Ludovici regis Germaniae per Salomonem episcopum Constantiensem translatas" 4 • The manuscript containing the "responsa" is not dated5 but the text allows us to conclude that Salomon, a messenger or representative of King Louis, came to Rome about Easter Day, 864, and, therefore, the "responsa" were issued shortly thereafter. The ninth point of this document is generally well known: it mentions Louis's preparations for war with Rastislav and his plans to meet with the Bulgarian King Boris at Tulln on the Danube. Point four, however, appears to be less known and even still less mentioned, though I think it throws much light on the question before us. Bishop Hartwig of Passau, according to the tex:t:,6 suffered from a stroke since 8l60 and could neither talk nor manage his diocese. Salomon therefore requested that a new bishop be appointed in Hartwig's place7 • The Pope replied that, according to ecclesiastical law, Hartwig should resign from his bishopric ("saltem scriipto") if he really cannot administer it. OtheIWise, the iPope continues, a new bishop cannot be appointed, but only a temporary administrator chosen by the clergy. We might ask why there was now suddenly expressed so much concern about getting a new bishop since Hartwig suffered the effects of the stroke for 4 years? It appears to me that the e~lanation may be found in the conditions prevailing in Great Moravia at that time. Salomon came to Rome about Easter Day of 864, that is, about eight months after SS. Cyril and Methodius began their :missionary activity in Great Moravia, the land of the Rast:islav Slovaks. He came to Rome to lodge a protest against their presence and their mission. The Slovak Apostles soon gained the love and trust of Rastislav's people, but at the same time also the enmity of the German missionaries whom they ha,d displaced. The latter said that the new missionaries from Byzantium came into the territory without the approval of the bishop of Passau; furthermore that they were using Slovak for liturgical servkes and following the Byzantium rite. The German mis- �60 SLOVAKIA inonaries resented being pushed out of the land of the Slovaks. This territory was under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Passau since 8219. Bishop Hartwig, how~r, was not able to intervene in the matter, because he had suffered a stroke. Pope Nicholas I, as we have seen above, could not appoint a new bishop as long as the old bishop did not r~sign9. History tells us that Hartwig did not resign; he remained bishop of Passau until his death at the end of 865 or the beginning of 86610 • In 866 a new bishop was elected, the agile and energetic H.ermanric (866-Dec. 26, 874). The new ordinary, however, could not tackle the Great Moravian problem at once, because shortly after his elevation he led a German missionary e~tion to Bulgaria. When he arrived there a:nd found a similar mission from Rome led by · Bishop Formosus, Hernnanric returned to Passau the same year. In all probability, Hermanric sojourned in Great Moravia, at the end of 866, on his return trip to Passau to ascertain just what was happenning there since the advent of the missionaries from Byzantium. SS. Cyril and Methodius, because of Bishop Hartwig's condition, performed their missionary work in the land of Rastislav without hindrance since 863. When Bishop Hermanric met with the saintly brothers, he undoubtedly asked them on whose authority were they in Great Moravia. Most likely the brothers replied that they came at the request of RastislaJV and the authority of the patriarch of Constantinople. Hermanric then told them that the territory already for several decades had been under the jurisdiction of the Pa.ssau bishopric and, therefore, under the authority of the patriarchate of Rome; they were there unla.'Wfully and should leave the territory as soon as possible. Now we can understand why SS. Cyril and Methodius soon thereafter, but not later than the beginning of 867, set out on their journey in 867: to straighten out the matter of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the land of the Slovaks. With the aibove in mind, let us now analyze the question whether SS. Cyril and Methodius and their retinue went to Rome or Constantinople. Much has been written about this question. The thesis that they set out for Con- �SLOVAKIA 61 stantinople is defended by the Slavists: Novotny, Hauptmann, Teodorov-Balan, Ohienko, Weingart, Stanislav, and especially Dvornik11 • The intention to journey to Rome is claimed by Pastrne'.k, Lavrov, Hudeeek, Perels, Hrusovsky, and especially Grivec 12 • The first group bases its claim mainly on the words in the ":Zitie Metodovo" which state that the brothers "returned fr-om Moravia" (vyzvratistasja iz Moravy) 13, while the second group analyzes particularly the purpose of the trip: to settle the question of ecclesiastical jurisdiction on the territory of Great Moravia which belonged to the patriarchate of Rome. I rum inclined to the opinion of the latter: the saintly brothers' prior intention was to travel to Rome. From the bove, it appears to be logical that Cyril and Methodius set out for Rome in 867. The territory of Great Moravia, ruled by Rastislav, belonged to the patriarchate of Rome. Constantinople had no authority over that territory; the saintly brothers could not defend their claims against the claims of the bishop of Passau in Constantinople. And when they decided to introduce the Slavak lan,g uage even into the liturgy of the Western Rite, they needed the approval of Rome and not of Constantinople. Similarly their disciples had to be ordained by the authority of the patriarchate on whose territory they were to labor and that was Rome and not Constantinople. There are other sources that clearly indicate the original intention of Cyril and Methodius to mruke their first trip to Rome; some of them come from their disciples, who probably made that trip with them and, hence, are sufficiently authentic. Because they are usually not considered by many writers, I mention them here: 1. Pochvalnoje slovo Kyrillu i Methodiju14 ; 2. Pochvala blazennago otca nasego i ucitera slovenskago Kyrila filosofa15; 3. Proloznoje Zitie Konstantina i Methodija16 ; 4. Zitie Nauma17 ; 5. Grooke Zitie sv. Klimenta18 . Because they knew that even Paul used to announce his glad tidings to the apostles, so Cyril and Methodius, too, hurried to Rome to show the Pope their translaJtion of the Holy Writ. Their trip was successful; they did not go there in vain19 • �62 SLOVAKIA These texts, which represent the original Cyrilo-Methodius tradition, clearly bear witness to the j-Ourney of the saintly brothers to Rome. The only text, which allegedly notes that St. Methodius was consecrated Bishop of Pannonia by the Patriarch of Constantinople, is in cuntradiction to all other sources and, hence, has no value in this respect20 • The phrase "return to Constantinople" (Navrat do Carihradu) refers to their return from the Kha.zar mission, before their departure to Great Moravia. When Cyril and Methodius left Moravia in 867, they were headed for Rome and not for Constantinople. REFERSNCE NOTES 1. IP. A. Lavrov: Materialy po istoriji vozniknovenija drevnejiej slavjanskoj pismennoati, Leningrad, 1930, p. 29. 2. P. iMeyvaert-P. Devos: Trois enigmes Cyrilo-Methodiennes de un document inedit. "Analecta la "Legende ltalique" resolues grace a Bolland1ana," IJXXlIIII (Bruxelles, 1955), p. 459. 3. F. Grivec: Vitae Constantini et Methodli. "Acta Academiae Velehradensis," X,V!N (IO!omouc, 1941), p. 89. 4. 1Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Epistolae, Vol. Vil, pp. 290-293. 5. Coder Parisie11.sis latinus 10402. 6. 'I'he text in MGH, Ep., p. 292, reads: "De Hartwigo Pazzowensis civitatis episcopo, quem asseritis ante annos quattuor paralysi percussum, ita ut nil valeat loqui et ecclesia sibi commissa dissipetur et ad nihih.un r ed1gatur, du,m et omni pastorali cura destituta et nulla episcopali providentia circumspecta, si ita est, debet idem epi· scopus saltem scripto profiter! se officium lllud non posse peragere ... " 7. ]bidem Nr. 3. 8. Ibidem Nr. 4: 'ISit ergo cura rerum ecclesiasticarum oeconomo electo de proprlo clero iuxta sacros canones." 9. cA.rchbishop Adalwin of Salzburg was infoflmed of Pope Nicholas's reply: MGH, Eplstolae, Vol. VI, pp. 630-631. 10. .P. B. Gama (Series episcoporum Eccfesiae Catholica~, Ratis1bonae, 1873, p. 301) •s tates that Hartwig died on May 18, 866. A. Hauck, on the other hand, notes (Kirchengeschichte •Deutschlands, Bd . .FI, Leipzig, 193·5, Appendix) that Hartwig died in 864 or 865 •s ince it is not known whether he became bishop in 838 or 840. 11. .Frantisek. Dvornik: Les Legendes de Constantin et de Methode vues de Byzance, Prague, 1933, p. 234: ''111 est remar,quable que !es deux Legendes ne disent pas un mot du but du voyage et fassent intervenir le pape apres avoir indique le devlacement des deux freres et leur sejour a Venise. Cela indique qu'ils avaient bien l'intenttion de se rendr e a Constantinople et qu e c'est vral:ment !'intervention ponttficale qui !es empecha d'iexec1tter leur dessin et !es decida a aller a Rome." 12. 1F. Grivec: Konstantin und Method, Lehrer der Slaven, Wies/baden, 1960; par. 18, pp. 70-73: Nach Rom oder nach Konstant!nopel? 13, Lavrov, op. cit., p. 72. 14. 1libedem, PP. 84-86. 1 �SLOVAKIA 63 16. 16. 17. 18. lbid~, p . 97. IDbidem, p. 100. :l!bidem, p. 185. fN. L. Tunickij: Materialy dra istorii iizni i dejate.rnosti ucenikov svv. Kirilla i Methodija, Sergiev Posad, 1918, p. 70. 19. ¼n Stanislav: Osudy Cyrila a Methoda a ich ucenfkov v Zivote Klimentovom, Bratislava, 19-50, p. 68. 20. 1Proloznoje iitie sv. Methodija: Vy1,vrativsj.u sja Methodijn v Konstantin grady, patrijarchy ze svjati jego jeplskopa, posLa vy !Moravu v grady Kaan (=IPannonia) i tu mnoga stvori cudesa. Lavrov, op. cit., p. 103. OUR CONTRIBUTORS Jozef Cincik: emi.nent ~lovak artis,t a.nd dnterlor decorator. For• merly of Bratislava U.nivemity f ·r om which he holds a Ph. D. in philo• sophy. Cincfk makes hi,s home in Bedford, Ohio. P. A. Hrobak: Educator, lecturer, writer on Slovakia and Czecho• Slovakia; editor o·f the JEDNOTA, the official organ of the First Cath• olic Slovak Union, the past 2'5 years. lmrich Kruiliak: Slovak ihiistar:ian; former secretary-general of the Slovak League, Bratislava, Slovakia; Ph.D. - Brait<J.slava University. Heinrich Kuhn is secretairy•general of the Sudeten Germa.n Archives in Munich. Rev. Michael Lacko, S. J., :professor at the Gregorian University, Rome, i<s an expert on the Byzanhlne •rite rund the author of The Life and Work of SS Cyril and Metihodlus. Frantisek Lanak: s,Iovak eduoator; held a key ,position in the Department of Education, Bratislava, Slovakia. Philosophy, Ph.D. Eberhart Mahner is a staff w,rlter for the "Sudetendeutscher Arti- keldienst," Munich. Jozef Pauco: Ph.D. - University of Bratislava, Slovakia; author of ei.g,ht book>s and many articles ,relating to Slovaks in America a.nd in Slovakia; former ediitor-in•chief of -the SLOVAK dally of Brati,slava; a,ssistant editor of the JEIDNOTA, Middletown, Pa., the ,prust 13 years. Mary Piroch: active in Slovak religious and cultuTa.l affai<rs; lives in Emlen tO'll, Pa. Anton F. Wuschek is the editor of the Centra.l European review SUDET:IDN BULLE'DIN, Munich, Germany. � 58 SLOVAKIA SS. Cyril And Methodius: Tl.lEIR FIRST TRIP TO ROME MIC.HAEIL LACKO, S. J. After forty months in Great Moravia, why did SS. Cyril and Methodius go to Rome? Another question that has puzzled many in past centuries: Did they set out for Rome or Constantinople (By,zantium) ? In the 1aTIE (biography) of Constantine-Cyril, written in Old Slovaik, it is noted that "after 40 months in Mora'V'ia, they (Cyril and Methodius) set out to ha,ve their disctples ordained" 1 . It is rather clear then that we are here concerned with their first journey to Rome. The Italian version of the ZITIE, referring to this journey, says: '4Manserunt autem in Moravia per annos quattuor et dim.idium ... " 2 • The la,tter version tells us that the trip to Rome was under.taken by the saintly brathers after they had spent four and a half years in the land of Rastislav, while the Old Slova!k text relates that they went to Rome after a:bout three and a half years in Great Moravia. F. Grivec explained this difference excellently: in the Old Slovak text only the time spent in Great Moravia is considered, while in the Italian text we have included also the time Cyril and Methodius spent with Kocel' (Pribina's son) and in Venice, as well as the time spent on their journey to Rome3 • The SloV'ak Arpostles came to Rome with their group shortly after the election of Pope Adrian IL that is, after December 14, 867. Therefore, they came to Great Moravia four and a half years prior to that date, that is, about the .b eginning of the summer of 863, and set out for Rome at the end of 866 or the beginning of 867. Why did they saintly brothers go to Rome at that time? To have their disciples ordained to the priesthood is the simple and usual reply of many authors. Some authors, however, claim that Pope Nicholas I called them directly to R'Ome when he had learned of their missionary activity. But from the Old SlovaJk text of the filTIE. it ie very much more probably that Pope Nicholas sent them an invitation (litteras aipostolicas) after they had arrived �SLOVAKIA 59 in Venice. Could there be any other reason why Cyril and fMethodius went to Rome just at that time ? l see an indirect reply to this question in one document which seems to have escaped the attention of historians: the "Responsa Papae Nicolai I ad consultationes Ludovici regis Germaniae per Salomonem episcopum Constantiensem translatas" 4 • The manuscript containing the "responsa" is not dated5 but the text allows us to conclude that Salomon, a messenger or representative of King Louis, came to Rome about Easter Day, 864, and, therefore, the "responsa" were issued shortly thereafter. The ninth point of this document is generally well known: it mentions Louis's preparations for war with Rastislav and his plans to meet with the Bulgarian King Boris at Tulln on the Danube. Point four, however, appears to be less known and even still less mentioned, though I think it throws much light on the question before us. Bishop Hartwig of Passau, according to the tex:t:,6 suffered from a stroke since 8l60 and could neither talk nor manage his diocese. Salomon therefore requested that a new bishop be appointed in Hartwig's place7 • The Pope replied that, according to ecclesiastical law, Hartwig should resign from his bishopric ("saltem scriipto") if he really cannot administer it. OtheIWise, the iPope continues, a new bishop cannot be appointed, but only a temporary administrator chosen by the clergy. We might ask why there was now suddenly expressed so much concern about getting a new bishop since Hartwig suffered the effects of the stroke for 4 years? It appears to me that the e~lanation may be found in the conditions prevailing in Great Moravia at that time. Salomon came to Rome about Easter Day of 864, that is, about eight months after SS. Cyril and Methodius began their :missionary activity in Great Moravia, the land of the Rast:islav Slovaks. He came to Rome to lodge a protest against their presence and their mission. The Slovak Apostles soon gained the love and trust of Rastislav's people, but at the same time also the enmity of the German missionaries whom they ha,d displaced. The latter said that the new missionaries from Byzantium came into the territory without the approval of the bishop of Passau; furthermore that they were using Slovak for liturgical servkes and following the Byzantium rite. The German mis- �60 SLOVAKIA inonaries resented being pushed out of the land of the Slovaks. This territory was under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Passau since 8219. Bishop Hartwig, how~r, was not able to intervene in the matter, because he had suffered a stroke. Pope Nicholas I, as we have seen above, could not appoint a new bishop as long as the old bishop did not r~sign9. History tells us that Hartwig did not resign; he remained bishop of Passau until his death at the end of 865 or the beginning of 86610 • In 866 a new bishop was elected, the agile and energetic H.ermanric (866-Dec. 26, 874). The new ordinary, however, could not tackle the Great Moravian problem at once, because shortly after his elevation he led a German missionary e~tion to Bulgaria. When he arrived there a:nd found a similar mission from Rome led by · Bishop Formosus, Hernnanric returned to Passau the same year. In all probability, Hermanric sojourned in Great Moravia, at the end of 866, on his return trip to Passau to ascertain just what was happenning there since the advent of the missionaries from Byzantium. SS. Cyril and Methodius, because of Bishop Hartwig's condition, performed their missionary work in the land of Rastislav without hindrance since 863. When Bishop Hermanric met with the saintly brothers, he undoubtedly asked them on whose authority were they in Great Moravia. Most likely the brothers replied that they came at the request of RastislaJV and the authority of the patriarch of Constantinople. Hermanric then told them that the territory already for several decades had been under the jurisdiction of the Pa.ssau bishopric and, therefore, under the authority of the patriarchate of Rome; they were there unla.'Wfully and should leave the territory as soon as possible. Now we can understand why SS. Cyril and Methodius soon thereafter, but not later than the beginning of 867, set out on their journey in 867: to straighten out the matter of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the land of the Slovaks. With the aibove in mind, let us now analyze the question whether SS. Cyril and Methodius and their retinue went to Rome or Constantinople. Much has been written about this question. The thesis that they set out for Con- �SLOVAKIA 61 stantinople is defended by the Slavists: Novotny, Hauptmann, Teodorov-Balan, Ohienko, Weingart, Stanislav, and especially Dvornik11 • The intention to journey to Rome is claimed by Pastrne'.k, Lavrov, Hudeeek, Perels, Hrusovsky, and especially Grivec 12 • The first group bases its claim mainly on the words in the ":Zitie Metodovo" which state that the brothers "returned fr-om Moravia" (vyzvratistasja iz Moravy) 13, while the second group analyzes particularly the purpose of the trip: to settle the question of ecclesiastical jurisdiction on the territory of Great Moravia which belonged to the patriarchate of Rome. I rum inclined to the opinion of the latter: the saintly brothers' prior intention was to travel to Rome. From the bove, it appears to be logical that Cyril and Methodius set out for Rome in 867. The territory of Great Moravia, ruled by Rastislav, belonged to the patriarchate of Rome. Constantinople had no authority over that territory; the saintly brothers could not defend their claims against the claims of the bishop of Passau in Constantinople. And when they decided to introduce the Slavak lan,g uage even into the liturgy of the Western Rite, they needed the approval of Rome and not of Constantinople. Similarly their disciples had to be ordained by the authority of the patriarchate on whose territory they were to labor and that was Rome and not Constantinople. There are other sources that clearly indicate the original intention of Cyril and Methodius to mruke their first trip to Rome; some of them come from their disciples, who probably made that trip with them and, hence, are sufficiently authentic. Because they are usually not considered by many writers, I mention them here: 1. Pochvalnoje slovo Kyrillu i Methodiju14 ; 2. Pochvala blazennago otca nasego i ucitera slovenskago Kyrila filosofa15; 3. Proloznoje Zitie Konstantina i Methodija16 ; 4. Zitie Nauma17 ; 5. Grooke Zitie sv. Klimenta18 . Because they knew that even Paul used to announce his glad tidings to the apostles, so Cyril and Methodius, too, hurried to Rome to show the Pope their translaJtion of the Holy Writ. Their trip was successful; they did not go there in vain19 • �62 SLOVAKIA These texts, which represent the original Cyrilo-Methodius tradition, clearly bear witness to the j-Ourney of the saintly brothers to Rome. The only text, which allegedly notes that St. Methodius was consecrated Bishop of Pannonia by the Patriarch of Constantinople, is in cuntradiction to all other sources and, hence, has no value in this respect20 • The phrase "return to Constantinople" (Navrat do Carihradu) refers to their return from the Kha.zar mission, before their departure to Great Moravia. When Cyril and Methodius left Moravia in 867, they were headed for Rome and not for Constantinople. REFERSNCE NOTES 1. IP. A. Lavrov: Materialy po istoriji vozniknovenija drevnejiej slavjanskoj pismennoati, Leningrad, 1930, p. 29. 2. P. iMeyvaert-P. Devos: Trois enigmes Cyrilo-Methodiennes de un document inedit. "Analecta la "Legende ltalique" resolues grace a Bolland1ana," IJXXlIIII (Bruxelles, 1955), p. 459. 3. F. Grivec: Vitae Constantini et Methodli. "Acta Academiae Velehradensis," X,V!N (IO!omouc, 1941), p. 89. 4. 1Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Epistolae, Vol. Vil, pp. 290-293. 5. Coder Parisie11.sis latinus 10402. 6. 'I'he text in MGH, Ep., p. 292, reads: "De Hartwigo Pazzowensis civitatis episcopo, quem asseritis ante annos quattuor paralysi percussum, ita ut nil valeat loqui et ecclesia sibi commissa dissipetur et ad nihih.un r ed1gatur, du,m et omni pastorali cura destituta et nulla episcopali providentia circumspecta, si ita est, debet idem epi· scopus saltem scripto profiter! se officium lllud non posse peragere ... " 7. ]bidem Nr. 3. 8. Ibidem Nr. 4: 'ISit ergo cura rerum ecclesiasticarum oeconomo electo de proprlo clero iuxta sacros canones." 9. cA.rchbishop Adalwin of Salzburg was infoflmed of Pope Nicholas's reply: MGH, Eplstolae, Vol. VI, pp. 630-631. 10. .P. B. Gama (Series episcoporum Eccfesiae Catholica~, Ratis1bonae, 1873, p. 301) •s tates that Hartwig died on May 18, 866. A. Hauck, on the other hand, notes (Kirchengeschichte •Deutschlands, Bd . .FI, Leipzig, 193·5, Appendix) that Hartwig died in 864 or 865 •s ince it is not known whether he became bishop in 838 or 840. 11. .Frantisek. Dvornik: Les Legendes de Constantin et de Methode vues de Byzance, Prague, 1933, p. 234: ''111 est remar,quable que !es deux Legendes ne disent pas un mot du but du voyage et fassent intervenir le pape apres avoir indique le devlacement des deux freres et leur sejour a Venise. Cela indique qu'ils avaient bien l'intenttion de se rendr e a Constantinople et qu e c'est vral:ment !'intervention ponttficale qui !es empecha d'iexec1tter leur dessin et !es decida a aller a Rome." 12. 1F. Grivec: Konstantin und Method, Lehrer der Slaven, Wies/baden, 1960; par. 18, pp. 70-73: Nach Rom oder nach Konstant!nopel? 13, Lavrov, op. cit., p. 72. 14. 1libedem, PP. 84-86. 1 �SLOVAKIA 63 16. 16. 17. 18. lbid~, p . 97. IDbidem, p. 100. :l!bidem, p. 185. fN. L. Tunickij: Materialy dra istorii iizni i dejate.rnosti ucenikov svv. Kirilla i Methodija, Sergiev Posad, 1918, p. 70. 19. ¼n Stanislav: Osudy Cyrila a Methoda a ich ucenfkov v Zivote Klimentovom, Bratislava, 19-50, p. 68. 20. 1Proloznoje iitie sv. Methodija: Vy1,vrativsj.u sja Methodijn v Konstantin grady, patrijarchy ze svjati jego jeplskopa, posLa vy !Moravu v grady Kaan (=IPannonia) i tu mnoga stvori cudesa. Lavrov, op. cit., p. 103. OUR CONTRIBUTORS Jozef Cincik: emi.nent ~lovak artis,t a.nd dnterlor decorator. For• merly of Bratislava U.nivemity f ·r om which he holds a Ph. D. in philo• sophy. Cincfk makes hi,s home in Bedford, Ohio. P. A. Hrobak: Educator, lecturer, writer on Slovakia and Czecho• Slovakia; editor o·f the JEDNOTA, the official organ of the First Cath• olic Slovak Union, the past 2'5 years. lmrich Kruiliak: Slovak ihiistar:ian; former secretary-general of the Slovak League, Bratislava, Slovakia; Ph.D. - Brait<J.slava University. Heinrich Kuhn is secretairy•general of the Sudeten Germa.n Archives in Munich. Rev. Michael Lacko, S. J., :professor at the Gregorian University, Rome, i<s an expert on the Byzanhlne •rite rund the author of The Life and Work of SS Cyril and Metihodlus. Frantisek Lanak: s,Iovak eduoator; held a key ,position in the Department of Education, Bratislava, Slovakia. Philosophy, Ph.D. Eberhart Mahner is a staff w,rlter for the "Sudetendeutscher Arti- keldienst," Munich. Jozef Pauco: Ph.D. - University of Bratislava, Slovakia; author of ei.g,ht book>s and many articles ,relating to Slovaks in America a.nd in Slovakia; former ediitor-in•chief of -the SLOVAK dally of Brati,slava; a,ssistant editor of the JEIDNOTA, Middletown, Pa., the ,prust 13 years. Mary Piroch: active in Slovak religious and cultuTa.l affai<rs; lives in Emlen tO'll, Pa. Anton F. Wuschek is the editor of the Centra.l European review SUDET:IDN BULLE'DIN, Munich, Germany. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 58 SLOVAKIA SS. Cyril And Methodius: Tl.lEIR FIRST TRIP TO ROME MIC.HAEIL LACKO, S. J. After forty months in Great Moravia, why did SS. Cyril and Methodius go to Rome? Another question that has puzzled many in past centuries: Did they set out for Rome or Constantinople (By,zantium) ? In the 1aTIE (biography) of Constantine-Cyril, written in Old Slovaik, it is noted that "after 40 months in Mora'V'ia, they (Cyril and Methodius) set out to ha,ve their disctples ordained" 1 . It is rather clear then that we are here concerned with their first journey to Rome. The Italian version of the ZITIE, referring to this journey, says: '4Manserunt autem in Moravia per annos quattuor et dim.idium ... " 2 • The la,tter version tells us that the trip to Rome was under.taken by the saintly brathers after they had spent four and a half years in the land of Rastislav, while the Old Slova!k text relates that they went to Rome after a:bout three and a half years in Great Moravia. F. Grivec explained this difference excellently: in the Old Slovak text only the time spent in Great Moravia is considered, while in the Italian text we have included also the time Cyril and Methodius spent with Kocel' (Pribina's son) and in Venice, as well as the time spent on their journey to Rome3 • The SloV'ak Arpostles came to Rome with their group shortly after the election of Pope Adrian IL that is, after December 14, 867. Therefore, they came to Great Moravia four and a half years prior to that date, that is, about the .b eginning of the summer of 863, and set out for Rome at the end of 866 or the beginning of 867. Why did they saintly brothers go to Rome at that time? To have their disciples ordained to the priesthood is the simple and usual reply of many authors. Some authors, however, claim that Pope Nicholas I called them directly to R'Ome when he had learned of their missionary activity. But from the Old SlovaJk text of the filTIE. it ie very much more probably that Pope Nicholas sent them an invitation (litteras aipostolicas) after they had arrived SLOVAKIA 59 in Venice. Could there be any other reason why Cyril and fMethodius went to Rome just at that time ? l see an indirect reply to this question in one document which seems to have escaped the attention of historians: the "Responsa Papae Nicolai I ad consultationes Ludovici regis Germaniae per Salomonem episcopum Constantiensem translatas" 4 • The manuscript containing the "responsa" is not dated5 but the text allows us to conclude that Salomon, a messenger or representative of King Louis, came to Rome about Easter Day, 864, and, therefore, the "responsa" were issued shortly thereafter. The ninth point of this document is generally well known: it mentions Louis's preparations for war with Rastislav and his plans to meet with the Bulgarian King Boris at Tulln on the Danube. Point four, however, appears to be less known and even still less mentioned, though I think it throws much light on the question before us. Bishop Hartwig of Passau, according to the tex:t:,6 suffered from a stroke since 8l60 and could neither talk nor manage his diocese. Salomon therefore requested that a new bishop be appointed in Hartwig's place7 • The Pope replied that, according to ecclesiastical law, Hartwig should resign from his bishopric ("saltem scriipto") if he really cannot administer it. OtheIWise, the iPope continues, a new bishop cannot be appointed, but only a temporary administrator chosen by the clergy. We might ask why there was now suddenly expressed so much concern about getting a new bishop since Hartwig suffered the effects of the stroke for 4 years? It appears to me that the e~lanation may be found in the conditions prevailing in Great Moravia at that time. Salomon came to Rome about Easter Day of 864, that is, about eight months after SS. Cyril and Methodius began their :missionary activity in Great Moravia, the land of the Rast:islav Slovaks. He came to Rome to lodge a protest against their presence and their mission. The Slovak Apostles soon gained the love and trust of Rastislav's people, but at the same time also the enmity of the German missionaries whom they ha,d displaced. The latter said that the new missionaries from Byzantium came into the territory without the approval of the bishop of Passau; furthermore that they were using Slovak for liturgical servkes and following the Byzantium rite. The German mis- 60 SLOVAKIA inonaries resented being pushed out of the land of the Slovaks. This territory was under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Passau since 8219. Bishop Hartwig, how~r, was not able to intervene in the matter, because he had suffered a stroke. Pope Nicholas I, as we have seen above, could not appoint a new bishop as long as the old bishop did not r~sign9. History tells us that Hartwig did not resign; he remained bishop of Passau until his death at the end of 865 or the beginning of 86610 • In 866 a new bishop was elected, the agile and energetic H.ermanric (866-Dec. 26, 874). The new ordinary, however, could not tackle the Great Moravian problem at once, because shortly after his elevation he led a German missionary e~tion to Bulgaria. When he arrived there a:nd found a similar mission from Rome led by · Bishop Formosus, Hernnanric returned to Passau the same year. In all probability, Hermanric sojourned in Great Moravia, at the end of 866, on his return trip to Passau to ascertain just what was happenning there since the advent of the missionaries from Byzantium. SS. Cyril and Methodius, because of Bishop Hartwig's condition, performed their missionary work in the land of Rastislav without hindrance since 863. When Bishop Hermanric met with the saintly brothers, he undoubtedly asked them on whose authority were they in Great Moravia. Most likely the brothers replied that they came at the request of RastislaJV and the authority of the patriarch of Constantinople. Hermanric then told them that the territory already for several decades had been under the jurisdiction of the Pa.ssau bishopric and, therefore, under the authority of the patriarchate of Rome; they were there unla.'Wfully and should leave the territory as soon as possible. Now we can understand why SS. Cyril and Methodius soon thereafter, but not later than the beginning of 867, set out on their journey in 867: to straighten out the matter of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the land of the Slovaks. With the aibove in mind, let us now analyze the question whether SS. Cyril and Methodius and their retinue went to Rome or Constantinople. Much has been written about this question. The thesis that they set out for Con- SLOVAKIA 61 stantinople is defended by the Slavists: Novotny, Hauptmann, Teodorov-Balan, Ohienko, Weingart, Stanislav, and especially Dvornik11 • The intention to journey to Rome is claimed by Pastrne'.k, Lavrov, Hudeeek, Perels, Hrusovsky, and especially Grivec 12 • The first group bases its claim mainly on the words in the ":Zitie Metodovo" which state that the brothers "returned fr-om Moravia" (vyzvratistasja iz Moravy) 13, while the second group analyzes particularly the purpose of the trip: to settle the question of ecclesiastical jurisdiction on the territory of Great Moravia which belonged to the patriarchate of Rome. I rum inclined to the opinion of the latter: the saintly brothers' prior intention was to travel to Rome. From the bove, it appears to be logical that Cyril and Methodius set out for Rome in 867. The territory of Great Moravia, ruled by Rastislav, belonged to the patriarchate of Rome. Constantinople had no authority over that territory; the saintly brothers could not defend their claims against the claims of the bishop of Passau in Constantinople. And when they decided to introduce the Slavak lan,g uage even into the liturgy of the Western Rite, they needed the approval of Rome and not of Constantinople. Similarly their disciples had to be ordained by the authority of the patriarchate on whose territory they were to labor and that was Rome and not Constantinople. There are other sources that clearly indicate the original intention of Cyril and Methodius to mruke their first trip to Rome; some of them come from their disciples, who probably made that trip with them and, hence, are sufficiently authentic. Because they are usually not considered by many writers, I mention them here: 1. Pochvalnoje slovo Kyrillu i Methodiju14 ; 2. Pochvala blazennago otca nasego i ucitera slovenskago Kyrila filosofa15; 3. Proloznoje Zitie Konstantina i Methodija16 ; 4. Zitie Nauma17 ; 5. Grooke Zitie sv. Klimenta18 . Because they knew that even Paul used to announce his glad tidings to the apostles, so Cyril and Methodius, too, hurried to Rome to show the Pope their translaJtion of the Holy Writ. Their trip was successful; they did not go there in vain19 • 62 SLOVAKIA These texts, which represent the original Cyrilo-Methodius tradition, clearly bear witness to the j-Ourney of the saintly brothers to Rome. The only text, which allegedly notes that St. Methodius was consecrated Bishop of Pannonia by the Patriarch of Constantinople, is in cuntradiction to all other sources and, hence, has no value in this respect20 • The phrase "return to Constantinople" (Navrat do Carihradu) refers to their return from the Kha.zar mission, before their departure to Great Moravia. When Cyril and Methodius left Moravia in 867, they were headed for Rome and not for Constantinople. REFERSNCE NOTES 1. IP. A. Lavrov: Materialy po istoriji vozniknovenija drevnejiej slavjanskoj pismennoati, Leningrad, 1930, p. 29. 2. P. iMeyvaert-P. Devos: Trois enigmes Cyrilo-Methodiennes de un document inedit. "Analecta la "Legende ltalique" resolues grace a Bolland1ana," IJXXlIIII (Bruxelles, 1955), p. 459. 3. F. Grivec: Vitae Constantini et Methodli. "Acta Academiae Velehradensis," X,V!N (IO!omouc, 1941), p. 89. 4. 1Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Epistolae, Vol. Vil, pp. 290-293. 5. Coder Parisie11.sis latinus 10402. 6. 'I'he text in MGH, Ep., p. 292, reads: "De Hartwigo Pazzowensis civitatis episcopo, quem asseritis ante annos quattuor paralysi percussum, ita ut nil valeat loqui et ecclesia sibi commissa dissipetur et ad nihih.un r ed1gatur, du,m et omni pastorali cura destituta et nulla episcopali providentia circumspecta, si ita est, debet idem epi· scopus saltem scripto profiter! se officium lllud non posse peragere ... " 7. ]bidem Nr. 3. 8. Ibidem Nr. 4: 'ISit ergo cura rerum ecclesiasticarum oeconomo electo de proprlo clero iuxta sacros canones." 9. cA.rchbishop Adalwin of Salzburg was infoflmed of Pope Nicholas's reply: MGH, Eplstolae, Vol. VI, pp. 630-631. 10. .P. B. Gama (Series episcoporum Eccfesiae Catholica~, Ratis1bonae, 1873, p. 301) •s tates that Hartwig died on May 18, 866. A. Hauck, on the other hand, notes (Kirchengeschichte •Deutschlands, Bd . .FI, Leipzig, 193·5, Appendix) that Hartwig died in 864 or 865 •s ince it is not known whether he became bishop in 838 or 840. 11. .Frantisek. Dvornik: Les Legendes de Constantin et de Methode vues de Byzance, Prague, 1933, p. 234: ''111 est remar,quable que !es deux Legendes ne disent pas un mot du but du voyage et fassent intervenir le pape apres avoir indique le devlacement des deux freres et leur sejour a Venise. Cela indique qu'ils avaient bien l'intenttion de se rendr e a Constantinople et qu e c'est vral:ment !'intervention ponttficale qui !es empecha d'iexec1tter leur dessin et !es decida a aller a Rome." 12. 1F. Grivec: Konstantin und Method, Lehrer der Slaven, Wies/baden, 1960; par. 18, pp. 70-73: Nach Rom oder nach Konstant!nopel? 13, Lavrov, op. cit., p. 72. 14. 1libedem, PP. 84-86. 1 SLOVAKIA 63 16. 16. 17. 18. lbid~, p . 97. IDbidem, p. 100. :l!bidem, p. 185. fN. L. Tunickij: Materialy dra istorii iizni i dejate.rnosti ucenikov svv. Kirilla i Methodija, Sergiev Posad, 1918, p. 70. 19. ¼n Stanislav: Osudy Cyrila a Methoda a ich ucenfkov v Zivote Klimentovom, Bratislava, 19-50, p. 68. 20. 1Proloznoje iitie sv. Methodija: Vy1,vrativsj.u sja Methodijn v Konstantin grady, patrijarchy ze svjati jego jeplskopa, posLa vy !Moravu v grady Kaan (=IPannonia) i tu mnoga stvori cudesa. Lavrov, op. cit., p. 103. OUR CONTRIBUTORS Jozef Cincik: emi.nent ~lovak artis,t a.nd dnterlor decorator. For• merly of Bratislava U.nivemity f ·r om which he holds a Ph. D. in philo• sophy. Cincfk makes hi,s home in Bedford, Ohio. P. A. Hrobak: Educator, lecturer, writer on Slovakia and Czecho• Slovakia; editor o·f the JEDNOTA, the official organ of the First Cath• olic Slovak Union, the past 2'5 years. lmrich Kruiliak: Slovak ihiistar:ian; former secretary-general of the Slovak League, Bratislava, Slovakia; Ph.D. - Brait<J.slava University. Heinrich Kuhn is secretairy•general of the Sudeten Germa.n Archives in Munich. Rev. Michael Lacko, S. J., :professor at the Gregorian University, Rome, i<s an expert on the Byzanhlne •rite rund the author of The Life and Work of SS Cyril and Metihodlus. Frantisek Lanak: s,Iovak eduoator; held a key ,position in the Department of Education, Bratislava, Slovakia. Philosophy, Ph.D. Eberhart Mahner is a staff w,rlter for the "Sudetendeutscher Arti- keldienst," Munich. Jozef Pauco: Ph.D. - University of Bratislava, Slovakia; author of ei.g,ht book>s and many articles ,relating to Slovaks in America a.nd in Slovakia; former ediitor-in•chief of -the SLOVAK dally of Brati,slava; a,ssistant editor of the JEIDNOTA, Middletown, Pa., the ,prust 13 years. Mary Piroch: active in Slovak religious and cultuTa.l affai<rs; lives in Emlen tO'll, Pa. Anton F. Wuschek is the editor of the Centra.l European review SUDET:IDN BULLE'DIN, Munich, Germany.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource SS. Cyril and Methodius: Their First Trip to Rome Description An account of the resource Michael Lacko, S.J. Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 58-63 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lacko, Michael, 1920-1982 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6af3069216b8f27a5e1eeaa8832ebcce.pdf 27e44e4b577a56f9ea866735ae1d64ca PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 9 mE MEANING OF THE CYRILO-METHODIAN JUBILEE FRANCIS LANAK The year 1963 marks the 1,100th anniversary of the advent of the Slovak apostles, Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, to Slovakia, after accepting invitation of Rastislav, the Slovak sovereign, to preach the Word of God in a language which was intelligible to his people. This solemn occasion of far-reac·h ing ecclesiastical, cultural, and national significance is being commemorated by Slovaks in the entire world, because eleven whole centuries have passed since the time that Slovakia recorded the event in the history of Europe. Let us delve into the history of the ancient Slovaks of the 9th century who had their freedom, their own state, and an honorable place in the Europe of that time. The first Slovak ruler, whose name history has recorded, had the first Christian church established in 830, in Nitra, and later himself became a Christian. That ruler was Pribina, who later ruled over the Slovaks in TransDanubian Pannonia for twenty years and had 32 churches consecrated. His son, Kocer, continued in this work, and, among other things, it was he wtho appealed to the Holy Father at that time to intervene for the freedom of St. Methodius who had been incarcerated by the Germans. Let us here recall Mojmir I , who for the first time united all Slovak tribes and thereby became the founder of the Slovak State. And in his successor, Rastislav, Slovakia had its first Slovak statesman and ruler of great stature, who purposively and on ,h is own initiative wanted to permanently secure Slovak independence with a separate Slovak ecclesiastical province, which would be headed by an archbishop and would be affiliated with and dependent only on Rome-the same arrangement as the Germans had. With this clearly in our minds, the significance of our CyriloMethodian jubilee becomes obvious. Already during the reign of the predecessors of Rastislav, the land of the Slovaks was the mission territory of the German missionaries of the Salzburg bishopric. With Christianity came the influence of the German empire, but �10 SLOVAKIA also of its imperialistic effo*. When Rastislav defeated the Germans in 855, he was seriously; concerned with the ,problem how he could best secure peace for his people and its own independent development. He decided that he could do this most effectively by requesting the Pope for a Slovak bishop and the establishment of a Slovak acclesiastical province, such as the German empire had. Thereby, he reckoned, he would limit the intervention of the German bishops into the affairs and interests of Slovak rulers. In 860, Rastislav sent a delegation to Rome, to Pope Nicholas I, with a request for missionaries who could speak the language of his people. When the Holy See made a lengthy study of it and did not decide favorably even after a year, Rastislav sent another delegation, in 862, with the same request to Michael Ill in Constantinople, Emperor of the East Roman Empire. The Emperor granted Rastislav's request and sent two teachers and saintly brothers, Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, to the homeland of the Slovaks. Before they set out on their mission to Slovakia, the brothers invented an alphabet for the ancient Slovaks and translated parts of the Holy Writ and liturgical texts into ancient Slovak. They came to Slovakia in 863. After three years, on Rastislav's advice, they went to Rome with a large delegation, including some of their students, as well as with the remains of St. Clement, the martyr, there to defend the usage of old Slovak as a liturgical language and to repudiate the charges the Gennan clergy had lodged against them. They were successful in their mission. Adrian IT approved the use of Slovak in the liturgy and consecrated Methodius bishop for the territory of the ancient Slovaks, dispatching letters to princes Pribina, Rastislav, and Svatopluk to let them know directly of the action he had taken. Thus it was that the Slovaik rulers for the first time in history entered into direct diplomatic contact with the highest spiritual and political authorities of the world of that time as independent sovereigns. The German bishops protested, had Methodius seized in Pannonia and taken into Bavaria. A diplomatic struggle, lasting five years, ensued �SLOVAKIA 11 between the Holy See and the German emperor. In the end the Slovaks were victorious, and the papal legate inducted St. Methodius to the bisbop's seat in Nitra. In the meantime Svatopluk had succeeded Rastislav. Though Svatopluk did not fully understand the original idea of Rastislav and was under the influence of the hostility of the German clergy, who continued to oppose Slovak liturgy and Methodius, the latter developed an intensive missionary activity not only in Slovakia, but also in the ex:panded Great Moravian Empire of King Svatopluk. Among other things, St. Methodius baptized Bofivoj, the Czech Prince, after Svatopluk had conquered the Czechs, and spread Christianity among the Vislanians (the present Poles) who also W',ere a part of Svatopluk's realm. Methodius then made another diplomatic mission to Rome to gain more recognition for the land of the Slovaks and their sovereign. The Holy See took the great empire of Svatopluk under its -p rotection, placing it on the same footing as the German empire, and St. Methodius was named archbishop by the Holy Father with the right to name Slovak bishops. The Germans, of course, highly resented this recognition by the Holy See and attacked Svatopluk repeatedly only to be repulsed by him. The Slovak Sviitopluk remained unconquered by the Germans for the entire 25 years of his reign. After St. Methodius died in 885, the Germans convinced Pape Stephen V to such an extent that he forbade the use of the ancient Slovak liturgy, and the disciples of Methocilus were forced to seek asylum in neighboring Bulgaria. It was from Bulgaria that the ancient Slovak liturgy spread into Russia where Russian literature then developed from the original ancient Slovak of St. Cyril and Methodius. The successoc of .Svatopluk, Mojmir II, sent a delegation to Rome requesting that his territory be given the recognition of an independent ecclesiastical province. The mission was successful, Po~ John IX granting the request. After the experiences of his predecessors, Mojmir II did not ask for a renewal of the Slovak liturgy, so that the Latin became domesticated in the land of the Slovaks and with it Slovakia was definij:ely bound to Rome and western Europe. �12 SLOVAKIA From this hurried glance into the Slovak past we see that our ancient Slovak language became, alongside Latin and Greek, the third language in which Christian liturgical services were conducted; thait the Slovaks were first among the Slovanic peoples who as an entire state accepted Christianity and thus recorded themselves as the first Slovanic people into the cultural history of Europe; we see that they were the first among the Slovanic nations to have their own archbishop and bishops, and that they were the first to propagate Christianity 3.100ng the other Slovanic peoples and therefore were in the cultural forefront of Europe already in the ninth century after Christ, and were indirectly responsible for the introduction of letters among the Bulgarians and Russians. Furthermore, we see that the Slovaks had their own political state in the ninth century and were ruled by leaders of vision and wisdom who were able to retain their independence on the most important crossroads of Europe for almost a whole century under the most difficult circumstances. When the independence of -t he ancient empire of the Slovaks was finally lost in about 904 after repeated and concentrated attacks by the combined forces of the Magyars, Germ.ans, and Czechs - the Slovaks of Rastislav, Pribina, Svatopluk and Mojmir II never gave up hope of regaining their independence, their freedom to worship God in their own fashion and the right to rule themselves and be masters of their own destiny in their ancient homeland - Slovakia. Martin Kukucin's noveJs are being translated into Russian by Jurija Bogdanov. Foor of the eminent Slovak n-0velist's works were pulblished in 1-961• under the title "Novelly." The first edition consls.ted of 30,000 oopies. X X X Jan and Bernard Kurudr, meJI11bers of the religious order of the Comforters cxf Christ, re<:ently were sentenced to prison by the Red Court of Bratislava "for illlegal contacts with the West." In Nitra, Slovakia, 118 priests and brothers o:f the Society cxf the Divine Word weire sentenced to priscm on charges of d•istriibuting "illegal pulblications" and p e ,r f o rim i n g churCth services unlawfully. l!!! l!E( iJg wellkn-own SloV'ak composer otf minor musical scores, celebrated his seventieth birthda,y on February 15. He devoted much of his life to coJlectitng and arrangi<n,g Slovak popular songs . John Valalt'an-Oolinsky, � SLOVAKIA 9 mE MEANING OF THE CYRILO-METHODIAN JUBILEE