<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Saints Cyril and Methodius (826--869, 815--885; Greek: Κύριλλος καὶ Μεθόδιος; Old Church Slavonic: К ѷ риллъ и Ме ѳ одїи) were two brothers who were Byzantine Christian theologians and Christian missionaries . Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they received the title "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic . After their deaths, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs . Both brothers are venerated in the Orthodox Church as saints with the title of "equal - to - apostles". In 1880, Pope Leo XIII introduced their feast into the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church . In 1980, Pope John Paul II declared them co-patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia . </P> <P> The two brothers were born in Thessalonica, in present - day Greece--Cyril in about 827--828 and Methodius about 815--820 . Cyril was reputedly the youngest of seven brothers; he was born Constantine, but took the name Cyril upon becoming a monk in Rome shortly before his death, according to the Vita Cyrilli ("The Life of Cyril"). Methodius was born Michael and took the name Methodius upon becoming a monk at Mysian Olympus (present - day Uludağ), in northwest Turkey . Their father was Leo, a droungarios of the Byzantine theme of Thessalonica, and their mother was Maria . </P>

Who invented an alphabet for the slavic language