The Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius (Ukrainian: Кирило-Мефодіївське братство, romanized: Kyrylo-Mefodiivske bratstvo; Russian: Кирилло-Мефодиевское братство) was a short-lived secret political society that existed in Kiev (now Kyiv, Ukraine), at the time a part of the Russian Empire.
The organization predated the Spring of Nations in Eastern Europe just by few years. Founded in December 1845 or in January 1846, the society sought to revive the ideals of the traditional Ukrainian brotherhoods and envisioned a Ukrainianlanguage revival, including national autonomy within a free and equal Slavic federation. It was quickly suppressed by the government in March 1847 with most of the members punished by internal exile or imprisonment.
The goals of the society were liberalisation of the political and social system of the Imperial Russia in accordance with the members Christian principles and the Slavophile views that gained popularity among the country's liberal intelligentsia. Created under the initiative of Mykola Kostomarov (1818-1885), an historian of Russia and Ukraine, the society was named after Saints Cyril and Methodius, widely regarded as heroes for the Slavic nations celebrated for spreading Christianity and inventing the Cyrillic alphabet used by multiple Slavic languages.