FRANCIS LANAK The year 1963 marks the 1,100th anniversary of the advent of the Slovak apostles, Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, to Slovakia, after accepting invitation of Rastislav, the Slovak sovereign, to preach the Word of God in a language which was intelligible to his people. This solemn occasion of far-reac·h ing ecclesiastical, cultural, and national significance is being commemorated by Slovaks in the entire world, because eleven whole centuries have passed since the time that Slovakia recorded the event in the history of Europe. Let us delve into the history of the ancient Slovaks of the 9th century who had their freedom, their own state, and an honorable place in the Europe of that time. The first Slovak ruler, whose name history has recorded, had the first Christian church established in 830, in Nitra, and later himself became a Christian. That ruler was Pribina, who later ruled over the Slovaks in TransDanubian Pannonia for twenty years and had 32 churches consecrated. His son, Kocer, continued in this work, and, among other things, it was he wtho appealed to the Holy Father at that time to intervene for the freedom of St. Methodius who had been incarcerated by the Germans. Let us here recall Mojmir I , who for the first time united all Slovak tribes and thereby became the founder of the Slovak State. And in his successor, Rastislav, Slovakia had its first Slovak statesman and ruler of great stature, who purposively and on ,h is own initiative wanted to permanently secure Slovak independence with a separate Slovak ecclesiastical province, which would be headed by an archbishop and would be affiliated with and dependent only on Rome-the same arrangement as the Germans had. With this clearly in our minds, the significance of our CyriloMethodian jubilee becomes obvious. Already during the reign of the predecessors of Rastislav, the land of the Slovaks was the mission territory of the German missionaries of the Salzburg bishopric. With Christianity came the influence of the German empire, but �10 SLOVAKIA also of its imperialistic effo*. When Rastislav defeated the Germans in 855, he was seriously; concerned with the ,problem how he could best secure peace for his people and its own independent development. He decided that he could do this most effectively by requesting the Pope for a Slovak bishop and the establishment of a Slovak acclesiastical province, such as the German empire had. Thereby, he reckoned, he would limit the intervention of the German bishops into the affairs and interests of Slovak rulers. In 860, Rastislav sent a delegation to Rome, to Pope Nicholas I, with a request for missionaries who could speak the language of his people. When the Holy See made a lengthy study of it and did not decide favorably even after a year, Rastislav sent another delegation, in 862, with the same request to Michael Ill in Constantinople, Emperor of the East Roman Empire. The Emperor granted Rastislav's request and sent two teachers and saintly brothers, Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, to the homeland of the Slovaks. Before they set out on their mission to Slovakia, the brothers invented an alphabet for the ancient Slovaks and translated parts of the Holy Writ and liturgical texts into ancient Slovak. They came to Slovakia in 863. After three years, on Rastislav's advice, they went to Rome with a large delegation, including some of their students, as well as with the remains of St. Clement, the martyr, there to defend the usage of old Slovak as a liturgical language and to repudiate the charges the Gennan clergy had lodged against them. They were successful in their mission. Adrian IT approved the use of Slovak in the liturgy and consecrated Methodius bishop for the territory of the ancient Slovaks, dispatching letters to princes Pribina, Rastislav, and Svatopluk to let them know directly of the action he had taken. Thus it was that the Slovaik rulers for the first time in history entered into direct diplomatic contact with the highest spiritual and political authorities of the world of that time as independent sovereigns. The German bishops protested, had Methodius seized in Pannonia and taken into Bavaria. A diplomatic struggle, lasting five years, ensued �SLOVAKIA 11 between the Holy See and the German emperor. In the end the Slovaks were victorious, and the papal legate inducted St. Methodius to the bisbop's seat in Nitra. In the meantime Svatopluk had succeeded Rastislav. Though Svatopluk did not fully understand the original idea of Rastislav and was under the influence of the hostility of the German clergy, who continued to oppose Slovak liturgy and Methodius, the latter developed an intensive missionary activity not only in Slovakia, but also in the ex:panded Great Moravian Empire of King Svatopluk. Among other things, St. Methodius baptized Bofivoj, the Czech Prince, after Svatopluk had conquered the Czechs, and spread Christianity among the Vislanians (the present Poles) who also W',ere a part of Svatopluk's realm. Methodius then made another diplomatic mission to Rome to gain more recognition for the land of the Slovaks and their sovereign. The Holy See took the great empire of Svatopluk under its -p rotection, placing it on the same footing as the German empire, and St. Methodius was named archbishop by the Holy Father with the right to name Slovak bishops. The Germans, of course, highly resented this recognition by the Holy See and attacked Svatopluk repeatedly only to be repulsed by him. The Slovak Sviitopluk remained unconquered by the Germans for the entire 25 years of his reign. After St. Methodius died in 885, the Germans convinced Pape Stephen V to such an extent that he forbade the use of the ancient Slovak liturgy, and the disciples of Methocilus were forced to seek asylum in neighboring Bulgaria. It was from Bulgaria that the ancient Slovak liturgy spread into Russia where Russian literature then developed from the original ancient Slovak of St. Cyril and Methodius. The successoc of .Svatopluk, Mojmir II, sent a delegation to Rome requesting that his territory be given the recognition of an independent ecclesiastical province. The mission was successful, Po~ John IX granting the request. After the experiences of his predecessors, Mojmir II did not ask for a renewal of the Slovak liturgy, so that the Latin became domesticated in the land of the Slovaks and with it Slovakia was definij:ely bound to Rome and western Europe. �12 SLOVAKIA From this hurried glance into the Slovak past we see that our ancient Slovak language became, alongside Latin and Greek, the third language in which Christian liturgical services were conducted; thait the Slovaks were first among the Slovanic peoples who as an entire state accepted Christianity and thus recorded themselves as the first Slovanic people into the cultural history of Europe; we see that they were the first among the Slovanic nations to have their own archbishop and bishops, and that they were the first to propagate Christianity 3.100ng the other Slovanic peoples and therefore were in the cultural forefront of Europe already in the ninth century after Christ, and were indirectly responsible for the introduction of letters among the Bulgarians and Russians. Furthermore, we see that the Slovaks had their own political state in the ninth century and were ruled by leaders of vision and wisdom who were able to retain their independence on the most important crossroads of Europe for almost a whole century under the most difficult circumstances. When the independence of -t he ancient empire of the Slovaks was finally lost in about 904 after repeated and concentrated attacks by the combined forces of the Magyars, Germ.ans, and Czechs - the Slovaks of Rastislav, Pribina, Svatopluk and Mojmir II never gave up hope of regaining their independence, their freedom to worship God in their own fashion and the right to rule themselves and be masters of their own destiny in their ancient homeland - Slovakia. Martin Kukucin's noveJs are being translated into Russian by Jurija Bogdanov. Foor of the eminent Slovak n-0velist's works were pulblished in 1-961• under the title "Novelly." The first edition consls.ted of 30,000 oopies. X X X Jan and Bernard Kurudr, meJI11bers of the religious order of the Comforters cxf Christ, re<:ently were sentenced to prison by the Red Court of Bratislava "for illlegal contacts with the West." In Nitra, Slovakia, 118 priests and brothers o:f the Society cxf the Divine Word weire sentenced to priscm on charges of d•istriibuting "illegal pulblications" and p e ,r f o rim i n g churCth services unlawfully. l!!! l!E( iJg wellkn-own SloV'ak composer otf minor musical scores, celebrated his seventieth birthda,y on February 15. He devoted much of his life to coJlectitng and arrangi<n,g Slovak popular songs . John Valalt'an-Oolinsky, � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 9 mE MEANING OF THE CYRILO-METHODIAN JUBILEE FRANCIS LANAK The year 1963 marks the 1,100th anniversary of the advent of the Slovak apostles, Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, to Slovakia, after accepting invitation of Rastislav, the Slovak sovereign, to preach the Word of God in a language which was intelligible to his people. This solemn occasion of far-reac·h ing ecclesiastical, cultural, and national significance is being commemorated by Slovaks in the entire world, because eleven whole centuries have passed since the time that Slovakia recorded the event in the history of Europe. Let us delve into the history of the ancient Slovaks of the 9th century who had their freedom, their own state, and an honorable place in the Europe of that time. The first Slovak ruler, whose name history has recorded, had the first Christian church established in 830, in Nitra, and later himself became a Christian. That ruler was Pribina, who later ruled over the Slovaks in TransDanubian Pannonia for twenty years and had 32 churches consecrated. His son, Kocer, continued in this work, and, among other things, it was he wtho appealed to the Holy Father at that time to intervene for the freedom of St. Methodius who had been incarcerated by the Germans. Let us here recall Mojmir I , who for the first time united all Slovak tribes and thereby became the founder of the Slovak State. And in his successor, Rastislav, Slovakia had its first Slovak statesman and ruler of great stature, who purposively and on ,h is own initiative wanted to permanently secure Slovak independence with a separate Slovak ecclesiastical province, which would be headed by an archbishop and would be affiliated with and dependent only on Rome-the same arrangement as the Germans had. With this clearly in our minds, the significance of our CyriloMethodian jubilee becomes obvious. Already during the reign of the predecessors of Rastislav, the land of the Slovaks was the mission territory of the German missionaries of the Salzburg bishopric. With Christianity came the influence of the German empire, but 10 SLOVAKIA also of its imperialistic effo*. When Rastislav defeated the Germans in 855, he was seriously; concerned with the ,problem how he could best secure peace for his people and its own independent development. He decided that he could do this most effectively by requesting the Pope for a Slovak bishop and the establishment of a Slovak acclesiastical province, such as the German empire had. Thereby, he reckoned, he would limit the intervention of the German bishops into the affairs and interests of Slovak rulers. In 860, Rastislav sent a delegation to Rome, to Pope Nicholas I, with a request for missionaries who could speak the language of his people. When the Holy See made a lengthy study of it and did not decide favorably even after a year, Rastislav sent another delegation, in 862, with the same request to Michael Ill in Constantinople, Emperor of the East Roman Empire. The Emperor granted Rastislav's request and sent two teachers and saintly brothers, Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius, to the homeland of the Slovaks. Before they set out on their mission to Slovakia, the brothers invented an alphabet for the ancient Slovaks and translated parts of the Holy Writ and liturgical texts into ancient Slovak. They came to Slovakia in 863. After three years, on Rastislav's advice, they went to Rome with a large delegation, including some of their students, as well as with the remains of St. Clement, the martyr, there to defend the usage of old Slovak as a liturgical language and to repudiate the charges the Gennan clergy had lodged against them. They were successful in their mission. Adrian IT approved the use of Slovak in the liturgy and consecrated Methodius bishop for the territory of the ancient Slovaks, dispatching letters to princes Pribina, Rastislav, and Svatopluk to let them know directly of the action he had taken. Thus it was that the Slovaik rulers for the first time in history entered into direct diplomatic contact with the highest spiritual and political authorities of the world of that time as independent sovereigns. The German bishops protested, had Methodius seized in Pannonia and taken into Bavaria. A diplomatic struggle, lasting five years, ensued SLOVAKIA 11 between the Holy See and the German emperor. In the end the Slovaks were victorious, and the papal legate inducted St. Methodius to the bisbop's seat in Nitra. In the meantime Svatopluk had succeeded Rastislav. Though Svatopluk did not fully understand the original idea of Rastislav and was under the influence of the hostility of the German clergy, who continued to oppose Slovak liturgy and Methodius, the latter developed an intensive missionary activity not only in Slovakia, but also in the ex:panded Great Moravian Empire of King Svatopluk. Among other things, St. Methodius baptized Bofivoj, the Czech Prince, after Svatopluk had conquered the Czechs, and spread Christianity among the Vislanians (the present Poles) who also W',ere a part of Svatopluk's realm. Methodius then made another diplomatic mission to Rome to gain more recognition for the land of the Slovaks and their sovereign. The Holy See took the great empire of Svatopluk under its -p rotection, placing it on the same footing as the German empire, and St. Methodius was named archbishop by the Holy Father with the right to name Slovak bishops. The Germans, of course, highly resented this recognition by the Holy See and attacked Svatopluk repeatedly only to be repulsed by him. The Slovak Sviitopluk remained unconquered by the Germans for the entire 25 years of his reign. After St. Methodius died in 885, the Germans convinced Pape Stephen V to such an extent that he forbade the use of the ancient Slovak liturgy, and the disciples of Methocilus were forced to seek asylum in neighboring Bulgaria. It was from Bulgaria that the ancient Slovak liturgy spread into Russia where Russian literature then developed from the original ancient Slovak of St. Cyril and Methodius. The successoc of .Svatopluk, Mojmir II, sent a delegation to Rome requesting that his territory be given the recognition of an independent ecclesiastical province. The mission was successful, Po~ John IX granting the request. After the experiences of his predecessors, Mojmir II did not ask for a renewal of the Slovak liturgy, so that the Latin became domesticated in the land of the Slovaks and with it Slovakia was definij:ely bound to Rome and western Europe. 12 SLOVAKIA From this hurried glance into the Slovak past we see that our ancient Slovak language became, alongside Latin and Greek, the third language in which Christian liturgical services were conducted; thait the Slovaks were first among the Slovanic peoples who as an entire state accepted Christianity and thus recorded themselves as the first Slovanic people into the cultural history of Europe; we see that they were the first among the Slovanic nations to have their own archbishop and bishops, and that they were the first to propagate Christianity 3.100ng the other Slovanic peoples and therefore were in the cultural forefront of Europe already in the ninth century after Christ, and were indirectly responsible for the introduction of letters among the Bulgarians and Russians. Furthermore, we see that the Slovaks had their own political state in the ninth century and were ruled by leaders of vision and wisdom who were able to retain their independence on the most important crossroads of Europe for almost a whole century under the most difficult circumstances. When the independence of -t he ancient empire of the Slovaks was finally lost in about 904 after repeated and concentrated attacks by the combined forces of the Magyars, Germ.ans, and Czechs - the Slovaks of Rastislav, Pribina, Svatopluk and Mojmir II never gave up hope of regaining their independence, their freedom to worship God in their own fashion and the right to rule themselves and be masters of their own destiny in their ancient homeland - Slovakia. Martin Kukucin's noveJs are being translated into Russian by Jurija Bogdanov. Foor of the eminent Slovak n-0velist's works were pulblished in 1-961• under the title "Novelly." The first edition consls.ted of 30,000 oopies. X X X Jan and Bernard Kurudr, meJI11bers of the religious order of the Comforters cxf Christ, re<:ently were sentenced to prison by the Red Court of Bratislava "for illlegal contacts with the West." In Nitra, Slovakia, 118 priests and brothers o:f the Society cxf the Divine Word weire sentenced to priscm on charges of d•istriibuting "illegal pulblications" and p e ,r f o rim i n g churCth services unlawfully. l!!! l!E( iJg wellkn-own SloV'ak composer otf minor musical scores, celebrated his seventieth birthda,y on February 15. He devoted much of his life to coJlectitng and arrangi<n,g Slovak popular songs . John Valalt'an-Oolinsky,  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Meaning of the Cyril-Methodian Jubilee Description An account of the resource Francis Lanák Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 9-12 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lanák, Francis Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/caa18326ad68641c46264df5abeb4dda.pdf ab8f40392e290d1e1bbdf4e113b22dcc PDF Text Text 86 SLOVAKIA C'LECH REDS HAVE SCHOOL TROUBLE By Eberhard Mahnert "Red Justice," official Communist Party mouthpiece for Czecho-Slovakia, recently reported that thirty per cent of the students enrolled in Czech and Slovak colleges and universities had to drop out. Only last September, however, the same paper had lauded the socialist school system as the most efficacious and progressive, giving the individual citizen the widest possible benefits by systematic development of his abilities. One month later the same news sheet had to admit the downright failure of the educational setup it had so lavishly praised. Who is at fault? The teachers, of course, especially those not yet imbued with the "new spirit." A series of political purges is soon to be launched, despite the conspicuous shortage of teachers in Czecho-Slovakia, a situation likewise due to the "cleansing" that followed the Communist power grab. At that time an educational framework which had proved workable for a century and a half was jettisoned in favor of a Soviet-styled imitation. Until 1948, the Czecho-Slovak school system was based on principles developed during the reign of Empress Maria Theresia of Austria and her son Joseph II and found acceptance in the territories of the Danubian Monarchy. The First Czecho~lovak Republic was careful not to alter this well established structure, which was the very foundation of the high educational level of the Czech nation. The case was different with the Slovaks whom the Czechs did not allow to maintain their own schools of higher learning. With the L;ommunist putsch the "reactionary" school -;;ystem was swept aside; so-called reform measures were introduced. The entire structure was radically transformed to duplicate its Soviet original, regardless of whether or not it suited the educational needs of the Czech and Slovak peoples. The new measures abolished the former system of five years of primary school, eight years of high school and four to five years of college. They introduced a new system \vith an eight-grade primary school plus an additional three years of secondary school that were ap- �SLOVAKIA 87 proved as an adequate basis for college entrance. Courses in• certain subjects were reduced to half their former number, making it possible for a pupil to get a degree in engineering at the age of 19 or 20, where he was previously not ready for ~aduation until 22 or 23. Subjects that formerly had been given priority were replaced under the new setup by intensive courses in political propaganda that stressed Party ideology. During the years 1952 to 1953 a number of schools of technology were founded - today there are seventeen such colleges - many of them with but little more than the crudest types of laboratories, technical libraries and the like. SeJdom does one find a text!book available; for the most part the students work f.rom so-called scripts which they themselves have compiled. In selecting aspirants for college preparatory schools and universities, the authorities show preference for children from proletarian homes, a tactic that envisages the complete annihilation of the Czech middle class with its high standards of education. Some years ago it became evident that students educated under these new conditions, whose time was also taken up by pairamilitary training, Communist Youth Association commitments and Party organization duties, lagged behind in their studies. Furthermore, several weeks of the year are taken up in so-called "polytechnical training" at unpaid jobs in industry. Small wonder, then, that students who lack ability due to their "proletarian" origins, fail to stand the pace. They make up the bulk of the thirty per cent forced to throw in the sponge. In 1959, the Czech Communist regime, following the lead of the Soviet school reform of 1959, also introduced new educational measures, the first stage of which took effect in 1961 at the beginning of the scholastic year. To raise the educational standards of the general public, primary school will be extended from eight to nine years. "Polytechnical training," thus far encouraged only by the Czech Communist Party, will become obligatory, with intensification of paramilitary training. This shake-up of the school system to conform to Communist aims will certainly not raise the over-all edu- �88 SLOVAKIA cational level. Today industries that employ "engineers" with such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without . knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than ·. average educational potential to a generation of robots. A POLICY OF GENOCIDE By Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten G€rmans there remained approximately 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho-Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the State of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not until two years ago did they become the subject of considerable discussion within Czecho-Slovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection . with the introduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it -deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten G€rmans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this statement was by no means given unanimous aproval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Kohler, took the . opportunity to discuss the Sudeten G€rman issue in detail in. the official 9rgan of the C:PC � 86 SLOVAKIA C'LECH REDS HAVE SCHOOL TROUBLE By Eberhard Mahnert "Red Justice," official Communist Party mouthpiece for Czecho-Slovakia, recently reported that thirty per cent of the students enrolled in Czech and Slovak colleges and universities had to drop out. Only last September, however, the same paper had lauded the socialist school system as the most efficacious and progressive, giving the individual citizen the widest possible benefits by systematic development of his abilities. One month later the same news sheet had to admit the downright failure of the educational setup it had so lavishly praised. Who is at fault? The teachers, of course, especially those not yet imbued with the "new spirit." A series of political purges is soon to be launched, despite the conspicuous shortage of teachers in Czecho-Slovakia, a situation likewise due to the "cleansing" that followed the Communist power grab. At that time an educational framework which had proved workable for a century and a half was jettisoned in favor of a Soviet-styled imitation. Until 1948, the Czecho-Slovak school system was based on principles developed during the reign of Empress Maria Theresia of Austria and her son Joseph II and found acceptance in the territories of the Danubian Monarchy. The First Czecho~lovak Republic was careful not to alter this well established structure, which was the very foundation of the high educational level of the Czech nation. The case was different with the Slovaks whom the Czechs did not allow to maintain their own schools of higher learning. With the L;ommunist putsch the "reactionary" school -;;ystem was swept aside; so-called reform measures were introduced. The entire structure was radically transformed to duplicate its Soviet original, regardless of whether or not it suited the educational needs of the Czech and Slovak peoples. The new measures abolished the former system of five years of primary school, eight years of high school and four to five years of college. They introduced a new system \vith an eight-grade primary school plus an additional three years of secondary school that were ap- �SLOVAKIA 87 proved as an adequate basis for college entrance. Courses in• certain subjects were reduced to half their former number, making it possible for a pupil to get a degree in engineering at the age of 19 or 20, where he was previously not ready for ~aduation until 22 or 23. Subjects that formerly had been given priority were replaced under the new setup by intensive courses in political propaganda that stressed Party ideology. During the years 1952 to 1953 a number of schools of technology were founded - today there are seventeen such colleges - many of them with but little more than the crudest types of laboratories, technical libraries and the like. SeJdom does one find a text!book available; for the most part the students work f.rom so-called scripts which they themselves have compiled. In selecting aspirants for college preparatory schools and universities, the authorities show preference for children from proletarian homes, a tactic that envisages the complete annihilation of the Czech middle class with its high standards of education. Some years ago it became evident that students educated under these new conditions, whose time was also taken up by pairamilitary training, Communist Youth Association commitments and Party organization duties, lagged behind in their studies. Furthermore, several weeks of the year are taken up in so-called "polytechnical training" at unpaid jobs in industry. Small wonder, then, that students who lack ability due to their "proletarian" origins, fail to stand the pace. They make up the bulk of the thirty per cent forced to throw in the sponge. In 1959, the Czech Communist regime, following the lead of the Soviet school reform of 1959, also introduced new educational measures, the first stage of which took effect in 1961 at the beginning of the scholastic year. To raise the educational standards of the general public, primary school will be extended from eight to nine years. "Polytechnical training," thus far encouraged only by the Czech Communist Party, will become obligatory, with intensification of paramilitary training. This shake-up of the school system to conform to Communist aims will certainly not raise the over-all edu- �88 SLOVAKIA cational level. Today industries that employ "engineers" with such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without . knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than ·. average educational potential to a generation of robots. A POLICY OF GENOCIDE By Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten G€rmans there remained approximately 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho-Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the State of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not until two years ago did they become the subject of considerable discussion within Czecho-Slovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection . with the introduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it -deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten G€rmans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this statement was by no means given unanimous aproval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Kohler, took the . opportunity to discuss the Sudeten G€rman issue in detail in. the official 9rgan of the C:PC � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 86 SLOVAKIA C'LECH REDS HAVE SCHOOL TROUBLE By Eberhard Mahnert "Red Justice," official Communist Party mouthpiece for Czecho-Slovakia, recently reported that thirty per cent of the students enrolled in Czech and Slovak colleges and universities had to drop out. Only last September, however, the same paper had lauded the socialist school system as the most efficacious and progressive, giving the individual citizen the widest possible benefits by systematic development of his abilities. One month later the same news sheet had to admit the downright failure of the educational setup it had so lavishly praised. Who is at fault? The teachers, of course, especially those not yet imbued with the "new spirit." A series of political purges is soon to be launched, despite the conspicuous shortage of teachers in Czecho-Slovakia, a situation likewise due to the "cleansing" that followed the Communist power grab. At that time an educational framework which had proved workable for a century and a half was jettisoned in favor of a Soviet-styled imitation. Until 1948, the Czecho-Slovak school system was based on principles developed during the reign of Empress Maria Theresia of Austria and her son Joseph II and found acceptance in the territories of the Danubian Monarchy. The First Czecho~lovak Republic was careful not to alter this well established structure, which was the very foundation of the high educational level of the Czech nation. The case was different with the Slovaks whom the Czechs did not allow to maintain their own schools of higher learning. With the L;ommunist putsch the "reactionary" school -;;ystem was swept aside; so-called reform measures were introduced. The entire structure was radically transformed to duplicate its Soviet original, regardless of whether or not it suited the educational needs of the Czech and Slovak peoples. The new measures abolished the former system of five years of primary school, eight years of high school and four to five years of college. They introduced a new system \vith an eight-grade primary school plus an additional three years of secondary school that were ap- SLOVAKIA 87 proved as an adequate basis for college entrance. Courses in• certain subjects were reduced to half their former number, making it possible for a pupil to get a degree in engineering at the age of 19 or 20, where he was previously not ready for ~aduation until 22 or 23. Subjects that formerly had been given priority were replaced under the new setup by intensive courses in political propaganda that stressed Party ideology. During the years 1952 to 1953 a number of schools of technology were founded - today there are seventeen such colleges - many of them with but little more than the crudest types of laboratories, technical libraries and the like. SeJdom does one find a text!book available; for the most part the students work f.rom so-called scripts which they themselves have compiled. In selecting aspirants for college preparatory schools and universities, the authorities show preference for children from proletarian homes, a tactic that envisages the complete annihilation of the Czech middle class with its high standards of education. Some years ago it became evident that students educated under these new conditions, whose time was also taken up by pairamilitary training, Communist Youth Association commitments and Party organization duties, lagged behind in their studies. Furthermore, several weeks of the year are taken up in so-called "polytechnical training" at unpaid jobs in industry. Small wonder, then, that students who lack ability due to their "proletarian" origins, fail to stand the pace. They make up the bulk of the thirty per cent forced to throw in the sponge. In 1959, the Czech Communist regime, following the lead of the Soviet school reform of 1959, also introduced new educational measures, the first stage of which took effect in 1961 at the beginning of the scholastic year. To raise the educational standards of the general public, primary school will be extended from eight to nine years. "Polytechnical training," thus far encouraged only by the Czech Communist Party, will become obligatory, with intensification of paramilitary training. This shake-up of the school system to conform to Communist aims will certainly not raise the over-all edu- 88 SLOVAKIA cational level. Today industries that employ "engineers" with such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without . knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than ·. average educational potential to a generation of robots. A POLICY OF GENOCIDE By Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten G€rmans there remained approximately 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho-Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the State of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not until two years ago did they become the subject of considerable discussion within Czecho-Slovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection . with the introduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it -deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten G€rmans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this statement was by no means given unanimous aproval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Kohler, took the . opportunity to discuss the Sudeten G€rman issue in detail in. the official 9rgan of the C:PC  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Czech Reds Have School Trouble Description An account of the resource Eberhard Mahnert Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 86-88 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mahnert, Eberhard Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/940fc8e5506394b87c91288100e5826c.pdf a63412e374518eb1b76e89e14fea4a92 PDF Text Text SWVAKIA 77 '.nlE MATICA SLOVENSKA IN A.MERICA JOSEPH PAUCO Father Furdek was quite happy over the progress the Slovak fratemal benefit societies, he was instrumental in bringing into being, were making: The First Catholic Slovak Union and The First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union. 1 Both organizations had the same mission. But to Furdek it was wery obvious that "the Slovak nation needs help. We, the children of the Slovak family," he said, "are obligated ito sacrifice, to the limit of our strength, for our poor nation which, already so weakened ,b y ,M agyar chauvinism, is becoming still weaker because of emilgration. No one can satisfy his hunger on eulogies - speeches will not make the Slovak nation wealthy, whether thereby we praise our timid people or -blast its destroyers. Here deeds are necessary, here sacrifices are needed". 2 Furdek was well aware of the spiritual poverty in Slovakia; he knew there was a sad lack Otf Slova:k intelligentsia; he knew that the Slovaks did not have enough schools. Fully realizing this sad situation, Furdek was the fimt of the Slovaks in America. to raise his voice to save Slovakia, inviting all Slova:k groups in the Unted States to take part in this action: '"Slovak men, to all of you who have the welfare of our people at heart, regardless of whatever side you may be on, let us get together at our own exipense sometime in September or Octdber, in Chicago, to delilberate in what way we might besit act to uplift the Slovak people in Slovalcla. Getting together would not hann us American SlovaJks; and a conference of Slovaks certainly would not injure the Slovaks in Slovakia" .3 Furdek's appeal struck "the string of the Slova:k heart. Individuals and newspapers without exception acknowledged the need of the proposed conference". 4 Furdek forthwith set the coniference date for September 26, 1893, in Ohioogo, Ill. F-urdek's proposal was backed by the Supreme Officers of the First Catholic Slovak Union, who issued the following statement on Sept. 5, 1893: "Coun,tcymen - in Chicago, Ill., on the 26th of September, there will be a meeting of the lovers of the Slovak �78 SLOVAKIA people. We shall discuss in what way we might most effectively act for the welfare of our nation here and in Slovakia. "Countrymen, who of us would not wish to uplift the wronged Slovak people? We know, we are not deceiving ourselves, you are not indifferent to the fate of the Slovak' people, therefore we respectfully invite you to come, if you can, to Chicago, on September 26, at nine in the morning, to this conference in the school hall of St. Procopius parish at 704 Allport Street. "The program at this time would perhaips be premature - many people lmow much. Now our main effort is: let us get together, let us delilberate together. Our pur.pose is sacred, our intention sel:fless, admission to friends of the Slovak people is free, therefore we hope you will truke part in the conference to which we respectfully invite you. With familiar respect: Rev. R. Wider, Rev. E. Gellhof, Rev. V. Panuska, Rev. S. Furdek, J. Onda, J. V. Rozko". 5 The conference in Chicago was attended by some 100 Slovak leaders, priests and laymen, representatives of Slovak organizations and of both main confessions, Catholic and Lutheran. Father Stefan Furdek opened and presided at the conference. Peter Rovnianek, president of the National Slovak Society, suggested that the group found a Slavia!k League of America. The conference, however, adopted the motion of Father Ervin Gellhof to establish the Matica Sloven.ska (Slova:k Institute) of America in memory of the Matica Slovenska in Slovakia which was dissolved by the Magyars. The main pur.pose of the Matica was "to support the interests of our countrymen in the old fatherland and here in America". 6 In Chicago the Matica immediately decided to publish a document in the English, German, French, Russian, and Slovak languages, in which would be revealed the injustices perpetrated by the Magyars on the Slova;ks. The conference of the Matica ordered a letter to be sent to th~ Government of the United States accusing the Magyar Government of violating international postal regulations by opening aind confiscating mail sent to Slov•aJria from America. In order to gain a massive membership, individuals and societies, the dues were purposely very low: 25 cents per annum. Furdek suggested that a substantial part of the 1 �SLOVAKIA 79 membership dues be used to support Slovak newspapers in Slovakia. The following were elected officers of the Matica Slovenska: Rev. Stephen Furdek, president; A. Ruma.n, vice president; Dr. M. Francisci, secretary; J. 2izka, treasurer; Rev. F. Vlasak, fin. secretary. In the first appeal of the Matica by Furdek and F·r ancisci, we find these words: "It is the sacred duty of every one whom a !Slovak mother carried under her heart to become a member of the Matica. However, ,i f any one hesitates or offe-ra excuses, let him not boast of the honored name of Slovak because he is not worthy of it". 7 Furdek rested his hope on the First Catholic Slovak Union and exerted every effort to ha,ve the entire Union join the Matica and pay the dues for every member. 8 When the matter came before the fifth convention, however, the majority of delegates voted it down. 9 Furdek was disappointed but not disheartened; he continued to plead for all Jednotars to join the Matica. The following branches of the Jednota joined the Matica with their entire membership: 1. m, 14, 18, rn, 23, 24, 30, 46, 55, 59, 64, 65, 10, 715, 82, 86, 89, 91, 92, 104, 106, 108, tlO, 1111, 123, 127. 10 At the first convention of the Matica Slovenska in Chicago, m., on September 17, 1894, Father Furdek reported that some 1,200 individuals, most of them J ednotars, had become members of the Matica. 11 The meeting approved the By-laws of the Matica which were prepared by the By-Law Committee. Since Father Furdek did not want a second term as president, Gustav Marsall was elected to that office. Svehla became vice president, P. V. Rovnianek, secretary, Father S. Furdek, treasurer, 2i.zka, fin. secretary, Imrich Podkrivacky, trustee. Furdek wrote that the Matica meeting "was harmonious a.nd that indisputably the Matica had become an important factor in the life of the Slovaks here and in the old country". 12 Almost immediately thereafter, however, the old arguments were revived by some of the leading members of the National Slovak Society, Rovnianek announced that he was not taking over the office of secretary and withdrew from the organization. G. Marsall, the president of the Matica thereupon named John A. Feriencik in his �80 SLOVAKIA place. At that time Feriencik worked in the editorial office of the Jednota and his keen reflections about cultwal .and national problems evoked a lively .response.13 He took up the work of the Matica willingly and energetically, presenting it as "the academy of the national ca,use". 14 The National Slovak Society, like the First Catholic Slovak Union, was a fraternal benefit society, but presumed to speak in the name of all the Slovaks in Arrnerti.oa.. The First Catholic Slovak Union (the JEDNOTA) repudiated this presumptuous claim, especially since a strong antiCatholic element began to exert its influence in the NSS. mather F1urdek proclaimed: "Let our motto be: for Catholics in religious matters - the First Catholic Slovak Union; and in national (Slovak) matters - the Matica".15 Shortly ·b efore the second convention of the Matica, which took place in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 6, 1895, Ferie:ncik resigned his secretaryship. This meeting was held on the 34th anniversary of the historical 1861 Memorandum of the Slovak Nation. Reports of the ofificers revealed that the Matica had the following as charter members: Jozef 2izka, Rev. Stefan Furdek, Rev. R. Wider, Rev. F. Janusek, Rev. Jan Stas, iRev. V. Kazincy, Rev. J. Kasparek, Rev. F. Horvath, Rev. Matus Jankola, and Jozef Kuruca.r. The membership numbered 864, which included 476 members of the Jednota and 216 of the NSS. President Marsall stated that causes of the decline were "the commercial spirit of our people," Jack of information and unfavorable conditions.16 The Literary Committee of the Mwtica was happy to report that Gustav Marsall's book "Radca Slovenskych Prisfahovalcov v Spojenych Sta.toch Sevemej Ameriky" 17 (The Counsellor of Slovak Immigrants in the United States of North America) was .p ublished. The second convention of the Matica sent 100 Gold Crowns to Tureiansky Svaty Martin to support national aims and ten dollars to the Tatran Society in Vienna. Marsall was re-elected president, Rev. R. Wider was elected treasurer and Rev. V. Cerveny, secretary. A "cultural evening" closed the second convention. Recurrent dissension undermined the foundation of the Matica Slovenska. in America. Then the National Slovak �SLOVAKIA 81 Society, under the leadership of ' Peter P. Rovnia.nek - a fallen away Catholic-openly expressed its distrust of the Matica and, thus, Furdek aigain represented all hopes of the Slovaiks. "Without Furdek not much . could be accomplished. The convention of September 1, 1896, elected Furdek president again" .18 Furdek kept on pleading with the members of the Jednota to back the Matica and his appeals, in a measure, met with a favorable response. 19 Furdek insisted a.n. propagating good Slovak literature at low cost so that "the nation might undertand that a literary society (the Matica) is of benefit to it. Publish ·b ooks, get them among the people, and proba.bly the Matica will be reV'ived !" .20 F'ather Furdek's plans, however, were never fully rea.li.z.ed. The Matica Sliovenska in America was doomed before it really became a going concern. The workers of the Matica had a meeting in Pittsburgh, Pa., on August 16, l.'899, a.n.d the last report of its activity was published in the JEDNOTA (the organ of the First Catholic Slovak Union, which also was founded by Father Furdek) a week later. The M.aJtica took over the "National Fund" - a newly born organization, which to a certain extent replaced the Matica. The National Fbnd organization fared no better than its predecessors. After it came the Slovak League of America which was also founded by the Rev. Stephen Furdek in Cleveland, ·onio, cm' May 26, 1907.21 REFERENCES 1. Furdek organized the First Cllltholic Slovak Union, in 1890, in Cleveland, Ohio, and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union, also in Cleveland, in 1892. Together they total a membership or over 200,000. 2. Od Srdca k Srdcu: Jednota, Aug. 16, 1893, p. 4. 3. lbidem. 4. Ona 26. aeptembra do Chicaga: Jednota, Aug. 30, 1893, p. 4. 5. Jednota, Sept. 13, 189.3, p. 1. 6. Chlcagaka porada: Jednota, Oct. 4, 1893, p. 1. The details or the conference are given In this report. The telegram sent to the -Narodne Noviny In Turclansky Svaty Martin read: "We have estalblished the Matica SlovenskA. The resurrected Matlca sends .g reetings ·to Slovakia." 7. The appeal, entitled "SloTakom," was published in the Jednota, <:Yet. 11, · 1893, p . 1. 8. Matlca: Jednota, April 18, 1894, p. 4; J rd nota , May 2 and !J . 1894, P. 4. �SLOVAKIA 82 9. Minutes of the Fifth Convention, Home Otfiee, Cleveland, O'hio. 10. KatoHcka Slovenaka Jednota: Kalendar J®DNO'IIA, 1896, p. 3~. 11. Vaine ahromafdenie Matice Slovenakej: Jednota, Sept. 19, 1894, p. 4. 12. !Ilbidem. 13. Jednota, Nov. 14, 1894. 1'4. 1Matica. Jednota, Nov. 21, 1894, p. 2. 15. Jednota, Nov. 21, 1894, p. 4; Konstantin Culen: Dejiny Slovakov v Amerike, Vol. 1, p. 217 - Spor Slovakov v Amerike, Kalendar J1EIDNl()T,A, 1896, p. 69. 16. Dru he valne ahromafdenie ( Konvencia) "Matice Slovenakej v Amerike": Jednota, June 12, 1895, p. 2. 17. Podiel Matice Slovenakej: Jednota, June 12, 1895, p. 4. The book of 164 pp. was really the first history of the United States in the United States in the Slovaik languwge. Every mem.ber of the Matica was given the book for free. 18. Culen, op. cit., p. 235. 19. !Many issues of the Jednota contained the personal a;ppeal of Furdek and other oUicers of the Matica. 20. Podielova kniha Matice: Jednota, June 9, 1897, P. 4. In that year the second and last literary work was published by the Matica, the 'ISbornik Matice Slovenskej". Most of the contributions were by authors from Slovakia (IBlelek, Sasinek, Zigmundik, Kmet, Srobar). 21. Maticna sch6dza: Jednota, Aug_ 23, 1899, p. 4. Representatives of the First Ca:tholic Slovak Union, the corresponding Ladies Union, National Slovak 'Society, the Zivena and the Evangelical Slovak Union attended the meeting. The next five years the Matica existed only on paper. Prof. Andrew B. Slaibey: Prehfad dejin Slovakov v Amerike in the Kalendar of the NS:S, 1926, p. 52. DID YOU READ UN<:ONQUERABLES "a true classic because its literary style, ita deep emotional undertones, ita spiritual strength and the vivid picture it pre-senta of life under Communist terror . . . " (Father John l.Jach and Msgr. M. K. Mlynarovich)? If not, get your copy today ( $2.00) from the author: .JOSEPH PAUl:O Mici.