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The Library

Forty Centuries of Christian Writing

1577 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.

801–900

The Ninth Century

2 works

c. 870–880

Old Church Slavonic

The Life of Constantine

Anonymous

The life of the missionary called Cyril, who devised an alphabet for the Slavs, translated the liturgy, and defended vernacular worship against those who allowed only three sacred languages.

Byzantine · Biography

c. 885–890

Old Church Slavonic

The Life of Methodius

Anonymous

The career of Cyril's brother, who continued the Slavonic mission in Moravia, was imprisoned by Frankish bishops, and translated most of the Bible before his death.

Byzantine · Biography

901–1000

The Tenth Century

1 work

c. 948–952

Greek

On the Administration of the Empire

Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus · 905–959

A private handbook from an emperor to his son on the peoples surrounding the empire — Rus, Pechenegs, Serbs, Croats — and how to manage each of them.

Byzantine · Handbook