Editing Cyril and Methodius (section)

===Methodius' final years===
The papal will prevailed, and Methodius secured his freedom and his archiepiscopal authority over both Great Moravia and Pannonia, albeit without the use of Slavonic for [[Mass in the Catholic Church]]. His authority in Pannonia was restricted after Koceľ's death, when the principality was administered by German nobles. However, [[Svatopluk I|Svatopluk]] now ruled practically independently in Great Moravia, and he expelled the German clergy. It seems this secured an undisturbed field of operation for Methodius, and the ''Vita'' (x.) depicts the next few years (873–879) as a time of fruitful progress. Methodius seems to have disregarded, wholly or in part, the prohibition of the Slavonic liturgy. When [[Franks|Frankish]] clerics again ventured into the country, revealing a permissive Svatopluk at odds with his punctilious archbishop, this was made a cause of complaint against him at Rome, coupled with charges regarding the ''[[Filioque clause|Filioque]]''.

In 878, Methodius was summoned to Rome on charges of heresy and using Slavonic. This time Pope John was convinced by the arguments that Methodius made in his defence and sent him back cleared of all charges, and with permission to use Slavonic. The Carolingian bishop who succeeded him, [[Wiching]], a [[Swabia]]n, suppressed the Slavonic Liturgy and forced the followers of Methodius into exile. Many found refuge with Knyaz [[Boris I of Bulgaria|Boris the Baptizer]] in [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]], under whom they reorganized a Slavic-speaking Church. Meanwhile, Pope John's successors adopted a Latin-only policy which lasted for centuries.

Methodius vindicated his orthodoxy and promised to obey with regard to the liturgy. He could the more easily defend his omission of ''Filioque'' from the creed as this also pertained in Rome at the time. Though ''Filioque'' could, by the 6th century, be heard in some Latin-speaking churches in the west, it was not to be until 1014 that Rome followed suit (see [[Nicene Creed]]). Methodius' critics were mollified by Methodius having to accept the appointment of Wiching as his coadjutor. When relations between the two factions again became strained, John VIII steadfastly supported Methodius. After his death (December 882) it was the archbishop himself whose position looked insecure. His need for political support, visiting the Eastern emperor, inclined Goetz to accept the account in the ''Vita'' (xiii.).

Methodius died on 6 April 885<ref>Житїе Меөодїя (Life of Methodius), title & chap. XVIII - [http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=2164 available on-line] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305205114/http://lib.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=2164 |date=5 March 2016 }}</ref> and his body was buried in the main cathedral church of Great Moravia. It still remains an open question which city was capital of Great Moravia. As a result the location of Methodius' body remains uncertain.<ref>Short Life of Cyril & Methodius. Translated by Ján STANISLAV: Životy slovanských apoštolov Cyrila a Metoda v legendách a listoch. Turčiansky Sv. Martin: Matica slovenská, 1950, p. 88. (Slovak)</ref>

Upon Methodius' death an animosity erupted into open conflict. Amongst the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, [[Clement of Ohrid]] headed the struggle against the German clergy in Great Moravia along with [[Saint Gorazd|Gorazd]] upon the death of Methodius in 885. Gorazd, whom Methodius had designated as his successor, was not recognised by [[Pope Stephen V]]. This pope now also forbade the Slavic liturgy<ref>Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, (HarperCollins, 2000), 144.</ref> and placed as Methodius' successor the infamous {{Not a typo|Wiching}} who promptly sent disciples of Cyril and Methodius into exile from Great Moravia.

After spending some time in jail, Clement was expelled from Great Moravia, and in 885 or 886 reached the borders of the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] together with [[Saint Naum|Naum]], [[Saint Angelar|Angelar]], and possibly also Gorazd (other sources suggest Gorazd had already died by that time). Angelar soon died after an arrival, but Clement and Naum were afterwards sent to the Bulgarian capital of Pliska, where they were commissioned by [[Boris I]] to instruct the future clergy of the state in the Slavonic language. Eventually they were commissioned to establish two theological schools - the [[Ohrid Literary School]] in [[Ohrid]] and the [[Preslav Literary School]] in [[Veliki Preslav|Preslav]]. The Preslav Literary School had been originally established in [[Pliska]], but was moved to Preslav in 893.