-11.-town. Pa . P. 0. Rox 2R5 • � SWVAKIA 77 '.nlE MATICA SLOVENSKA IN A.MERICA JOSEPH PAUCO Father Furdek was quite happy over the progress the Slovak fratemal benefit societies, he was instrumental in bringing into being, were making: The First Catholic Slovak Union and The First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union. 1 Both organizations had the same mission. But to Furdek it was wery obvious that "the Slovak nation needs help. We, the children of the Slovak family," he said, "are obligated ito sacrifice, to the limit of our strength, for our poor nation which, already so weakened ,b y ,M agyar chauvinism, is becoming still weaker because of emilgration. No one can satisfy his hunger on eulogies - speeches will not make the Slovak nation wealthy, whether thereby we praise our timid people or -blast its destroyers. Here deeds are necessary, here sacrifices are needed". 2 Furdek was well aware of the spiritual poverty in Slovakia; he knew there was a sad lack Otf Slova:k intelligentsia; he knew that the Slovaks did not have enough schools. Fully realizing this sad situation, Furdek was the fimt of the Slovaks in America. to raise his voice to save Slovakia, inviting all Slova:k groups in the Unted States to take part in this action: '"Slovak men, to all of you who have the welfare of our people at heart, regardless of whatever side you may be on, let us get together at our own exipense sometime in September or Octdber, in Chicago, to delilberate in what way we might besit act to uplift the Slovak people in Slovalcla. Getting together would not hann us American SlovaJks; and a conference of Slovaks certainly would not injure the Slovaks in Slovakia" .3 Furdek's appeal struck "the string of the Slova:k heart. Individuals and newspapers without exception acknowledged the need of the proposed conference". 4 Furdek forthwith set the coniference date for September 26, 1893, in Ohioogo, Ill. F-urdek's proposal was backed by the Supreme Officers of the First Catholic Slovak Union, who issued the following statement on Sept. 5, 1893: "Coun,tcymen - in Chicago, Ill., on the 26th of September, there will be a meeting of the lovers of the Slovak �78 SLOVAKIA people. We shall discuss in what way we might most effectively act for the welfare of our nation here and in Slovakia. "Countrymen, who of us would not wish to uplift the wronged Slovak people? We know, we are not deceiving ourselves, you are not indifferent to the fate of the Slovak' people, therefore we respectfully invite you to come, if you can, to Chicago, on September 26, at nine in the morning, to this conference in the school hall of St. Procopius parish at 704 Allport Street. "The program at this time would perhaips be premature - many people lmow much. Now our main effort is: let us get together, let us delilberate together. Our pur.pose is sacred, our intention sel:fless, admission to friends of the Slovak people is free, therefore we hope you will truke part in the conference to which we respectfully invite you. With familiar respect: Rev. R. Wider, Rev. E. Gellhof, Rev. V. Panuska, Rev. S. Furdek, J. Onda, J. V. Rozko". 5 The conference in Chicago was attended by some 100 Slovak leaders, priests and laymen, representatives of Slovak organizations and of both main confessions, Catholic and Lutheran. Father Stefan Furdek opened and presided at the conference. Peter Rovnianek, president of the National Slovak Society, suggested that the group found a Slavia!k League of America. The conference, however, adopted the motion of Father Ervin Gellhof to establish the Matica Sloven.ska (Slova:k Institute) of America in memory of the Matica Slovenska in Slovakia which was dissolved by the Magyars. The main pur.pose of the Matica was "to support the interests of our countrymen in the old fatherland and here in America". 6 In Chicago the Matica immediately decided to publish a document in the English, German, French, Russian, and Slovak languages, in which would be revealed the injustices perpetrated by the Magyars on the Slova;ks. The conference of the Matica ordered a letter to be sent to th~ Government of the United States accusing the Magyar Government of violating international postal regulations by opening aind confiscating mail sent to Slov•aJria from America. In order to gain a massive membership, individuals and societies, the dues were purposely very low: 25 cents per annum. Furdek suggested that a substantial part of the 1 �SLOVAKIA 79 membership dues be used to support Slovak newspapers in Slovakia. The following were elected officers of the Matica Slovenska: Rev. Stephen Furdek, president; A. Ruma.n, vice president; Dr. M. Francisci, secretary; J. 2izka, treasurer; Rev. F. Vlasak, fin. secretary. In the first appeal of the Matica by Furdek and F·r ancisci, we find these words: "It is the sacred duty of every one whom a !Slovak mother carried under her heart to become a member of the Matica. However, ,i f any one hesitates or offe-ra excuses, let him not boast of the honored name of Slovak because he is not worthy of it". 7 Furdek rested his hope on the First Catholic Slovak Union and exerted every effort to ha,ve the entire Union join the Matica and pay the dues for every member. 8 When the matter came before the fifth convention, however, the majority of delegates voted it down. 9 Furdek was disappointed but not disheartened; he continued to plead for all Jednotars to join the Matica. The following branches of the Jednota joined the Matica with their entire membership: 1. m, 14, 18, rn, 23, 24, 30, 46, 55, 59, 64, 65, 10, 715, 82, 86, 89, 91, 92, 104, 106, 108, tlO, 1111, 123, 127. 10 At the first convention of the Matica Slovenska in Chicago, m., on September 17, 1894, Father Furdek reported that some 1,200 individuals, most of them J ednotars, had become members of the Matica. 11 The meeting approved the By-laws of the Matica which were prepared by the By-Law Committee. Since Father Furdek did not want a second term as president, Gustav Marsall was elected to that office. Svehla became vice president, P. V. Rovnianek, secretary, Father S. Furdek, treasurer, 2i.zka, fin. secretary, Imrich Podkrivacky, trustee. Furdek wrote that the Matica meeting "was harmonious a.nd that indisputably the Matica had become an important factor in the life of the Slovaks here and in the old country". 12 Almost immediately thereafter, however, the old arguments were revived by some of the leading members of the National Slovak Society, Rovnianek announced that he was not taking over the office of secretary and withdrew from the organization. G. Marsall, the president of the Matica thereupon named John A. Feriencik in his �80 SLOVAKIA place. At that time Feriencik worked in the editorial office of the Jednota and his keen reflections about cultwal .and national problems evoked a lively .response.13 He took up the work of the Matica willingly and energetically, presenting it as "the academy of the national ca,use". 14 The National Slovak Society, like the First Catholic Slovak Union, was a fraternal benefit society, but presumed to speak in the name of all the Slovaks in Arrnerti.oa.. The First Catholic Slovak Union (the JEDNOTA) repudiated this presumptuous claim, especially since a strong antiCatholic element began to exert its influence in the NSS. mather F1urdek proclaimed: "Let our motto be: for Catholics in religious matters - the First Catholic Slovak Union; and in national (Slovak) matters - the Matica".15 Shortly ·b efore the second convention of the Matica, which took place in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 6, 1895, Ferie:ncik resigned his secretaryship. This meeting was held on the 34th anniversary of the historical 1861 Memorandum of the Slovak Nation. Reports of the ofificers revealed that the Matica had the following as charter members: Jozef 2izka, Rev. Stefan Furdek, Rev. R. Wider, Rev. F. Janusek, Rev. Jan Stas, iRev. V. Kazincy, Rev. J. Kasparek, Rev. F. Horvath, Rev. Matus Jankola, and Jozef Kuruca.r. The membership numbered 864, which included 476 members of the Jednota and 216 of the NSS. President Marsall stated that causes of the decline were "the commercial spirit of our people," Jack of information and unfavorable conditions.16 The Literary Committee of the Mwtica was happy to report that Gustav Marsall's book "Radca Slovenskych Prisfahovalcov v Spojenych Sta.toch Sevemej Ameriky" 17 (The Counsellor of Slovak Immigrants in the United States of North America) was .p ublished. The second convention of the Matica sent 100 Gold Crowns to Tureiansky Svaty Martin to support national aims and ten dollars to the Tatran Society in Vienna. Marsall was re-elected president, Rev. R. Wider was elected treasurer and Rev. V. Cerveny, secretary. A "cultural evening" closed the second convention. Recurrent dissension undermined the foundation of the Matica Slovenska. in America. Then the National Slovak �SLOVAKIA 81 Society, under the leadership of ' Peter P. Rovnia.nek - a fallen away Catholic-openly expressed its distrust of the Matica and, thus, Furdek aigain represented all hopes of the Slovaiks. "Without Furdek not much . could be accomplished. The convention of September 1, 1896, elected Furdek president again" .18 Furdek kept on pleading with the members of the Jednota to back the Matica and his appeals, in a measure, met with a favorable response. 19 Furdek insisted a.n. propagating good Slovak literature at low cost so that "the nation might undertand that a literary society (the Matica) is of benefit to it. Publish ·b ooks, get them among the people, and proba.bly the Matica will be reV'ived !" .20 F'ather Furdek's plans, however, were never fully rea.li.z.ed. The Matica Sliovenska in America was doomed before it really became a going concern. The workers of the Matica had a meeting in Pittsburgh, Pa., on August 16, l.'899, a.n.d the last report of its activity was published in the JEDNOTA (the organ of the First Catholic Slovak Union, which also was founded by Father Furdek) a week later. The M.aJtica took over the "National Fund" - a newly born organization, which to a certain extent replaced the Matica. The National Fbnd organization fared no better than its predecessors. After it came the Slovak League of America which was also founded by the Rev. Stephen Furdek in Cleveland, ·onio, cm' May 26, 1907.21 REFERENCES 1. Furdek organized the First Cllltholic Slovak Union, in 1890, in Cleveland, Ohio, and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union, also in Cleveland, in 1892. Together they total a membership or over 200,000. 2. Od Srdca k Srdcu: Jednota, Aug. 16, 1893, p. 4. 3. lbidem. 4. Ona 26. aeptembra do Chicaga: Jednota, Aug. 30, 1893, p. 4. 5. Jednota, Sept. 13, 189.3, p. 1. 6. Chlcagaka porada: Jednota, Oct. 4, 1893, p. 1. The details or the conference are given In this report. The telegram sent to the -Narodne Noviny In Turclansky Svaty Martin read: "We have estalblished the Matica SlovenskA. The resurrected Matlca sends .g reetings ·to Slovakia." 7. The appeal, entitled "SloTakom," was published in the Jednota, <:Yet. 11, · 1893, p . 1. 8. Matlca: Jednota, April 18, 1894, p. 4; J rd nota , May 2 and !J . 1894, P. 4. �SLOVAKIA 82 9. Minutes of the Fifth Convention, Home Otfiee, Cleveland, O'hio. 10. KatoHcka Slovenaka Jednota: Kalendar J®DNO'IIA, 1896, p. 3~. 11. Vaine ahromafdenie Matice Slovenakej: Jednota, Sept. 19, 1894, p. 4. 12. !Ilbidem. 13. Jednota, Nov. 14, 1894. 1'4. 1Matica. Jednota, Nov. 21, 1894, p. 2. 15. Jednota, Nov. 21, 1894, p. 4; Konstantin Culen: Dejiny Slovakov v Amerike, Vol. 1, p. 217 - Spor Slovakov v Amerike, Kalendar J1EIDNl()T,A, 1896, p. 69. 16. Dru he valne ahromafdenie ( Konvencia) "Matice Slovenakej v Amerike": Jednota, June 12, 1895, p. 2. 17. Podiel Matice Slovenakej: Jednota, June 12, 1895, p. 4. The book of 164 pp. was really the first history of the United States in the United States in the Slovaik languwge. Every mem.ber of the Matica was given the book for free. 18. Culen, op. cit., p. 235. 19. !Many issues of the Jednota contained the personal a;ppeal of Furdek and other oUicers of the Matica. 20. Podielova kniha Matice: Jednota, June 9, 1897, P. 4. In that year the second and last literary work was published by the Matica, the 'ISbornik Matice Slovenskej". Most of the contributions were by authors from Slovakia (IBlelek, Sasinek, Zigmundik, Kmet, Srobar). 21. Maticna sch6dza: Jednota, Aug_ 23, 1899, p. 4. Representatives of the First Ca:tholic Slovak Union, the corresponding Ladies Union, National Slovak 'Society, the Zivena and the Evangelical Slovak Union attended the meeting. The next five years the Matica existed only on paper. Prof. Andrew B. Slaibey: Prehfad dejin Slovakov v Amerike in the Kalendar of the NS:S, 1926, p. 52. DID YOU READ UN<:ONQUERABLES "a true classic because its literary style, ita deep emotional undertones, ita spiritual strength and the vivid picture it pre-senta of life under Communist terror . . . " (Father John l.Jach and Msgr. M. K. Mlynarovich)? If not, get your copy today ( $2.00) from the author: .JOSEPH PAUl:O Mici.-11.-town. Pa . P. 0. Rox 2R5 • � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SWVAKIA 77 '.nlE MATICA SLOVENSKA IN A.MERICA JOSEPH PAUCO Father Furdek was quite happy over the progress the Slovak fratemal benefit societies, he was instrumental in bringing into being, were making: The First Catholic Slovak Union and The First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union. 1 Both organizations had the same mission. But to Furdek it was wery obvious that "the Slovak nation needs help. We, the children of the Slovak family," he said, "are obligated ito sacrifice, to the limit of our strength, for our poor nation which, already so weakened ,b y ,M agyar chauvinism, is becoming still weaker because of emilgration. No one can satisfy his hunger on eulogies - speeches will not make the Slovak nation wealthy, whether thereby we praise our timid people or -blast its destroyers. Here deeds are necessary, here sacrifices are needed". 2 Furdek was well aware of the spiritual poverty in Slovakia; he knew there was a sad lack Otf Slova:k intelligentsia; he knew that the Slovaks did not have enough schools. Fully realizing this sad situation, Furdek was the fimt of the Slovaks in America. to raise his voice to save Slovakia, inviting all Slova:k groups in the Unted States to take part in this action: '"Slovak men, to all of you who have the welfare of our people at heart, regardless of whatever side you may be on, let us get together at our own exipense sometime in September or Octdber, in Chicago, to delilberate in what way we might besit act to uplift the Slovak people in Slovalcla. Getting together would not hann us American SlovaJks; and a conference of Slovaks certainly would not injure the Slovaks in Slovakia" .3 Furdek's appeal struck "the string of the Slova:k heart. Individuals and newspapers without exception acknowledged the need of the proposed conference". 4 Furdek forthwith set the coniference date for September 26, 1893, in Ohioogo, Ill. F-urdek's proposal was backed by the Supreme Officers of the First Catholic Slovak Union, who issued the following statement on Sept. 5, 1893: "Coun,tcymen - in Chicago, Ill., on the 26th of September, there will be a meeting of the lovers of the Slovak 78 SLOVAKIA people. We shall discuss in what way we might most effectively act for the welfare of our nation here and in Slovakia. "Countrymen, who of us would not wish to uplift the wronged Slovak people? We know, we are not deceiving ourselves, you are not indifferent to the fate of the Slovak' people, therefore we respectfully invite you to come, if you can, to Chicago, on September 26, at nine in the morning, to this conference in the school hall of St. Procopius parish at 704 Allport Street. "The program at this time would perhaips be premature - many people lmow much. Now our main effort is: let us get together, let us delilberate together. Our pur.pose is sacred, our intention sel:fless, admission to friends of the Slovak people is free, therefore we hope you will truke part in the conference to which we respectfully invite you. With familiar respect: Rev. R. Wider, Rev. E. Gellhof, Rev. V. Panuska, Rev. S. Furdek, J. Onda, J. V. Rozko". 5 The conference in Chicago was attended by some 100 Slovak leaders, priests and laymen, representatives of Slovak organizations and of both main confessions, Catholic and Lutheran. Father Stefan Furdek opened and presided at the conference. Peter Rovnianek, president of the National Slovak Society, suggested that the group found a Slavia!k League of America. The conference, however, adopted the motion of Father Ervin Gellhof to establish the Matica Sloven.ska (Slova:k Institute) of America in memory of the Matica Slovenska in Slovakia which was dissolved by the Magyars. The main pur.pose of the Matica was "to support the interests of our countrymen in the old fatherland and here in America". 6 In Chicago the Matica immediately decided to publish a document in the English, German, French, Russian, and Slovak languages, in which would be revealed the injustices perpetrated by the Magyars on the Slova;ks. The conference of the Matica ordered a letter to be sent to th~ Government of the United States accusing the Magyar Government of violating international postal regulations by opening aind confiscating mail sent to Slov•aJria from America. In order to gain a massive membership, individuals and societies, the dues were purposely very low: 25 cents per annum. Furdek suggested that a substantial part of the 1 SLOVAKIA 79 membership dues be used to support Slovak newspapers in Slovakia. The following were elected officers of the Matica Slovenska: Rev. Stephen Furdek, president; A. Ruma.n, vice president; Dr. M. Francisci, secretary; J. 2izka, treasurer; Rev. F. Vlasak, fin. secretary. In the first appeal of the Matica by Furdek and F·r ancisci, we find these words: "It is the sacred duty of every one whom a !Slovak mother carried under her heart to become a member of the Matica. However, ,i f any one hesitates or offe-ra excuses, let him not boast of the honored name of Slovak because he is not worthy of it". 7 Furdek rested his hope on the First Catholic Slovak Union and exerted every effort to ha,ve the entire Union join the Matica and pay the dues for every member. 8 When the matter came before the fifth convention, however, the majority of delegates voted it down. 9 Furdek was disappointed but not disheartened; he continued to plead for all Jednotars to join the Matica. The following branches of the Jednota joined the Matica with their entire membership: 1. m, 14, 18, rn, 23, 24, 30, 46, 55, 59, 64, 65, 10, 715, 82, 86, 89, 91, 92, 104, 106, 108, tlO, 1111, 123, 127. 10 At the first convention of the Matica Slovenska in Chicago, m., on September 17, 1894, Father Furdek reported that some 1,200 individuals, most of them J ednotars, had become members of the Matica. 11 The meeting approved the By-laws of the Matica which were prepared by the By-Law Committee. Since Father Furdek did not want a second term as president, Gustav Marsall was elected to that office. Svehla became vice president, P. V. Rovnianek, secretary, Father S. Furdek, treasurer, 2i.zka, fin. secretary, Imrich Podkrivacky, trustee. Furdek wrote that the Matica meeting "was harmonious a.nd that indisputably the Matica had become an important factor in the life of the Slovaks here and in the old country". 12 Almost immediately thereafter, however, the old arguments were revived by some of the leading members of the National Slovak Society, Rovnianek announced that he was not taking over the office of secretary and withdrew from the organization. G. Marsall, the president of the Matica thereupon named John A. Feriencik in his 80 SLOVAKIA place. At that time Feriencik worked in the editorial office of the Jednota and his keen reflections about cultwal .and national problems evoked a lively .response.13 He took up the work of the Matica willingly and energetically, presenting it as "the academy of the national ca,use". 14 The National Slovak Society, like the First Catholic Slovak Union, was a fraternal benefit society, but presumed to speak in the name of all the Slovaks in Arrnerti.oa.. The First Catholic Slovak Union (the JEDNOTA) repudiated this presumptuous claim, especially since a strong antiCatholic element began to exert its influence in the NSS. mather F1urdek proclaimed: "Let our motto be: for Catholics in religious matters - the First Catholic Slovak Union; and in national (Slovak) matters - the Matica".15 Shortly ·b efore the second convention of the Matica, which took place in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 6, 1895, Ferie:ncik resigned his secretaryship. This meeting was held on the 34th anniversary of the historical 1861 Memorandum of the Slovak Nation. Reports of the ofificers revealed that the Matica had the following as charter members: Jozef 2izka, Rev. Stefan Furdek, Rev. R. Wider, Rev. F. Janusek, Rev. Jan Stas, iRev. V. Kazincy, Rev. J. Kasparek, Rev. F. Horvath, Rev. Matus Jankola, and Jozef Kuruca.r. The membership numbered 864, which included 476 members of the Jednota and 216 of the NSS. President Marsall stated that causes of the decline were "the commercial spirit of our people," Jack of information and unfavorable conditions.16 The Literary Committee of the Mwtica was happy to report that Gustav Marsall's book "Radca Slovenskych Prisfahovalcov v Spojenych Sta.toch Sevemej Ameriky" 17 (The Counsellor of Slovak Immigrants in the United States of North America) was .p ublished. The second convention of the Matica sent 100 Gold Crowns to Tureiansky Svaty Martin to support national aims and ten dollars to the Tatran Society in Vienna. Marsall was re-elected president, Rev. R. Wider was elected treasurer and Rev. V. Cerveny, secretary. A "cultural evening" closed the second convention. Recurrent dissension undermined the foundation of the Matica Slovenska. in America. Then the National Slovak SLOVAKIA 81 Society, under the leadership of ' Peter P. Rovnia.nek - a fallen away Catholic-openly expressed its distrust of the Matica and, thus, Furdek aigain represented all hopes of the Slovaiks. "Without Furdek not much . could be accomplished. The convention of September 1, 1896, elected Furdek president again" .18 Furdek kept on pleading with the members of the Jednota to back the Matica and his appeals, in a measure, met with a favorable response. 19 Furdek insisted a.n. propagating good Slovak literature at low cost so that "the nation might undertand that a literary society (the Matica) is of benefit to it. Publish ·b ooks, get them among the people, and proba.bly the Matica will be reV'ived !" .20 F'ather Furdek's plans, however, were never fully rea.li.z.ed. The Matica Sliovenska in America was doomed before it really became a going concern. The workers of the Matica had a meeting in Pittsburgh, Pa., on August 16, l.'899, a.n.d the last report of its activity was published in the JEDNOTA (the organ of the First Catholic Slovak Union, which also was founded by Father Furdek) a week later. The M.aJtica took over the "National Fund" - a newly born organization, which to a certain extent replaced the Matica. The National Fbnd organization fared no better than its predecessors. After it came the Slovak League of America which was also founded by the Rev. Stephen Furdek in Cleveland, ·onio, cm' May 26, 1907.21 REFERENCES 1. Furdek organized the First Cllltholic Slovak Union, in 1890, in Cleveland, Ohio, and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union, also in Cleveland, in 1892. Together they total a membership or over 200,000. 2. Od Srdca k Srdcu: Jednota, Aug. 16, 1893, p. 4. 3. lbidem. 4. Ona 26. aeptembra do Chicaga: Jednota, Aug. 30, 1893, p. 4. 5. Jednota, Sept. 13, 189.3, p. 1. 6. Chlcagaka porada: Jednota, Oct. 4, 1893, p. 1. The details or the conference are given In this report. The telegram sent to the -Narodne Noviny In Turclansky Svaty Martin read: "We have estalblished the Matica SlovenskA. The resurrected Matlca sends .g reetings ·to Slovakia." 7. The appeal, entitled "SloTakom," was published in the Jednota, <:Yet. 11, · 1893, p . 1. 8. Matlca: Jednota, April 18, 1894, p. 4; J rd nota , May 2 and !J . 1894, P. 4. SLOVAKIA 82 9. Minutes of the Fifth Convention, Home Otfiee, Cleveland, O'hio. 10. KatoHcka Slovenaka Jednota: Kalendar J®DNO'IIA, 1896, p. 3~. 11. Vaine ahromafdenie Matice Slovenakej: Jednota, Sept. 19, 1894, p. 4. 12. !Ilbidem. 13. Jednota, Nov. 14, 1894. 1'4. 1Matica. Jednota, Nov. 21, 1894, p. 2. 15. Jednota, Nov. 21, 1894, p. 4; Konstantin Culen: Dejiny Slovakov v Amerike, Vol. 1, p. 217 - Spor Slovakov v Amerike, Kalendar J1EIDNl()T,A, 1896, p. 69. 16. Dru he valne ahromafdenie ( Konvencia) "Matice Slovenakej v Amerike": Jednota, June 12, 1895, p. 2. 17. Podiel Matice Slovenakej: Jednota, June 12, 1895, p. 4. The book of 164 pp. was really the first history of the United States in the United States in the Slovaik languwge. Every mem.ber of the Matica was given the book for free. 18. Culen, op. cit., p. 235. 19. !Many issues of the Jednota contained the personal a;ppeal of Furdek and other oUicers of the Matica. 20. Podielova kniha Matice: Jednota, June 9, 1897, P. 4. In that year the second and last literary work was published by the Matica, the 'ISbornik Matice Slovenskej". Most of the contributions were by authors from Slovakia (IBlelek, Sasinek, Zigmundik, Kmet, Srobar). 21. Maticna sch6dza: Jednota, Aug_ 23, 1899, p. 4. Representatives of the First Ca:tholic Slovak Union, the corresponding Ladies Union, National Slovak 'Society, the Zivena and the Evangelical Slovak Union attended the meeting. The next five years the Matica existed only on paper. Prof. Andrew B. Slaibey: Prehfad dejin Slovakov v Amerike in the Kalendar of the NS:S, 1926, p. 52. DID YOU READ UN<:ONQUERABLES "a true classic because its literary style, ita deep emotional undertones, ita spiritual strength and the vivid picture it pre-senta of life under Communist terror . . . " (Father John l.Jach and Msgr. M. K. Mlynarovich)? If not, get your copy today ( $2.00) from the author: .JOSEPH PAUl:O Mici.-11.-town. Pa . P. 0. Rox 2R5 •  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Matica Slovenská in America Description An account of the resource Joseph Paučo Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 77-82 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Paučo, Jozef, 1914-1975 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/a43d95a5e8d013cc251ec24748bd0e08.pdf ad69dac0484c5bce202217bc5e0cdb7c PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 25 AMERICAN SLOVAK.SAND SS. CYRIL AND METIIODIDS MARY PIROCH A comparison of the list of Slovak Catholic parishes in America with a list of those in Slovakia reveals an interesting fact which would prove puzzling and hard to understand if one were unfamiliar with conditions under which ohurches were founded in the respective countries. In Slovakia, churi;hes were founded by patrons. These were usually noblemen, lords, dukes or counts who retained great wealth and power by inheritance and, in the selection of the saint to whom a church was to be dedicated, the patron made the choice. In America, on the other hand, the churches were founded by the people and for the patron of their church they usually chose a saint to whom they felt bound by the strongest ties of love and devotion. This phenomenon occurs also among the Irish, German and other Europeans who have settled in greater numbers in America. It is noteworthy that the Slovaks petitioned the emperor, in 1861, to officially proclaim SS. Cyril and Methodius "Apostles of the Slova:ks." That the emperor declined to grant the request does not detract from its significance. The petition to have SS. Cyril and Methodius proclaimed as "National Slovak Patrons" was signed by over fifty eminent Slovak patriots, led ·b y Bishop Stephen Moyses. Among the signers were both Catholics and Evangelicals (Lutherans), clergymen and laymen - and this adds meaning to the petition. ':Nie petition to recognize SS. Cyril and Methodius as "National Patrons" has, above all else, a religious significance. The entire national life of the Slovaks was built on a Christian foundation. Thereby the Slovaks clearly expressed the fact that their national life was not only a combination of economic forces, not only a struggle of class and political groups, not only a cultivation of cultural nobility, but also an organic system in which social, cultural, and religious manifestations of life have their proper place. When Slovaks came to this country and began founding their Catholic parishes and churches, they chose for their ;patron the saint to whom they were most attached and upon whose intercession they relied the most. In their new home, here in America, our pioneers, more than ever before be- �26 SLOVAKIA came aware of their alien environment and, to counteract this, wanted to bring into it as much of "their own" as possible. '.Dhat is why, for their patrons, so frequently they chose SS. Cyril and Methodius. This also explains why, here in America, we have SS. Cyril and Methodius churches in almost every diocese, while in the "old country" they are almost nonexistent. T·h is empathy manifested itself yet in another way. Slovak newspapers and periodicals in America frequently brought studies and articles about our Slova:k Apostles, and there were times when every Slovak Catholic family in America had in its dwelling, in a place of prominence, a picture of SS. Cyril and Mefuodius. Today we also find pictures of these saints in Slovak Catholic households. These are the pictures which the Slovak Catholic Federation prepared and is selling as souvenirs commemorating the 1100th Anniversary of the coming of Cyril and Methodius to Slovakia. We have in America, under the patronage of SS. Cyril and Methodius, a congregation of sisters which was founded 50 years ago. '.Dhis is the only religious congregation founded by Slovaks, either here or in Slovakia. Today, it numbers over 400 members, is in charge of 36 schools in nine dioceses and, ,besides the St. Cyril Academy for Girls, the Sisters conduct the girls' section of Adrian High School in Gary, Ind., and Junior High Schools in Hazleton, Pa., Bridgeport, Conn., and Binghamton, N. Y., also the clinics in WilkesBarre and Phoenixville, Pa., the Jednota Home for orphans in Middletown, Pa., and two homes for the aged. It is true that sisters of other congregations, which have their own Slova:k mother houses teach in many of Olll" Slovak parochial schools. Nevertihele~s, the Congregation of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius seems to have become the most numerous which again indicates that Slovak girls with a calling to the religious life seem to find the Congregation of the Slovak Apostles the most attractive. Since so many of our churches here are dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius, and since so many sisters are devoting their lives to work in a religious order under their name, it is only natural that artists should want to depict their image and likeness and scenes from their lives. So, we �SLOVAKIA 27 have statues of SS. Cyril and Metlhodius in churches dedicated to them and in others, notably in the National Shrine of the llnmaculate Conception in Washington, D. C. The following gives an idea where, in the U.S. and Canada, churches dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius are located: Alabama: Brookside (organized 1895); Arkansas: Stuttgart-Slovaktown (1900); Connecticut: Bridgeport (1907); IDinois: Chicago (1914), East St. Louis (1911), Joliet (1900); Kansas: Kansas City (1906); Maine: Lisbon Falls (1923); Michigan: Detroit (1918); Minnesota: Minneapolis (1891); Missouri: Sugar Creek (1913); Montana: Stockett (1900); New Jersey: Boonton (1906), Clifton (1913); New York: Binghamton (1903), Schenectady (1913); Ohio: Barberton (1906), Lakewood (1903-the only Slovak R.C. Church which is consecrated), Rossford (1923), Warren (1928), Youngstown (1898); Pennsylvania: Bethlehem (1891), Charleroi (1901), Coaldale (1920), Edwardsville (1901), Fairchance (1911), Lebanon (1905), New Brighton (1916), Reading 1.895), Winburne (1904), Windber (1905); Wisconsin: Superior (1911); CANADA: Hamilton, Ont. (1945); Montreal, Que. (1928); New Westminster, B. C. (1960); Toronto, Ont. (1934) ; Windsor (1940). In addition to this, songs and hymns in their honor be-came an integral part of every religious event among the Slova1ks in America. Thus we find here in America that more pictures of SS. Cyril and Methodius have been painted, more statues -carved, cut, chiseled, cast or molded, and more songs, hymns in their honor sung, than in Slovakia. You and I and all Catholics of Slovak descent in America, are witnessing a beautiful event, the completion of a cycle of religious history of Slovakia. Under the leadership of Bishop Andrew G. Grutka and the SlovRk Catholic Federation of America the Slovaks have decided to build and furnish an institute in Rome, Italy, where future priests and missionaries for Slovakia are to be trained. By this deed, American Slovak Catholics will be repaying theiT mother country for sending us priests when we needed them most to preserve the faith of our fathers. The SS. Cyril and Methodius Institute is named most appropriately in honor of our Slovak Apostles, the saintly brothers who brought the �28 SLOVAKIA faith to our forefathers at the dawn of our national history. It was then, in the ninth century, t:hat the Slovak nation became an integral part of Christian civilization. Our duty is to support the Institute according to OUT means. This is one way we show our appreciation for the benefit of the faith which today is flourishing among our Slovak people in America. Let us not forget that it was not always so. The first immigrants to this country were lost without their own churches and priests. There was no one to defend them in time of need; no one to protect their interests. So the priests, who at that time came among our people brought a real, a heroic sacrifice. They really started from "scratch." So often want, real want, was an everyday guest of these selfsacrificing priests who not only had to preach the word of God and administer the sacraments to our people, but also were their advisors, teachers, protectors, and representatives in their new homeland. They often acted as counselors in courts, but more often they had to counsel the faithful against their OWIIl bad habits, passions and ignorance. These selfless pioneer priests founded our flourishing parishes. Then native born Americans of Slovak descent continued to organize and build many other parishes. Slovak women, mothers especially, should appreciate the fact that if anything is important in the life of our people in America, it is this great conversion of a colony to a parish, the change of a boarder (' ~burdingos") into a head of a happy family. This would not have been possible without the immigrant Slovak priests_of that day. Times and circumstances have since changed. Today, not we in America, but those in Slovakia need priests to fill the ancient Slovak churches in order to return to their beautiful Cyrilo-Methodian tradition. What is expected of us? A mere trifle! We are asked to give a share of our material abundance so that the project may become a reality and the Institute of SS. Cyril and MethodiU'S in Rome could begin its most worthwhile function now in 1963-1100 years after the advent of the Slovak Apostles to the land of the Slovaks. I pray God that the Slovaks of America and Canada, and the rest of the free world, respond generously. � SLOVAKIA 25 AMERICAN SLOVAK.SAND SS. CYRIL AND METIIODIDS MARY PIROCH A comparison of the list of Slovak Catholic parishes in America with a list of those in Slovakia reveals an interesting fact which would prove puzzling and hard to understand if one were unfamiliar with conditions under which ohurches were founded in the respective countries. In Slovakia, churi;hes were founded by patrons. These were usually noblemen, lords, dukes or counts who retained great wealth and power by inheritance and, in the selection of the saint to whom a church was to be dedicated, the patron made the choice. In America, on the other hand, the churches were founded by the people and for the patron of their church they usually chose a saint to whom they felt bound by the strongest ties of love and devotion. This phenomenon occurs also among the Irish, German and other Europeans who have settled in greater numbers in America. It is noteworthy that the Slovaks petitioned the emperor, in 1861, to officially proclaim SS. Cyril and Methodius "Apostles of the Slova:ks." That the emperor declined to grant the request does not detract from its significance. The petition to have SS. Cyril and Methodius proclaimed as "National Slovak Patrons" was signed by over fifty eminent Slovak patriots, led ·b y Bishop Stephen Moyses. Among the signers were both Catholics and Evangelicals (Lutherans), clergymen and laymen - and this adds meaning to the petition. ':Nie petition to recognize SS. Cyril and Methodius as "National Patrons" has, above all else, a religious significance. The entire national life of the Slovaks was built on a Christian foundation. Thereby the Slovaks clearly expressed the fact that their national life was not only a combination of economic forces, not only a struggle of class and political groups, not only a cultivation of cultural nobility, but also an organic system in which social, cultural, and religious manifestations of life have their proper place. When Slovaks came to this country and began founding their Catholic parishes and churches, they chose for their ;patron the saint to whom they were most attached and upon whose intercession they relied the most. In their new home, here in America, our pioneers, more than ever before be- �26 SLOVAKIA came aware of their alien environment and, to counteract this, wanted to bring into it as much of "their own" as possible. '.Dhat is why, for their patrons, so frequently they chose SS. Cyril and Methodius. This also explains why, here in America, we have SS. Cyril and Methodius churches in almost every diocese, while in the "old country" they are almost nonexistent. T·h is empathy manifested itself yet in another way. Slovak newspapers and periodicals in America frequently brought studies and articles about our Slova:k Apostles, and there were times when every Slovak Catholic family in America had in its dwelling, in a place of prominence, a picture of SS. Cyril and Mefuodius. Today we also find pictures of these saints in Slovak Catholic households. These are the pictures which the Slovak Catholic Federation prepared and is selling as souvenirs commemorating the 1100th Anniversary of the coming of Cyril and Methodius to Slovakia. We have in America, under the patronage of SS. Cyril and Methodius, a congregation of sisters which was founded 50 years ago. '.Dhis is the only religious congregation founded by Slovaks, either here or in Slovakia. Today, it numbers over 400 members, is in charge of 36 schools in nine dioceses and, ,besides the St. Cyril Academy for Girls, the Sisters conduct the girls' section of Adrian High School in Gary, Ind., and Junior High Schools in Hazleton, Pa., Bridgeport, Conn., and Binghamton, N. Y., also the clinics in WilkesBarre and Phoenixville, Pa., the Jednota Home for orphans in Middletown, Pa., and two homes for the aged. It is true that sisters of other congregations, which have their own Slova:k mother houses teach in many of Olll" Slovak parochial schools. Nevertihele~s, the Congregation of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius seems to have become the most numerous which again indicates that Slovak girls with a calling to the religious life seem to find the Congregation of the Slovak Apostles the most attractive. Since so many of our churches here are dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius, and since so many sisters are devoting their lives to work in a religious order under their name, it is only natural that artists should want to depict their image and likeness and scenes from their lives. So, we �SLOVAKIA 27 have statues of SS. Cyril and Metlhodius in churches dedicated to them and in others, notably in the National Shrine of the llnmaculate Conception in Washington, D. C. The following gives an idea where, in the U.S. and Canada, churches dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius are located: Alabama: Brookside (organized 1895); Arkansas: Stuttgart-Slovaktown (1900); Connecticut: Bridgeport (1907); IDinois: Chicago (1914), East St. Louis (1911), Joliet (1900); Kansas: Kansas City (1906); Maine: Lisbon Falls (1923); Michigan: Detroit (1918); Minnesota: Minneapolis (1891); Missouri: Sugar Creek (1913); Montana: Stockett (1900); New Jersey: Boonton (1906), Clifton (1913); New York: Binghamton (1903), Schenectady (1913); Ohio: Barberton (1906), Lakewood (1903-the only Slovak R.C. Church which is consecrated), Rossford (1923), Warren (1928), Youngstown (1898); Pennsylvania: Bethlehem (1891), Charleroi (1901), Coaldale (1920), Edwardsville (1901), Fairchance (1911), Lebanon (1905), New Brighton (1916), Reading 1.895), Winburne (1904), Windber (1905); Wisconsin: Superior (1911); CANADA: Hamilton, Ont. (1945); Montreal, Que. (1928); New Westminster, B. C. (1960); Toronto, Ont. (1934) ; Windsor (1940). In addition to this, songs and hymns in their honor be-came an integral part of every religious event among the Slova1ks in America. Thus we find here in America that more pictures of SS. Cyril and Methodius have been painted, more statues -carved, cut, chiseled, cast or molded, and more songs, hymns in their honor sung, than in Slovakia. You and I and all Catholics of Slovak descent in America, are witnessing a beautiful event, the completion of a cycle of religious history of Slovakia. Under the leadership of Bishop Andrew G. Grutka and the SlovRk Catholic Federation of America the Slovaks have decided to build and furnish an institute in Rome, Italy, where future priests and missionaries for Slovakia are to be trained. By this deed, American Slovak Catholics will be repaying theiT mother country for sending us priests when we needed them most to preserve the faith of our fathers. The SS. Cyril and Methodius Institute is named most appropriately in honor of our Slovak Apostles, the saintly brothers who brought the �28 SLOVAKIA faith to our forefathers at the dawn of our national history. It was then, in the ninth century, t:hat the Slovak nation became an integral part of Christian civilization. Our duty is to support the Institute according to OUT means. This is one way we show our appreciation for the benefit of the faith which today is flourishing among our Slovak people in America. Let us not forget that it was not always so. The first immigrants to this country were lost without their own churches and priests. There was no one to defend them in time of need; no one to protect their interests. So the priests, who at that time came among our people brought a real, a heroic sacrifice. They really started from "scratch." So often want, real want, was an everyday guest of these selfsacrificing priests who not only had to preach the word of God and administer the sacraments to our people, but also were their advisors, teachers, protectors, and representatives in their new homeland. They often acted as counselors in courts, but more often they had to counsel the faithful against their OWIIl bad habits, passions and ignorance. These selfless pioneer priests founded our flourishing parishes. Then native born Americans of Slovak descent continued to organize and build many other parishes. Slovak women, mothers especially, should appreciate the fact that if anything is important in the life of our people in America, it is this great conversion of a colony to a parish, the change of a boarder (' ~burdingos") into a head of a happy family. This would not have been possible without the immigrant Slovak priests_of that day. Times and circumstances have since changed. Today, not we in America, but those in Slovakia need priests to fill the ancient Slovak churches in order to return to their beautiful Cyrilo-Methodian tradition. What is expected of us? A mere trifle! We are asked to give a share of our material abundance so that the project may become a reality and the Institute of SS. Cyril and MethodiU'S in Rome could begin its most worthwhile function now in 1963-1100 years after the advent of the Slovak Apostles to the land of the Slovaks. I pray God that the Slovaks of America and Canada, and the rest of the free world, respond generously. