Crumbs from the Table

The Russian language is a language in the Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family.  The Proto-Slavic language was spoken by the Proto-Slavic people living in the area around the modern-day town of Pripyat (famous for its association with the Chernobyl nuclear power station) between modern-day Belarus and Ukraine. From the 500s, the Slavs spread out westwards and southwards (and some in a north-westerly direction).  From 862, missionaries from Constantinople, Cyril and Methodius, introduced an alphabet and liturgy (text of a church service) for the Slavonic-speaking people of Great Moravia (modern-day Czechia), based on the Slavonic language spoken near their native city of Thessalonica. The Slavonic liturgy, originally created by Cyril and Methodius for the people of Great Moravia, is common to all Slavic peoples who profess Eastern Orthodox Christianity, however it has increasingly differed from the everyday speech of the various Slavic peoples. Already by the time...

From the late 500s, non-Christian populations of Slavs, Avars and other non-Christian peoples had moved into large areas of the Balkans right down into what is now Greece. As a result, the system of bishoprics collapsed (e.g. the bishopric of Sirmium in modern-day Serbia), although some Christian presence remained. From the point of view of Constantinople, this became a "Scythian wilderness." The process of reclaiming this area for the Empire and also for the Christian faith is sometimes referred to as "Reconquista". These lands were Hellenised, imperial control reasserted, and the Eastern Orthodox faith spread. This took place from as early as the mid-600s and continued into the 800s, particularly under Emperor Nicephorus I. Later, evangelist-monk Nikon Metanoite (d. 998) continued the work of reclaiming and re-evangelising Orthodox areas inside the boundary of the Empire ("limes") such as southern Greece, as well as areas where Orthodox had converted to ...