Saint Rostislav Prince of Great Moravia

Rostislav (also rendered Rastislav) was prince of Great Moravia from 846 to 870 and is venerated in the Orthodox Church as a right-believing ruler. He belonged to the ruling House of Mojmir and was a nephew of Mojmir I, the first known Moravian ruler. Rostislav came to power in 846 when Louis the German, king of East Francia, invaded Moravia, deprived Mojmir I of his throne, and installed Rostislav as duke; though he began as a Frankish vassal, he gradually worked to reduce East Frankish political influence over his realm.

Rostislav is chiefly remembered for the request that opened the way for the Christian mission to the Slavs. Around 862, seeking instruction in the faith free of dependence on Frankish Latin-speaking clergy, he petitioned the Byzantine emperor Michael III to send teachers who could explain the Christian faith to the Moravians in their own language. In response the emperor dispatched the brothers Cyril and Methodius, who arrived in 863 and used the Slavonic tongue for teaching and for the divine services. Cyril devised a script for the Slavs (the Glagolitic alphabet) and the brothers began translating the Gospels and liturgical books into the language now known as Old Church Slavonic.

Rostislav's later years were marked by conflict with East Francia and within his own family. By 870 his nephew Svatopluk conspired against him, coming to terms with Carloman of Bavaria to surrender Rostislav in exchange for rule over Great Moravia. Rostislav was captured and brought before Louis the German bound in chains. An assembly of Franks, Bavarians, and Slavs condemned him to death for treason, but the king commuted the sentence to blinding and imprisonment. He was blinded and confined in a Bavarian monastery, where he died, probably in 870.

Rostislav was canonized by the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia in October 1994, and is commemorated on May 11 — the same day on which the Church honors Saints Cyril and Methodius, whose mission he had summoned.