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 25 AMERICAN SLOVAK.SAND SS. CYRIL AND METIIODIDS MARY PIROCH A comparison of the list of Slovak Catholic parishes in America with a list of those in Slovakia reveals an interesting fact which would prove puzzling and hard to understand if one were unfamiliar with conditions under which ohurches were founded in the respective countries. In Slovakia, churi;hes were founded by patrons. These were usually noblemen, lords, dukes or counts who retained great wealth and power by inheritance and, in the selection of the saint to whom a church was to be dedicated, the patron made the choice. In America, on the other hand, the churches were founded by the people and for the patron of their church they usually chose a saint to whom they felt bound by the strongest ties of love and devotion. This phenomenon occurs also among the Irish, German and other Europeans who have settled in greater numbers in America. It is noteworthy that the Slovaks petitioned the emperor, in 1861, to officially proclaim SS. Cyril and Methodius "Apostles of the Slova:ks." That the emperor declined to grant the request does not detract from its significance. The petition to have SS. Cyril and Methodius proclaimed as "National Slovak Patrons" was signed by over fifty eminent Slovak patriots, led ·b y Bishop Stephen Moyses. Among the signers were both Catholics and Evangelicals (Lutherans), clergymen and laymen - and this adds meaning to the petition. ':Nie petition to recognize SS. Cyril and Methodius as "National Patrons" has, above all else, a religious significance. The entire national life of the Slovaks was built on a Christian foundation. Thereby the Slovaks clearly expressed the fact that their national life was not only a combination of economic forces, not only a struggle of class and political groups, not only a cultivation of cultural nobility, but also an organic system in which social, cultural, and religious manifestations of life have their proper place. When Slovaks came to this country and began founding their Catholic parishes and churches, they chose for their ;patron the saint to whom they were most attached and upon whose intercession they relied the most. In their new home, here in America, our pioneers, more than ever before be- 26 SLOVAKIA came aware of their alien environment and, to counteract this, wanted to bring into it as much of "their own" as possible. '.Dhat is why, for their patrons, so frequently they chose SS. Cyril and Methodius. This also explains why, here in America, we have SS. Cyril and Methodius churches in almost every diocese, while in the "old country" they are almost nonexistent. T·h is empathy manifested itself yet in another way. Slovak newspapers and periodicals in America frequently brought studies and articles about our Slova:k Apostles, and there were times when every Slovak Catholic family in America had in its dwelling, in a place of prominence, a picture of SS. Cyril and Mefuodius. Today we also find pictures of these saints in Slovak Catholic households. These are the pictures which the Slovak Catholic Federation prepared and is selling as souvenirs commemorating the 1100th Anniversary of the coming of Cyril and Methodius to Slovakia. We have in America, under the patronage of SS. Cyril and Methodius, a congregation of sisters which was founded 50 years ago. '.Dhis is the only religious congregation founded by Slovaks, either here or in Slovakia. Today, it numbers over 400 members, is in charge of 36 schools in nine dioceses and, ,besides the St. Cyril Academy for Girls, the Sisters conduct the girls' section of Adrian High School in Gary, Ind., and Junior High Schools in Hazleton, Pa., Bridgeport, Conn., and Binghamton, N. Y., also the clinics in WilkesBarre and Phoenixville, Pa., the Jednota Home for orphans in Middletown, Pa., and two homes for the aged. It is true that sisters of other congregations, which have their own Slova:k mother houses teach in many of Olll" Slovak parochial schools. Nevertihele~s, the Congregation of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius seems to have become the most numerous which again indicates that Slovak girls with a calling to the religious life seem to find the Congregation of the Slovak Apostles the most attractive. Since so many of our churches here are dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius, and since so many sisters are devoting their lives to work in a religious order under their name, it is only natural that artists should want to depict their image and likeness and scenes from their lives. So, we SLOVAKIA 27 have statues of SS. Cyril and Metlhodius in churches dedicated to them and in others, notably in the National Shrine of the llnmaculate Conception in Washington, D. C. The following gives an idea where, in the U.S. and Canada, churches dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius are located: Alabama: Brookside (organized 1895); Arkansas: Stuttgart-Slovaktown (1900); Connecticut: Bridgeport (1907); IDinois: Chicago (1914), East St. Louis (1911), Joliet (1900); Kansas: Kansas City (1906); Maine: Lisbon Falls (1923); Michigan: Detroit (1918); Minnesota: Minneapolis (1891); Missouri: Sugar Creek (1913); Montana: Stockett (1900); New Jersey: Boonton (1906), Clifton (1913); New York: Binghamton (1903), Schenectady (1913); Ohio: Barberton (1906), Lakewood (1903-the only Slovak R.C. Church which is consecrated), Rossford (1923), Warren (1928), Youngstown (1898); Pennsylvania: Bethlehem (1891), Charleroi (1901), Coaldale (1920), Edwardsville (1901), Fairchance (1911), Lebanon (1905), New Brighton (1916), Reading 1.895), Winburne (1904), Windber (1905); Wisconsin: Superior (1911); CANADA: Hamilton, Ont. (1945); Montreal, Que. (1928); New Westminster, B. C. (1960); Toronto, Ont. (1934) ; Windsor (1940). In addition to this, songs and hymns in their honor be-came an integral part of every religious event among the Slova1ks in America. Thus we find here in America that more pictures of SS. Cyril and Methodius have been painted, more statues -carved, cut, chiseled, cast or molded, and more songs, hymns in their honor sung, than in Slovakia. You and I and all Catholics of Slovak descent in America, are witnessing a beautiful event, the completion of a cycle of religious history of Slovakia. Under the leadership of Bishop Andrew G. Grutka and the SlovRk Catholic Federation of America the Slovaks have decided to build and furnish an institute in Rome, Italy, where future priests and missionaries for Slovakia are to be trained. By this deed, American Slovak Catholics will be repaying theiT mother country for sending us priests when we needed them most to preserve the faith of our fathers. The SS. Cyril and Methodius Institute is named most appropriately in honor of our Slovak Apostles, the saintly brothers who brought the 28 SLOVAKIA faith to our forefathers at the dawn of our national history. It was then, in the ninth century, t:hat the Slovak nation became an integral part of Christian civilization. Our duty is to support the Institute according to OUT means. This is one way we show our appreciation for the benefit of the faith which today is flourishing among our Slovak people in America. Let us not forget that it was not always so. The first immigrants to this country were lost without their own churches and priests. There was no one to defend them in time of need; no one to protect their interests. So the priests, who at that time came among our people brought a real, a heroic sacrifice. They really started from "scratch." So often want, real want, was an everyday guest of these selfsacrificing priests who not only had to preach the word of God and administer the sacraments to our people, but also were their advisors, teachers, protectors, and representatives in their new homeland. They often acted as counselors in courts, but more often they had to counsel the faithful against their OWIIl bad habits, passions and ignorance. These selfless pioneer priests founded our flourishing parishes. Then native born Americans of Slovak descent continued to organize and build many other parishes. Slovak women, mothers especially, should appreciate the fact that if anything is important in the life of our people in America, it is this great conversion of a colony to a parish, the change of a boarder (' ~burdingos") into a head of a happy family. This would not have been possible without the immigrant Slovak priests_of that day. Times and circumstances have since changed. Today, not we in America, but those in Slovakia need priests to fill the ancient Slovak churches in order to return to their beautiful Cyrilo-Methodian tradition. What is expected of us? A mere trifle! We are asked to give a share of our material abundance so that the project may become a reality and the Institute of SS. Cyril and MethodiU'S in Rome could begin its most worthwhile function now in 1963-1100 years after the advent of the Slovak Apostles to the land of the Slovaks. I pray God that the Slovaks of America and Canada, and the rest of the free world, respond generously.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource American Slovaks and SS. Cyril and Methodius Description An account of the resource Mary Piroch Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 25-28 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Piroch, Mary Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2c7203cd9c73f297254992ac57ba7ddf.pdf 6f6fec972c221a50376932ac111481cd PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA THE LEGACY OF THE GREAT MORAVIAN STATE OF OUR ANCESTORS: THE SLOVANIC CIIUOOH AND SLOVANIC LITERATURE JOSEPH SKULTETY In 862, (i. e., 1101 years ago) there came to Emperor Mic:hael in Constantinople messengers fi'om the region of the Middle Danube, the Germano-Slovanic frontier, and said to him: "By the grace of God we are in good health, and there come to us Christian teachers from Italy, Greece and Germany, teaching us various things. But we are Sloveni .•. " The words "but we are Sloveni" were meant to convey the thought that they desire to have teachers in the ChrisDr. Joseph Skultety's book "Nehante l!.ud M6j" (Do Not Slander My .People) was pulblished in 1928. iln it the aiuthor successfully refuted three prevalent fallacies, all of ;which tended to vilify the Slovak people and distort Slovak history. Professor Sku1tety's book was translated into English by Cl. D. Koretf and published by the F'irst Catholic Slovak Union, Middletown, Pa., in 1930, under the title of "Sketches From ·S lovak History." The first chapter, relating to Great Moravia and the Slovak Apostles ,SIS. Cyril and Method•i us, caretully and thoroughly corrected to correspond with the Slovak original, is presented here. - P. A. Hrobak tian doctrine "who would teach us in our own language, a language intelligible to us," and they added: "Send us such, 0 Lord." 'I\hey were the messengers from our Slovak ancestors, from their ruler Rastislav. The words they addressed to Emperor Micihael are quoted in the biography ("Zitie") "By of Apostle Methodius, and the opening sentence histothis the grace of God we are in good heallth" gives ric document a coloring of antiquity. It proves that Slovaks said this in Corurtantinople. 1 At that time, 862, there already stood in our Nitra a Christian church for more than thirty years, the first in the whole of ibhe western Slovanic world. But since then Rastislav had bad experiences. The missionaries cam~ mainly from the Germans, our western neighbors, a,n d the worst of it was not that his nation did not understand �36 SLOVAKIA them and thus Christianity only slowly took root: Rastislav dreaded most that the Germans would want to subjugate politica'1ly whomever they converted to Christ.2 For that reason he asked for teachers from the East and sent his messenger to Constantinople. From thence he obtained extraordinary, great men - real apostles - in the persons of the brothers Constantine and Methodius. They founded in Rastislav's nation the Slovanic Church and Slovanic literature. And from the Slovanic worship and Slovanic literature, thus founded, a great thing emanated for the Slovanic peoples .. . Great conf1.11Sion arose among the Slavists over the question what kind of Slovans (Slavs) had constituted Rastislav's and Sviitopluk's Great Moravia, although Dobrovsky, the founder of · Slovanic philology, as early as in 1825 categorically stated that the real Great Moravia was the present-day Slovakia, 3 and Safarik in his "Slovanske Starozitnosti," in 1837, placed the Sfovaks, in the second half of the ninth century, · not only between . the Ca11pathian Mountains and the Danube, (as far as Mt. Matra and Vacov) and along the Morava River, but also on the other bank of the Danube, all the way up to Blatno. 4 This was appropria,tely. elucidated by V. Jagic who gave direction · to the fourth generation of Slavists. In his great work on the origin of the Church Slovanic language,5 expounding the ethnographic character of ancient Moravia, the Moravia of Rastislav and Svatopluk, J agic wrote: "In her language Moravia is even today Czech only in her western half - her eastern half is connected with the Slovaks, and these Slovaks even now are living in northwestern Hungary . . . In ancient Moravia, if her frontiers extended to the Danube, they must have spoken a language in the ninth century which was in its su1bstantial outlines identical with the present-day Slovak language (as in Moravia and Upper Hungary). This Slovak language could them have been more widespread even in Moravia than it is today, and in Hungary could have extended as far as the Danube." In his article on Slovanic languages,6 Jagic called the present-day Slovak dialects the real descendants of · the �SLOVAKIA 37 language of ancient Moravia. To his explanation we can add the evidence we have in the name "Rastislav'. That name - that beloved name - puts a special Slovak stamp on Great Moravia. As we know from Slovanic grammars, there are two groups of words which the Slovaks have in common with the South-Slavs, but not with the Czech and Poles, to whom as western Slovans they otherwise belong linguistically. To one of these two groups (raz = to the Czech roz; razga = to the Czech rozha; razen = to the Czech rozen; raky1a = to the Czech rokyta; razst.ep, raztoka, and others) belongs also the word rasf (in t:Jhe Czech rosti) and words derived from it. Together with the Czechs and the Poles, the Russians also use "o". Now, in contemporaneous or old records in general, the name Rastislav is Rastislav everywhere, and only exceptionally, by some error, Rostislav; in contemporaneous records, in German annals, he is called consistently Rastic (an abbreviated form of the name). That means the German neighbors heard that name witll an "a,,, and sounding thus, it proves that either in Moravia, in all of Moravia, a language was spoken whose phonetics was like the phonetics of the language beneath the Tatra Mountains, that is, present-day language of central Slovakia, or else the princely family, who reared Rastiislav, sprang from Slovaks, who settled on this side of the Morava River. But even so, if Ra•s tislav was a native of this side of the Morava river, they still would have called him tlheir own way Rostislav on the other, the western side. And that they did not call him thus, that the name "Rastislav,, resounded even in Western Moravia, that is ,proved by the form "Rastic" preserved in a11 the contemporaneous German records. 7 The country of Rastislav, even in the extreme West, was Slovak. 8 In the southeast, as we already know from Safarik,9 and as topographic names indicate, Sloyak settlements extended to Mt. Matra. In :the East they originally reached probably to the river Topfa, whose name comes from the Slovenes (Sloveni), the ancestors of the present..day Bulgarians. But if these people from the territory of the Tisa crossed beyond the lower Danube in the seventh �38 SLOVAKIA century, the Slovak "Sloveni" expanded in the East even beyond the Topfa river. Here and in the territory beyond Uzhorod, occupied by Russians since the twelfth century, the names of settlements are in significant number of Slovak origin. And from Mt. iMatra to Vacov, bey<»).d the Danube from Budin up to Vysehrad and Ostrihom, there also are ancient Slovak settlements. 10 Indeed, Slovak settlements could have extended even farther South, all the way to Blatno. Pdbina, driven from Nitra, even though enjoying Gemian favor, hardly could have become a ruler here as a foreigner. Apostle Metihodius, appointed by Rome, was archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia since 873, from which we ~n also judge that beyond the De.nube, in Pannonia, there lived the same kind of people as above the Danube, beneath the Carpathians and along the Morava River. Even Sa!fari:k called attention to the names of prominent people who were present in 850 at the blessing of Pribina's church at Blatno Castle. Jagic explained those names of the "Pannonian Sloveni" and arrived at the conclusion that from among fifteen almost half were western Slovanic. Now, if these names were western Slovanic, then they were Slovak - no other western Slovans could have lived near Blatno. The State of our Slovak ancestors, which already in Mojmir's days up to 846 had been built wisely and cou~ageously, was already a power in Rastislav's time. The Germans were then pushing down the Danube, as they never did afterwards, and Great Moravia, the young Slovanic State, heroically barred their way. True enough, their aggression only increased thereby. King Louis, called the German, a grandson of Charlema;gne, in 855, immediately after his accession, invaded Moravia with a great military force in order to rid himself of a danger which was growing there for his realm. But 'here the very resistance was so great that Louis - as a contemporaneous record mentions - decided rather to leave his opponent in peace than to expose his whole army to a catastrophe. He did not dare to attack the firm position of Rastislav and merely devastated the neighborhood. The attack of the Moravians on the German encampments was repulsed, but the departure of the Germans resembled a flight. Rastislav pursued Louis, the German, �SLOVAKIA 39 invaded his territory and devastated it far and wide. Liberated Moravia - says Safarik attained complete independence and became the 1baven of refuge of all Slovans whQ were either discontented with or oppressed by the Franks (Germans), and even of the Germans themselves who had come into some conflict with the government of King Louis. His sons, too, Karlmann and Louis, Junior, looked to Rastislav for support in quarrels with their father. In the annals of the Fuld Monastery of 869, there is a record which mentions Rastislav's castle, in all probability Devin, as "the mighty fortress with which not even one of the most ancient ca,n compa:re." 11 And under Svatopluk, after Rastislav, Great Moravia represented a still greater military power. The defeat of the Gel'!IIlans in 870, beneath Devin, was horrible. 'Ilheir great airmy perished in the battle; very few saved themselves by flight. There were very few families in Bavaria, Austria and Carinthia (Corutania., who did not mourn the loss of some of their members. Ka.rrlmann quickly ordered the gathering of all the captured Moravians, whom he kept in various places of his country so that he could exehange them for his own men who were held prisoners by Svaitopluk. Well, he got only one half-dead man back, the renowned hero Ratbod. Any German who had not fled from the battlefield remained there dead. This battle has been compared with that which the Roman gei,.eraJ V arus lost in the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9 A. D., and Svatopluk was compared with the German Armin (Herman). But we also have Palacky's version of that battle. With keen perception, Palacky stated that in history there is also difference between these two battles. The first was described for us by Tacitus, about the other we know ft-om the chronicle of the monk of Fuld. 12 Later is his reign Svatopluk completely stopped the flood of Germans down the Danube towards the East. In German annals a record is preserved stating that when he went against Arnulf in 884, his army was seen in one place to pass all day, from morning until evening. Svitopluk already then had extended his sovereignty to the North over the Czech land, where the first ·historic Czech �40 SLOVAKIA prince, Bofivoj, ruled, and over the Polish Slovans along the Upper Vistula (Visla); in the South his sovereignty extended even farther, fwr beyond the frontiers of Slovak territory. It seemed then that the Slovanic people would unite under his rule. I shall not quote Saifarik, Palacky or any other Slovanic historian; it will suffice to cite from Pauler as to the past. In his book "A magyar nemmt tortenet.e s:rent lstvanig," awarded the Grand Prize of the Magyar Academy in 1900, Pauler says: "'In Atelkuz the Magyars were much nearer to their present homeland than they had been in Lebedia. From Seret, from Baku to Mairosvasarhelyi the distance is only some twenty geographic miles. And here - certainly by way of the most natural road through the valley of the Dniester, tJhen up the Stryj, through Verek Pass - they could look into the land extending from the Carpathians to the South where just then great battles were raging. The Slovans living along the Morava River, on the left bank of the Danube, under powerful ·a nd courageous rulers, had fo:nned a country worthy of consideration. They began to be baptized already in the first half of the ninth century, but in reality they were confirmed in the Ohristian faith only by Constantine, the philosopher, and his brother Methodius from the year 863. "From the very beginning of the ninth century, from the time of Charlemagne, there were, so to say, continuous wars between the Slovans and the reahn of the Franks, from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic, now here, now there. The Slovans had penetrated wedge-like deeper and deeper between the Germanic tribes since the sixth century, and the reaction of the Franks was forcefµL In the ninth century the Germans, attacking everywhere, endeavored to make vassals of their Slovanic neighbors alon,g the Saale River, as well as on the frontiers of the Czech Mountains, or beyond the Danube. With the Siovans a!bove the Middle Danube, Svatopluk founded such a realm to which the Czech land in Bohemia, the countries around the sources of the Vistula, and in the South, besides the valleys of the Morava, Vah and Nitra. - that nucleus of the realm were subjected, and his power extended from the River �SLOVAKIA 41 Hron over the whole territory between the Danu:be and the Tisa Rivers, down to Sriem and up to the Ca,rpathians ... "Eastern FTankland, that conglomeration of Saxons, Franks, Swabians, and Bavarians, was ruled since 887 by the handsome and brave Arnulf, the illegitimate son of Karlmann and the girandson of Louis the German, who but a few years previously - in 883 and 884 - as prince of Carinthia had felt the weight of Svatopluk's power and had helplessly looked on as he (Svatopluk) bad cruelly and mercilessly raivaged Pannonia, and even now, as king, he did not know what to do with him. "In July, 892, Arnulf took to the sword and with an army of Franks, Swabians, and Bavarians and attacked Moravia. The Magyar horde, which was just then passing through, joined him ( - hired by Arnulf ! - note of this author) and ravaged Svatopluk's country for four weeks; but then the Germans and Ma.rgyars turned homeward (with bleeding heads - note of this author) and Svatopluk's power, not even shaken, remained as it had been heretofore" .13 In German chronicles and in contemporaneous annals, Svatopluk is called the ",powerful," the "dread of his neighbors," "the wisest," "the most deceitful," man of his nation; "a wolf," and "a blood-thh'sty malcontent." The calumnies of enemies, of course, are not to be taken Hterally. To his German neighbors Svatopluk was "a wolf," and "blood-thirsty," because the wounds caused by his sword hurt. But those were wounds which they sustained mostly when they ventured where they had no dght to go. And then history judges differently than contemporaries do. I could cite from the excellent work of Alfons Huber, 14 an Austro-German, quotations similar to those in the Magyar book of Pauler a:Qout the deeds of the nation of Mojmir, Rastislav and Svatopluk in the second half of t:he ninth century. To found such a state, a Slovanic State on the Middle Danube ast that time - in the second half of the ninth century - certainly was a great accomplishment; history wil!l never cease speaking of it. Indeed, there were indications that a center was originating ·h ere around which a significant part of the Slovans would unite. But a young �42 SLOVAKIA state, in order to become firm, to consolidate, needs favorable circumstances. History deduces even the beginnings of Rome had favorable and fortunate conditions. Our Slovak ancestors, at the end of tile ninth century, were not so fortunate. The Germanic world still lived in a condition of ferment - to have it as a neigU11bor was not good. It would yield, retreat, only under duress, as during the· lifetime of Svatopluk. After Svatoplu:k's death, the nomadic Magyars came to be another neighbor on the other side of the Danube and to tlle Tisa River. Under such circumstances, aflter the first weakening caused by some internal, domestic strife, a young organization is apt to fare ba~y. The trou:ble here was the disunity of the sons of Svatopluk, which was flamed by their German neighbors, and Great Moravia perished. 'Dhe Magyars came to the Danube in 896, two years after Svatopluk's death, and Mojmir II, Svatopluk's successor, in 900 still petitioned for and obtained from Rome two bishops and one archbishop, thus he was still organizing the Church. In 902, with his sword he still proved to his Trans-Danubian neighbors that he was a son of Svatopluk.15 Not long rufterwards, however, he was no more. It is not even known what became of him whither he went. Great Moravia perished. 16 The state of affairs on the Middle Danube in the ninth century is explained in Anton Budilovic's book, published in 1'886, on the occasion of the millenial memorial of the death of Met!hodius: "'l'he Huns and the Avars cleaned the lands of the Middle Danube considerably of the Thraco-Illyrian, Celto--Roman and Germanic nations, but, under the successors of Charlemagne, German colonization again turned to these blessed lands and . covered with its net not only Upper but also Lower Pannonia and the western aft-valleys of Moravia. The antlike activity of the German colonist there was supported by the quite mature politicail and ecclesiastical organization of the Germany of that time. Supporting the German colonist on the one side was the German soldier, margrave, duke, the king, the emperor; on the other side, the German priest, monk, bishop, arch!bishop. What could the Slovans of these lands, divided into branches, scattered, not united by anything, put up against such forces? The federative union of two or three �SLOVAKIA 43 tribes, the muscular force of the homeguards, 1:Jhe accidenta:l geniality of the chief and the eµthusiam of national hatred, aroused by violence? This could onJy be temporary . . . A lasting and successful struggle is only possible where there exists a certain balance of forces and equality of weapons, bow against bow, system against system, fore~ ful, profound ideas against other ideas. Can there be any talk of balance of forces of one or two Slovanic nations with the whole German race, of an alliance of a few patriarchal tribes with a great and organized empire? Could even the most genial leaders of the western Slovanic peoples at that time repel the onslaught of a whole system of cultural ideas in which were also included the heritage of the ancient world and the refreshing Cll'ITent of Christianity? . . . The best answer to these questions is presented by the fate of the Baltic Slavs. There they lacked neither ta:lented military leaders, nor a fiery hatred of the Germans, nonetheless these Slavs perished and their lands became the center of the later renovated empire of the Hohenstaufens." The closing words of Budilovic are that the same fate would have overtaiken the Slovans of Great Moravia had not their Rastislav, aroused by a penetrating foresight, obtained such apostles as were the brothers of Salonica (Solun), Cyril and Methodius. 17 Yes, as already mentioned, the state of affairs was difficult for our Slovak ancestors. Nonetheless, their State creation lasted almost one hundred years, and from the very beginning inscribed itself appropriately into history. Palacky, in his "Dejiny" (!history) presents the foundations which Rastislav and Svatopluk built with their nation as the nucleus around which all the Slovanic tribes would have been attracted gradually; from it they would have received Christianity; if not new political constitutions, at least a national and new European culture, arts and industry, unity of language, an alphabet and literature. As under the influence of Rome, the monarchy of the Franks matured in the West, similarly a great Slovanic empire would have grown up with the help of the spirit of Byzantium, and Eastern Europe of a thousand years ago would have assumed a shape different from that which it in reality assumed. 18 �44 SLOVAKIA Palacky spoke as if carried away in a rhetorical rapture; but it can be stated even with the coolest mind that great things were lost with the collapse of Great !Moravia. ~en at that, the Slovanic Ohurch,founded for our Slovak ancestors, with the Slovanic alphabet and Slovanic literature, became the foundation on which the great race of Slovanic peoples developed. When especially in the West only three, or really only two languages (Greek and Latin) were considered feasible for Christian ecclesiastic life, the Holy Scriptures and worshi,p, the brothers Cyril and Methodius began their mission with the translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Slovanic language. At the end of the seventies of the nineteenth century, when, as a result of the Russo-Turkish war, the Balkan Slovans were rid of the hard fate of five hundred years duration, and among all the Slovans flowed especially cordial feelings, the Russian literary historian Alexander Pypin called attention to the Pan-Slovanic significance of what the great apostles Cyril and Methodius had accomplished among our Slovak ancestors. And he added that their work is an heritage and an ideal of Slovanic unification 19 True enoug,ll, the neighboring Germans at once raised on alarm that Constantine :md Methodius were installing Slovanic worship and translating the Holy Scriptures in Rastislav's land. Our apostles deemed it necessary for that reason to journey to Rome as early as 867. There they submitted their cause in such a manner that Pope Adrian solemnly blessed the Slovanic books. Before the coming to Moravia of the brothers, only · Constatine had been ordained to priesthood; the Pope ordered also Methodius and their Slovak disciples, whom they had brought along to Rome, to be ordained, and in the leading cathedrals of Rome they sang the liturgy in the Slovanic language. It became necessary for the apostles to remain a longer time in Rome. Constantine, physicaUy frail, became ill, joined a monastic order and assumed the name Cyril. While going about as missionary among the Kaza.rs near the Black Sea, Cyril had uncovered in Kherson the remains of St. Olemenrt, who had died a martyr, and these restored remains he now brought to Rome. Thus it hap- �SLOVAKIA 45 pened, that when he died . on February 14, 869, he was buried in the church of that same St. Clement. The dying Cyril touchingly implored his ·b rother to persevere in the important Slovak mission. Methodius, of course, persevered with the greatest zeal. From 873 he was archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia. When the German bishop did not cease inciting against the Slovanic worship, it again became necessary to journey to Rome in 880. And in this trial too, he was victorious. Pope John VIII, wrote in a Bull sent to Svatopluk ("glorioso principi ~fentopulcho"): "The Slovank script, whldh the late phi~osopher Constantine devised, that in it may duly resound the praise of God, is lawfully confirmed; and we decree that in that language the glory and the acts of · our Lord p1rist be related. For not only in three, but in all languages are we exhorted by the holy author (King David) to praise the Lord . . . The apostles too, permeated with the Holy Ghost, spoke in all languages about the greatness of God . . . He who created the three · principal languages Hebrew, Greek, and Latin - created also the others to His honor and glory ...." What great events! Thus is documented that in the Church the Slovanic language was placed in the same rank with Greek and Latin. Already in the ninth century! ... And all this emanated from our Slovak ancestors! As long as there will be souls capable of becoming enthused for sublime things, so long will the memory of the Slovanic apostles Cyril and Methodius remain ~evered, and there will be always found people who will know that the Slovanic Church had been instituted for our Slovak ancestors, and that it all emanated from the mind of their great ruler [Rastislav. The Slovak State of the ninth century did not survive, it perished in maelstrom of the world, but the Slovanic world has a great heritage from it. With the development of science, particularly Slovanic philology, this event of world history will become more lucid :with every passing year. When the work of the Slovanic apostles and the struggle of Great Moravia with the Germanic world will be recalled, talk of C~atho-Damtbian and Pannonian Slovans will cease, and the Sloveni-Slovaks will be definitely mentioned. When it is already so clear �46 SLOVAKIA that in the ninth century the inhabitants of present-day Moravia were only Slova.ks, the nation of Rastislav and Svatopluk will not be called "Moravians and Slovaks" (as in the "Slovanske Staro'Litnosti" of Sa.fa.rik), but consistent. ly and definitely "Slovaks." The ,b iographies ("Zitia") of our apostles, which remained in the Church-iSlovanic language will cease to be called "Pannonian" legends when it will be esta·b lished that the great missionaries whom Rastislav had appointed were only in Pannonia on their journey to Rome, after an activity of four years in Moravia and Slovakia; then again Methodius 1Was there alone, before he could get home, to Devin or Nitra, on his return journey from Rome. (Thus in 867, when stopping above Blatno, to visit Kocel', it was surely only because he was the son of Pribina, formerly of Nitra.) Then will also cease the confusing of our county with the Czech land since the Czechs participated in the formation of the Slovanic Church and literature only after .t he baiptism of Borivoj. Not even the legend that Methodius converted the Bulgarian (Czar) Boris to Christ .b y painting for him a ,picture of the Last Judgment will mislead us any longer; of the two brothers :&om Salonica neither the one, nor the other, labored among any other Slovamic nations. They labored only among the Sloveni-Slovaks. Their teaching reached the Bulgars only through their disciples :£rom Great Moravia after Methodius was no longer among the living. Most recently, this matter was excellently illuminated by the Russian emigrant, the Slovanic philologist Valerij Pogorielov of the university of Bratislava, in his study "About the na.ti.onaJ.ity of the apostles of Slavdom."20 The Slovanic script - as devised by apostle Constantine-C yril after he and his brother Methodius already had the authority for the mission to Rastislarv's nation, and the grammar of this script founded in the Church-Slova nic books - is such an accomplishme nt that Cyril is being admired as a linguistic phenomenom. Nonetheless, recently in science both brothers were generally considered native Greeks. Silenced were also the doubters, into whose heads could not penetrate the fact ,t hat one who was not born a Slovan could hardly grasp in such a manner and sense the charac- �SLOVAKIA 47 ter of the Slovanic language, as we see in the work of St. Cyril. What did Pogorielov do? He began to examine the Slovanic translations of the Holy Scriptures made from the Greek to check whether the brothers from Salonica were as expert i? Greek as they had been in the Slovanic lenguage. He found that in the Church-Slovanic Bible texts there were errors which could not have been made by a translat.or whose mother-language had been Greek. Pogorielov came to the conclusion that the holy brothers from Salonica (Solun) could not have been Greeks - they were Slovans. At the same time he very aptly notes that, allowing such a solution of the question, we will also comprehend that energy, that zeal and self-sacrifice which they displayed in the services of the Slovanic cause. We will understand their impartiality in the dispute between Byzantium and Rome. Would real Greeks have gone to Rome to seek protection for their Slovanic activity? It is a:lso interesting how Pogorielov explains the relation of the Sloveni-Slovaks to the work of the holy apostles. When after the death of Methodius the Slovanic church books were taken from Moravia to Bulgaria, they proved to be altogether intelligible there. The Bulgarian literati began to correct the language of the books, e.g., instead of nedag (at present nedu.h) they put bolezn; instead o(f prositi they wrote moliti; instead of nvot - zizn; instead of otrok - sluga; instead of godina - cas, etc. That is, in the Church texts the Slovaks words (Slovak in the present-day sense) were replaced by Bulgarian words. And Pogorielov does not stop there, but goes farther. He explains how western Slovanic or Slovaik words had gotten into the work of the natives of Salonica that is, South Slovans. Goraoo, one of the first disciples of Cyril and Methodius was considered a SloV3Jk already by Safarik. In regard to Gorazd, Pogorielov· quotes the words21 with which the dying Methodius (in 885) appointed him his successor to the seat of the archbishopric: "This is a free man of your country22 ," that is Gorazd, "a man of your own country," was not a Southern Slovan, as had been the apostles them- �48 SLOVAKIA selves, the brothers from Salonica, but a western Slovan, that is, a son of the country - as Pogorielov says emphatically - where Methodius himself had worked and preached and of which he was archbishop. The Slovakisms in the Slovanic text of the Holy Scriptures are the work of Gorazd ; "to his pen also belongs the translation of all the works from Latin into the Slovanic lan:g:uage." Pogorielov calls St. Gorazd the third apostle of the Slovanic peoples. Referring also to the great Slavist Jagic, who ex;plained in 1900 and in 1913 that in ancient Moravia in the ninth century "substantially the same language was spoken as is today's Slovak," Pogorielov agrees that "it was the Slovaik language, and the country was Slovakia, and this means that St. Gorazd really was a man of the Slovak country - that he was a Slovak23 • In the introduction to his study, written and published in Bratisla,va, Pogorielov remarks that the holy Slovak apostles, Cyril and Methodius, used to walk in this vicinity, therefore, the words of the great ·b ard of the Slovanic world, Jan Kollar, can be rightfully repeated. "Stand still, foot! Sacred are the places wherever thou waJkest !" 24• To which I add: Aye, aye, Devin ! ! ! ... About a person wh·o accomplished great things during his lifetime, people say after his death: •~He died, but his memory shall remain." Greater Moravia has also passed away, has :perished, but her legacy is such that she will be remembered. "Here took place in the ninth century," says a Russian historian, "events not only of Pan-Slovanic, but ailso, it can be said, of universal significance : an important attempt at a political unification of the Slovans the Great Moravian political union - famed itself by the most memorable, infinitely fertile activity of the Slovanic Apostles in Moravia. Here were laid the foundations for the national church and national Slovanic Christian education, here were formed the plans and the direction of the entire future of the whole subsequent historic development of the Slova.nic world, it.s world role and its relation to Romano-Oennanic Europe, to the West, and to the Asiatic guestion. The Christianization of the masses of people and their manner of life, bringing them to the Eastern Church, the foundation of Church-Slovanic litera,- �SLOVAKIA 49 ture and education in the Slovanic South, among the Bulgars and the Serbs, and in the East among the Russians, and partly also among the other western Slovans, was only the continuation of that work which Cyril and Methodius had initiated and which could survive, alas, only a short time in the Middle Danubian countries. From here, from Great Moravia, flowed a copious stream of Slovanic Church literature and Slovanic ritual, of a common Church language and together with it also of national consciousness in all directions - to the ·v arious kin: to the North to the Poles; to the West to the Czechs; to the South to the Slovenes, the Serbo-Croats, and Bulgars (to the latter directly through the disciples of Methodius, who had been expelled from Moravia after his death); and lastly to the East, to Russia . . ." 25 "The fruits of the independent spiritual development, based on a national Church and literature, founded by the Slovanic apostles" - further says Constantine Grot "took root in the Slovanic South and East, where there was not such a ha.rd national struggle as on the Middle Danube." And he calls attention to the fact that it w~s at that time that the Germanic world returned with elemental force to these lands, which its tri·b es had occupied once before, and for that reason it was much harder for the Carpatho-Danubian Slovans to maintain themselves against such pressure. And just then the Magyars also arrived . . . Indeed, even during the life of Svatopluk, soon after the death of Methodius (885), the Slovanic Church had gone over from us to the South~lovans, thence to the Eastern (IS lovans) and there helped to create the great Russian nation out of the many tribes. ""The legacy of the brothers of .Salonica" - as correctly e:,cpressed by Daniel Laucek - "prepared among the Russians national unity by means of Church unity." 26 The Czech ruler, Prince Borivoj, was baptized by Methedius at the court of Svatopluk; with Boriivoj's successors Slovanic literature took root in the Czech country and also got to the Poles; but here too like with the Slovaks and Czechs, 'because they were neighbors of the German world, the Slovanic Church and Slovanic literature did not sumve among the ·P oles. It is true, in the Church terminology of us all, Slovaks, Czechs, and Poles, to this �50 SLOVAKIA day traces of the language have been presented (for instance even the most important word uHospodin" ), the language which the holy apostles Cyril and Methodius had introduced into our ecclesiastic life. And it is worth mentioning, that of all the Slovans, the teachings of the 'Slovan apostles did not reach - neither during their lifetime, nor later through their disciples - a single tribe of the Baltic and Polabian Slovans, and of all the Slovans just these latter perished in the religious a;nd existential struggle which they waged with the Germans. When Emperor Michael in Constantin ople had learned from the Slovak delegation what was at stake, what kind of aipostles R!astislav desired, he at once decided to entrust this task to Constantin e, the philosopher , who had rlistingttished himself in rupostolic wor.k before, at first alone and later with his brother Methodius. The messengers said to the Emperor: "We are Sloveni -," i. e., they desired teachers of the Christian faith whom they could understand. The brothers Constantin e and Methodius, as natives of Salonica (Thessalon ica) where suited even language-wise for the mission among the Slovans: they knew Slovanic. ·Emperor Michael, having summoned them, told the brothers: "You are from Salonica, and all Salonicans spewk pure Slovruk ("'sloviensky) 27 • The brothers, however, did not want to go empty-hand ed to Rastislav's nation, and Constantine, having learned fr()lffi the messengers that the Sloveni-Slovaiks did not ha,ve their own script, in the first ·p lace contemplat ed over a suitable script. In the words of the legend, God revealed the Slovanic script to the meditating, contemplat ing, worried and praying Constantine. Such a tradition maJkes him so much dearer to us. And indeed it is such an achievemen t that we can be proud of it. Constantin e proceeded from the Greek script, but Slovanic sounds, especially in the ninth century, greatly varied with the Greek, therefore new letters, new characters were needed. And Constantin e placed it on such a basis that the more lndo-Europ ean linguistics develops, the more admira:ble becomes his creation28 • Even today, if doubt arises in any Slovanic language over the correct spelling of some word, informatio n is sought in Cyril's orthograiph y. And even in this respect �SLOVAKIA 51 can we Slovaks ha,ve the great satisfaction that, without our Rastislav, he (Cyril) would not have had the opportunity to assert his phenomenal talent. Had not the Slovak messengers come to Constantinople, what more could have Constantine accomplished there? At first he had been used in Constantinople to bring to reason the iconoclasts, then to convert to Christ the Mohamedan Sara,zens and the pagan Khruzars: had not the Slovak messengers appeared there, Constantine, in all likelihood, would have continued in that activity, or he would have remained in the monastery into which he had retired for a life of tranquility. People of phenomenal mental gifts need a field for their activity. Our Rastislaiv will also be remembered in the world-historic work of Cyril. In 1886, when the Slovanic peoples celebraited the millenium of the death of Methodius, a Russian historian asked: "What was the Slovanic world prior to Cyril and Methodius?" and answered: "Scattered over the vast spaces of middle Europe, Russia and the Balkan Peninsular among foreign and hostile nations, although a race gifted by nature with beautiful spiritual endowments, the Slovan r ace represented a torn, disjointed mass of different tribes without any consciousness of racial relationship . . ." The brothers from Salonica appear on the stage of Slovanic history in the middle of the ninth century, "strong in spirit and profoundly permeated with the consciousness of their sacred calling, namely, to furnish the Slovans with Christian enlightenment," and in a comparatively short time thereafter there is an entirely difforent life among the Slovans29 • The Russian philologist Alexej Sachmatov explained that the Russian race in the ninth century was disintegrating into a multitude of tribes. The tribes among themselves remained in substance closely related, but lived separately; for that reason they differed in morals and in customs and had their individual dialects. Had they lived longer without any connecting mediums, complete individualization would have sprung up among them and a multitude of conflicting dialects would have developed. But owing to the events of the tenth centucy an organization of state was created among the Russian tribes which united them in a political, �52 SLOVAKIA cultural and religious unit. In the eleventh century the body of the state, created by Vladimir and his descendants, became stabilized: it consisted of all Russian lands with the exception of Galicia and Polocko, which were differently situated geographically. In the twelfth century the dialects of these latter already had their typical peculiarities30 • Thus, Sachmatov attributed to the unifying ,p ower of the state this great thing that a great nation was created out of Russian tribes. J agic, of course, also acknowledged the importance of the political factor in the creation of linguistic unity, but, not agreeing completely with Sachmatov's explanation, he wrote that "in Russia, in the securance and preservation of unity, the main credit belongs not so much to its political power as to the great cultural and linguistic unifying effect of the Church and the uniform Church-Slovanic Ianguage" 31 • In his great work of 1900 and 1913 Jagic also mentioned Ulfilas, who translated the Holy Scriptures into the language of the Goths already in the fourth century. True enough, that W'.as five hundred yea/I'S earlier; and yet - says Jagic -what a difference there is between Ulfilas and the Slovanic apostles! The work of Ulfilas was for a narrow circle, the Goths alone, with whom it also went into emincition; the work of Cyril and Methodius extended from Moravia and Pannonia, "from the heart of western Slovanic peoples," first to the South, to the Croatians and Serbs, thence to the Bulgarians, and afterwards the Slovanic Church brought also the great Russian nation into the fold of Christianity. The work of Ulfilas perished; in the language ~ suiting from the work of the Slovanic apostles over one hundred million people serve God32 • 1 At this point, I cannot refrain f_r:om mentioning two more names. When our apostles journeyed to Rome in 867, they sojourned in Blatno, in the residential ca.stle in '1.'lransDanubia, where Pribina's son Kocer ruled. Pribina had caused the already mentioned church in Nitra to be built-the first Christian church in the whole western Slovanic world; but to unite a nation and fonn a country, a state, was only possible by dissolving the power of the tribal rulers. Mojmir I , predecessor of Ra.stislav, drove Pdbina out of Nitra for that �SLOVAKIA 53 reason. Pribina procured a fief in Tranus-Danubia from Louis the German and selected a residence in the castle above Blatno (Mosaburg), and there he <:qntinued in what he had initiated in Nitra - the building of churches. That country had more such churches from that era. His son and successor, Kocer, continued in this spirit: he built churches and spread Christianity. Nonetheless, Kocef was somewhat in a quandary when the missionaries from the court of Devin came une~ectedly to him. The rulers of Devin had greatly wronged his father! What were people from there looking for in Blatno? But the apostles Constantine and Metbodius needed only t.o show him the Slovanic script and the Slovanic books, and tbey were dear and welcome t.o Kocef. He felt great joy. He became very fond of Slovanic books, studied from them, and appointed fifty disciples to the apostles. He entertained the distinguished guests for some time and then escorted them with great honor on :their journey to Venetia, that is to Rome. But let us not forget even Zemezizeii. The journey to Rome of the apostle Methodius in 880, so important as far as the substance of the matter is concerned, is given a national coloring in the person of Methodius's escort, the Slovak Zemezizeii. On the basis of what he found about him in historical sources, Jan Holly, in his epic (Svatopluk), placed Zemezizen as one of his important characters. In council Zemezizen distinguishes himself with a penetrating mind and determination, in battles the earth seems to shake wherever he appears. Thus the poet, but we imagine that in reality he was an extraordinary man. To all appearances, Zemezizeii is still his pagan name; he was very likely baptized an adult and therefore could journey, as his ruler's confidant on such an important mission to Rome, to the pope, with apostle Methodius, that educated, refined Byzantian ! He is also mentioned in the ipope's letter, even though it was found difficult in Rome to pronounce his name. (The letter has: Semisisnus, or rather the dative form Semisisno.) REFERENCE NOTES 1. 