Changes

The introduction of Byzantine Church rites and above all the Bible, led to Russia becoming a literate society. There may have been a nascent Russian alphabet prior to the conversion of Vladimir. However, the adoption of Orthodox Christianity was decisive in the development of a literate culture in the Russian lands. Constantine-Cyril (826-69) and Methodius (815-85), two Greek missionaries who proselytized in Slavic lands, ‘’created the alphabet for the liturgical language Old Church Slavonic that was influenced by Greek models in vocabulary, phraseology, syntax and style, and was the common literary language of all the Orthodox Slavs.’’ <ref> Ryan, Norma "Byzantine Influence on Russia Through the Ages", Culture & Memory. Special Issue of Modern Greek Studies (Australia and New Zealand), 2006: 279-290 </ref>  This alphabet became the language of the Church in Russian lands and all literary works for many centuries. The development of Old Slavonic meant that the production of literary works was in the hands of the Church and this tended to restrain intellectual life in Russia, for many centuries.