POLITICKÝ VÝZNAM PÔSOBENIA MISIE KONŠTANTÍNA A METODA NA ÚZEMÍ SLOVENOV - DO ROKU 868

The study examines the political context of the presence of the Thessalonian brothers Constantine and Methodius in our territory prior to 868. Although outwardly the purpose of their mission was christianization and education, its actual nature was political. The educational, cultural and spiritual aspects of Constantine and Methodius’s activity merely reflected the political bottom line. Their political efforts resulted not only in the creation of the first Slavic writing system and in the translations of parts of the Bible into Old Church Slavonic, but also in the establishment of the first nationwide Slavic educational institution and the first written language, literature and culture of the Slavs. The political role of the Thessalonian brothers strengthened the sovereignty of Great Moravia’s statehood and laid the foundations of the Cyril and Methodius tradition, which has been an integral part of the national history of the Slovaks and Slovak statehood.