'The Life on Oonsta.ntme (lat:er Cyril) ("Zltie Konstantfna") and the Lite of Methodius ("z.ttie !Metoda") are preserved in the Old·SloTIU1ic Church la.nguage. Apos~ Methodius surnved his brother Cyril �54 SLOVAKIA b7 sixteen yea.re. In Slavl!stic science The Life of Constantine is considered the work of Met,hodiu,s, and The Life of Mebhodius the work of one ot their SloV'81k disciples. The sentence "By bhe grace of God we 8Are in good health" in the speech of the messenger,a to Constallltinople is very interesting. On meeting one another Slovaks bhus speak a;bout heaMih. Neibher a ~rman, nor any person of the ot•h er western nations would say it in this way. In the Liife of Methodius (Chaa>t. V) it is tra.n.& l:ated into Latin: "bene vale mus" - we aire well." In the Magyar language "hogy szolgal az egesueg ?" and similar expressions are from the Slovak language. 2 Today the Gel"ma,n,s themselves admit much of tbhait nature. " .. . . mit dem deutchen Priester kam auch der deutche Colonl,st .. . so da.sz von nun a.n Chrlrstlamlsierung und Germa.nisierung Hand lin Hand gerum" (cf. Karl Schober: Die Deutchen in Nieder und Ober-Oesterreich, Sal?Jburg, Steyermark, Kii.rn,then und Krain, iP- 15) . 3. " . . . die heutige Sl1>wakey in Oberungern ist das elgentllche Gross•Mahren ... " - he w.l"ote in a letter (in 1&25) to J. S. Bandrtke (Corresponde111Ce of Joseph Dobrovsky, •N, p. 163). 4. Slovanske Staroiltnostl, pp. 794, 7!Y.i, 822. 5. En~ehungsgeachichte der klrchenalavischen Sprache, Ber 1 in, 1913, p. 19 (First edition VleDIIla, 1900). 6. Die slawischen, Sprachen (Die Kult11,r der Gegeuwart, I. IX 1908, Berlin und LeLl)21g). 7. For instance, in &55: "R~ Hlu!lovlcus in Sclavo Marahenses contra Raallizen duoem eorem s,l,bi rebellantem parum IJI"OSpere ducto exercitu"-i( Ruodolfua Fu Idens, p. 369). Ibidem, p. 370: "Quo per fugam lapso et ad Raatizen se conferente.'' - In 869 " ... in illam ineffabllem Rastizl munltdonem et omnl_bus antiqulssimls dlssimilem ... " (Annalea Fuldenses, Pertz, I, 381.) In 870 " .. . ZuentJJ,baJJ.d, nepos Rastizi ... " (Annales Fuldenses, 882.) 8. Svii.toplu,k's predecessor is called Rastic ia.lso ·b y the Slovak monk Chrabr, and about him wie know that he wrote during the time "when there still lived people wlho had SEEN the apostles Cyril and Method ius." 9. Slovanske Starofitnostl , p . 804 . 10. Vacov, Budin, Vysehrad, Osrtrlhom, are Slovak, western Slovanlc names, a,s iare Devin, Ba,zin, -Budatfn. Beyond Budin was TeUn (as in the Czech 1land)-'the Ger-mans living there since the thirteenth century call it Tetlng, just as Bazin ia ito them Bosling, Hodonflll-Goding, in Lower AulStrla Modlin-Modllmg, a.nd many ,others. Vacov i,s derived from the same proper name as in the Czeoh land Is Va.c; Ostrihom is what in the Czech land ds Stfehom (the "o" in Its prefix has the saime origin oo in Oriava, or Im. the Zvolen Ortuty, and the ~arls Ordzovany ) ... We must deduce the close rel11.tionshlp ·b etween the Czeohs and the Slovakls by such ,topographic nMnes, but not by a "cultural union," of which there could have been ·b ut very little lbetween us owing to our separated states and dltter81lt geog:raJJ)hical locatrl.on. Let u,s but examine our culture-words, Wlhwt dissimilarity they present to us. The Slovaks call ink "atrament," the Czeohs "inkoust;" or, what is "t!abak" (tobacco) to the Czechs is "dohan" to the Slovaks. (This means that -smok!:ng reached the Slovaks, a.s It did the Yugoslovan-s, 'by way of the Orient, throug,h the Turu; .to bhe Czechs and the Germans, however, i t came from America via. Spain). 'J1he Slovak names of places (Kaza, Ka.zinec, Tetin, Bwbisar-in Zem-pliin-Pra:ha (In Novohrad) contra.vert �SLOVAKIA 55 also the inventions ot Kosma& in regard to the daughters of K:rok, Ka2a, Teta, Li,bus,a, and about the founding of Prague (Praha). 11. " ... in .fil.la.m ineftabilem Rastizi munitionem et omnibus antiquissimis di1JBimilam ... " 1·2. J.<iramtdsek Palacky: •D ejiny naroda ceskeho, I, 11876, p. 147. We •Slovaiks, however, caai supplement even Pa.lacky's statement; we have a. poetic na:rra.tion of tlhe g,reat battle beneath Devin. Jan Holly's great epic .p oem in 12 cantos, named after its prinoipa.1 hero "Svii.• topluk," presents it. As Tacitus's descri,p tion •there, so Jaai Holly's description here :118 gTand. (Talk-en from history the work of such a poet as is Jan Holly ha,s aaso its historic value.) 13. IP- 26, etc. 14. Geschichte Osten-elchs, I. 16. Acording ,t o all, though sparse reports, Moj,mir <b~me the heir not on[y o! his father'<S realm, bull a1so of his a:bHLties a,s a &ta.te:sman. However . . . for the successor of Svii.topluk even that fact was fatai that he calIIle after such a predecessor ... (V. Novotn:9': Ce-ek6 Dejiny, p. 421.) 16. Mention of the battle of Bratislava in 907-wihich the Bavaria.n,s together with Mojmir LI are supposed to have lost a.gadnst the Magyars -appeared only in ~e sixteen-till oentu,ry with Avenitinus and bas been reoe;n,tly !!"ejected even by Magyar historiaai,s. In ipresent da.ys, after the World War, a. r6CO!I"d was foUllld among German -s ouroes, con.fir-m ing the ,statements of Ave.ntinus, but it will hardily throw more light on the subject. Mter 907, more than one hundred years ·pa.s&ed 8llld still the Ma,g:y<a!rs did not appear on this (Uhe Slovak) side of the Da.nulbe. Not until after 1025, after the death of iBoleslav .t he Brave of Poland, that is, tow,a,rd11 the end of the reign of St. Stephen, they bega,n gra.dua,Hyand only gradually-to ~pa,nd a.nd settle dO'W'Il. Konrad Schti.nema.nn (Die Deutschen In Ungarn bis zum 12. Jahrhundert, Berll!Il u . Le1pzig, 1923) also states that the Magyar-s occupied Pan.nonia only slow,l y and gradually so that Uhe Ge:r,ma,ns who ha.d lived there had opportunity to wi-th<Lraw without haste to :their fO'I"Iller settle• ments. - About this question it is neccessary to have constantly in mind tha.t the Ma.gya.rs ca.me ,t o ,tjhe Danube as nomads, a.nd a nomad, if he ·tasrries anywhere, •m ust not stir up his closest neighbors against ·himself. (By compa!I"ison, I do not wwnt to offend the Magyars by the sdmile, 1but ,t he Gyipsies, living on the outskirts of our towns and vil•1 ages ,say even today: uNo 001e streals <:lose by.") Besides, the Magyars came here-as we wllll see faTther on-while in flight. They came with a !frightful ,experience. y.rhile they had wandered from Atelkuz beyond the Dainube, thked by the Greek Emperor agai,nst the Bulgars, the neighboring Pechenegs a.tta.okied their defenseless settlements in Aitelku2: and 'killed <tlheir children, women, and aged. After their return from the Danube, terrified ·b y the dreadful happenings at Atelkuz, they pa.eked whatever :they sti-11 could a.nd took to flight tn a westerly direction. They stopped only when they reached the territoo-y between the Tisa. BIIld the Middle Dwnube, in Pa.nmonia. After sudh an experi• ence ,t hey could venture trom the Danube, from Pannonda, on predatory expeditio.n-s Jnto Italy and Germany, but with theiT moat :proximate neighbors they VeTY likely endeavored to Uve in peace. AJbout their 'kind of lite, we have the mown remonstrance of tftle Germ81Il bishops in 900 which contailns grave accusations against the Slova.ns (probably of Pam-nonia), that they a,ssl1Sted the Maigyars. As a. matter of fact, the �56 SLOVAKIA Magyars, w~o ha.d come trom the eastern s,teppes scarcely ha,d 8/IlY great desire to venture across, to the lett bank of the Danube. The nomaJd avoids mounta.iais. He needs to see far, fair all around himself, and in the mountains, whether on the rigM or on the left, in front or behind, there is always a possibility of danger. For that reason it is not vecy lpr()baible thait the Magyars, after :tlheir airrival on the Datnulbe -as eaJ1ly as 907 - would have ventured into a grea,t action agalnist Mojmir II. They begaJR-a.s now even Magyair history admits- ,t o occupy the territories on the left ban,k of the Danube gra.dually, in the eleventh century, toward,s ,t he end o! the reign of St. Stephen. 17. Metodievskij jubilejnyj sbornik, Varsava, 18S5, p. 79, etc. 18. Dejiny narodu ceak~ho, I, 1876, p . 223. 19. A. N. Py,pin: lstorija siavianskich literatur, I, rp. 35. 20. "O n.arodnoati apoitolov Slavianswa, in Bratislava, a publication of Sal.arik's Learned Society, No. 2, 1927 . .21. Zitie av. Metoda, Chapter XVII. 22. "Se ~ t vasej~ zemlj~ -s vobod ,m ~i ... " (Zitie av. Metoda, Chapt. XWI.) 23. In confirmation Pogorielov further shows how in· the CyrilloMethodic text the negative "no" (NIE) and its opposite "yes" (A(,,'0) is expressed. T~e Czechs '88.Y ANO; 1lhe Poles TAK; the Russians and BulglllI'B DA; the Serbs and Croats JEST; only the Slovak language has the ,same word we read in the Gospel of Matthew V, 37: " b~di ~ slovo va§e ej, ej i nl ni. Or (Mat. XXI, 16) when the Pharisees &1sked Chrfst: Slysisi Ii ~to sii glago!:j~t. Jlsu,s ze ~ im: ej. (In the Kralice Bible thf,s reads: jiate, Jiate nikoli, nikoli; and the second: oviem. ln Slova,k, in ,t he Tr.nava edition of Richard Osvald: ano, ano, nle, nie, and in chapter XXl--<>viem. Instea.d of ,t he full sounding "HEJ," the Slovam..ic Church text has "EJ''---ithere being no letter "h" in the Cyrilllc's sor1a>t, It is true 1'n the 9th century the Slovakia still pronou.nced "G" instead of the pre• sent-day "H." But ,then, this attimna.tive word could o:nly begin mith the vowel "E," otherwise Gora.zd would ha.ve scarcely omitte'Cl its "G." ln behalf or the Slovak ca.use it is advisa,ble to add that in the Old-Sllovanic Bible tert this "EJ" (HEJ) is such a mark, such a charac,t eristic of present-day central SlovaJc, as is the letter "A" in the name of our Rastisla.v. And thus the one and the other is a.n hi'9toruc document about the Slova.ks-about the nationality of Great Moravia. Tha.t is, in ,t he 9'tlh century, aind in all of present-day Moraivia a.n.d In all of wesrern Slovakia substantially the ,same la.nguage wae spoken as we have it today along the Middle Vall, lower Orava, near Turiec, Hron, l1>el', a,nd in Upper Nitra. (Against such documents, it wm not be possible to risk the opinion thait "the core of the alovalk dta.lectical region is not the central group, ·b ut the western." (M. W. in his note on "Stare Slovensko, ,p . 284). 24. "Stoj. ndho ! Posvatna. mis ta jsou, kamkoll kralis ! " 25. K. J. Grot: Karpato-dunajakija zemli v sudbach slavianatva, 1905, p . 18. 26. D. ,z. Lautek: Sv. Cyril a Method, apoitolovla alovanakf, 18&6, p. 70. - See also V. Jaglc: Archlv fur alaviache Phllologie, XX, p. 27. 27. "Vy bo jesta Sol-un•lantna, da Solunia.ne vsi ~f.sto aiovenaky be- sMujit." - Zitle Metoda, Chapter V. 28. "Die Gros,ze des Werkes ha.t ma.n frllber lraum recht e~flnden konnen, aber gerade in der heutigen Sprachwissenscha.ft . . . musz �SLOVAKIA 57 der Grammati:ker Konsita.nUn Bewu~derung erregen." - A. Leskien : Grammatik der altbulgari&chen (altkirchen-slavischen) Sprache, Heidelberg, 1919, p. XXI. 29. Konsta,ntl.n Grot: Metodijevskij jubilejnij sborntk, Varsa.va, 1885, p , 5. 30. Russkij filologiceskij Viestnik, 1894, 3, p. 1. 31. Archiv fur slavische Philologre, XX, p . 28 32. Entstehungsgeschichtle der kirchenslavischen Sprache, 1913, pp. 2, 3. SS. CYRIL AN.D METHODIU'S � SLOVAKIA THE LEGACY OF THE GREAT MORAVIAN STATE OF OUR ANCESTORS: THE SLOVANIC CIIUOOH AND SLOVANIC LITERATURE JOSEPH SKULTETY In 862, (i. e., 1101 years ago) there came to Emperor Mic:hael in Constantinople messengers fi'om the region of the Middle Danube, the Germano-Slovanic frontier, and said to him: "By the grace of God we are in good health, and there come to us Christian teachers from Italy, Greece and Germany, teaching us various things. But we are Sloveni .•. " The words "but we are Sloveni" were meant to convey the thought that they desire to have teachers in the ChrisDr. Joseph Skultety's book "Nehante l!.ud M6j" (Do Not Slander My .People) was pulblished in 1928. iln it the aiuthor successfully refuted three prevalent fallacies, all of ;which tended to vilify the Slovak people and distort Slovak history. Professor Sku1tety's book was translated into English by Cl. D. Koretf and published by the F'irst Catholic Slovak Union, Middletown, Pa., in 1930, under the title of "Sketches From ·S lovak History." The first chapter, relating to Great Moravia and the Slovak Apostles ,SIS. Cyril and Method•i us, caretully and thoroughly corrected to correspond with the Slovak original, is presented here. - P. A. Hrobak tian doctrine "who would teach us in our own language, a language intelligible to us," and they added: "Send us such, 0 Lord." 'I\hey were the messengers from our Slovak ancestors, from their ruler Rastislav. The words they addressed to Emperor Micihael are quoted in the biography ("Zitie") "By of Apostle Methodius, and the opening sentence histothis the grace of God we are in good heallth" gives ric document a coloring of antiquity. It proves that Slovaks said this in Corurtantinople. 1 At that time, 862, there already stood in our Nitra a Christian church for more than thirty years, the first in the whole of ibhe western Slovanic world. But since then Rastislav had bad experiences. The missionaries cam~ mainly from the Germans, our western neighbors, a,n d the worst of it was not that his nation did not understand �36 SLOVAKIA them and thus Christianity only slowly took root: Rastislav dreaded most that the Germans would want to subjugate politica'1ly whomever they converted to Christ.2 For that reason he asked for teachers from the East and sent his messenger to Constantinople. From thence he obtained extraordinary, great men - real apostles - in the persons of the brothers Constantine and Methodius. They founded in Rastislav's nation the Slovanic Church and Slovanic literature. And from the Slovanic worship and Slovanic literature, thus founded, a great thing emanated for the Slovanic peoples .. . Great conf1.11Sion arose among the Slavists over the question what kind of Slovans (Slavs) had constituted Rastislav's and Sviitopluk's Great Moravia, although Dobrovsky, the founder of · Slovanic philology, as early as in 1825 categorically stated that the real Great Moravia was the present-day Slovakia, 3 and Safarik in his "Slovanske Starozitnosti," in 1837, placed the Sfovaks, in the second half of the ninth century, · not only between . the Ca11pathian Mountains and the Danube, (as far as Mt. Matra and Vacov) and along the Morava River, but also on the other bank of the Danube, all the way up to Blatno. 4 This was appropria,tely. elucidated by V. Jagic who gave direction · to the fourth generation of Slavists. In his great work on the origin of the Church Slovanic language,5 expounding the ethnographic character of ancient Moravia, the Moravia of Rastislav and Svatopluk, J agic wrote: "In her language Moravia is even today Czech only in her western half - her eastern half is connected with the Slovaks, and these Slovaks even now are living in northwestern Hungary . . . In ancient Moravia, if her frontiers extended to the Danube, they must have spoken a language in the ninth century which was in its su1bstantial outlines identical with the present-day Slovak language (as in Moravia and Upper Hungary). This Slovak language could them have been more widespread even in Moravia than it is today, and in Hungary could have extended as far as the Danube." In his article on Slovanic languages,6 Jagic called the present-day Slovak dialects the real descendants of · the �SLOVAKIA 37 language of ancient Moravia. To his explanation we can add the evidence we have in the name "Rastislav'. That name - that beloved name - puts a special Slovak stamp on Great Moravia. As we know from Slovanic grammars, there are two groups of words which the Slovaks have in common with the South-Slavs, but not with the Czech and Poles, to whom as western Slovans they otherwise belong linguistically. To one of these two groups (raz = to the Czech roz; razga = to the Czech rozha; razen = to the Czech rozen; raky1a = to the Czech rokyta; razst.ep, raztoka, and others) belongs also the word rasf (in t:Jhe Czech rosti) and words derived from it. Together with the Czechs and the Poles, the Russians also use "o". Now, in contemporaneous or old records in general, the name Rastislav is Rastislav everywhere, and only exceptionally, by some error, Rostislav; in contemporaneous records, in German annals, he is called consistently Rastic (an abbreviated form of the name). That means the German neighbors heard that name witll an "a,,, and sounding thus, it proves that either in Moravia, in all of Moravia, a language was spoken whose phonetics was like the phonetics of the language beneath the Tatra Mountains, that is, present-day language of central Slovakia, or else the princely family, who reared Rastiislav, sprang from Slovaks, who settled on this side of the Morava River. But even so, if Ra•s tislav was a native of this side of the Morava river, they still would have called him tlheir own way Rostislav on the other, the western side. And that they did not call him thus, that the name "Rastislav,, resounded even in Western Moravia, that is ,proved by the form "Rastic" preserved in a11 the contemporaneous German records. 7 The country of Rastislav, even in the extreme West, was Slovak. 8 In the southeast, as we already know from Safarik,9 and as topographic names indicate, Sloyak settlements extended to Mt. Matra. In :the East they originally reached probably to the river Topfa, whose name comes from the Slovenes (Sloveni), the ancestors of the present..day Bulgarians. But if these people from the territory of the Tisa crossed beyond the lower Danube in the seventh �38 SLOVAKIA century, the Slovak "Sloveni" expanded in the East even beyond the Topfa river. Here and in the territory beyond Uzhorod, occupied by Russians since the twelfth century, the names of settlements are in significant number of Slovak origin. And from Mt. iMatra to Vacov, bey<»).d the Danube from Budin up to Vysehrad and Ostrihom, there also are ancient Slovak settlements. 10 Indeed, Slovak settlements could have extended even farther South, all the way to Blatno. Pdbina, driven from Nitra, even though enjoying Gemian favor, hardly could have become a ruler here as a foreigner. Apostle Metihodius, appointed by Rome, was archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia since 873, from which we ~n also judge that beyond the De.nube, in Pannonia, there lived the same kind of people as above the Danube, beneath the Carpathians and along the Morava River. Even Sa!fari:k called attention to the names of prominent people who were present in 850 at the blessing of Pribina's church at Blatno Castle. Jagic explained those names of the "Pannonian Sloveni" and arrived at the conclusion that from among fifteen almost half were western Slovanic. Now, if these names were western Slovanic, then they were Slovak - no other western Slovans could have lived near Blatno. The State of our Slovak ancestors, which already in Mojmir's days up to 846 had been built wisely and cou~ageously, was already a power in Rastislav's time. The Germans were then pushing down the Danube, as they never did afterwards, and Great Moravia, the young Slovanic State, heroically barred their way. True enough, their aggression only increased thereby. King Louis, called the German, a grandson of Charlema;gne, in 855, immediately after his accession, invaded Moravia with a great military force in order to rid himself of a danger which was growing there for his realm. But 'here the very resistance was so great that Louis - as a contemporaneous record mentions - decided rather to leave his opponent in peace than to expose his whole army to a catastrophe. He did not dare to attack the firm position of Rastislav and merely devastated the neighborhood. The attack of the Moravians on the German encampments was repulsed, but the departure of the Germans resembled a flight. Rastislav pursued Louis, the German, �SLOVAKIA 39 invaded his territory and devastated it far and wide. Liberated Moravia - says Safarik attained complete independence and became the 1baven of refuge of all Slovans whQ were either discontented with or oppressed by the Franks (Germans), and even of the Germans themselves who had come into some conflict with the government of King Louis. His sons, too, Karlmann and Louis, Junior, looked to Rastislav for support in quarrels with their father. In the annals of the Fuld Monastery of 869, there is a record which mentions Rastislav's castle, in all probability Devin, as "the mighty fortress with which not even one of the most ancient ca,n compa:re." 11 And under Svatopluk, after Rastislav, Great Moravia represented a still greater military power. The defeat of the Gel'!IIlans in 870, beneath Devin, was horrible. 'Ilheir great airmy perished in the battle; very few saved themselves by flight. There were very few families in Bavaria, Austria and Carinthia (Corutania., who did not mourn the loss of some of their members. Ka.rrlmann quickly ordered the gathering of all the captured Moravians, whom he kept in various places of his country so that he could exehange them for his own men who were held prisoners by Svaitopluk. Well, he got only one half-dead man back, the renowned hero Ratbod. Any German who had not fled from the battlefield remained there dead. This battle has been compared with that which the Roman gei,.eraJ V arus lost in the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9 A. D., and Svatopluk was compared with the German Armin (Herman). But we also have Palacky's version of that battle. With keen perception, Palacky stated that in history there is also difference between these two battles. The first was described for us by Tacitus, about the other we know ft-om the chronicle of the monk of Fuld. 12 Later is his reign Svatopluk completely stopped the flood of Germans down the Danube towards the East. In German annals a record is preserved stating that when he went against Arnulf in 884, his army was seen in one place to pass all day, from morning until evening. Svitopluk already then had extended his sovereignty to the North over the Czech land, where the first ·historic Czech �40 SLOVAKIA prince, Bofivoj, ruled, and over the Polish Slovans along the Upper Vistula (Visla); in the South his sovereignty extended even farther, fwr beyond the frontiers of Slovak territory. It seemed then that the Slovanic people would unite under his rule. I shall not quote Saifarik, Palacky or any other Slovanic historian; it will suffice to cite from Pauler as to the past. In his book "A magyar nemmt tortenet.e s:rent lstvanig," awarded the Grand Prize of the Magyar Academy in 1900, Pauler says: "'In Atelkuz the Magyars were much nearer to their present homeland than they had been in Lebedia. From Seret, from Baku to Mairosvasarhelyi the distance is only some twenty geographic miles. And here - certainly by way of the most natural road through the valley of the Dniester, tJhen up the Stryj, through Verek Pass - they could look into the land extending from the Carpathians to the South where just then great battles were raging. The Slovans living along the Morava River, on the left bank of the Danube, under powerful ·a nd courageous rulers, had fo:nned a country worthy of consideration. They began to be baptized already in the first half of the ninth century, but in reality they were confirmed in the Ohristian faith only by Constantine, the philosopher, and his brother Methodius from the year 863. "From the very beginning of the ninth century, from the time of Charlemagne, there were, so to say, continuous wars between the Slovans and the reahn of the Franks, from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic, now here, now there. The Slovans had penetrated wedge-like deeper and deeper between the Germanic tribes since the sixth century, and the reaction of the Franks was forcefµL In the ninth century the Germans, attacking everywhere, endeavored to make vassals of their Slovanic neighbors alon,g the Saale River, as well as on the frontiers of the Czech Mountains, or beyond the Danube. With the Siovans a!bove the Middle Danube, Svatopluk founded such a realm to which the Czech land in Bohemia, the countries around the sources of the Vistula, and in the South, besides the valleys of the Morava, Vah and Nitra. - that nucleus of the realm were subjected, and his power extended from the River �SLOVAKIA 41 Hron over the whole territory between the Danu:be and the Tisa Rivers, down to Sriem and up to the Ca,rpathians ... "Eastern FTankland, that conglomeration of Saxons, Franks, Swabians, and Bavarians, was ruled since 887 by the handsome and brave Arnulf, the illegitimate son of Karlmann and the girandson of Louis the German, who but a few years previously - in 883 and 884 - as prince of Carinthia had felt the weight of Svatopluk's power and had helplessly looked on as he (Svatopluk) bad cruelly and mercilessly raivaged Pannonia, and even now, as king, he did not know what to do with him. "In July, 892, Arnulf took to the sword and with an army of Franks, Swabians, and Bavarians and attacked Moravia. The Magyar horde, which was just then passing through, joined him ( - hired by Arnulf ! - note of this author) and ravaged Svatopluk's country for four weeks; but then the Germans and Ma.rgyars turned homeward (with bleeding heads - note of this author) and Svatopluk's power, not even shaken, remained as it had been heretofore" .13 In German chronicles and in contemporaneous annals, Svatopluk is called the ",powerful," the "dread of his neighbors," "the wisest," "the most deceitful," man of his nation; "a wolf," and "a blood-thh'sty malcontent." The calumnies of enemies, of course, are not to be taken Hterally. To his German neighbors Svatopluk was "a wolf," and "blood-thirsty," because the wounds caused by his sword hurt. But those were wounds which they sustained mostly when they ventured where they had no dght to go. And then history judges differently than contemporaries do. I could cite from the excellent work of Alfons Huber, 14 an Austro-German, quotations similar to those in the Magyar book of Pauler a:Qout the deeds of the nation of Mojmir, Rastislav and Svatopluk in the second half of t:he ninth century. To found such a state, a Slovanic State on the Middle Danube ast that time - in the second half of the ninth century - certainly was a great accomplishment; history wil!l never cease speaking of it. Indeed, there were indications that a center was originating ·h ere around which a significant part of the Slovans would unite. But a young �42 SLOVAKIA state, in order to become firm, to consolidate, needs favorable circumstances. History deduces even the beginnings of Rome had favorable and fortunate conditions. Our Slovak ancestors, at the end of tile ninth century, were not so fortunate. The Germanic world still lived in a condition of ferment - to have it as a neigU11bor was not good. It would yield, retreat, only under duress, as during the· lifetime of Svatopluk. After Svatoplu:k's death, the nomadic Magyars came to be another neighbor on the other side of the Danube and to tlle Tisa River. Under such circumstances, aflter the first weakening caused by some internal, domestic strife, a young organization is apt to fare ba~y. The trou:ble here was the disunity of the sons of Svatopluk, which was flamed by their German neighbors, and Great Moravia perished. 'Dhe Magyars came to the Danube in 896, two years after Svatopluk's death, and Mojmir II, Svatopluk's successor, in 900 still petitioned for and obtained from Rome two bishops and one archbishop, thus he was still organizing the Church. In 902, with his sword he still proved to his Trans-Danubian neighbors that he was a son of Svatopluk.15 Not long rufterwards, however, he was no more. It is not even known what became of him whither he went. Great Moravia perished. 16 The state of affairs on the Middle Danube in the ninth century is explained in Anton Budilovic's book, published in 1'886, on the occasion of the millenial memorial of the death of Met!hodius: "'l'he Huns and the Avars cleaned the lands of the Middle Danube considerably of the Thraco-Illyrian, Celto--Roman and Germanic nations, but, under the successors of Charlemagne, German colonization again turned to these blessed lands and . covered with its net not only Upper but also Lower Pannonia and the western aft-valleys of Moravia. The antlike activity of the German colonist there was supported by the quite mature politicail and ecclesiastical organization of the Germany of that time. Supporting the German colonist on the one side was the German soldier, margrave, duke, the king, the emperor; on the other side, the German priest, monk, bishop, arch!bishop. What could the Slovans of these lands, divided into branches, scattered, not united by anything, put up against such forces? The federative union of two or three �SLOVAKIA 43 tribes, the muscular force of the homeguards, 1:Jhe accidenta:l geniality of the chief and the eµthusiam of national hatred, aroused by violence? This could onJy be temporary . . . A lasting and successful struggle is only possible where there exists a certain balance of forces and equality of weapons, bow against bow, system against system, fore~ ful, profound ideas against other ideas. Can there be any talk of balance of forces of one or two Slovanic nations with the whole German race, of an alliance of a few patriarchal tribes with a great and organized empire? Could even the most genial leaders of the western Slovanic peoples at that time repel the onslaught of a whole system of cultural ideas in which were also included the heritage of the ancient world and the refreshing Cll'ITent of Christianity? . . . The best answer to these questions is presented by the fate of the Baltic Slavs. There they lacked neither ta:lented military leaders, nor a fiery hatred of the Germans, nonetheless these Slavs perished and their lands became the center of the later renovated empire of the Hohenstaufens." The closing words of Budilovic are that the same fate would have overtaiken the Slovans of Great Moravia had not their Rastislav, aroused by a penetrating foresight, obtained such apostles as were the brothers of Salonica (Solun), Cyril and Methodius. 17 Yes, as already mentioned, the state of affairs was difficult for our Slovak ancestors. Nonetheless, their State creation lasted almost one hundred years, and from the very beginning inscribed itself appropriately into history. Palacky, in his "Dejiny" (!history) presents the foundations which Rastislav and Svatopluk built with their nation as the nucleus around which all the Slovanic tribes would have been attracted gradually; from it they would have received Christianity; if not new political constitutions, at least a national and new European culture, arts and industry, unity of language, an alphabet and literature. As under the influence of Rome, the monarchy of the Franks matured in the West, similarly a great Slovanic empire would have grown up with the help of the spirit of Byzantium, and Eastern Europe of a thousand years ago would have assumed a shape different from that which it in reality assumed. 18 �44 SLOVAKIA Palacky spoke as if carried away in a rhetorical rapture; but it can be stated even with the coolest mind that great things were lost with the collapse of Great !Moravia. ~en at that, the Slovanic Ohurch,founded for our Slovak ancestors, with the Slovanic alphabet and Slovanic literature, became the foundation on which the great race of Slovanic peoples developed. When especially in the West only three, or really only two languages (Greek and Latin) were considered feasible for Christian ecclesiastic life, the Holy Scriptures and worshi,p, the brothers Cyril and Methodius began their mission with the translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Slovanic language. At the end of the seventies of the nineteenth century, when, as a result of the Russo-Turkish war, the Balkan Slovans were rid of the hard fate of five hundred years duration, and among all the Slovans flowed especially cordial feelings, the Russian literary historian Alexander Pypin called attention to the Pan-Slovanic significance of what the great apostles Cyril and Methodius had accomplished among our Slovak ancestors. And he added that their work is an heritage and an ideal of Slovanic unification 19 True enoug,ll, the neighboring Germans at once raised on alarm that Constantine :md Methodius were installing Slovanic worship and translating the Holy Scriptures in Rastislav's land. Our apostles deemed it necessary for that reason to journey to Rome as early as 867. There they submitted their cause in such a manner that Pope Adrian solemnly blessed the Slovanic books. Before the coming to Moravia of the brothers, only · Constatine had been ordained to priesthood; the Pope ordered also Methodius and their Slovak disciples, whom they had brought along to Rome, to be ordained, and in the leading cathedrals of Rome they sang the liturgy in the Slovanic language. It became necessary for the apostles to remain a longer time in Rome. Constantine, physicaUy frail, became ill, joined a monastic order and assumed the name Cyril. While going about as missionary among the Kaza.rs near the Black Sea, Cyril had uncovered in Kherson the remains of St. Olemenrt, who had died a martyr, and these restored remains he now brought to Rome. Thus it hap- �SLOVAKIA 45 pened, that when he died . on February 14, 869, he was buried in the church of that same St. Clement. The dying Cyril touchingly implored his ·b rother to persevere in the important Slovak mission. Methodius, of course, persevered with the greatest zeal. From 873 he was archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia. When the German bishop did not cease inciting against the Slovanic worship, it again became necessary to journey to Rome in 880. And in this trial too, he was victorious. Pope John VIII, wrote in a Bull sent to Svatopluk ("glorioso principi ~fentopulcho"): "The Slovank script, whldh the late phi~osopher Constantine devised, that in it may duly resound the praise of God, is lawfully confirmed; and we decree that in that language the glory and the acts of · our Lord p1rist be related. For not only in three, but in all languages are we exhorted by the holy author (King David) to praise the Lord . . . The apostles too, permeated with the Holy Ghost, spoke in all languages about the greatness of God . . . He who created the three · principal languages Hebrew, Greek, and Latin - created also the others to His honor and glory ...." What great events! Thus is documented that in the Church the Slovanic language was placed in the same rank with Greek and Latin. Already in the ninth century! ... And all this emanated from our Slovak ancestors! As long as there will be souls capable of becoming enthused for sublime things, so long will the memory of the Slovanic apostles Cyril and Methodius remain ~evered, and there will be always found people who will know that the Slovanic Church had been instituted for our Slovak ancestors, and that it all emanated from the mind of their great ruler [Rastislav. The Slovak State of the ninth century did not survive, it perished in maelstrom of the world, but the Slovanic world has a great heritage from it. With the development of science, particularly Slovanic philology, this event of world history will become more lucid :with every passing year. When the work of the Slovanic apostles and the struggle of Great Moravia with the Germanic world will be recalled, talk of C~atho-Damtbian and Pannonian Slovans will cease, and the Sloveni-Slovaks will be definitely mentioned. When it is already so clear �46 SLOVAKIA that in the ninth century the inhabitants of present-day Moravia were only Slova.ks, the nation of Rastislav and Svatopluk will not be called "Moravians and Slovaks" (as in the "Slovanske Staro'Litnosti" of Sa.fa.rik), but consistent. ly and definitely "Slovaks." The ,b iographies ("Zitia") of our apostles, which remained in the Church-iSlovanic language will cease to be called "Pannonian" legends when it will be esta·b lished that the great missionaries whom Rastislav had appointed were only in Pannonia on their journey to Rome, after an activity of four years in Moravia and Slovakia; then again Methodius 1Was there alone, before he could get home, to Devin or Nitra, on his return journey from Rome. (Thus in 867, when stopping above Blatno, to visit Kocel', it was surely only because he was the son of Pribina, formerly of Nitra.) Then will also cease the confusing of our county with the Czech land since the Czechs participated in the formation of the Slovanic Church and literature only after .t he baiptism of Borivoj. Not even the legend that Methodius converted the Bulgarian (Czar) Boris to Christ .b y painting for him a ,picture of the Last Judgment will mislead us any longer; of the two brothers :&om Salonica neither the one, nor the other, labored among any other Slovamic nations. They labored only among the Sloveni-Slovaks. Their teaching reached the Bulgars only through their disciples :£rom Great Moravia after Methodius was no longer among the living. Most recently, this matter was excellently illuminated by the Russian emigrant, the Slovanic philologist Valerij Pogorielov of the university of Bratislava, in his study "About the na.ti.onaJ.ity of the apostles of Slavdom."20 The Slovanic script - as devised by apostle Constantine-C yril after he and his brother Methodius already had the authority for the mission to Rastislarv's nation, and the grammar of this script founded in the Church-Slova nic books - is such an accomplishme nt that Cyril is being admired as a linguistic phenomenom. Nonetheless, recently in science both brothers were generally considered native Greeks. Silenced were also the doubters, into whose heads could not penetrate the fact ,t hat one who was not born a Slovan could hardly grasp in such a manner and sense the charac- �SLOVAKIA 47 ter of the Slovanic language, as we see in the work of St. Cyril. What did Pogorielov do? He began to examine the Slovanic translations of the Holy Scriptures made from the Greek to check whether the brothers from Salonica were as expert i? Greek as they had been in the Slovanic lenguage. He found that in the Church-Slovanic Bible texts there were errors which could not have been made by a translat.or whose mother-language had been Greek. Pogorielov came to the conclusion that the holy brothers from Salonica (Solun) could not have been Greeks - they were Slovans. At the same time he very aptly notes that, allowing such a solution of the question, we will also comprehend that energy, that zeal and self-sacrifice which they displayed in the services of the Slovanic cause. We will understand their impartiality in the dispute between Byzantium and Rome. Would real Greeks have gone to Rome to seek protection for their Slovanic activity? It is a:lso interesting how Pogorielov explains the relation of the Sloveni-Slovaks to the work of the holy apostles. When after the death of Methodius the Slovanic church books were taken from Moravia to Bulgaria, they proved to be altogether intelligible there. The Bulgarian literati began to correct the language of the books, e.g., instead of nedag (at present nedu.h) they put bolezn; instead o(f prositi they wrote moliti; instead of nvot - zizn; instead of otrok - sluga; instead of godina - cas, etc. That is, in the Church texts the Slovaks words (Slovak in the present-day sense) were replaced by Bulgarian words. And Pogorielov does not stop there, but goes farther. He explains how western Slovanic or Slovaik words had gotten into the work of the natives of Salonica that is, South Slovans. Goraoo, one of the first disciples of Cyril and Methodius was considered a SloV3Jk already by Safarik. In regard to Gorazd, Pogorielov· quotes the words21 with which the dying Methodius (in 885) appointed him his successor to the seat of the archbishopric: "This is a free man of your country22 ," that is Gorazd, "a man of your own country," was not a Southern Slovan, as had been the apostles them- �48 SLOVAKIA selves, the brothers from Salonica, but a western Slovan, that is, a son of the country - as Pogorielov says emphatically - where Methodius himself had worked and preached and of which he was archbishop. The Slovakisms in the Slovanic text of the Holy Scriptures are the work of Gorazd ; "to his pen also belongs the translation of all the works from Latin into the Slovanic lan:g:uage." Pogorielov calls St. Gorazd the third apostle of the Slovanic peoples. Referring also to the great Slavist Jagic, who ex;plained in 1900 and in 1913 that in ancient Moravia in the ninth century "substantially the same language was spoken as is today's Slovak," Pogorielov agrees that "it was the Slovaik language, and the country was Slovakia, and this means that St. Gorazd really was a man of the Slovak country - that he was a Slovak23 • In the introduction to his study, written and published in Bratisla,va, Pogorielov remarks that the holy Slovak apostles, Cyril and Methodius, used to walk in this vicinity, therefore, the words of the great ·b ard of the Slovanic world, Jan Kollar, can be rightfully repeated. "Stand still, foot! Sacred are the places wherever thou waJkest !" 24• To which I add: Aye, aye, Devin ! ! ! ... About a person wh·o accomplished great things during his lifetime, people say after his death: •~He died, but his memory shall remain." Greater Moravia has also passed away, has :perished, but her legacy is such that she will be remembered. "Here took place in the ninth century," says a Russian historian, "events not only of Pan-Slovanic, but ailso, it can be said, of universal significance : an important attempt at a political unification of the Slovans the Great Moravian political union - famed itself by the most memorable, infinitely fertile activity of the Slovanic Apostles in Moravia. Here were laid the foundations for the national church and national Slovanic Christian education, here were formed the plans and the direction of the entire future of the whole subsequent historic development of the Slova.nic world, it.s world role and its relation to Romano-Oennanic Europe, to the West, and to the Asiatic guestion. The Christianization of the masses of people and their manner of life, bringing them to the Eastern Church, the foundation of Church-Slovanic litera,- �SLOVAKIA 49 ture and education in the Slovanic South, among the Bulgars and the Serbs, and in the East among the Russians, and partly also among the other western Slovans, was only the continuation of that work which Cyril and Methodius had initiated and which could survive, alas, only a short time in the Middle Danubian countries. From here, from Great Moravia, flowed a copious stream of Slovanic Church literature and Slovanic ritual, of a common Church language and together with it also of national consciousness in all directions - to the ·v arious kin: to the North to the Poles; to the West to the Czechs; to the South to the Slovenes, the Serbo-Croats, and Bulgars (to the latter directly through the disciples of Methodius, who had been expelled from Moravia after his death); and lastly to the East, to Russia . . ." 25 "The fruits of the independent spiritual development, based on a national Church and literature, founded by the Slovanic apostles" - further says Constantine Grot "took root in the Slovanic South and East, where there was not such a ha.rd national struggle as on the Middle Danube." And he calls attention to the fact that it w~s at that time that the Germanic world returned with elemental force to these lands, which its tri·b es had occupied once before, and for that reason it was much harder for the Carpatho-Danubian Slovans to maintain themselves against such pressure. And just then the Magyars also arrived . . . Indeed, even during the life of Svatopluk, soon after the death of Methodius (885), the Slovanic Church had gone over from us to the South~lovans, thence to the Eastern (IS lovans) and there helped to create the great Russian nation out of the many tribes. ""The legacy of the brothers of .Salonica" - as correctly e:,cpressed by Daniel Laucek - "prepared among the Russians national unity by means of Church unity." 