Shortly after the death of Methodius, the German clergy once
again gained prominence in the Moravian region. In conjunction
with Pope Stephen V's decree to ban the Slavonic liturgy, a
German Viching was placed as successor to Methodius. This
contradicted Methodius' own wish to be succeeded by the native
Moravian Gorazd. During this period of German dominance, the
disciples of Methodius were persecuted relentlessly, some being
driven from the country, others being sold into slavery. This
effectively stamped out the last remnants of the original
missionary work of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the regions of
their earliest travels. The OCS ecclesiastic tradition was only
able to survive outside the reaches of the Moravian empire, in
those areas where the disciples of the two saints were able to
find refuge. Initially the influence of the saints' work spread
to Bohemia, Croatia, and Bulgaria. These regions were soon
followed by Bosnia and Serbia. After Christian conversion took
foothold in the region of Kyiv (Russ