Editing Bulgarians (section)

====Cyrillic alphabet====
{{Main|Cyrillic alphabet}}
[[File:Ocslavonic.gif|thumb|right|Cyrillic alphabet of the medieval [[Old Bulgarian]] language]]

In the first half of the 10th century, the [[Cyrillic script]] was devised in the [[Preslav Literary School]], [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]], based on the [[Glagolitic alphabet|Glagolitic]], the [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] and [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] alphabets. Modern versions of the alphabet are now used to write five more [[Slavic languages]] such as [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]], [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]], Russian, [[Serbian language|Serbian]] and [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] as well as [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] and some other 60 languages spoken in the former [[Soviet Union]]. [[First Bulgarian Empire|Medieval Bulgaria]] was the most important cultural centre of the [[Slavic people]]s at the end of the 9th and throughout the 10th century. The two literary schools of [[Preslav Literary School|Preslav]] and [[Ohrid Literary School|Ohrid]] developed a rich literary and cultural activity with authors of the rank of [[Constantine of Preslav]], [[John Exarch]], [[Chernorizets Hrabar]], [[Clement of Ohrid|Clement]] and [[Naum of Ohrid]]. Bulgaria exerted similar influence on its neighbouring countries in the mid- to late 14th century, at the time of the [[Tarnovo Literary School]], with the work of [[Patriarch Evtimiy]], [[Gregory Tsamblak]], [[Constantine of Kostenets]] (Konstantin Kostenechki). Bulgarian cultural influence was especially strong in [[Wallachia]] and [[Moldova]] where the Cyrillic script was used until 1860, while [[Church Slavonic language|Church Slavonic]] was the official language of the princely [[chancellor|chancellery]] and of the church until the end of the 17th century.