26 The Czech ruler, Prince Borivoj, was baptized by Methedius at the court of Svatopluk; with Boriivoj's successors Slovanic literature took root in the Czech country and also got to the Poles; but here too like with the Slovaks and Czechs, 'because they were neighbors of the German world, the Slovanic Church and Slovanic literature did not sumve among the ·P oles. It is true, in the Church terminology of us all, Slovaks, Czechs, and Poles, to this �50 SLOVAKIA day traces of the language have been presented (for instance even the most important word uHospodin" ), the language which the holy apostles Cyril and Methodius had introduced into our ecclesiastic life. And it is worth mentioning, that of all the Slovans, the teachings of the 'Slovan apostles did not reach - neither during their lifetime, nor later through their disciples - a single tribe of the Baltic and Polabian Slovans, and of all the Slovans just these latter perished in the religious a;nd existential struggle which they waged with the Germans. When Emperor Michael in Constantin ople had learned from the Slovak delegation what was at stake, what kind of aipostles R!astislav desired, he at once decided to entrust this task to Constantin e, the philosopher , who had rlistingttished himself in rupostolic wor.k before, at first alone and later with his brother Methodius. The messengers said to the Emperor: "We are Sloveni -," i. e., they desired teachers of the Christian faith whom they could understand. The brothers Constantin e and Methodius, as natives of Salonica (Thessalon ica) where suited even language-wise for the mission among the Slovans: they knew Slovanic. ·Emperor Michael, having summoned them, told the brothers: "You are from Salonica, and all Salonicans spewk pure Slovruk ("'sloviensky) 27 • The brothers, however, did not want to go empty-hand ed to Rastislav's nation, and Constantine, having learned fr()lffi the messengers that the Sloveni-Slovaiks did not ha,ve their own script, in the first ·p lace contemplat ed over a suitable script. In the words of the legend, God revealed the Slovanic script to the meditating, contemplat ing, worried and praying Constantine. Such a tradition maJkes him so much dearer to us. And indeed it is such an achievemen t that we can be proud of it. Constantin e proceeded from the Greek script, but Slovanic sounds, especially in the ninth century, greatly varied with the Greek, therefore new letters, new characters were needed. And Constantin e placed it on such a basis that the more lndo-Europ ean linguistics develops, the more admira:ble becomes his creation28 • Even today, if doubt arises in any Slovanic language over the correct spelling of some word, informatio n is sought in Cyril's orthograiph y. And even in this respect �SLOVAKIA 51 can we Slovaks ha,ve the great satisfaction that, without our Rastislav, he (Cyril) would not have had the opportunity to assert his phenomenal talent. Had not the Slovak messengers come to Constantinople, what more could have Constantine accomplished there? At first he had been used in Constantinople to bring to reason the iconoclasts, then to convert to Christ the Mohamedan Sara,zens and the pagan Khruzars: had not the Slovak messengers appeared there, Constantine, in all likelihood, would have continued in that activity, or he would have remained in the monastery into which he had retired for a life of tranquility. People of phenomenal mental gifts need a field for their activity. Our Rastislaiv will also be remembered in the world-historic work of Cyril. In 1886, when the Slovanic peoples celebraited the millenium of the death of Methodius, a Russian historian asked: "What was the Slovanic world prior to Cyril and Methodius?" and answered: "Scattered over the vast spaces of middle Europe, Russia and the Balkan Peninsular among foreign and hostile nations, although a race gifted by nature with beautiful spiritual endowments, the Slovan r ace represented a torn, disjointed mass of different tribes without any consciousness of racial relationship . . ." The brothers from Salonica appear on the stage of Slovanic history in the middle of the ninth century, "strong in spirit and profoundly permeated with the consciousness of their sacred calling, namely, to furnish the Slovans with Christian enlightenment," and in a comparatively short time thereafter there is an entirely difforent life among the Slovans29 • The Russian philologist Alexej Sachmatov explained that the Russian race in the ninth century was disintegrating into a multitude of tribes. The tribes among themselves remained in substance closely related, but lived separately; for that reason they differed in morals and in customs and had their individual dialects. Had they lived longer without any connecting mediums, complete individualization would have sprung up among them and a multitude of conflicting dialects would have developed. But owing to the events of the tenth centucy an organization of state was created among the Russian tribes which united them in a political, �52 SLOVAKIA cultural and religious unit. In the eleventh century the body of the state, created by Vladimir and his descendants, became stabilized: it consisted of all Russian lands with the exception of Galicia and Polocko, which were differently situated geographically. In the twelfth century the dialects of these latter already had their typical peculiarities30 • Thus, Sachmatov attributed to the unifying ,p ower of the state this great thing that a great nation was created out of Russian tribes. J agic, of course, also acknowledged the importance of the political factor in the creation of linguistic unity, but, not agreeing completely with Sachmatov's explanation, he wrote that "in Russia, in the securance and preservation of unity, the main credit belongs not so much to its political power as to the great cultural and linguistic unifying effect of the Church and the uniform Church-Slovanic Ianguage" 31 • In his great work of 1900 and 1913 Jagic also mentioned Ulfilas, who translated the Holy Scriptures into the language of the Goths already in the fourth century. True enough, that W'.as five hundred yea/I'S earlier; and yet - says Jagic -what a difference there is between Ulfilas and the Slovanic apostles! The work of Ulfilas was for a narrow circle, the Goths alone, with whom it also went into emincition; the work of Cyril and Methodius extended from Moravia and Pannonia, "from the heart of western Slovanic peoples," first to the South, to the Croatians and Serbs, thence to the Bulgarians, and afterwards the Slovanic Church brought also the great Russian nation into the fold of Christianity. The work of Ulfilas perished; in the language ~ suiting from the work of the Slovanic apostles over one hundred million people serve God32 • 1 At this point, I cannot refrain f_r:om mentioning two more names. When our apostles journeyed to Rome in 867, they sojourned in Blatno, in the residential ca.stle in '1.'lransDanubia, where Pribina's son Kocer ruled. Pribina had caused the already mentioned church in Nitra to be built-the first Christian church in the whole western Slovanic world; but to unite a nation and fonn a country, a state, was only possible by dissolving the power of the tribal rulers. Mojmir I , predecessor of Ra.stislav, drove Pdbina out of Nitra for that �SLOVAKIA 53 reason. Pribina procured a fief in Tranus-Danubia from Louis the German and selected a residence in the castle above Blatno (Mosaburg), and there he <:qntinued in what he had initiated in Nitra - the building of churches. That country had more such churches from that era. His son and successor, Kocer, continued in this spirit: he built churches and spread Christianity. Nonetheless, Kocef was somewhat in a quandary when the missionaries from the court of Devin came une~ectedly to him. The rulers of Devin had greatly wronged his father! What were people from there looking for in Blatno? But the apostles Constantine and Metbodius needed only t.o show him the Slovanic script and the Slovanic books, and tbey were dear and welcome t.o Kocef. He felt great joy. He became very fond of Slovanic books, studied from them, and appointed fifty disciples to the apostles. He entertained the distinguished guests for some time and then escorted them with great honor on :their journey to Venetia, that is to Rome. But let us not forget even Zemezizeii. The journey to Rome of the apostle Methodius in 880, so important as far as the substance of the matter is concerned, is given a national coloring in the person of Methodius's escort, the Slovak Zemezizeii. On the basis of what he found about him in historical sources, Jan Holly, in his epic (Svatopluk), placed Zemezizen as one of his important characters. In council Zemezizen distinguishes himself with a penetrating mind and determination, in battles the earth seems to shake wherever he appears. Thus the poet, but we imagine that in reality he was an extraordinary man. To all appearances, Zemezizeii is still his pagan name; he was very likely baptized an adult and therefore could journey, as his ruler's confidant on such an important mission to Rome, to the pope, with apostle Methodius, that educated, refined Byzantian ! He is also mentioned in the ipope's letter, even though it was found difficult in Rome to pronounce his name. (The letter has: Semisisnus, or rather the dative form Semisisno.) REFERENCE NOTES 1. 'The Life on Oonsta.ntme (lat:er Cyril) ("Zltie Konstantfna") and the Lite of Methodius ("z.ttie !Metoda") are preserved in the Old·SloTIU1ic Church la.nguage. Apos~ Methodius surnved his brother Cyril �54 SLOVAKIA b7 sixteen yea.re. In Slavl!stic science The Life of Constantine is considered the work of Met,hodiu,s, and The Life of Mebhodius the work of one ot their SloV'81k disciples. The sentence "By bhe grace of God we 8Are in good health" in the speech of the messenger,a to Constallltinople is very interesting. On meeting one another Slovaks bhus speak a;bout heaMih. Neibher a ~rman, nor any person of the ot•h er western nations would say it in this way. In the Liife of Methodius (Chaa>t. V) it is tra.n.& l:ated into Latin: "bene vale mus" - we aire well." In the Magyar language "hogy szolgal az egesueg ?" and similar expressions are from the Slovak language. 2 Today the Gel"ma,n,s themselves admit much of tbhait nature. " .. . . mit dem deutchen Priester kam auch der deutche Colonl,st .. . so da.sz von nun a.n Chrlrstlamlsierung und Germa.nisierung Hand lin Hand gerum" (cf. Karl Schober: Die Deutchen in Nieder und Ober-Oesterreich, Sal?Jburg, Steyermark, Kii.rn,then und Krain, iP- 15) . 3. " . . . die heutige Sl1>wakey in Oberungern ist das elgentllche Gross•Mahren ... " - he w.l"ote in a letter (in 1&25) to J. S. Bandrtke (Corresponde111Ce of Joseph Dobrovsky, •N, p. 163). 4. Slovanske Staroiltnostl, pp. 794, 7!Y.i, 822. 5. En~ehungsgeachichte der klrchenalavischen Sprache, Ber 1 in, 1913, p. 19 (First edition VleDIIla, 1900). 6. Die slawischen, Sprachen (Die Kult11,r der Gegeuwart, I. IX 1908, Berlin und LeLl)21g). 7. For instance, in &55: "R~ Hlu!lovlcus in Sclavo Marahenses contra Raallizen duoem eorem s,l,bi rebellantem parum IJI"OSpere ducto exercitu"-i( Ruodolfua Fu Idens, p. 369). Ibidem, p. 370: "Quo per fugam lapso et ad Raatizen se conferente.'' - In 869 " ... in illam ineffabllem Rastizl munltdonem et omnl_bus antiqulssimls dlssimilem ... " (Annalea Fuldenses, Pertz, I, 381.) In 870 " .. . ZuentJJ,baJJ.d, nepos Rastizi ... " (Annales Fuldenses, 882.) 8. Svii.toplu,k's predecessor is called Rastic ia.lso ·b y the Slovak monk Chrabr, and about him wie know that he wrote during the time "when there still lived people wlho had SEEN the apostles Cyril and Method ius." 9. Slovanske Starofitnostl , p . 804 . 10. Vacov, Budin, Vysehrad, Osrtrlhom, are Slovak, western Slovanlc names, a,s iare Devin, Ba,zin, -Budatfn. Beyond Budin was TeUn (as in the Czech 1land)-'the Ger-mans living there since the thirteenth century call it Tetlng, just as Bazin ia ito them Bosling, Hodonflll-Goding, in Lower AulStrla Modlin-Modllmg, a.nd many ,others. Vacov i,s derived from the same proper name as in the Czeoh land Is Va.c; Ostrihom is what in the Czech land ds Stfehom (the "o" in Its prefix has the saime origin oo in Oriava, or Im. the Zvolen Ortuty, and the ~arls Ordzovany ) ... We must deduce the close rel11.tionshlp ·b etween the Czeohs and the Slovakls by such ,topographic nMnes, but not by a "cultural union," of which there could have been ·b ut very little lbetween us owing to our separated states and dltter81lt geog:raJJ)hical locatrl.on. Let u,s but examine our culture-words, Wlhwt dissimilarity they present to us. The Slovaks call ink "atrament," the Czeohs "inkoust;" or, what is "t!abak" (tobacco) to the Czechs is "dohan" to the Slovaks. (This means that -smok!:ng reached the Slovaks, a.s It did the Yugoslovan-s, 'by way of the Orient, throug,h the Turu; .to bhe Czechs and the Germans, however, i t came from America via. Spain). 'J1he Slovak names of places (Kaza, Ka.zinec, Tetin, Bwbisar-in Zem-pliin-Pra:ha (In Novohrad) contra.vert �SLOVAKIA 55 also the inventions ot Kosma& in regard to the daughters of K:rok, Ka2a, Teta, Li,bus,a, and about the founding of Prague (Praha). 11. " ... in .fil.la.m ineftabilem Rastizi munitionem et omnibus antiquissimis di1JBimilam ... " 1·2. J.<iramtdsek Palacky: •D ejiny naroda ceskeho, I, 11876, p. 147. We •Slovaiks, however, caai supplement even Pa.lacky's statement; we have a. poetic na:rra.tion of tlhe g,reat battle beneath Devin. Jan Holly's great epic .p oem in 12 cantos, named after its prinoipa.1 hero "Svii.• topluk," presents it. As Tacitus's descri,p tion •there, so Jaai Holly's description here :118 gTand. (Talk-en from history the work of such a poet as is Jan Holly ha,s aaso its historic value.) 13. IP- 26, etc. 14. Geschichte Osten-elchs, I. 16. Acording ,t o all, though sparse reports, Moj,mir <b~me the heir not on[y o! his father'<S realm, bull a1so of his a:bHLties a,s a &ta.te:sman. However . . . for the successor of Svii.topluk even that fact was fatai that he calIIle after such a predecessor ... (V. Novotn:9': Ce-ek6 Dejiny, p. 421.) 16. Mention of the battle of Bratislava in 907-wihich the Bavaria.n,s together with Mojmir LI are supposed to have lost a.gadnst the Magyars -appeared only in ~e sixteen-till oentu,ry with Avenitinus and bas been reoe;n,tly !!"ejected even by Magyar historiaai,s. In ipresent da.ys, after the World War, a. r6CO!I"d was foUllld among German -s ouroes, con.fir-m ing the ,statements of Ave.ntinus, but it will hardily throw more light on the subject. Mter 907, more than one hundred years ·pa.s&ed 8llld still the Ma,g:y<a!rs did not appear on this (Uhe Slovak) side of the Da.nulbe. Not until after 1025, after the death of iBoleslav .t he Brave of Poland, that is, tow,a,rd11 the end of the reign of St. Stephen, they bega,n gra.dua,Hyand only gradually-to ~pa,nd a.nd settle dO'W'Il. Konrad Schti.nema.nn (Die Deutschen In Ungarn bis zum 12. Jahrhundert, Berll!Il u . Le1pzig, 1923) also states that the Magyar-s occupied Pan.nonia only slow,l y and gradually so that Uhe Ge:r,ma,ns who ha.d lived there had opportunity to wi-th<Lraw without haste to :their fO'I"Iller settle• ments. - About this question it is neccessary to have constantly in mind tha.t the Ma.gya.rs ca.me ,t o ,tjhe Danube as nomads, a.nd a nomad, if he ·tasrries anywhere, •m ust not stir up his closest neighbors against ·himself. (By compa!I"ison, I do not wwnt to offend the Magyars by the sdmile, 1but ,t he Gyipsies, living on the outskirts of our towns and vil•1 ages ,say even today: uNo 001e streals <:lose by.") Besides, the Magyars came here-as we wllll see faTther on-while in flight. They came with a !frightful ,experience. y.rhile they had wandered from Atelkuz beyond the Dainube, thked by the Greek Emperor agai,nst the Bulgars, the neighboring Pechenegs a.tta.okied their defenseless settlements in Aitelku2: and 'killed <tlheir children, women, and aged. After their return from the Danube, terrified ·b y the dreadful happenings at Atelkuz, they pa.eked whatever :they sti-11 could a.nd took to flight tn a westerly direction. They stopped only when they reached the territoo-y between the Tisa. BIIld the Middle Dwnube, in Pa.nmonia. After sudh an experi• ence ,t hey could venture trom the Danube, from Pannonda, on predatory expeditio.n-s Jnto Italy and Germany, but with theiT moat :proximate neighbors they VeTY likely endeavored to Uve in peace. AJbout their 'kind of lite, we have the mown remonstrance of tftle Germ81Il bishops in 900 which contailns grave accusations against the Slova.ns (probably of Pam-nonia), that they a,ssl1Sted the Maigyars. As a. matter of fact, the �56 SLOVAKIA Magyars, w~o ha.d come trom the eastern s,teppes scarcely ha,d 8/IlY great desire to venture across, to the lett bank of the Danube. The nomaJd avoids mounta.iais. He needs to see far, fair all around himself, and in the mountains, whether on the rigM or on the left, in front or behind, there is always a possibility of danger. For that reason it is not vecy lpr()baible thait the Magyars, after :tlheir airrival on the Datnulbe -as eaJ1ly as 907 - would have ventured into a grea,t action agalnist Mojmir II. They begaJR-a.s now even Magyair history admits- ,t o occupy the territories on the left ban,k of the Danube gra.dually, in the eleventh century, toward,s ,t he end o! the reign of St. Stephen. 17. Metodievskij jubilejnyj sbornik, Varsava, 18S5, p. 79, etc. 18. Dejiny narodu ceak~ho, I, 1876, p . 223. 19. A. N. Py,pin: lstorija siavianskich literatur, I, rp. 35. 20. "O n.arodnoati apoitolov Slavianswa, in Bratislava, a publication of Sal.arik's Learned Society, No. 2, 1927 . .21. Zitie av. Metoda, Chapter XVII. 22. "Se ~ t vasej~ zemlj~ -s vobod ,m ~i ... " (Zitie av. Metoda, Chapt. XWI.) 23. In confirmation Pogorielov further shows how in· the CyrilloMethodic text the negative "no" (NIE) and its opposite "yes" (A(,,'0) is expressed. T~e Czechs '88.Y ANO; 1lhe Poles TAK; the Russians and BulglllI'B DA; the Serbs and Croats JEST; only the Slovak language has the ,same word we read in the Gospel of Matthew V, 37: " b~di ~ slovo va§e ej, ej i nl ni. Or (Mat. XXI, 16) when the Pharisees &1sked Chrfst: Slysisi Ii ~to sii glago!:j~t. Jlsu,s ze ~ im: ej. (In the Kralice Bible thf,s reads: jiate, Jiate nikoli, nikoli; and the second: oviem. ln Slova,k, in ,t he Tr.nava edition of Richard Osvald: ano, ano, nle, nie, and in chapter XXl--<>viem. Instea.d of ,t he full sounding "HEJ," the Slovam..ic Church text has "EJ''---ithere being no letter "h" in the Cyrilllc's sor1a>t, It is true 1'n the 9th century the Slovakia still pronou.nced "G" instead of the pre• sent-day "H." But ,then, this attimna.tive word could o:nly begin mith the vowel "E," otherwise Gora.zd would ha.ve scarcely omitte'Cl its "G." ln behalf or the Slovak ca.use it is advisa,ble to add that in the Old-Sllovanic Bible tert this "EJ" (HEJ) is such a mark, such a charac,t eristic of present-day central SlovaJc, as is the letter "A" in the name of our Rastisla.v. And thus the one and the other is a.n hi'9toruc document about the Slova.ks-about the nationality of Great Moravia. Tha.t is, in ,t he 9'tlh century, aind in all of present-day Moraivia a.n.d In all of wesrern Slovakia substantially the ,same la.nguage wae spoken as we have it today along the Middle Vall, lower Orava, near Turiec, Hron, l1>el', a,nd in Upper Nitra. (Against such documents, it wm not be possible to risk the opinion thait "the core of the alovalk dta.lectical region is not the central group, ·b ut the western." (M. W. in his note on "Stare Slovensko, ,p . 284). 24. "Stoj. ndho ! Posvatna. mis ta jsou, kamkoll kralis ! " 25. K. J. Grot: Karpato-dunajakija zemli v sudbach slavianatva, 1905, p . 18. 26. D. ,z. Lautek: Sv. Cyril a Method, apoitolovla alovanakf, 18&6, p. 70. - See also V. Jaglc: Archlv fur alaviache Phllologie, XX, p. 27. 27. "Vy bo jesta Sol-un•lantna, da Solunia.ne vsi ~f.sto aiovenaky be- sMujit." - Zitle Metoda, Chapter V. 28. "Die Gros,ze des Werkes ha.t ma.n frllber lraum recht e~flnden konnen, aber gerade in der heutigen Sprachwissenscha.ft . . . musz �SLOVAKIA 57 der Grammati:ker Konsita.nUn Bewu~derung erregen." - A. Leskien : Grammatik der altbulgari&chen (altkirchen-slavischen) Sprache, Heidelberg, 1919, p. XXI. 29. Konsta,ntl.n Grot: Metodijevskij jubilejnij sborntk, Varsa.va, 1885, p , 5. 30. Russkij filologiceskij Viestnik, 1894, 3, p. 1. 31. Archiv fur slavische Philologre, XX, p . 28 32. Entstehungsgeschichtle der kirchenslavischen Sprache, 1913, pp. 2, 3. SS. CYRIL AN.D METHODIU'S � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA THE LEGACY OF THE GREAT MORAVIAN STATE OF OUR ANCESTORS: THE SLOVANIC CIIUOOH AND SLOVANIC LITERATURE JOSEPH SKULTETY In 862, (i. e., 1101 years ago) there came to Emperor Mic:hael in Constantinople messengers fi'om the region of the Middle Danube, the Germano-Slovanic frontier, and said to him: "By the grace of God we are in good health, and there come to us Christian teachers from Italy, Greece and Germany, teaching us various things. But we are Sloveni .•. " The words "but we are Sloveni" were meant to convey the thought that they desire to have teachers in the ChrisDr. Joseph Skultety's book "Nehante l!.ud M6j" (Do Not Slander My .People) was pulblished in 1928. iln it the aiuthor successfully refuted three prevalent fallacies, all of ;which tended to vilify the Slovak people and distort Slovak history. Professor Sku1tety's book was translated into English by Cl. D. Koretf and published by the F'irst Catholic Slovak Union, Middletown, Pa., in 1930, under the title of "Sketches From ·S lovak History." The first chapter, relating to Great Moravia and the Slovak Apostles ,SIS. Cyril and Method•i us, caretully and thoroughly corrected to correspond with the Slovak original, is presented here. - P. A. Hrobak tian doctrine "who would teach us in our own language, a language intelligible to us," and they added: "Send us such, 0 Lord." 'I\hey were the messengers from our Slovak ancestors, from their ruler Rastislav. The words they addressed to Emperor Micihael are quoted in the biography ("Zitie") "By of Apostle Methodius, and the opening sentence histothis the grace of God we are in good heallth" gives ric document a coloring of antiquity. It proves that Slovaks said this in Corurtantinople. 1 At that time, 862, there already stood in our Nitra a Christian church for more than thirty years, the first in the whole of ibhe western Slovanic world. But since then Rastislav had bad experiences. The missionaries cam~ mainly from the Germans, our western neighbors, a,n d the worst of it was not that his nation did not understand 36 SLOVAKIA them and thus Christianity only slowly took root: Rastislav dreaded most that the Germans would want to subjugate politica'1ly whomever they converted to Christ.2 For that reason he asked for teachers from the East and sent his messenger to Constantinople. From thence he obtained extraordinary, great men - real apostles - in the persons of the brothers Constantine and Methodius. They founded in Rastislav's nation the Slovanic Church and Slovanic literature. And from the Slovanic worship and Slovanic literature, thus founded, a great thing emanated for the Slovanic peoples .. . Great conf1.11Sion arose among the Slavists over the question what kind of Slovans (Slavs) had constituted Rastislav's and Sviitopluk's Great Moravia, although Dobrovsky, the founder of · Slovanic philology, as early as in 1825 categorically stated that the real Great Moravia was the present-day Slovakia, 3 and Safarik in his "Slovanske Starozitnosti," in 1837, placed the Sfovaks, in the second half of the ninth century, · not only between . the Ca11pathian Mountains and the Danube, (as far as Mt. Matra and Vacov) and along the Morava River, but also on the other bank of the Danube, all the way up to Blatno. 4 This was appropria,tely. elucidated by V. Jagic who gave direction · to the fourth generation of Slavists. In his great work on the origin of the Church Slovanic language,5 expounding the ethnographic character of ancient Moravia, the Moravia of Rastislav and Svatopluk, J agic wrote: "In her language Moravia is even today Czech only in her western half - her eastern half is connected with the Slovaks, and these Slovaks even now are living in northwestern Hungary . . . In ancient Moravia, if her frontiers extended to the Danube, they must have spoken a language in the ninth century which was in its su1bstantial outlines identical with the present-day Slovak language (as in Moravia and Upper Hungary). This Slovak language could them have been more widespread even in Moravia than it is today, and in Hungary could have extended as far as the Danube." In his article on Slovanic languages,6 Jagic called the present-day Slovak dialects the real descendants of · the SLOVAKIA 37 language of ancient Moravia. To his explanation we can add the evidence we have in the name "Rastislav'. That name - that beloved name - puts a special Slovak stamp on Great Moravia. As we know from Slovanic grammars, there are two groups of words which the Slovaks have in common with the South-Slavs, but not with the Czech and Poles, to whom as western Slovans they otherwise belong linguistically. To one of these two groups (raz = to the Czech roz; razga = to the Czech rozha; razen = to the Czech rozen; raky1a = to the Czech rokyta; razst.ep, raztoka, and others) belongs also the word rasf (in t:Jhe Czech rosti) and words derived from it. Together with the Czechs and the Poles, the Russians also use "o". Now, in contemporaneous or old records in general, the name Rastislav is Rastislav everywhere, and only exceptionally, by some error, Rostislav; in contemporaneous records, in German annals, he is called consistently Rastic (an abbreviated form of the name). That means the German neighbors heard that name witll an "a,,, and sounding thus, it proves that either in Moravia, in all of Moravia, a language was spoken whose phonetics was like the phonetics of the language beneath the Tatra Mountains, that is, present-day language of central Slovakia, or else the princely family, who reared Rastiislav, sprang from Slovaks, who settled on this side of the Morava River. But even so, if Ra•s tislav was a native of this side of the Morava river, they still would have called him tlheir own way Rostislav on the other, the western side. And that they did not call him thus, that the name "Rastislav,, resounded even in Western Moravia, that is ,proved by the form "Rastic" preserved in a11 the contemporaneous German records. 7 The country of Rastislav, even in the extreme West, was Slovak. 8 In the southeast, as we already know from Safarik,9 and as topographic names indicate, Sloyak settlements extended to Mt. Matra. In :the East they originally reached probably to the river Topfa, whose name comes from the Slovenes (Sloveni), the ancestors of the present..day Bulgarians. But if these people from the territory of the Tisa crossed beyond the lower Danube in the seventh 38 SLOVAKIA century, the Slovak "Sloveni" expanded in the East even beyond the Topfa river. Here and in the territory beyond Uzhorod, occupied by Russians since the twelfth century, the names of settlements are in significant number of Slovak origin. And from Mt. iMatra to Vacov, bey<»).d the Danube from Budin up to Vysehrad and Ostrihom, there also are ancient Slovak settlements. 10 Indeed, Slovak settlements could have extended even farther South, all the way to Blatno. Pdbina, driven from Nitra, even though enjoying Gemian favor, hardly could have become a ruler here as a foreigner. Apostle Metihodius, appointed by Rome, was archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia since 873, from which we ~n also judge that beyond the De.nube, in Pannonia, there lived the same kind of people as above the Danube, beneath the Carpathians and along the Morava River. Even Sa!fari:k called attention to the names of prominent people who were present in 850 at the blessing of Pribina's church at Blatno Castle. Jagic explained those names of the "Pannonian Sloveni" and arrived at the conclusion that from among fifteen almost half were western Slovanic. Now, if these names were western Slovanic, then they were Slovak - no other western Slovans could have lived near Blatno. The State of our Slovak ancestors, which already in Mojmir's days up to 846 had been built wisely and cou~ageously, was already a power in Rastislav's time. The Germans were then pushing down the Danube, as they never did afterwards, and Great Moravia, the young Slovanic State, heroically barred their way. True enough, their aggression only increased thereby. King Louis, called the German, a grandson of Charlema;gne, in 855, immediately after his accession, invaded Moravia with a great military force in order to rid himself of a danger which was growing there for his realm. But 'here the very resistance was so great that Louis - as a contemporaneous record mentions - decided rather to leave his opponent in peace than to expose his whole army to a catastrophe. He did not dare to attack the firm position of Rastislav and merely devastated the neighborhood. The attack of the Moravians on the German encampments was repulsed, but the departure of the Germans resembled a flight. Rastislav pursued Louis, the German, SLOVAKIA 39 invaded his territory and devastated it far and wide. Liberated Moravia - says Safarik attained complete independence and became the 1baven of refuge of all Slovans whQ were either discontented with or oppressed by the Franks (Germans), and even of the Germans themselves who had come into some conflict with the government of King Louis. His sons, too, Karlmann and Louis, Junior, looked to Rastislav for support in quarrels with their father. In the annals of the Fuld Monastery of 869, there is a record which mentions Rastislav's castle, in all probability Devin, as "the mighty fortress with which not even one of the most ancient ca,n compa:re." 11 And under Svatopluk, after Rastislav, Great Moravia represented a still greater military power. The defeat of the Gel'!IIlans in 870, beneath Devin, was horrible. 'Ilheir great airmy perished in the battle; very few saved themselves by flight. There were very few families in Bavaria, Austria and Carinthia (Corutania., who did not mourn the loss of some of their members. Ka.rrlmann quickly ordered the gathering of all the captured Moravians, whom he kept in various places of his country so that he could exehange them for his own men who were held prisoners by Svaitopluk. Well, he got only one half-dead man back, the renowned hero Ratbod. Any German who had not fled from the battlefield remained there dead. This battle has been compared with that which the Roman gei,.eraJ V arus lost in the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9 A. D., and Svatopluk was compared with the German Armin (Herman). But we also have Palacky's version of that battle. With keen perception, Palacky stated that in history there is also difference between these two battles. The first was described for us by Tacitus, about the other we know ft-om the chronicle of the monk of Fuld. 12 Later is his reign Svatopluk completely stopped the flood of Germans down the Danube towards the East. In German annals a record is preserved stating that when he went against Arnulf in 884, his army was seen in one place to pass all day, from morning until evening. Svitopluk already then had extended his sovereignty to the North over the Czech land, where the first ·historic Czech 40 SLOVAKIA prince, Bofivoj, ruled, and over the Polish Slovans along the Upper Vistula (Visla); in the South his sovereignty extended even farther, fwr beyond the frontiers of Slovak territory. It seemed then that the Slovanic people would unite under his rule. I shall not quote Saifarik, Palacky or any other Slovanic historian; it will suffice to cite from Pauler as to the past. In his book "A magyar nemmt tortenet.e s:rent lstvanig," awarded the Grand Prize of the Magyar Academy in 1900, Pauler says: "'In Atelkuz the Magyars were much nearer to their present homeland than they had been in Lebedia. From Seret, from Baku to Mairosvasarhelyi the distance is only some twenty geographic miles. And here - certainly by way of the most natural road through the valley of the Dniester, tJhen up the Stryj, through Verek Pass - they could look into the land extending from the Carpathians to the South where just then great battles were raging. The Slovans living along the Morava River, on the left bank of the Danube, under powerful ·a nd courageous rulers, had fo:nned a country worthy of consideration. They began to be baptized already in the first half of the ninth century, but in reality they were confirmed in the Ohristian faith only by Constantine, the philosopher, and his brother Methodius from the year 863. "From the very beginning of the ninth century, from the time of Charlemagne, there were, so to say, continuous wars between the Slovans and the reahn of the Franks, from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic, now here, now there. The Slovans had penetrated wedge-like deeper and deeper between the Germanic tribes since the sixth century, and the reaction of the Franks was forcefµL In the ninth century the Germans, attacking everywhere, endeavored to make vassals of their Slovanic neighbors alon,g the Saale River, as well as on the frontiers of the Czech Mountains, or beyond the Danube. With the Siovans a!bove the Middle Danube, Svatopluk founded such a realm to which the Czech land in Bohemia, the countries around the sources of the Vistula, and in the South, besides the valleys of the Morava, Vah and Nitra. - that nucleus of the realm were subjected, and his power extended from the River SLOVAKIA 41 Hron over the whole territory between the Danu:be and the Tisa Rivers, down to Sriem and up to the Ca,rpathians ... "Eastern FTankland, that conglomeration of Saxons, Franks, Swabians, and Bavarians, was ruled since 887 by the handsome and brave Arnulf, the illegitimate son of Karlmann and the girandson of Louis the German, who but a few years previously - in 883 and 884 - as prince of Carinthia had felt the weight of Svatopluk's power and had helplessly looked on as he (Svatopluk) bad cruelly and mercilessly raivaged Pannonia, and even now, as king, he did not know what to do with him. "In July, 892, Arnulf took to the sword and with an army of Franks, Swabians, and Bavarians and attacked Moravia. The Magyar horde, which was just then passing through, joined him ( - hired by Arnulf ! - note of this author) and ravaged Svatopluk's country for four weeks; but then the Germans and Ma.rgyars turned homeward (with bleeding heads - note of this author) and Svatopluk's power, not even shaken, remained as it had been heretofore" .13 In German chronicles and in contemporaneous annals, Svatopluk is called the ",powerful," the "dread of his neighbors," "the wisest," "the most deceitful," man of his nation; "a wolf," and "a blood-thh'sty malcontent." The calumnies of enemies, of course, are not to be taken Hterally. To his German neighbors Svatopluk was "a wolf," and "blood-thirsty," because the wounds caused by his sword hurt. But those were wounds which they sustained mostly when they ventured where they had no dght to go. And then history judges differently than contemporaries do. I could cite from the excellent work of Alfons Huber, 14 an Austro-German, quotations similar to those in the Magyar book of Pauler a:Qout the deeds of the nation of Mojmir, Rastislav and Svatopluk in the second half of t:he ninth century. To found such a state, a Slovanic State on the Middle Danube ast that time - in the second half of the ninth century - certainly was a great accomplishment; history wil!l never cease speaking of it. Indeed, there were indications that a center was originating ·h ere around which a significant part of the Slovans would unite. But a young 42 SLOVAKIA state, in order to become firm, to consolidate, needs favorable circumstances. History deduces even the beginnings of Rome had favorable and fortunate conditions. Our Slovak ancestors, at the end of tile ninth century, were not so fortunate. The Germanic world still lived in a condition of ferment - to have it as a neigU11bor was not good. It would yield, retreat, only under duress, as during the· lifetime of Svatopluk. After Svatoplu:k's death, the nomadic Magyars came to be another neighbor on the other side of the Danube and to tlle Tisa River. Under such circumstances, aflter the first weakening caused by some internal, domestic strife, a young organization is apt to fare ba~y. The trou:ble here was the disunity of the sons of Svatopluk, which was flamed by their German neighbors, and Great Moravia perished. 'Dhe Magyars came to the Danube in 896, two years after Svatopluk's death, and Mojmir II, Svatopluk's successor, in 900 still petitioned for and obtained from Rome two bishops and one archbishop, thus he was still organizing the Church. In 902, with his sword he still proved to his Trans-Danubian neighbors that he was a son of Svatopluk.15 Not long rufterwards, however, he was no more. It is not even known what became of him whither he went. Great Moravia perished. 16 The state of affairs on the Middle Danube in the ninth century is explained in Anton Budilovic's book, published in 1'886, on the occasion of the millenial memorial of the death of Met!hodius: "'l'he Huns and the Avars cleaned the lands of the Middle Danube considerably of the Thraco-Illyrian, Celto--Roman and Germanic nations, but, under the successors of Charlemagne, German colonization again turned to these blessed lands and . covered with its net not only Upper but also Lower Pannonia and the western aft-valleys of Moravia. The antlike activity of the German colonist there was supported by the quite mature politicail and ecclesiastical organization of the Germany of that time. Supporting the German colonist on the one side was the German soldier, margrave, duke, the king, the emperor; on the other side, the German priest, monk, bishop, arch!bishop. What could the Slovans of these lands, divided into branches, scattered, not united by anything, put up against such forces? The federative union of two or three SLOVAKIA 43 tribes, the muscular force of the homeguards, 1:Jhe accidenta:l geniality of the chief and the eµthusiam of national hatred, aroused by violence? This could onJy be temporary . . . A lasting and successful struggle is only possible where there exists a certain balance of forces and equality of weapons, bow against bow, system against system, fore~ ful, profound ideas against other ideas. Can there be any talk of balance of forces of one or two Slovanic nations with the whole German race, of an alliance of a few patriarchal tribes with a great and organized empire? Could even the most genial leaders of the western Slovanic peoples at that time repel the onslaught of a whole system of cultural ideas in which were also included the heritage of the ancient world and the refreshing Cll'ITent of Christianity? . . . The best answer to these questions is presented by the fate of the Baltic Slavs. There they lacked neither ta:lented military leaders, nor a fiery hatred of the Germans, nonetheless these Slavs perished and their lands became the center of the later renovated empire of the Hohenstaufens." The closing words of Budilovic are that the same fate would have overtaiken the Slovans of Great Moravia had not their Rastislav, aroused by a penetrating foresight, obtained such apostles as were the brothers of Salonica (Solun), Cyril and Methodius. 17 Yes, as already mentioned, the state of affairs was difficult for our Slovak ancestors. Nonetheless, their State creation lasted almost one hundred years, and from the very beginning inscribed itself appropriately into history. Palacky, in his "Dejiny" (!history) presents the foundations which Rastislav and Svatopluk built with their nation as the nucleus around which all the Slovanic tribes would have been attracted gradually; from it they would have received Christianity; if not new political constitutions, at least a national and new European culture, arts and industry, unity of language, an alphabet and literature. As under the influence of Rome, the monarchy of the Franks matured in the West, similarly a great Slovanic empire would have grown up with the help of the spirit of Byzantium, and Eastern Europe of a thousand years ago would have assumed a shape different from that which it in reality assumed. 18 44 SLOVAKIA Palacky spoke as if carried away in a rhetorical rapture; but it can be stated even with the coolest mind that great things were lost with the collapse of Great !Moravia. ~en at that, the Slovanic Ohurch,founded for our Slovak ancestors, with the Slovanic alphabet and Slovanic literature, became the foundation on which the great race of Slovanic peoples developed. When especially in the West only three, or really only two languages (Greek and Latin) were considered feasible for Christian ecclesiastic life, the Holy Scriptures and worshi,p, the brothers Cyril and Methodius began their mission with the translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Slovanic language. At the end of the seventies of the nineteenth century, when, as a result of the Russo-Turkish war, the Balkan Slovans were rid of the hard fate of five hundred years duration, and among all the Slovans flowed especially cordial feelings, the Russian literary historian Alexander Pypin called attention to the Pan-Slovanic significance of what the great apostles Cyril and Methodius had accomplished among our Slovak ancestors. And he added that their work is an heritage and an ideal of Slovanic unification 19 True enoug,ll, the neighboring Germans at once raised on alarm that Constantine :md Methodius were installing Slovanic worship and translating the Holy Scriptures in Rastislav's land. Our apostles deemed it necessary for that reason to journey to Rome as early as 867. There they submitted their cause in such a manner that Pope Adrian solemnly blessed the Slovanic books. Before the coming to Moravia of the brothers, only · Constatine had been ordained to priesthood; the Pope ordered also Methodius and their Slovak disciples, whom they had brought along to Rome, to be ordained, and in the leading cathedrals of Rome they sang the liturgy in the Slovanic language. It became necessary for the apostles to remain a longer time in Rome. Constantine, physicaUy frail, became ill, joined a monastic order and assumed the name Cyril. While going about as missionary among the Kaza.rs near the Black Sea, Cyril had uncovered in Kherson the remains of St. Olemenrt, who had died a martyr, and these restored remains he now brought to Rome. Thus it hap- SLOVAKIA 45 pened, that when he died . on February 14, 869, he was buried in the church of that same St. Clement. The dying Cyril touchingly implored his ·b rother to persevere in the important Slovak mission. Methodius, of course, persevered with the greatest zeal. From 873 he was archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia. When the German bishop did not cease inciting against the Slovanic worship, it again became necessary to journey to Rome in 880. And in this trial too, he was victorious. Pope John VIII, wrote in a Bull sent to Svatopluk ("glorioso principi ~fentopulcho"): "The Slovank script, whldh the late phi~osopher Constantine devised, that in it may duly resound the praise of God, is lawfully confirmed; and we decree that in that language the glory and the acts of · our Lord p1rist be related. For not only in three, but in all languages are we exhorted by the holy author (King David) to praise the Lord . . . The apostles too, permeated with the Holy Ghost, spoke in all languages about the greatness of God . . . He who created the three · principal languages Hebrew, Greek, and Latin - created also the others to His honor and glory ...." What great events! Thus is documented that in the Church the Slovanic language was placed in the same rank with Greek and Latin. Already in the ninth century! ... And all this emanated from our Slovak ancestors! As long as there will be souls capable of becoming enthused for sublime things, so long will the memory of the Slovanic apostles Cyril and Methodius remain ~evered, and there will be always found people who will know that the Slovanic Church had been instituted for our Slovak ancestors, and that it all emanated from the mind of their great ruler [Rastislav. The Slovak State of the ninth century did not survive, it perished in maelstrom of the world, but the Slovanic world has a great heritage from it. With the development of science, particularly Slovanic philology, this event of world history will become more lucid :with every passing year. When the work of the Slovanic apostles and the struggle of Great Moravia with the Germanic world will be recalled, talk of C~atho-Damtbian and Pannonian Slovans will cease, and the Sloveni-Slovaks will be definitely mentioned. When it is already so clear 46 SLOVAKIA that in the ninth century the inhabitants of present-day Moravia were only Slova.ks, the nation of Rastislav and Svatopluk will not be called "Moravians and Slovaks" (as in the "Slovanske Staro'Litnosti" of Sa.fa.rik), but consistent. ly and definitely "Slovaks." The ,b iographies ("Zitia") of our apostles, which remained in the Church-iSlovanic language will cease to be called "Pannonian" legends when it will be esta·b lished that the great missionaries whom Rastislav had appointed were only in Pannonia on their journey to Rome, after an activity of four years in Moravia and Slovakia; then again Methodius 1Was there alone, before he could get home, to Devin or Nitra, on his return journey from Rome. (Thus in 867, when stopping above Blatno, to visit Kocel', it was surely only because he was the son of Pribina, formerly of Nitra.) Then will also cease the confusing of our county with the Czech land since the Czechs participated in the formation of the Slovanic Church and literature only after .t he baiptism of Borivoj. Not even the legend that Methodius converted the Bulgarian (Czar) Boris to Christ .b y painting for him a ,picture of the Last Judgment will mislead us any longer; of the two brothers :&om Salonica neither the one, nor the other, labored among any other Slovamic nations. They labored only among the Sloveni-Slovaks. Their teaching reached the Bulgars only through their disciples :£rom Great Moravia after Methodius was no longer among the living. Most recently, this matter was excellently illuminated by the Russian emigrant, the Slovanic philologist Valerij Pogorielov of the university of Bratislava, in his study "About the na.ti.onaJ.ity of the apostles of Slavdom."20 The Slovanic script - as devised by apostle Constantine-C yril after he and his brother Methodius already had the authority for the mission to Rastislarv's nation, and the grammar of this script founded in the Church-Slova nic books - is such an accomplishme nt that Cyril is being admired as a linguistic phenomenom. Nonetheless, recently in science both brothers were generally considered native Greeks. Silenced were also the doubters, into whose heads could not penetrate the fact ,t hat one who was not born a Slovan could hardly grasp in such a manner and sense the charac- SLOVAKIA 47 ter of the Slovanic language, as we see in the work of St. Cyril. What did Pogorielov do? He began to examine the Slovanic translations of the Holy Scriptures made from the Greek to check whether the brothers from Salonica were as expert i? Greek as they had been in the Slovanic lenguage. He found that in the Church-Slovanic Bible texts there were errors which could not have been made by a translat.or whose mother-language had been Greek. Pogorielov came to the conclusion that the holy brothers from Salonica (Solun) could not have been Greeks - they were Slovans. At the same time he very aptly notes that, allowing such a solution of the question, we will also comprehend that energy, that zeal and self-sacrifice which they displayed in the services of the Slovanic cause. We will understand their impartiality in the dispute between Byzantium and Rome. Would real Greeks have gone to Rome to seek protection for their Slovanic activity? It is a:lso interesting how Pogorielov explains the relation of the Sloveni-Slovaks to the work of the holy apostles. When after the death of Methodius the Slovanic church books were taken from Moravia to Bulgaria, they proved to be altogether intelligible there. The Bulgarian literati began to correct the language of the books, e.g., instead of nedag (at present nedu.h) they put bolezn; instead o(f prositi they wrote moliti; instead of nvot - zizn; instead of otrok - sluga; instead of godina - cas, etc. That is, in the Church texts the Slovaks words (Slovak in the present-day sense) were replaced by Bulgarian words. And Pogorielov does not stop there, but goes farther. He explains how western Slovanic or Slovaik words had gotten into the work of the natives of Salonica that is, South Slovans. Goraoo, one of the first disciples of Cyril and Methodius was considered a SloV3Jk already by Safarik. In regard to Gorazd, Pogorielov· quotes the words21 with which the dying Methodius (in 885) appointed him his successor to the seat of the archbishopric: "This is a free man of your country22 ," that is Gorazd, "a man of your own country," was not a Southern Slovan, as had been the apostles them- 48 SLOVAKIA selves, the brothers from Salonica, but a western Slovan, that is, a son of the country - as Pogorielov says emphatically - where Methodius himself had worked and preached and of which he was archbishop. The Slovakisms in the Slovanic text of the Holy Scriptures are the work of Gorazd ; "to his pen also belongs the translation of all the works from Latin into the Slovanic lan:g:uage." Pogorielov calls St. Gorazd the third apostle of the Slovanic peoples. Referring also to the great Slavist Jagic, who ex;plained in 1900 and in 1913 that in ancient Moravia in the ninth century "substantially the same language was spoken as is today's Slovak," Pogorielov agrees that "it was the Slovaik language, and the country was Slovakia, and this means that St. Gorazd really was a man of the Slovak country - that he was a Slovak23 • In the introduction to his study, written and published in Bratisla,va, Pogorielov remarks that the holy Slovak apostles, Cyril and Methodius, used to walk in this vicinity, therefore, the words of the great ·b ard of the Slovanic world, Jan Kollar, can be rightfully repeated. "Stand still, foot! Sacred are the places wherever thou waJkest !" 