The Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius was a short-lived secret political society that existed in Kiev, Ukraine, at the time a part of the Russian Empire. Founded in December, 1845 or in January, 1846, the society was quickly suppressed by the government in March 1847 with most of the members punished by exile or imprisonment. A monument to St. ... Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of Russian history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1846 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1847 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

The goals of the society were liberalisation of the political and social system of the Imperial Russia in accordance with the members Christian principles and the Slavophile views that gained popularity among the country's liberal intelligentsia. Created under the initiative of Nikolay Kostomarov, a famous historian of Russia and Ukraine, the society was named after Saints Cyril and Methodius, widely regarded as heroes for the Slavic nations celebrated for spreading Christianity and inventing the alphabet used in several Slavic languages. The society goals included the abolition of serfdom, broad access to public education and transformation of the empire into a federation of free Slavic people with Russians being one of the equal rather than the dominant nation. Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, known by Christians as Jesus Christ, and New Testament accounts of his life and teachings. ... A Slavophile was an advocate of the supremacy of Slavic culture over that of others, especially Western European culture. ... The intelligentsia (from Latin: intelligentia) is a social class of people engaged in complex mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture: intellectuals and social groups close to them (e. ... Nikolai Ivanovich Kostomarov (Russian: ; Ukrainian: ) (May 16, 1817, vil. ... Saints Cyril and Methodius painted by Jan Matejko. ... The Slavic peoples are the most numerous ethnic and linguistic body of peoples in Europe. ... The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia. ... The origins of serfdom in Russia are traced to Kievan Rus in the 11th century. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A federation (Latin: foedus, covenant) is a state comprised of a number of partially self-governing regions (often themselves referred to as states) united by a central (federal) government. ... One of the most influential doctrines in history is that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ...

A great Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko, was one of the members of the brotherhood. Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko, Ukrainian: ; (March 9, 1814 - March 10, 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, also an artist and a humanist. ...

See also

• Saints Cyril and Methodius

Saints Cyril and Methodius painted by Jan Matejko. ...

External references

• Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood article in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.