Main Characteristics of Glagolitism
Glagolitism is the Croatian branch of the Cyrillic-Methodian tradition, encompassing the entire activity of Croatian Glagolitic scholars. Unlike other Slavs, they preserved the Glagolitic script and, in doing so, developed a new form of writing, the angular or Croatian Glagolitic script.
Glagolitism also refers to literacy in (Croatian) Cyrillic. Glagolitism includes Glagolitic liturgy and Glagolitic chanting. Today, Glagolitism is studied by scholars from various fields, including philologists, historians, art historians, theologians, liturgists, and others.
Croatian Church Slavonic Language
The Croatian Church Slavonic language is the oldest Croatian literary language. It developed from the first Slavic literary language – Old Church Slavonic, which originated in the 9th century and was used to write the earliest monuments of Slavic literacy preserved in copies from the 10th and 11th centuries.
The beginnings of Glagolitic liturgy (Old Church Slavonic liturgy) are inseparably connected with the Moravian mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius, who translated the Holy Scripture and liturgical texts from Greek and Latin into Slavic.
Glagolitic chanting is a distinctive Croatian liturgical and non-liturgical form of singing that emerged from Glagolitic liturgy. It involves chanting in the Croatian Church Slavonic language, as well as in the Croatian language with a Čakavian dialectal base.
Cyrillic is the second and younger Slavic script, derived from the Greek alphabet. It was long believed to have been created by the disciples of Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius for the purpose of converting the Slavs in the Byzantine region to Christianity and was named in the honor of Saint Cyril.