24• To which I add: Aye, aye, Devin ! ! ! ... About a person wh·o accomplished great things during his lifetime, people say after his death: •~He died, but his memory shall remain." Greater Moravia has also passed away, has :perished, but her legacy is such that she will be remembered. "Here took place in the ninth century," says a Russian historian, "events not only of Pan-Slovanic, but ailso, it can be said, of universal significance : an important attempt at a political unification of the Slovans the Great Moravian political union - famed itself by the most memorable, infinitely fertile activity of the Slovanic Apostles in Moravia. Here were laid the foundations for the national church and national Slovanic Christian education, here were formed the plans and the direction of the entire future of the whole subsequent historic development of the Slova.nic world, it.s world role and its relation to Romano-Oennanic Europe, to the West, and to the Asiatic guestion. The Christianization of the masses of people and their manner of life, bringing them to the Eastern Church, the foundation of Church-Slovanic litera,- SLOVAKIA 49 ture and education in the Slovanic South, among the Bulgars and the Serbs, and in the East among the Russians, and partly also among the other western Slovans, was only the continuation of that work which Cyril and Methodius had initiated and which could survive, alas, only a short time in the Middle Danubian countries. From here, from Great Moravia, flowed a copious stream of Slovanic Church literature and Slovanic ritual, of a common Church language and together with it also of national consciousness in all directions - to the ·v arious kin: to the North to the Poles; to the West to the Czechs; to the South to the Slovenes, the Serbo-Croats, and Bulgars (to the latter directly through the disciples of Methodius, who had been expelled from Moravia after his death); and lastly to the East, to Russia . . ." 25 "The fruits of the independent spiritual development, based on a national Church and literature, founded by the Slovanic apostles" - further says Constantine Grot "took root in the Slovanic South and East, where there was not such a ha.rd national struggle as on the Middle Danube." And he calls attention to the fact that it w~s at that time that the Germanic world returned with elemental force to these lands, which its tri·b es had occupied once before, and for that reason it was much harder for the Carpatho-Danubian Slovans to maintain themselves against such pressure. And just then the Magyars also arrived . . . Indeed, even during the life of Svatopluk, soon after the death of Methodius (885), the Slovanic Church had gone over from us to the South~lovans, thence to the Eastern (IS lovans) and there helped to create the great Russian nation out of the many tribes. ""The legacy of the brothers of .Salonica" - as correctly e:,cpressed by Daniel Laucek - "prepared among the Russians national unity by means of Church unity." 26 The Czech ruler, Prince Borivoj, was baptized by Methedius at the court of Svatopluk; with Boriivoj's successors Slovanic literature took root in the Czech country and also got to the Poles; but here too like with the Slovaks and Czechs, 'because they were neighbors of the German world, the Slovanic Church and Slovanic literature did not sumve among the ·P oles. It is true, in the Church terminology of us all, Slovaks, Czechs, and Poles, to this 50 SLOVAKIA day traces of the language have been presented (for instance even the most important word uHospodin" ), the language which the holy apostles Cyril and Methodius had introduced into our ecclesiastic life. And it is worth mentioning, that of all the Slovans, the teachings of the 'Slovan apostles did not reach - neither during their lifetime, nor later through their disciples - a single tribe of the Baltic and Polabian Slovans, and of all the Slovans just these latter perished in the religious a;nd existential struggle which they waged with the Germans. When Emperor Michael in Constantin ople had learned from the Slovak delegation what was at stake, what kind of aipostles R!astislav desired, he at once decided to entrust this task to Constantin e, the philosopher , who had rlistingttished himself in rupostolic wor.k before, at first alone and later with his brother Methodius. The messengers said to the Emperor: "We are Sloveni -," i. e., they desired teachers of the Christian faith whom they could understand. The brothers Constantin e and Methodius, as natives of Salonica (Thessalon ica) where suited even language-wise for the mission among the Slovans: they knew Slovanic. ·Emperor Michael, having summoned them, told the brothers: "You are from Salonica, and all Salonicans spewk pure Slovruk ("'sloviensky) 27 • The brothers, however, did not want to go empty-hand ed to Rastislav's nation, and Constantine, having learned fr()lffi the messengers that the Sloveni-Slovaiks did not ha,ve their own script, in the first ·p lace contemplat ed over a suitable script. In the words of the legend, God revealed the Slovanic script to the meditating, contemplat ing, worried and praying Constantine. Such a tradition maJkes him so much dearer to us. And indeed it is such an achievemen t that we can be proud of it. Constantin e proceeded from the Greek script, but Slovanic sounds, especially in the ninth century, greatly varied with the Greek, therefore new letters, new characters were needed. And Constantin e placed it on such a basis that the more lndo-Europ ean linguistics develops, the more admira:ble becomes his creation28 • Even today, if doubt arises in any Slovanic language over the correct spelling of some word, informatio n is sought in Cyril's orthograiph y. And even in this respect SLOVAKIA 51 can we Slovaks ha,ve the great satisfaction that, without our Rastislav, he (Cyril) would not have had the opportunity to assert his phenomenal talent. Had not the Slovak messengers come to Constantinople, what more could have Constantine accomplished there? At first he had been used in Constantinople to bring to reason the iconoclasts, then to convert to Christ the Mohamedan Sara,zens and the pagan Khruzars: had not the Slovak messengers appeared there, Constantine, in all likelihood, would have continued in that activity, or he would have remained in the monastery into which he had retired for a life of tranquility. People of phenomenal mental gifts need a field for their activity. Our Rastislaiv will also be remembered in the world-historic work of Cyril. In 1886, when the Slovanic peoples celebraited the millenium of the death of Methodius, a Russian historian asked: "What was the Slovanic world prior to Cyril and Methodius?" and answered: "Scattered over the vast spaces of middle Europe, Russia and the Balkan Peninsular among foreign and hostile nations, although a race gifted by nature with beautiful spiritual endowments, the Slovan r ace represented a torn, disjointed mass of different tribes without any consciousness of racial relationship . . ." The brothers from Salonica appear on the stage of Slovanic history in the middle of the ninth century, "strong in spirit and profoundly permeated with the consciousness of their sacred calling, namely, to furnish the Slovans with Christian enlightenment," and in a comparatively short time thereafter there is an entirely difforent life among the Slovans29 • The Russian philologist Alexej Sachmatov explained that the Russian race in the ninth century was disintegrating into a multitude of tribes. The tribes among themselves remained in substance closely related, but lived separately; for that reason they differed in morals and in customs and had their individual dialects. Had they lived longer without any connecting mediums, complete individualization would have sprung up among them and a multitude of conflicting dialects would have developed. But owing to the events of the tenth centucy an organization of state was created among the Russian tribes which united them in a political, 52 SLOVAKIA cultural and religious unit. In the eleventh century the body of the state, created by Vladimir and his descendants, became stabilized: it consisted of all Russian lands with the exception of Galicia and Polocko, which were differently situated geographically. In the twelfth century the dialects of these latter already had their typical peculiarities30 • Thus, Sachmatov attributed to the unifying ,p ower of the state this great thing that a great nation was created out of Russian tribes. J agic, of course, also acknowledged the importance of the political factor in the creation of linguistic unity, but, not agreeing completely with Sachmatov's explanation, he wrote that "in Russia, in the securance and preservation of unity, the main credit belongs not so much to its political power as to the great cultural and linguistic unifying effect of the Church and the uniform Church-Slovanic Ianguage" 31 • In his great work of 1900 and 1913 Jagic also mentioned Ulfilas, who translated the Holy Scriptures into the language of the Goths already in the fourth century. True enough, that W'.as five hundred yea/I'S earlier; and yet - says Jagic -what a difference there is between Ulfilas and the Slovanic apostles! The work of Ulfilas was for a narrow circle, the Goths alone, with whom it also went into emincition; the work of Cyril and Methodius extended from Moravia and Pannonia, "from the heart of western Slovanic peoples," first to the South, to the Croatians and Serbs, thence to the Bulgarians, and afterwards the Slovanic Church brought also the great Russian nation into the fold of Christianity. The work of Ulfilas perished; in the language ~ suiting from the work of the Slovanic apostles over one hundred million people serve God32 • 1 At this point, I cannot refrain f_r:om mentioning two more names. When our apostles journeyed to Rome in 867, they sojourned in Blatno, in the residential ca.stle in '1.'lransDanubia, where Pribina's son Kocer ruled. Pribina had caused the already mentioned church in Nitra to be built-the first Christian church in the whole western Slovanic world; but to unite a nation and fonn a country, a state, was only possible by dissolving the power of the tribal rulers. Mojmir I , predecessor of Ra.stislav, drove Pdbina out of Nitra for that SLOVAKIA 53 reason. Pribina procured a fief in Tranus-Danubia from Louis the German and selected a residence in the castle above Blatno (Mosaburg), and there he <:qntinued in what he had initiated in Nitra - the building of churches. That country had more such churches from that era. His son and successor, Kocer, continued in this spirit: he built churches and spread Christianity. Nonetheless, Kocef was somewhat in a quandary when the missionaries from the court of Devin came une~ectedly to him. The rulers of Devin had greatly wronged his father! What were people from there looking for in Blatno? But the apostles Constantine and Metbodius needed only t.o show him the Slovanic script and the Slovanic books, and tbey were dear and welcome t.o Kocef. He felt great joy. He became very fond of Slovanic books, studied from them, and appointed fifty disciples to the apostles. He entertained the distinguished guests for some time and then escorted them with great honor on :their journey to Venetia, that is to Rome. But let us not forget even Zemezizeii. The journey to Rome of the apostle Methodius in 880, so important as far as the substance of the matter is concerned, is given a national coloring in the person of Methodius's escort, the Slovak Zemezizeii. On the basis of what he found about him in historical sources, Jan Holly, in his epic (Svatopluk), placed Zemezizen as one of his important characters. In council Zemezizen distinguishes himself with a penetrating mind and determination, in battles the earth seems to shake wherever he appears. Thus the poet, but we imagine that in reality he was an extraordinary man. To all appearances, Zemezizeii is still his pagan name; he was very likely baptized an adult and therefore could journey, as his ruler's confidant on such an important mission to Rome, to the pope, with apostle Methodius, that educated, refined Byzantian ! He is also mentioned in the ipope's letter, even though it was found difficult in Rome to pronounce his name. (The letter has: Semisisnus, or rather the dative form Semisisno.) REFERENCE NOTES 1. 'The Life on Oonsta.ntme (lat:er Cyril) ("Zltie Konstantfna") and the Lite of Methodius ("z.ttie !Metoda") are preserved in the Old·SloTIU1ic Church la.nguage. Apos~ Methodius surnved his brother Cyril 54 SLOVAKIA b7 sixteen yea.re. In Slavl!stic science The Life of Constantine is considered the work of Met,hodiu,s, and The Life of Mebhodius the work of one ot their SloV'81k disciples. The sentence "By bhe grace of God we 8Are in good health" in the speech of the messenger,a to Constallltinople is very interesting. On meeting one another Slovaks bhus speak a;bout heaMih. Neibher a ~rman, nor any person of the ot•h er western nations would say it in this way. In the Liife of Methodius (Chaa>t. V) it is tra.n.& l:ated into Latin: "bene vale mus" - we aire well." In the Magyar language "hogy szolgal az egesueg ?" and similar expressions are from the Slovak language. 2 Today the Gel"ma,n,s themselves admit much of tbhait nature. " .. . . mit dem deutchen Priester kam auch der deutche Colonl,st .. . so da.sz von nun a.n Chrlrstlamlsierung und Germa.nisierung Hand lin Hand gerum" (cf. Karl Schober: Die Deutchen in Nieder und Ober-Oesterreich, Sal?Jburg, Steyermark, Kii.rn,then und Krain, iP- 15) . 3. " . . . die heutige Sl1>wakey in Oberungern ist das elgentllche Gross•Mahren ... " - he w.l"ote in a letter (in 1&25) to J. S. Bandrtke (Corresponde111Ce of Joseph Dobrovsky, •N, p. 163). 4. Slovanske Staroiltnostl, pp. 794, 7!Y.i, 822. 5. En~ehungsgeachichte der klrchenalavischen Sprache, Ber 1 in, 1913, p. 19 (First edition VleDIIla, 1900). 6. Die slawischen, Sprachen (Die Kult11,r der Gegeuwart, I. IX 1908, Berlin und LeLl)21g). 7. For instance, in &55: "R~ Hlu!lovlcus in Sclavo Marahenses contra Raallizen duoem eorem s,l,bi rebellantem parum IJI"OSpere ducto exercitu"-i( Ruodolfua Fu Idens, p. 369). Ibidem, p. 370: "Quo per fugam lapso et ad Raatizen se conferente.'' - In 869 " ... in illam ineffabllem Rastizl munltdonem et omnl_bus antiqulssimls dlssimilem ... " (Annalea Fuldenses, Pertz, I, 381.) In 870 " .. . ZuentJJ,baJJ.d, nepos Rastizi ... " (Annales Fuldenses, 882.) 8. Svii.toplu,k's predecessor is called Rastic ia.lso ·b y the Slovak monk Chrabr, and about him wie know that he wrote during the time "when there still lived people wlho had SEEN the apostles Cyril and Method ius." 9. Slovanske Starofitnostl , p . 804 . 10. Vacov, Budin, Vysehrad, Osrtrlhom, are Slovak, western Slovanlc names, a,s iare Devin, Ba,zin, -Budatfn. Beyond Budin was TeUn (as in the Czech 1land)-'the Ger-mans living there since the thirteenth century call it Tetlng, just as Bazin ia ito them Bosling, Hodonflll-Goding, in Lower AulStrla Modlin-Modllmg, a.nd many ,others. Vacov i,s derived from the same proper name as in the Czeoh land Is Va.c; Ostrihom is what in the Czech land ds Stfehom (the "o" in Its prefix has the saime origin oo in Oriava, or Im. the Zvolen Ortuty, and the ~arls Ordzovany ) ... We must deduce the close rel11.tionshlp ·b etween the Czeohs and the Slovakls by such ,topographic nMnes, but not by a "cultural union," of which there could have been ·b ut very little lbetween us owing to our separated states and dltter81lt geog:raJJ)hical locatrl.on. Let u,s but examine our culture-words, Wlhwt dissimilarity they present to us. The Slovaks call ink "atrament," the Czeohs "inkoust;" or, what is "t!abak" (tobacco) to the Czechs is "dohan" to the Slovaks. (This means that -smok!:ng reached the Slovaks, a.s It did the Yugoslovan-s, 'by way of the Orient, throug,h the Turu; .to bhe Czechs and the Germans, however, i t came from America via. Spain). 'J1he Slovak names of places (Kaza, Ka.zinec, Tetin, Bwbisar-in Zem-pliin-Pra:ha (In Novohrad) contra.vert SLOVAKIA 55 also the inventions ot Kosma& in regard to the daughters of K:rok, Ka2a, Teta, Li,bus,a, and about the founding of Prague (Praha). 11. " ... in .fil.la.m ineftabilem Rastizi munitionem et omnibus antiquissimis di1JBimilam ... " 1·2. J.<iramtdsek Palacky: •D ejiny naroda ceskeho, I, 11876, p. 147. We •Slovaiks, however, caai supplement even Pa.lacky's statement; we have a. poetic na:rra.tion of tlhe g,reat battle beneath Devin. Jan Holly's great epic .p oem in 12 cantos, named after its prinoipa.1 hero "Svii.• topluk," presents it. As Tacitus's descri,p tion •there, so Jaai Holly's description here :118 gTand. (Talk-en from history the work of such a poet as is Jan Holly ha,s aaso its historic value.) 13. IP- 26, etc. 14. Geschichte Osten-elchs, I. 16. Acording ,t o all, though sparse reports, Moj,mir <b~me the heir not on[y o! his father'<S realm, bull a1so of his a:bHLties a,s a &ta.te:sman. However . . . for the successor of Svii.topluk even that fact was fatai that he calIIle after such a predecessor ... (V. Novotn:9': Ce-ek6 Dejiny, p. 421.) 16. Mention of the battle of Bratislava in 907-wihich the Bavaria.n,s together with Mojmir LI are supposed to have lost a.gadnst the Magyars -appeared only in ~e sixteen-till oentu,ry with Avenitinus and bas been reoe;n,tly !!"ejected even by Magyar historiaai,s. In ipresent da.ys, after the World War, a. r6CO!I"d was foUllld among German -s ouroes, con.fir-m ing the ,statements of Ave.ntinus, but it will hardily throw more light on the subject. Mter 907, more than one hundred years ·pa.s&ed 8llld still the Ma,g:y<a!rs did not appear on this (Uhe Slovak) side of the Da.nulbe. Not until after 1025, after the death of iBoleslav .t he Brave of Poland, that is, tow,a,rd11 the end of the reign of St. Stephen, they bega,n gra.dua,Hyand only gradually-to ~pa,nd a.nd settle dO'W'Il. Konrad Schti.nema.nn (Die Deutschen In Ungarn bis zum 12. Jahrhundert, Berll!Il u . Le1pzig, 1923) also states that the Magyar-s occupied Pan.nonia only slow,l y and gradually so that Uhe Ge:r,ma,ns who ha.d lived there had opportunity to wi-th<Lraw without haste to :their fO'I"Iller settle• ments. - About this question it is neccessary to have constantly in mind tha.t the Ma.gya.rs ca.me ,t o ,tjhe Danube as nomads, a.nd a nomad, if he ·tasrries anywhere, •m ust not stir up his closest neighbors against ·himself. (By compa!I"ison, I do not wwnt to offend the Magyars by the sdmile, 1but ,t he Gyipsies, living on the outskirts of our towns and vil•1 ages ,say even today: uNo 001e streals <:lose by.") Besides, the Magyars came here-as we wllll see faTther on-while in flight. They came with a !frightful ,experience. y.rhile they had wandered from Atelkuz beyond the Dainube, thked by the Greek Emperor agai,nst the Bulgars, the neighboring Pechenegs a.tta.okied their defenseless settlements in Aitelku2: and 'killed <tlheir children, women, and aged. After their return from the Danube, terrified ·b y the dreadful happenings at Atelkuz, they pa.eked whatever :they sti-11 could a.nd took to flight tn a westerly direction. They stopped only when they reached the territoo-y between the Tisa. BIIld the Middle Dwnube, in Pa.nmonia. After sudh an experi• ence ,t hey could venture trom the Danube, from Pannonda, on predatory expeditio.n-s Jnto Italy and Germany, but with theiT moat :proximate neighbors they VeTY likely endeavored to Uve in peace. AJbout their 'kind of lite, we have the mown remonstrance of tftle Germ81Il bishops in 900 which contailns grave accusations against the Slova.ns (probably of Pam-nonia), that they a,ssl1Sted the Maigyars. As a. matter of fact, the 56 SLOVAKIA Magyars, w~o ha.d come trom the eastern s,teppes scarcely ha,d 8/IlY great desire to venture across, to the lett bank of the Danube. The nomaJd avoids mounta.iais. He needs to see far, fair all around himself, and in the mountains, whether on the rigM or on the left, in front or behind, there is always a possibility of danger. For that reason it is not vecy lpr()baible thait the Magyars, after :tlheir airrival on the Datnulbe -as eaJ1ly as 907 - would have ventured into a grea,t action agalnist Mojmir II. They begaJR-a.s now even Magyair history admits- ,t o occupy the territories on the left ban,k of the Danube gra.dually, in the eleventh century, toward,s ,t he end o! the reign of St. Stephen. 17. Metodievskij jubilejnyj sbornik, Varsava, 18S5, p. 79, etc. 18. Dejiny narodu ceak~ho, I, 1876, p . 223. 19. A. N. Py,pin: lstorija siavianskich literatur, I, rp. 35. 20. "O n.arodnoati apoitolov Slavianswa, in Bratislava, a publication of Sal.arik's Learned Society, No. 2, 1927 . .21. Zitie av. Metoda, Chapter XVII. 22. "Se ~ t vasej~ zemlj~ -s vobod ,m ~i ... " (Zitie av. Metoda, Chapt. XWI.) 23. In confirmation Pogorielov further shows how in· the CyrilloMethodic text the negative "no" (NIE) and its opposite "yes" (A(,,'0) is expressed. T~e Czechs '88.Y ANO; 1lhe Poles TAK; the Russians and BulglllI'B DA; the Serbs and Croats JEST; only the Slovak language has the ,same word we read in the Gospel of Matthew V, 37: " b~di ~ slovo va§e ej, ej i nl ni. Or (Mat. XXI, 16) when the Pharisees &1sked Chrfst: Slysisi Ii ~to sii glago!:j~t. Jlsu,s ze ~ im: ej. (In the Kralice Bible thf,s reads: jiate, Jiate nikoli, nikoli; and the second: oviem. ln Slova,k, in ,t he Tr.nava edition of Richard Osvald: ano, ano, nle, nie, and in chapter XXl--<>viem. Instea.d of ,t he full sounding "HEJ," the Slovam..ic Church text has "EJ''---ithere being no letter "h" in the Cyrilllc's sor1a>t, It is true 1'n the 9th century the Slovakia still pronou.nced "G" instead of the pre• sent-day "H." But ,then, this attimna.tive word could o:nly begin mith the vowel "E," otherwise Gora.zd would ha.ve scarcely omitte'Cl its "G." ln behalf or the Slovak ca.use it is advisa,ble to add that in the Old-Sllovanic Bible tert this "EJ" (HEJ) is such a mark, such a charac,t eristic of present-day central SlovaJc, as is the letter "A" in the name of our Rastisla.v. And thus the one and the other is a.n hi'9toruc document about the Slova.ks-about the nationality of Great Moravia. Tha.t is, in ,t he 9'tlh century, aind in all of present-day Moraivia a.n.d In all of wesrern Slovakia substantially the ,same la.nguage wae spoken as we have it today along the Middle Vall, lower Orava, near Turiec, Hron, l1>el', a,nd in Upper Nitra. (Against such documents, it wm not be possible to risk the opinion thait "the core of the alovalk dta.lectical region is not the central group, ·b ut the western." (M. W. in his note on "Stare Slovensko, ,p . 284). 24. "Stoj. ndho ! Posvatna. mis ta jsou, kamkoll kralis ! " 25. K. J. Grot: Karpato-dunajakija zemli v sudbach slavianatva, 1905, p . 18. 26. D. ,z. Lautek: Sv. Cyril a Method, apoitolovla alovanakf, 18&6, p. 70. - See also V. Jaglc: Archlv fur alaviache Phllologie, XX, p. 27. 27. "Vy bo jesta Sol-un•lantna, da Solunia.ne vsi ~f.sto aiovenaky be- sMujit." - Zitle Metoda, Chapter V. 28. "Die Gros,ze des Werkes ha.t ma.n frllber lraum recht e~flnden konnen, aber gerade in der heutigen Sprachwissenscha.ft . . . musz SLOVAKIA 57 der Grammati:ker Konsita.nUn Bewu~derung erregen." - A. Leskien : Grammatik der altbulgari&chen (altkirchen-slavischen) Sprache, Heidelberg, 1919, p. XXI. 29. Konsta,ntl.n Grot: Metodijevskij jubilejnij sborntk, Varsa.va, 1885, p , 5. 30. Russkij filologiceskij Viestnik, 1894, 3, p. 1. 31. Archiv fur slavische Philologre, XX, p . 28 32. Entstehungsgeschichtle der kirchenslavischen Sprache, 1913, pp. 2, 3. SS. CYRIL AN.D METHODIU'S  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Legacy of the Great Moravian State of Our Ancestors: The Slovanic Church and Slovanic Literature Description An account of the resource Joseph Škultéty Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 35-57 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Škultéty, Joseph Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2f05dc90d4670bd83739e6cc827e0a01.pdf 5134be387299ef85e300009574512554 PDF Text Text 88 SLOVAKIA cational level. Today industries that employ "engineers" with such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without . knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than ·. average educational potential to a generation of robots. A POLICY OF GENOCIDE By Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten G€rmans there remained approximately 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho-Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the State of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not until two years ago did they become the subject of considerable discussion within Czecho-Slovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection . with the introduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it -deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten G€rmans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this statement was by no means given unanimous aproval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Kohler, took the . opportunity to discuss the Sudeten G€rman issue in detail in. the official 9rgan of the C:PC �SLOVAKIA 89 Zivot strany (No. 16, 1960). Kohler justified the discrepancy in the minorities policy of the CPC with the remark that, according to the teachings of Leninism, a correct solution of the nationalities issue called for application of the principle of adjustment to the current political situations while giving consideration to the interests of Communism. During ·the first Czecho-Slovak Republic under Thomas Masaryk (1918~38) the Communists were the greatest proponents of a radical nationalities policy in the CSR, aimed at the · destruction of the Czecho-Slovak State: The Communists with Kohler as their spokesman vehemently condemned the attitude of the German parties in the CSR that were seeking a federative solution of the nationalities question within the scope of the existing State. Kohler criticized this stand on February 1, 1931 in an article in R-Oter Vonvarts (Red Forward), which reads as follows: " . . . The national demagog,y cxf adl these Qbourgeois German) parties climaxes in the demand for 'national selif-d-etermination aind cultural autonomy' for the German people wtiltfuin the CzoohoSlovak State . . . National autonomy means the recOinition of the (::zecho-Slovak State .. . it means rejection a priori cxf the sellf-determi<nati>on ri-ght <Yf the Germw people." Just how much Communist policy sought at that time to make itself an advocate of the interests of the non-Czech ethnic groups in the CSR becomes evident from the address of the secretary of the Communist International, Dimitri Z. Manuilskij, before the second regular congress of the CPC: "Silnce the OPC recognizes the r ight of natii.onal self-determination, includilllg sepantion from the State, and combats all attempts to kwp national minorities within the framework of the present state structure by means of foree, it is obligated to support tJhe demainds posed by national mimorities against national swppress,ion . by every poss~ble means." But times have changed in the meanwhile and the interests of the Communist rulers in the CSR are other than they were in Czecho-Slovakia during the period between the two world wars. The expulsion of the Sudeten Gennahs and the confiscation of their property were welcome conditions for complete communization of CzechoSlovakia. Bruno K3hler even admits this himself when he writes, in the above-mentioned issue of Zivot strany: �90 SLOVAKIA ''The tnnsfer of the German minority, totalin<g millions, did not take place witihout dffli.cU!lty, particularly for those atffeoted by the shilft ... The consistent and timel,y solution of the proolem of the German minority proved to be especiallly advantageous during the .glorious days of Februaey 19418 when the workers conoontirated all th~ir energies on aehieving victory over the rea'dt.ion, on a victory tha/1: fina1Uy made -the rdad ifree for the esta!blishment of Sociahism in our country_" Today the CPC openly declares that the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans was a prerequisite for the victory of Communism in the CSR. In order to retain the fruits of this victory, the Red regime in Prague resists with all its might every attempt of the Sudeten Germans and the West to revise the expulsion of the rightful inhabitants of the Sudetenland. In trying to make permanent the injustice, the small minority of Germans still living in the CSR today - because the authorities deny them permission to emigrate - are disregarded entirely. Not only are they disregarded, but systematic attempts are being made to do away with them altogether. At this point there begins a policy of genocide, a crime against international law. By conscious and deliberate action the Czech State leaders are trying to uproot an entire ethnic group by surrounding them by conditions that make it impossible for them to cultivate and perpetuate their native tongue and cultural attributes. Although international jurists may differ as to whether the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans as such, which took place in 1945-46, may be classified as genocide although expulsion measures were aimed at destruction of the entire Sudeten group - there may well be unanimity of opinion as to the new measures in the CSR with regard to the total extirpation of the German minority in the CSR, that this is planned and systematically organized genocide. Bruno Kohler already anticipates the outcome of this policy when, in the above-cited article, he writes: "Due to the entirely different siituation, tlhe question Olf the German .minority had to be solved enitirel,y differently from that of the Ma,gyar, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSR. This di1flf.erence is also evident >in the formulation of the repulblic's new consti.tution which legaUy orystaili1izes all the bmportant social changes we liave a:fireicted. The constitutional text can, contain no stipulation as to sometihing which no longer exists, a German minority in the CSR." � 88 SLOVAKIA cational level. Today industries that employ "engineers" with such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without . knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than ·. average educational potential to a generation of robots. A POLICY OF GENOCIDE By Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten G€rmans there remained approximately 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho-Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the State of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not until two years ago did they become the subject of considerable discussion within Czecho-Slovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection . with the introduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it -deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten G€rmans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this statement was by no means given unanimous aproval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Kohler, took the . opportunity to discuss the Sudeten G€rman issue in detail in. the official 9rgan of the C:PC �SLOVAKIA 89 Zivot strany (No. 16, 1960). Kohler justified the discrepancy in the minorities policy of the CPC with the remark that, according to the teachings of Leninism, a correct solution of the nationalities issue called for application of the principle of adjustment to the current political situations while giving consideration to the interests of Communism. During ·the first Czecho-Slovak Republic under Thomas Masaryk (1918~38) the Communists were the greatest proponents of a radical nationalities policy in the CSR, aimed at the · destruction of the Czecho-Slovak State: The Communists with Kohler as their spokesman vehemently condemned the attitude of the German parties in the CSR that were seeking a federative solution of the nationalities question within the scope of the existing State. Kohler criticized this stand on February 1, 1931 in an article in R-Oter Vonvarts (Red Forward), which reads as follows: " . . . The national demagog,y cxf adl these Qbourgeois German) parties climaxes in the demand for 'national selif-d-etermination aind cultural autonomy' for the German people wtiltfuin the CzoohoSlovak State . . . National autonomy means the recOinition of the (::zecho-Slovak State .. . it means rejection a priori cxf the sellf-determi<nati>on ri-ght <Yf the Germw people." Just how much Communist policy sought at that time to make itself an advocate of the interests of the non-Czech ethnic groups in the CSR becomes evident from the address of the secretary of the Communist International, Dimitri Z. Manuilskij, before the second regular congress of the CPC: "Silnce the OPC recognizes the r ight of natii.onal self-determination, includilllg sepantion from the State, and combats all attempts to kwp national minorities within the framework of the present state structure by means of foree, it is obligated to support tJhe demainds posed by national mimorities against national swppress,ion . by every poss~ble means." But times have changed in the meanwhile and the interests of the Communist rulers in the CSR are other than they were in Czecho-Slovakia during the period between the two world wars. The expulsion of the Sudeten Gennahs and the confiscation of their property were welcome conditions for complete communization of CzechoSlovakia. Bruno K3hler even admits this himself when he writes, in the above-mentioned issue of Zivot strany: �90 SLOVAKIA ''The tnnsfer of the German minority, totalin<g millions, did not take place witihout dffli.cU!lty, particularly for those atffeoted by the shilft ... The consistent and timel,y solution of the proolem of the German minority proved to be especiallly advantageous during the .glorious days of Februaey 19418 when the workers conoontirated all th~ir energies on aehieving victory over the rea'dt.ion, on a victory tha/1: fina1Uy made -the rdad ifree for the esta!blishment of Sociahism in our country_" Today the CPC openly declares that the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans was a prerequisite for the victory of Communism in the CSR. In order to retain the fruits of this victory, the Red regime in Prague resists with all its might every attempt of the Sudeten Germans and the West to revise the expulsion of the rightful inhabitants of the Sudetenland. In trying to make permanent the injustice, the small minority of Germans still living in the CSR today - because the authorities deny them permission to emigrate - are disregarded entirely. Not only are they disregarded, but systematic attempts are being made to do away with them altogether. At this point there begins a policy of genocide, a crime against international law. By conscious and deliberate action the Czech State leaders are trying to uproot an entire ethnic group by surrounding them by conditions that make it impossible for them to cultivate and perpetuate their native tongue and cultural attributes. Although international jurists may differ as to whether the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans as such, which took place in 1945-46, may be classified as genocide although expulsion measures were aimed at destruction of the entire Sudeten group - there may well be unanimity of opinion as to the new measures in the CSR with regard to the total extirpation of the German minority in the CSR, that this is planned and systematically organized genocide. Bruno Kohler already anticipates the outcome of this policy when, in the above-cited article, he writes: "Due to the entirely different siituation, tlhe question Olf the German .minority had to be solved enitirel,y differently from that of the Ma,gyar, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSR. This di1flf.erence is also evident >in the formulation of the repulblic's new consti.tution which legaUy orystaili1izes all the bmportant social changes we liave a:fireicted. The constitutional text can, contain no stipulation as to sometihing which no longer exists, a German minority in the CSR." � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 88 SLOVAKIA cational level. Today industries that employ "engineers" with such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without . knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than ·. average educational potential to a generation of robots. A POLICY OF GENOCIDE By Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten G€rmans there remained approximately 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho-Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the State of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not until two years ago did they become the subject of considerable discussion within Czecho-Slovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection . with the introduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it -deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten G€rmans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this statement was by no means given unanimous aproval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czecho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Kohler, took the . opportunity to discuss the Sudeten G€rman issue in detail in. the official 9rgan of the C:PC SLOVAKIA 89 Zivot strany (No. 16, 1960). Kohler justified the discrepancy in the minorities policy of the CPC with the remark that, according to the teachings of Leninism, a correct solution of the nationalities issue called for application of the principle of adjustment to the current political situations while giving consideration to the interests of Communism. During ·the first Czecho-Slovak Republic under Thomas Masaryk (1918~38) the Communists were the greatest proponents of a radical nationalities policy in the CSR, aimed at the · destruction of the Czecho-Slovak State: The Communists with Kohler as their spokesman vehemently condemned the attitude of the German parties in the CSR that were seeking a federative solution of the nationalities question within the scope of the existing State. Kohler criticized this stand on February 1, 1931 in an article in R-Oter Vonvarts (Red Forward), which reads as follows: " . . . The national demagog,y cxf adl these Qbourgeois German) parties climaxes in the demand for 'national selif-d-etermination aind cultural autonomy' for the German people wtiltfuin the CzoohoSlovak State . . . National autonomy means the recOinition of the (::zecho-Slovak State .. . it means rejection a priori cxf the sellf-determi<nati>on ri-ght <Yf the Germw people." Just how much Communist policy sought at that time to make itself an advocate of the interests of the non-Czech ethnic groups in the CSR becomes evident from the address of the secretary of the Communist International, Dimitri Z. Manuilskij, before the second regular congress of the CPC: "Silnce the OPC recognizes the r ight of natii.onal self-determination, includilllg sepantion from the State, and combats all attempts to kwp national minorities within the framework of the present state structure by means of foree, it is obligated to support tJhe demainds posed by national mimorities against national swppress,ion . by every poss~ble means." But times have changed in the meanwhile and the interests of the Communist rulers in the CSR are other than they were in Czecho-Slovakia during the period between the two world wars. The expulsion of the Sudeten Gennahs and the confiscation of their property were welcome conditions for complete communization of CzechoSlovakia. Bruno K3hler even admits this himself when he writes, in the above-mentioned issue of Zivot strany: 90 SLOVAKIA ''The tnnsfer of the German minority, totalin<g millions, did not take place witihout dffli.cU!lty, particularly for those atffeoted by the shilft ... The consistent and timel,y solution of the proolem of the German minority proved to be especiallly advantageous during the .glorious days of Februaey 19418 when the workers conoontirated all th~ir energies on aehieving victory over the rea'dt.ion, on a victory tha/1: fina1Uy made -the rdad ifree for the esta!blishment of Sociahism in our country_" Today the CPC openly declares that the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans was a prerequisite for the victory of Communism in the CSR. In order to retain the fruits of this victory, the Red regime in Prague resists with all its might every attempt of the Sudeten Germans and the West to revise the expulsion of the rightful inhabitants of the Sudetenland. In trying to make permanent the injustice, the small minority of Germans still living in the CSR today - because the authorities deny them permission to emigrate - are disregarded entirely. Not only are they disregarded, but systematic attempts are being made to do away with them altogether. At this point there begins a policy of genocide, a crime against international law. By conscious and deliberate action the Czech State leaders are trying to uproot an entire ethnic group by surrounding them by conditions that make it impossible for them to cultivate and perpetuate their native tongue and cultural attributes. Although international jurists may differ as to whether the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans as such, which took place in 1945-46, may be classified as genocide although expulsion measures were aimed at destruction of the entire Sudeten group - there may well be unanimity of opinion as to the new measures in the CSR with regard to the total extirpation of the German minority in the CSR, that this is planned and systematically organized genocide. Bruno Kohler already anticipates the outcome of this policy when, in the above-cited article, he writes: "Due to the entirely different siituation, tlhe question Olf the German .minority had to be solved enitirel,y differently from that of the Ma,gyar, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSR. This di1flf.erence is also evident >in the formulation of the repulblic's new consti.tution which legaUy orystaili1izes all the bmportant social changes we liave a:fireicted. The constitutional text can, contain no stipulation as to sometihing which no longer exists, a German minority in the CSR."  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Policy of Genocide Description An account of the resource Anton F. Wuschek Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 88-90 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wuschek, Anton F. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6975baf9fc6c254775c22bb4a9bff5dc.pdf 868807e15e6bf8bb2249ce732d4d2b80 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA BOOK REVIEWS Kurt Glaser: Czecho-Slovakia, a Critical History, published by tlhe Caxton Printers Ltd., Ca,ldwell, Idaho, 1961.. Tm-ee maps, U photogra,phic plates, 275 pp., $5.50. Visitors to NA'l10 headquarters in Paris are shown a moving picture od: the "oolfapse O!f democra11ic Czecho-Slov,ak~a" under president Dr. Edward Bene§ in FebI'luary 1948, as one o'f the impeiti toward crea.ting ain, Atlantic def8llse organizartion. Indeed, there are many contemporaries, whose opinions are moulded 3Jfter superficial or slanted reports, who hold that Communism came suddenly to Czecho-Siovakia in 194'8, overthrowirug whalt was previously a "\little island of Westernbrand democracy in a sea of totallitarian-ruled States" in Central Europe. This pulblication has ()({ten poiin,t ed out that such a concept does not jibe with the historrc facts. Professor Glaser of Soothem Illinois Univ-er.silty, prQlbes deep1y into the matter. By collecting proliifiic facts from Czech, Slovak, ~11man and American sources (not anicy from those who staged the February cowp d'etat), he has gathered ample material for his ·thoroug;h-goinig, schola-r1¥ and objective evaluation of developments in and around Czecho-Slovakia from the birth of that State iin, 1918 to the present. Frequent quotations from documents and other source materiall in the text make Glaser's book not on[y interesting reading but give the reader a,n opportunity to dr,a,w conclusi.lOns of his own from the facts and judge the aptitude or i,naiptitude with which histoo-ic situaltion1S were handled at the time by decisive (WeS'tEf!'n and Eastern) policymaking bodies and leaders. 'J.1his reviewer, who lived i-n Czecho-Slov,a!ldia for maniy years and eXJperienced first-hand llhe naHonality, economic, and political pl"o'blems of that State was astonished at Professor GU~ser's keen _sense O!f o~rvation, understandmg, and Judlgment of the historic facts. Caxton pri,nters are to be cong,ratulated on pulblisrhing this excellent piece of scholarly research and objective evaluation. Dr. Glaser, American-born, a Harv,ard graduate, served with the U. S. Mill.itary Governmenlt im, occupied Germa,n y in 19416. While serving overseas he saw at first hand Communist encroachment in Centraa Europe. This proximate exiperience prompted him to adopt, as one O!f his pri111Ci,pal interests, t-he development oo a dynamiic anti-Oommun,ilSt policy. With this in mind, he searched for the reason for the Bolshevizafaon oo East-Oentral Europe, a•n d of Czecho-Slovaki-a in particular. The author's findings are o;f value to the student of histocy, to contemiporacy writers on international alffairs, and to fore~ policy makers. The sulbject he deals with is not a dead topic. It is of timely concern and holds a lesson for future behavior in dealing with the Soviets and in ma-naging effective](y psycliologicall war strategy. Glaser aJ.so warns against misj udig-ing advke and pro,pagamda activities of Czech politidans in eX'ile who before 19418 had kowtowed to Staliin, and, consciously or unconscioosly, paved tlhe w~ for Communi-st rule in OzechoSlovakia. He spotlights otbjection- �96 SLOVAKIA able policy and personnel management of R!adio ftee Europe and in the c-0oo1udi.n•g chapter shows ways for an effective anti-Commuru.st Western policy with regard t-0 Czooho-SloV'altia and EastCentral Europe. Summing up: He, who woulld know a•n d understand happenings in Czecho-Slovakia during the past decades, wil11 find Plrofessor Glaser's book a valuable guide. American Slovaks this yewr are commemorating their "Grand Jubilee" - the 1,lOOth a:nniversary of the advent of SS. Cyrll and Methodius to t he land of the ancient Slova~, Great Moravia - under tlhe SJ)onwrs hi/I) of the Slovak League of America. A conterence of Ame·rican S 1 o v a k s is scheduled far Waishington, D. C., April 15-6, 1963; '1 ater a pilgritmage to Slov,a,kla aind Rome, •I taly, where the ,p ilgrimage will end with the dedication of the Institute of .SS. Cyril and Methodius on Sept. 15. X X Ill! The Slovak Catholic Federation of America 1s sponsoring the ddve 'for $600,00-0 to ·b uild and equip the new Institute of SS. Cy'lil and Metihodiuis in Ro m e. The drive is headed by the Most Rev. Andrew G. Grutka, Bishop of Gary, Indiana, who will also hea<l rthe Americain delegation to Rome for the dedioo.tion of the Institute on •S ept. 16. Clevela,nd and Youngs-toW1J1, 0 ., have already held their celebrations of the 1,lOOth anniversary of SS. Cyril and Methodius; so have Scra'llton and Wi.1.kes-BaTre, Pa. , an<l Brl<lg•eport, Conn. Other Slovak centel'B in America and Gamada will keep the celebrations going to the end of 1963. Almost ha!lf the goal had been rnached by tJhe end of Mareh. X !JC !JC Tido J. Gaipar, Slov·a k jour:nalist and novelist, was 70 years obd on MaTch 7. He "cel~brate<l" the event ,in jail, where he was placed "for life" by the Czech Reos after W. W . II. His "crimes" : Mlti-State activities (In his articles he ~efended the f.nd,e,pendence o·r S!o-yl),'kia, con- demned Stalin's mass murderis in Katyn an<l Vinica, and opposed the pro-Moscow policy of Prague). Gaspar, one of the most cha•mcteristic and most expressive personalities of Slova'k >life ,si'llce W. W. I, was described by his colleagues a,s Slovakia's best stylist and di!plomat. At his trial, no witnesses were allowe<l to testMy •i n his beha.lf. X X !JC Father Vojtech Trizna wa,s given a three-year jail .term in Kosice, Slovakia, because he allegedly "attaoked the athe.fstis, opposed coliectiviza.tdon and mass poliiticall organizaitlons," accordi'llg to a report from Vienna.. Anton F. · Wuschttk. YOU CAN LEARN SLOVAK - IF YOU WANT TO The New, Revised "SLOVAK LESSONS" Will do the trick! • 400 PAGES • 92 LESSONS . Bound in . Cloth - $8.50 ORDER TODAY! • Jednota Printery Middletown. Pa. �Officers of the Slovak League of America (Organized May 26, 1907, Cleveland, Ohio) President Joseph G. Prusa Dr. Peter P. H letko 205 Madison Street, Passaic, N. J. Batavia Rd., Box 48 Warrensville, Ill. John A. Sabol Vice-Presidents 140 First Avenue, Phoenixville, Pa. John Horecky 2264 Walton Ave. New York 63, N. Y. ADVISORY COUNCIL Julia Krajcovlc John 1648 W. 18th Street Chicago 8, Ill. A. Sabol National President First Catholic Slovak Union Secretary Helen Kocan Joseph Pauco National President Fir11t Catholic Slovak Ladies Union 107 Bradford Avenue Middletown, Pa. Treasurer Paul Paul C. Kazimer Fallat National President Slovak Catholic Sokol 1122 Sylvan Avenue Homes tead, Pa. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Stephen J. Tkach National President Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union Msgr. F. J. Dubosh, P.A. 12608 Madison Avenue Lakewood 7, Ohio Anna Sotak National President Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union Paul P. Jamriska 536 Marie Ave. Pittsburgh 2, Pa. Philip A. Hrobak Emrich Valko P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. National President SloV'ak Catholic Cadet Union (Affiliated JEDNOTA Middletown, Pa. BRATSTVO Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Middletown, KATOLiCKY SOKOL SVORNOST Pas.sale, N. J. Whitaker, Pa. �• ~ry:,,.---¾ .. . 55. CYRIL AN·O METHODIU S - ~.i,-..,, ~ ··- SLOVAK APOSTLES � SLOVAKIA BOOK REVIEWS Kurt Glaser: Czecho-Slovakia, a Critical History, published by tlhe Caxton Printers Ltd., Ca,ldwell, Idaho, 1961.. Tm-ee maps, U photogra,phic plates, 275 pp., $5.50. Visitors to NA'l10 headquarters in Paris are shown a moving picture od: the "oolfapse O!f democra11ic Czecho-Slov,ak~a" under president Dr. Edward Bene§ in FebI'luary 1948, as one o'f the impeiti toward crea.ting ain, Atlantic def8llse organizartion. Indeed, there are many contemporaries, whose opinions are moulded 3Jfter superficial or slanted reports, who hold that Communism came suddenly to Czecho-Siovakia in 194'8, overthrowirug whalt was previously a "\little island of Westernbrand democracy in a sea of totallitarian-ruled States" in Central Europe. This pulblication has ()({ten poiin,t ed out that such a concept does not jibe with the historrc facts. Professor Glaser of Soothem Illinois Univ-er.silty, prQlbes deep1y into the matter. By collecting proliifiic facts from Czech, Slovak, ~11man and American sources (not anicy from those who staged the February cowp d'etat), he has gathered ample material for his ·thoroug;h-goinig, schola-r1¥ and objective evaluation of developments in and around Czecho-Slovakia from the birth of that State iin, 1918 to the present. Frequent quotations from documents and other source materiall in the text make Glaser's book not on[y interesting reading but give the reader a,n opportunity to dr,a,w conclusi.lOns of his own from the facts and judge the aptitude or i,naiptitude with which histoo-ic situaltion1S were handled at the time by decisive (WeS'tEf!'n and Eastern) policymaking bodies and leaders. 'J.1his reviewer, who lived i-n Czecho-Slov,a!ldia for maniy years and eXJperienced first-hand llhe naHonality, economic, and political pl"o'blems of that State was astonished at Professor GU~ser's keen _sense O!f o~rvation, understandmg, and Judlgment of the historic facts. Caxton pri,nters are to be cong,ratulated on pulblisrhing this excellent piece of scholarly research and objective evaluation. Dr. Glaser, American-born, a Harv,ard graduate, served with the U. S. Mill.itary Governmenlt im, occupied Germa,n y in 19416. While serving overseas he saw at first hand Communist encroachment in Centraa Europe. This proximate exiperience prompted him to adopt, as one O!f his pri111Ci,pal interests, t-he development oo a dynamiic anti-Oommun,ilSt policy. With this in mind, he searched for the reason for the Bolshevizafaon oo East-Oentral Europe, a•n d of Czecho-Slovaki-a in particular. The author's findings are o;f value to the student of histocy, to contemiporacy writers on international alffairs, and to fore~ policy makers. The sulbject he deals with is not a dead topic. It is of timely concern and holds a lesson for future behavior in dealing with the Soviets and in ma-naging effective](y psycliologicall war strategy. Glaser aJ.so warns against misj udig-ing advke and pro,pagamda activities of Czech politidans in eX'ile who before 19418 had kowtowed to Staliin, and, consciously or unconscioosly, paved tlhe w~ for Communi-st rule in OzechoSlovakia. He spotlights otbjection- �96 SLOVAKIA able policy and personnel management of R!adio ftee Europe and in the c-0oo1udi.n•g chapter shows ways for an effective anti-Commuru.st Western policy with regard t-0 Czooho-SloV'altia and EastCentral Europe. Summing up: He, who woulld know a•n d understand happenings in Czecho-Slovakia during the past decades, wil11 find Plrofessor Glaser's book a valuable guide. American Slovaks this yewr are commemorating their "Grand Jubilee" - the 1,lOOth a:nniversary of the advent of SS. Cyrll and Methodius to t he land of the ancient Slova~, Great Moravia - under tlhe SJ)onwrs hi/I) of the Slovak League of America. A conterence of Ame·rican S 1 o v a k s is scheduled far Waishington, D. C., April 15-6, 1963; '1 ater a pilgritmage to Slov,a,kla aind Rome, •I taly, where the ,p ilgrimage will end with the dedication of the Institute of .SS. Cyril and Methodius on Sept. 15. X X Ill! The Slovak Catholic Federation of America 1s sponsoring the ddve 'for $600,00-0 to ·b uild and equip the new Institute of SS. Cy'lil and Metihodiuis in Ro m e. The drive is headed by the Most Rev. Andrew G. Grutka, Bishop of Gary, Indiana, who will also hea<l rthe Americain delegation to Rome for the dedioo.tion of the Institute on •S ept. 16. Clevela,nd and Youngs-toW1J1, 0 ., have already held their celebrations of the 1,lOOth anniversary of SS. Cyril and Methodius; so have Scra'llton and Wi.1.kes-BaTre, Pa. , an<l Brl<lg•eport, Conn. Other Slovak centel'B in America and Gamada will keep the celebrations going to the end of 1963. Almost ha!lf the goal had been rnached by tJhe end of Mareh. X !JC !JC Tido J. Gaipar, Slov·a k jour:nalist and novelist, was 70 years obd on MaTch 7. He "cel~brate<l" the event ,in jail, where he was placed "for life" by the Czech Reos after W. W . II. His "crimes" : Mlti-State activities (In his articles he ~efended the f.nd,e,pendence o·r S!o-yl),'kia, con- demned Stalin's mass murderis in Katyn an<l Vinica, and opposed the pro-Moscow policy of Prague). Gaspar, one of the most cha•mcteristic and most expressive personalities of Slova'k >life ,si'llce W. W. I, was described by his colleagues a,s Slovakia's best stylist and di!plomat. At his trial, no witnesses were allowe<l to testMy •i n his beha.lf. X X !JC Father Vojtech Trizna wa,s given a three-year jail .term in Kosice, Slovakia, because he allegedly "attaoked the athe.fstis, opposed coliectiviza.tdon and mass poliiticall organizaitlons," accordi'llg to a report from Vienna.. Anton F. · Wuschttk. YOU CAN LEARN SLOVAK - IF YOU WANT TO The New, Revised "SLOVAK LESSONS" Will do the trick! • 400 PAGES • 92 LESSONS . Bound in . Cloth - $8.50 ORDER TODAY! • Jednota Printery Middletown. Pa. �Officers of the Slovak League of America (Organized May 26, 1907, Cleveland, Ohio) President Joseph G. Prusa Dr. Peter P. H letko 205 Madison Street, Passaic, N. J. Batavia Rd., Box 48 Warrensville, Ill. John A. Sabol Vice-Presidents 140 First Avenue, Phoenixville, Pa. John Horecky 2264 Walton Ave. New York 63, N. Y. ADVISORY COUNCIL Julia Krajcovlc John 1648 W. 18th Street Chicago 8, Ill. A. Sabol National President First Catholic Slovak Union Secretary Helen Kocan Joseph Pauco National President Fir11t Catholic Slovak Ladies Union 107 Bradford Avenue Middletown, Pa. Treasurer Paul Paul C. Kazimer Fallat National President Slovak Catholic Sokol 1122 Sylvan Avenue Homes tead, Pa. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Stephen J. Tkach National President Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union Msgr. F. J. Dubosh, P.A. 12608 Madison Avenue Lakewood 7, Ohio Anna Sotak National President Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union Paul P. Jamriska 536 Marie Ave. Pittsburgh 2, Pa. Philip A. Hrobak Emrich Valko P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. National President SloV'ak Catholic Cadet Union (Affiliated JEDNOTA Middletown, Pa. BRATSTVO Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Middletown, KATOLiCKY SOKOL SVORNOST Pas.sale, N. J. Whitaker, Pa. �• ~ry:,,.---¾ .. . 55. CYRIL AN·O METHODIU S - ~.i,-..,, ~ ··- SLOVAK APOSTLES � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA BOOK REVIEWS Kurt Glaser: Czecho-Slovakia, a Critical History, published by tlhe Caxton Printers Ltd., Ca,ldwell, Idaho, 1961.. Tm-ee maps, U photogra,phic plates, 275 pp., $5.50. Visitors to NA'l10 headquarters in Paris are shown a moving picture od: the "oolfapse O!f democra11ic Czecho-Slov,ak~a" under president Dr. Edward Bene§ in FebI'luary 1948, as one o'f the impeiti toward crea.ting ain, Atlantic def8llse organizartion. Indeed, there are many contemporaries, whose opinions are moulded 3Jfter superficial or slanted reports, who hold that Communism came suddenly to Czecho-Siovakia in 194'8, overthrowirug whalt was previously a "\little island of Westernbrand democracy in a sea of totallitarian-ruled States" in Central Europe. This pulblication has ()({ten poiin,t ed out that such a concept does not jibe with the historrc facts. Professor Glaser of Soothem Illinois Univ-er.silty, prQlbes deep1y into the matter. By collecting proliifiic facts from Czech, Slovak, ~11man and American sources (not anicy from those who staged the February cowp d'etat), he has gathered ample material for his ·thoroug;h-goinig, schola-r1¥ and objective evaluation of developments in and around Czecho-Slovakia from the birth of that State iin, 1918 to the present. Frequent quotations from documents and other source materiall in the text make Glaser's book not on[y interesting reading but give the reader a,n opportunity to dr,a,w conclusi.lOns of his own from the facts and judge the aptitude or i,naiptitude with which histoo-ic situaltion1S were handled at the time by decisive (WeS'tEf!'n and Eastern) policymaking bodies and leaders. 'J.1his reviewer, who lived i-n Czecho-Slov,a!ldia for maniy years and eXJperienced first-hand llhe naHonality, economic, and political pl"o'blems of that State was astonished at Professor GU~ser's keen _sense O!f o~rvation, understandmg, and Judlgment of the historic facts. Caxton pri,nters are to be cong,ratulated on pulblisrhing this excellent piece of scholarly research and objective evaluation. Dr. Glaser, American-born, a Harv,ard graduate, served with the U. S. Mill.itary Governmenlt im, occupied Germa,n y in 19416. While serving overseas he saw at first hand Communist encroachment in Centraa Europe. This proximate exiperience prompted him to adopt, as one O!f his pri111Ci,pal interests, t-he development oo a dynamiic anti-Oommun,ilSt policy. With this in mind, he searched for the reason for the Bolshevizafaon oo East-Oentral Europe, a•n d of Czecho-Slovaki-a in particular. The author's findings are o;f value to the student of histocy, to contemiporacy writers on international alffairs, and to fore~ policy makers. The sulbject he deals with is not a dead topic. It is of timely concern and holds a lesson for future behavior in dealing with the Soviets and in ma-naging effective](y psycliologicall war strategy. Glaser aJ.so warns against misj udig-ing advke and pro,pagamda activities of Czech politidans in eX'ile who before 19418 had kowtowed to Staliin, and, consciously or unconscioosly, paved tlhe w~ for Communi-st rule in OzechoSlovakia. He spotlights otbjection- 96 SLOVAKIA able policy and personnel management of R!adio ftee Europe and in the c-0oo1udi.n•g chapter shows ways for an effective anti-Commuru.st Western policy with regard t-0 Czooho-SloV'altia and EastCentral Europe. Summing up: He, who woulld know a•n d understand happenings in Czecho-Slovakia during the past decades, wil11 find Plrofessor Glaser's book a valuable guide. American Slovaks this yewr are commemorating their "Grand Jubilee" - the 1,lOOth a:nniversary of the advent of SS. Cyrll and Methodius to t he land of the ancient Slova~, Great Moravia - under tlhe SJ)onwrs hi/I) of the Slovak League of America. A conterence of Ame·rican S 1 o v a k s is scheduled far Waishington, D. C., April 15-6, 1963; '1 ater a pilgritmage to Slov,a,kla aind Rome, •I taly, where the ,p ilgrimage will end with the dedication of the Institute of .SS. Cyril and Methodius on Sept. 15. X X Ill! The Slovak Catholic Federation of America 1s sponsoring the ddve 'for $600,00-0 to ·b uild and equip the new Institute of SS. Cy'lil and Metihodiuis in Ro m e. The drive is headed by the Most Rev. Andrew G. Grutka, Bishop of Gary, Indiana, who will also hea<l rthe Americain delegation to Rome for the dedioo.tion of the Institute on •S ept. 16. Clevela,nd and Youngs-toW1J1, 0 ., have already held their celebrations of the 1,lOOth anniversary of SS. Cyril and Methodius; so have Scra'llton and Wi.1.kes-BaTre, Pa. , an<l Brl<lg•eport, Conn. Other Slovak centel'B in America and Gamada will keep the celebrations going to the end of 1963. Almost ha!lf the goal had been rnached by tJhe end of Mareh. X !JC !JC Tido J. Gaipar, Slov·a k jour:nalist and novelist, was 70 years obd on MaTch 7. He "cel~brate<l" the event ,in jail, where he was placed "for life" by the Czech Reos after W. W . II. His "crimes" : Mlti-State activities (In his articles he ~efended the f.nd,e,pendence o·r S!o-yl),'kia, con- demned Stalin's mass murderis in Katyn an<l Vinica, and opposed the pro-Moscow policy of Prague). Gaspar, one of the most cha•mcteristic and most expressive personalities of Slova'k >life ,si'llce W. W. I, was described by his colleagues a,s Slovakia's best stylist and di!plomat. At his trial, no witnesses were allowe<l to testMy •i n his beha.lf. X X !JC Father Vojtech Trizna wa,s given a three-year jail .term in Kosice, Slovakia, because he allegedly "attaoked the athe.fstis, opposed coliectiviza.tdon and mass poliiticall organizaitlons," accordi'llg to a report from Vienna.. Anton F. · Wuschttk. YOU CAN LEARN SLOVAK - IF YOU WANT TO The New, Revised "SLOVAK LESSONS" Will do the trick! • 400 PAGES • 92 LESSONS . Bound in . Cloth - $8.50 ORDER TODAY! • Jednota Printery Middletown. Pa. Officers of the Slovak League of America (Organized May 26, 1907, Cleveland, Ohio) President Joseph G. Prusa Dr. Peter P. H letko 205 Madison Street, Passaic, N. J. Batavia Rd., Box 48 Warrensville, Ill. John A. Sabol Vice-Presidents 140 First Avenue, Phoenixville, Pa. John Horecky 2264 Walton Ave. New York 63, N. Y. ADVISORY COUNCIL Julia Krajcovlc John 1648 W. 18th Street Chicago 8, Ill. A. Sabol National President First Catholic Slovak Union Secretary Helen Kocan Joseph Pauco National President Fir11t Catholic Slovak Ladies Union 107 Bradford Avenue Middletown, Pa. Treasurer Paul Paul C. Kazimer Fallat National President Slovak Catholic Sokol 1122 Sylvan Avenue Homes tead, Pa. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Stephen J. Tkach National President Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union Msgr. F. J. Dubosh, P.A. 12608 Madison Avenue Lakewood 7, Ohio Anna Sotak National President Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union Paul P. Jamriska 536 Marie Ave. Pittsburgh 2, Pa. Philip A. Hrobak Emrich Valko P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. National President SloV'ak Catholic Cadet Union (Affiliated JEDNOTA Middletown, Pa. BRATSTVO Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Middletown, KATOLiCKY SOKOL SVORNOST Pas.sale, N. J. Whitaker, Pa. • ~ry:,,.---¾ .. . 55. CYRIL AN·O METHODIU S - ~.i,-..,, ~ ··- SLOVAK APOSTLES  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Back Matter, Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6588459817e56258aac0fa3c887ef501.pdf 9948f8cbe996bd48112c43a072ff5208 PDF Text Text SWVAKIA 91 CZECH COMMUNISM AND SWVAK RESENTMENT Impressions from Czecho-Slovakia From a Correspondent Travelling in Czecho-Slovakia, I found a good deal altered in a year: that Czecho-Slovakia in 1961 was more relaxed than in 1960; that people were paying less attention to official pronouncements; that they were venturing some timid criticism; that they were more ready to exchange views with visitors from the West. They still dislike Poles, considering them "dangerous rebels," but again it seems that in Czecho-Polish relations there is more ease than a few years ago, and that some of the thorny problems of traffic across the frontiers ( especially in the region of the Tatra Mountains) have been solved. The ferocity of Czech press announcements about Berlin is really astounding. Even the E . German press eannot be surpassed in the force of their artifically con,cocted chauvinism. Czech papers are full to the brim of stol"ies about Berlin and an atmosphere of crisis is worked up by those preposterous Czech papers, which offer a strong contrast with Polish papers, still rather restrained in their comments. The Czech official policy demands a " quick solution" of the problem; they are all for an immediate signing of the Peace Treaty with DDR.. For the first time in years one discovers in those papers a really warlike attitude: almost a Martian one, if it were not ordered from above. For the average Czech is not at all inclined to risk any adventure. Berlin or no Berlin: they are not for sabre rattling. They are quite happy in selling guns, and very good guns at that, to Cuba and Egypt, and Iraq, and many countries around the globe ( China included). But they abhor war. Czech arms seem to be produced at overtime speed and in enormous quantities. I was told by an engineer in Brno that the Skoda works are producing more now than during the German rule in Bohemia. "The quality is probably lower," he explained, "but the quantity is huge. We send arms to China on an enormous scale. We supply Cuba and Egypt and the whole of the Middle East. And Africa. This is our chief export today." Czech cars - Skoda and �92 SLOVAKIA Tatra - are exported not only to the satellite countries and to Russia but also to the Middle East. So are Czech aircraft, or, rather, Russian aircraft manufactured or assembled in Czecho-Slovakia. Bohemia is a huge milit.ary fact,ory, a schooling centre for foreign communists, and . an assembly place for Communists from Asia and Africa. In Prague one is always meeting delegations from Asia and Africa, from South America and from Cuba; there are young Communists who attend special schools and courses. Czecho-Slovakia more particularly Bohemia - knows how to exploit its central position and the fact that long before the war there was a well-established Communist Party; the present-day officiai' organ, Rude .Pri.,·o, has been appearing for many years and Czech Communists survived much better than the Polish variety: Most of them escaped purges; actually, purges before the war were extremely mild and did not touch the core of the Party ( as they did in Poland and in other East European countries). So the Czechs are selling their arms and their ideology to foreign countries with great zeal and ingenuity. They want to export, they want to trade, they want to receive tourists. Marianske Lazne and Karlove Vary, the former Marienbad and Karsbad, are almost flourishing again, together with that wonderful Slovak spa, Piest:any, probably the watering place most effective against rheumatism and arthritis Europe can offer. In Karlove Vary thousands of French, German, English, Russian and Belgian tourists are much in evidence. And the Czechs are willing to do anything to attract foreigners. They are doing this much better than the Poles: but they have more to offer to the outside world - a string of world-famous spas, lovely mountains (the Tatra range) and one of the finest towns in Europe, Prague, untouched by the ravages of war. But what strikes an observt,r who has been to Slovakia after a long absence is the steady dislike, through so many political changes, the Slovaks have for the Czechs. The enmity of the Slovaks vis-a-vis the C7.echs is now great.er than before the war. They openly accuse the Czechs of a "policy of grab and plunder" which does not seem entirely to tally with facts as Slovakia appears to �SLOVAKIA 93 be a much more prosperous country than before the war. Factories and workshops pop up in most unlikely places, some of them hidden among the forests and in the picturesque valleys. Slovakia reminds one of the Tyrol and the mountainous provinces of Austria which, after the war, have been subjected to industrialization with the result that Austria has now achieved a much better balance between industry and agriculture. But a rider should be added here: while in the Western provinces of Austria the newly created industries - some built to make post-war Austria independent of the Eastern provinces then under Russian occupation - belonged to the domain of light industries, the same is not true of Slovakia. In the Vah Valley and in other places Slovak industries belong without doubt to the heavy category. In the over-all Russian plan for industrialization of satellites, Slovakia was assigned a quite important place. Some of the factories work for war industry, some of the heavy industry plants are well hidden in forests and woods or among the undulating slopes of the Fatra and other mountain ranges. They are thoroughly camouflaged in case of war, and their importance must not be underrated. There are, I learned, several aircraft factories in the Fatra rerion, and the country is dotted - that one can tell even during a car journey across Slovakia - with airfields and runways. Slovakia has been made into a military camp. This Slovakia resents bitterly. "As if they had not enough in their Skoda works and what-not," I heard in Banska Bystrica. "Why did they come to us and make our lovely countryside hateful and ugly! Our mountains and hills, our valleys and forests, are changing beyond .recognition. Smoke, and din and noise everywhere." The Slovaks feel they are being exploited both by Russians and by Czechs. ''The Czechs want to take from us all the food and best positions," I was told in Lubochna, the lovely watering place on the River Vah. ''They haven't leamed anything from the past. They are at their tricks again. We hate them like poison." The feeling of intense dislike towards the "oppressor Czechs" and "exploiting Russians" prevails in the toWDS, villages and hamlets of Slovakia. The Slovak Communists are as vociferous in their criticism of their <n.ech comrades �94 SLOVAKIA as any peasant in a village inn. They resent the "omnipresence of the Czech element" and the "arrogant attitude of those people from Prague." Before the war this dislikewas not so strongly colored; it was toned down in places like Bratislava and in the region of the Tatra. In the Tatra region, in the Tatranska Lomnica and other places ( where the Hungarians have left their pre-first World War splendid sanatoria and residences), the enmity towards the "Czech overlords" speaks in an undisguised voice. It is a tragedy, but the new Czecho-Slovakia (a twopartite country, for it has lost its third "canton," Subcarpathian Ruthenia, as well as its unofficial fourth, Sudetenland, as the Germans were driven from there almost to a man) has not succeeded in satisfactorily reshaping the country and uniting it with bonds of loyalty and genuine collaboration. The differences between Slovaks and Czechs have become accentuated; in all problems where the Czechs say "white," the Slovaks say "black." And so, for instance, in the matter of the Berlin crisis the Czechs are more or less behind their official policy: They are voicing very stridently the view that "West Berlin should be liquidated." The Slovaks assert that there is no reason for such a move and that East Germans are oppressed by their regime ... - THE TABLET, London, Sept. 23, 1961. Learn Slova!k, the key language to all Slav languages, the easy way. You can do it in several months if you use the newest book by P. A. Hrobak. LET'S LEARN SWVAK Recomended for ·b oth the young and the old. The book contains 64 lessons on 200 pages and is bound in a hard ,p aper cover. You can get a copy by sending Two Dollars ($2.00) to: P.A.HROBAK Jednota Printery Middletown, PA . • � SWVAKIA 91 CZECH COMMUNISM AND SWVAK RESENTMENT Impressions from Czecho-Slovakia From a Correspondent Travelling in Czecho-Slovakia, I found a good deal altered in a year: that Czecho-Slovakia in 1961 was more relaxed than in 1960; that people were paying less attention to official pronouncements; that they were venturing some timid criticism; that they were more ready to exchange views with visitors from the West. They still dislike Poles, considering them "dangerous rebels," but again it seems that in Czecho-Polish relations there is more ease than a few years ago, and that some of the thorny problems of traffic across the frontiers ( especially in the region of the Tatra Mountains) have been solved. The ferocity of Czech press announcements about Berlin is really astounding. Even the E . German press eannot be surpassed in the force of their artifically con,cocted chauvinism. Czech papers are full to the brim of stol"ies about Berlin and an atmosphere of crisis is worked up by those preposterous Czech papers, which offer a strong contrast with Polish papers, still rather restrained in their comments. The Czech official policy demands a " quick solution" of the problem; they are all for an immediate signing of the Peace Treaty with DDR.. For the first time in years one discovers in those papers a really warlike attitude: almost a Martian one, if it were not ordered from above. For the average Czech is not at all inclined to risk any adventure. Berlin or no Berlin: they are not for sabre rattling. They are quite happy in selling guns, and very good guns at that, to Cuba and Egypt, and Iraq, and many countries around the globe ( China included). But they abhor war. Czech arms seem to be produced at overtime speed and in enormous quantities. I was told by an engineer in Brno that the Skoda works are producing more now than during the German rule in Bohemia. "The quality is probably lower," he explained, "but the quantity is huge. We send arms to China on an enormous scale. We supply Cuba and Egypt and the whole of the Middle East. And Africa. This is our chief export today." Czech cars - Skoda and �92 SLOVAKIA Tatra - are exported not only to the satellite countries and to Russia but also to the Middle East. So are Czech aircraft, or, rather, Russian aircraft manufactured or assembled in Czecho-Slovakia. Bohemia is a huge milit.ary fact,ory, a schooling centre for foreign communists, and . an assembly place for Communists from Asia and Africa. In Prague one is always meeting delegations from Asia and Africa, from South America and from Cuba; there are young Communists who attend special schools and courses. Czecho-Slovakia more particularly Bohemia - knows how to exploit its central position and the fact that long before the war there was a well-established Communist Party; the present-day officiai' organ, Rude .Pri.,·o, has been appearing for many years and Czech Communists survived much better than the Polish variety: Most of them escaped purges; actually, purges before the war were extremely mild and did not touch the core of the Party ( as they did in Poland and in other East European countries). So the Czechs are selling their arms and their ideology to foreign countries with great zeal and ingenuity. They want to export, they want to trade, they want to receive tourists. Marianske Lazne and Karlove Vary, the former Marienbad and Karsbad, are almost flourishing again, together with that wonderful Slovak spa, Piest:any, probably the watering place most effective against rheumatism and arthritis Europe can offer. In Karlove Vary thousands of French, German, English, Russian and Belgian tourists are much in evidence. And the Czechs are willing to do anything to attract foreigners. They are doing this much better than the Poles: but they have more to offer to the outside world - a string of world-famous spas, lovely mountains (the Tatra range) and one of the finest towns in Europe, Prague, untouched by the ravages of war. But what strikes an observt,r who has been to Slovakia after a long absence is the steady dislike, through so many political changes, the Slovaks have for the Czechs. The enmity of the Slovaks vis-a-vis the C7.echs is now great.er than before the war. They openly accuse the Czechs of a "policy of grab and plunder" which does not seem entirely to tally with facts as Slovakia appears to �SLOVAKIA 93 be a much more prosperous country than before the war. Factories and workshops pop up in most unlikely places, some of them hidden among the forests and in the picturesque valleys. Slovakia reminds one of the Tyrol and the mountainous provinces of Austria which, after the war, have been subjected to industrialization with the result that Austria has now achieved a much better balance between industry and agriculture. But a rider should be added here: while in the Western provinces of Austria the newly created industries - some built to make post-war Austria independent of the Eastern provinces then under Russian occupation - belonged to the domain of light industries, the same is not true of Slovakia. In the Vah Valley and in other places Slovak industries belong without doubt to the heavy category. In the over-all Russian plan for industrialization of satellites, Slovakia was assigned a quite important place. Some of the factories work for war industry, some of the heavy industry plants are well hidden in forests and woods or among the undulating slopes of the Fatra and other mountain ranges. They are thoroughly camouflaged in case of war, and their importance must not be underrated. There are, I learned, several aircraft factories in the Fatra rerion, and the country is dotted - that one can tell even during a car journey across Slovakia - with airfields and runways. Slovakia has been made into a military camp. This Slovakia resents bitterly. "As if they had not enough in their Skoda works and what-not," I heard in Banska Bystrica. "Why did they come to us and make our lovely countryside hateful and ugly! Our mountains and hills, our valleys and forests, are changing beyond .recognition. Smoke, and din and noise everywhere." The Slovaks feel they are being exploited both by Russians and by Czechs. ''The Czechs want to take from us all the food and best positions," I was told in Lubochna, the lovely watering place on the River Vah. ''They haven't leamed anything from the past. They are at their tricks again. We hate them like poison." The feeling of intense dislike towards the "oppressor Czechs" and "exploiting Russians" prevails in the toWDS, villages and hamlets of Slovakia. The Slovak Communists are as vociferous in their criticism of their <n.ech comrades �94 SLOVAKIA as any peasant in a village inn. They resent the "omnipresence of the Czech element" and the "arrogant attitude of those people from Prague." Before the war this dislikewas not so strongly colored; it was toned down in places like Bratislava and in the region of the Tatra. In the Tatra region, in the Tatranska Lomnica and other places ( where the Hungarians have left their pre-first World War splendid sanatoria and residences), the enmity towards the "Czech overlords" speaks in an undisguised voice. It is a tragedy, but the new Czecho-Slovakia (a twopartite country, for it has lost its third "canton," Subcarpathian Ruthenia, as well as its unofficial fourth, Sudetenland, as the Germans were driven from there almost to a man) has not succeeded in satisfactorily reshaping the country and uniting it with bonds of loyalty and genuine collaboration. The differences between Slovaks and Czechs have become accentuated; in all problems where the Czechs say "white," the Slovaks say "black." And so, for instance, in the matter of the Berlin crisis the Czechs are more or less behind their official policy: They are voicing very stridently the view that "West Berlin should be liquidated." The Slovaks assert that there is no reason for such a move and that East Germans are oppressed by their regime ... - THE TABLET, London, Sept. 23, 1961. Learn Slova!k, the key language to all Slav languages, the easy way. You can do it in several months if you use the newest book by P. A. Hrobak. LET'S LEARN SWVAK Recomended for ·b oth the young and the old. The book contains 64 lessons on 200 pages and is bound in a hard ,p aper cover. You can get a copy by sending Two Dollars ($2.00) to: P.A.HROBAK Jednota Printery Middletown, PA . • � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SWVAKIA 91 CZECH COMMUNISM AND SWVAK RESENTMENT Impressions from Czecho-Slovakia From a Correspondent Travelling in Czecho-Slovakia, I found a good deal altered in a year: that Czecho-Slovakia in 1961 was more relaxed than in 1960; that people were paying less attention to official pronouncements; that they were venturing some timid criticism; that they were more ready to exchange views with visitors from the West. They still dislike Poles, considering them "dangerous rebels," but again it seems that in Czecho-Polish relations there is more ease than a few years ago, and that some of the thorny problems of traffic across the frontiers ( especially in the region of the Tatra Mountains) have been solved. The ferocity of Czech press announcements about Berlin is really astounding. Even the E . German press eannot be surpassed in the force of their artifically con,cocted chauvinism. Czech papers are full to the brim of stol"ies about Berlin and an atmosphere of crisis is worked up by those preposterous Czech papers, which offer a strong contrast with Polish papers, still rather restrained in their comments. The Czech official policy demands a " quick solution" of the problem; they are all for an immediate signing of the Peace Treaty with DDR.. For the first time in years one discovers in those papers a really warlike attitude: almost a Martian one, if it were not ordered from above. For the average Czech is not at all inclined to risk any adventure. Berlin or no Berlin: they are not for sabre rattling. They are quite happy in selling guns, and very good guns at that, to Cuba and Egypt, and Iraq, and many countries around the globe ( China included). But they abhor war. Czech arms seem to be produced at overtime speed and in enormous quantities. I was told by an engineer in Brno that the Skoda works are producing more now than during the German rule in Bohemia. "The quality is probably lower," he explained, "but the quantity is huge. We send arms to China on an enormous scale. We supply Cuba and Egypt and the whole of the Middle East. And Africa. This is our chief export today." Czech cars - Skoda and 92 SLOVAKIA Tatra - are exported not only to the satellite countries and to Russia but also to the Middle East. So are Czech aircraft, or, rather, Russian aircraft manufactured or assembled in Czecho-Slovakia. Bohemia is a huge milit.ary fact,ory, a schooling centre for foreign communists, and . an assembly place for Communists from Asia and Africa. In Prague one is always meeting delegations from Asia and Africa, from South America and from Cuba; there are young Communists who attend special schools and courses. Czecho-Slovakia more particularly Bohemia - knows how to exploit its central position and the fact that long before the war there was a well-established Communist Party; the present-day officiai' organ, Rude .Pri.,·o, has been appearing for many years and Czech Communists survived much better than the Polish variety: Most of them escaped purges; actually, purges before the war were extremely mild and did not touch the core of the Party ( as they did in Poland and in other East European countries). So the Czechs are selling their arms and their ideology to foreign countries with great zeal and ingenuity. They want to export, they want to trade, they want to receive tourists. Marianske Lazne and Karlove Vary, the former Marienbad and Karsbad, are almost flourishing again, together with that wonderful Slovak spa, Piest:any, probably the watering place most effective against rheumatism and arthritis Europe can offer. In Karlove Vary thousands of French, German, English, Russian and Belgian tourists are much in evidence. And the Czechs are willing to do anything to attract foreigners. They are doing this much better than the Poles: but they have more to offer to the outside world - a string of world-famous spas, lovely mountains (the Tatra range) and one of the finest towns in Europe, Prague, untouched by the ravages of war. But what strikes an observt,r who has been to Slovakia after a long absence is the steady dislike, through so many political changes, the Slovaks have for the Czechs. The enmity of the Slovaks vis-a-vis the C7.echs is now great.er than before the war. They openly accuse the Czechs of a "policy of grab and plunder" which does not seem entirely to tally with facts as Slovakia appears to SLOVAKIA 93 be a much more prosperous country than before the war. Factories and workshops pop up in most unlikely places, some of them hidden among the forests and in the picturesque valleys. Slovakia reminds one of the Tyrol and the mountainous provinces of Austria which, after the war, have been subjected to industrialization with the result that Austria has now achieved a much better balance between industry and agriculture. But a rider should be added here: while in the Western provinces of Austria the newly created industries - some built to make post-war Austria independent of the Eastern provinces then under Russian occupation - belonged to the domain of light industries, the same is not true of Slovakia. In the Vah Valley and in other places Slovak industries belong without doubt to the heavy category. In the over-all Russian plan for industrialization of satellites, Slovakia was assigned a quite important place. Some of the factories work for war industry, some of the heavy industry plants are well hidden in forests and woods or among the undulating slopes of the Fatra and other mountain ranges. They are thoroughly camouflaged in case of war, and their importance must not be underrated. There are, I learned, several aircraft factories in the Fatra rerion, and the country is dotted - that one can tell even during a car journey across Slovakia - with airfields and runways. Slovakia has been made into a military camp. This Slovakia resents bitterly. "As if they had not enough in their Skoda works and what-not," I heard in Banska Bystrica. "Why did they come to us and make our lovely countryside hateful and ugly! Our mountains and hills, our valleys and forests, are changing beyond .recognition. Smoke, and din and noise everywhere." The Slovaks feel they are being exploited both by Russians and by Czechs. ''The Czechs want to take from us all the food and best positions," I was told in Lubochna, the lovely watering place on the River Vah. ''They haven't leamed anything from the past. They are at their tricks again. We hate them like poison." The feeling of intense dislike towards the "oppressor Czechs" and "exploiting Russians" prevails in the toWDS, villages and hamlets of Slovakia. The Slovak Communists are as vociferous in their criticism of their <n.ech comrades 94 SLOVAKIA as any peasant in a village inn. They resent the "omnipresence of the Czech element" and the "arrogant attitude of those people from Prague." Before the war this dislikewas not so strongly colored; it was toned down in places like Bratislava and in the region of the Tatra. In the Tatra region, in the Tatranska Lomnica and other places ( where the Hungarians have left their pre-first World War splendid sanatoria and residences), the enmity towards the "Czech overlords" speaks in an undisguised voice. It is a tragedy, but the new Czecho-Slovakia (a twopartite country, for it has lost its third "canton," Subcarpathian Ruthenia, as well as its unofficial fourth, Sudetenland, as the Germans were driven from there almost to a man) has not succeeded in satisfactorily reshaping the country and uniting it with bonds of loyalty and genuine collaboration. The differences between Slovaks and Czechs have become accentuated; in all problems where the Czechs say "white," the Slovaks say "black." And so, for instance, in the matter of the Berlin crisis the Czechs are more or less behind their official policy: They are voicing very stridently the view that "West Berlin should be liquidated." The Slovaks assert that there is no reason for such a move and that East Germans are oppressed by their regime ... - THE TABLET, London, Sept. 23, 1961. Learn Slova!k, the key language to all Slav languages, the easy way. You can do it in several months if you use the newest book by P. A. Hrobak. LET'S LEARN SWVAK Recomended for ·b oth the young and the old. The book contains 64 lessons on 200 pages and is bound in a hard ,p aper cover. You can get a copy by sending Two Dollars ($2.00) to: P.A.HROBAK Jednota Printery Middletown, PA . •  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Czech Communism and Slovak Resentment: Impressions from Czecho-Slovakia Description An account of the resource From a Correspondent Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36), March 1963 pp. 91-94 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/562a6f327343acfaed35e21ca845f7c7.pdf f5967ce27e0b557cc3bf75ba1956eb56 PDF Text Text SLO V VOL. XIII MARCH, 1963 NO 1 36) IN Tms ISSUE: How Christian-ity Came to the Slovaks The Meaning of the Cyrilo-Methodian Jubilee Where Did St. Methodius Die? The Paintings in the Basilica of St. Clement American Slovaks and SS. Cyril and Methodius The La'nguage of Sts. Cyril and Methodius The Slovanic Church and Slovanic Literature SS. Cyril and Methodius: Their First Trip to Rome A Hundred Years of the Matica Slovenska The Matica ·s 1ovenska in America Prague Between Moscow and Berlin Czech Reds Have School T.rouble A Policy of Genocide Czech Communism and Slovak Resentment Book Review News Items: 12, 16, 96 Published by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA ·r •1co pl IL p . H �RECOMMENDED BOOKS: SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE, Oddo; $6.00. SLOVAKIA - NATION AT THE CROSSROADS OF CfilNTRAL EUROPE, Kirschbaum; $5.00. THE SLOVAKS, Yurchak; paper cover $2.00; cloth $3.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY, Skultety; $1.00 (paper); $2.00 (cloth cover). THE CHURCH OF SILENCE IN SLOVAKIA, Zubek; $3.50. SLOVAKIA'S ROAD TO STATEHOOD, Woytko; $1.50. "CZECHOSLOVAKIA" - History Made to Order, Hrobak; 50c. UNCONQUERABLES, Pauco; $2.00 L'UDOviT STUR AND HIS PLACE IN THE SLAVIC WORLD, Prof. J. Kirschbaum; 25c. ANTHOLOGY OF SLOVAK POETRY, Kramoris; $2.00. ♦ ♦ ♦ SLOVAKIA is published periodically by the Slovak League of America, a cultural and civic federation of Americans of Slovak descent. The main purpose of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better under· standing and appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long, hard struggle for freedom and independence. $1.00 per annum in the U. S. A . - $2.00 elsewhere. SLOVAKIA P.O. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. Printed in the U.S.A. JEDNOTA PRESS Middletown, Pa. � SLO V VOL. XIII MARCH, 1963 NO 1 36) IN Tms ISSUE: How Christian-ity Came to the Slovaks The Meaning of the Cyrilo-Methodian Jubilee Where Did St. Methodius Die? The Paintings in the Basilica of St. Clement American Slovaks and SS. Cyril and Methodius The La'nguage of Sts. Cyril and Methodius The Slovanic Church and Slovanic Literature SS. Cyril and Methodius: Their First Trip to Rome A Hundred Years of the Matica Slovenska The Matica ·s 1ovenska in America Prague Between Moscow and Berlin Czech Reds Have School T.rouble A Policy of Genocide Czech Communism and Slovak Resentment Book Review News Items: 12, 16, 96 Published by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA ·r •1co pl IL p . H �RECOMMENDED BOOKS: SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE, Oddo; $6.00. SLOVAKIA - NATION AT THE CROSSROADS OF CfilNTRAL EUROPE, Kirschbaum; $5.00. THE SLOVAKS, Yurchak; paper cover $2.00; cloth $3.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY, Skultety; $1.00 (paper); $2.00 (cloth cover). THE CHURCH OF SILENCE IN SLOVAKIA, Zubek; $3.50. SLOVAKIA'S ROAD TO STATEHOOD, Woytko; $1.50. "CZECHOSLOVAKIA" - History Made to Order, Hrobak; 50c. UNCONQUERABLES, Pauco; $2.00 L'UDOviT STUR AND HIS PLACE IN THE SLAVIC WORLD, Prof. J. Kirschbaum; 25c. ANTHOLOGY OF SLOVAK POETRY, Kramoris; $2.00. ♦ ♦ ♦ SLOVAKIA is published periodically by the Slovak League of America, a cultural and civic federation of Americans of Slovak descent. The main purpose of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better under· standing and appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long, hard struggle for freedom and independence. $1.00 per annum in the U. S. A . - $2.00 elsewhere. SLOVAKIA P.O. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. Printed in the U.S.A. JEDNOTA PRESS Middletown, Pa. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1963, Vol. 13 Description An account of the resource Issue 1 (No. 36), March 1963. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1963 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLO V VOL. XIII MARCH, 1963 NO 1 36) IN Tms ISSUE: How Christian-ity Came to the Slovaks The Meaning of the Cyrilo-Methodian Jubilee Where Did St. Methodius Die? The Paintings in the Basilica of St. Clement American Slovaks and SS. Cyril and Methodius The La'nguage of Sts. Cyril and Methodius The Slovanic Church and Slovanic Literature SS. Cyril and Methodius: Their First Trip to Rome A Hundred Years of the Matica Slovenska The Matica ·s 1ovenska in America Prague Between Moscow and Berlin Czech Reds Have School T.rouble A Policy of Genocide Czech Communism and Slovak Resentment Book Review News Items: 12, 16, 96 Published by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA ·r •1co pl IL p . H RECOMMENDED BOOKS: SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE, Oddo; $6.00. SLOVAKIA - NATION AT THE CROSSROADS OF CfilNTRAL EUROPE, Kirschbaum; $5.00. THE SLOVAKS, Yurchak; paper cover $2.00; cloth $3.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY, Skultety; $1.00 (paper); $2.00 (cloth cover). THE CHURCH OF SILENCE IN SLOVAKIA, Zubek; $3.50. SLOVAKIA'S ROAD TO STATEHOOD, Woytko; $1.50. "CZECHOSLOVAKIA" - History Made to Order, Hrobak; 50c. UNCONQUERABLES, Pauco; $2.00 L'UDOviT STUR AND HIS PLACE IN THE SLAVIC WORLD, Prof. J. Kirschbaum; 25c. ANTHOLOGY OF SLOVAK POETRY, Kramoris; $2.00. ♦ ♦ ♦ SLOVAKIA is published periodically by the Slovak League of America, a cultural and civic federation of Americans of Slovak descent. The main purpose of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better under· standing and appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long, hard struggle for freedom and independence. $1.00 per annum in the U. S. A . - $2.00 elsewhere. SLOVAKIA P.O. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. Printed in the U.S.A. JEDNOTA PRESS Middletown, Pa.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Front Matter, Slovakia, Vol. 13, No. 1 (36) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 1963