Alexander I of Georgia
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Alexander I the Great (, ''Aleksandre I Didi'') (1386 – between August 26, 1445 and March 7, 1446), of the Bagrationi house, was
king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
of
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
from 1412 to 1442. Despite his efforts to restore the country from the ruins left by the
Turco-Mongol The Turco-Mongol or Turko-Mongol tradition was an ethnocultural synthesis that arose in Asia during the 14th century, among the ruling elites of the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate. The ruling Mongol elites of these Khanates eventuall ...
warlords and
Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...
's
invasions An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...
, Georgia never recovered and faced the inevitable fragmentation that was followed by a long period of stagnation. Alexander was the last ruler of a united Georgia which was relatively free from foreign domination. In 1442, he abdicated the throne and retired to a monastery.


Life

Alexander was the eldest son of
Constantine I of Georgia Constantine I ( ka, კონსტანტინე I, ) (died 1412) was King of Georgia from 1405 or 1407 until his death in 1412. He is the common ancestor of all surviving branches of the Bagrationi dynasty. Biography Constantine was the eld ...
and his wife Natia, daughter of the Georgian diplomat prince Kutsna Amirejibi. He was brought up by his grandmother (Natia's mother) Rusa (died 1413), an educated and religious noblewoman, who greatly influenced the future king’s preoccupations and his enthusiasm for religious building. With his ascension to the throne (1412), Alexander moved to western Georgia and mediated a peace between his vassals, the rival princes of Mingrelia and Abkhazia. Then he, in 1414, met the rebellious prince Atabeg Ivane Jaqeli of
Samtskhe Meskheti ( ka, მესხეთი) or Samtskhe ( ka, სამცხე) ( Moschia in ancient sources), is a mountainous area in southwestern Georgia. History Ancient tribes known as the Mushki (or Moschi) and Mosiniks (or Mossynoeci) were t ...
on battlefield and forced him into submission. Having dealt with these powerful feudal lords, he, aided by Catholicos Patriarch Shio II, began a program the restoration of major Georgian fortresses and churches. He imposed a temporary building tax on his subjects from 1425 to 1440, but despite the king’s efforts many towns and villages, once flourished, were left in ruin and overgrown by forest. In 1431, he re-conquered
Lorri Lorri may refer to: Acronym * LORRI, the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager, a camera on board the ''New Horizons'' spacecraft Given name * Lorri Bagley, an American actress and model * Lorri Jean, a leader in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transg ...
, a Georgian marchland occupied by the
Kara Koyunlu The Qara Qoyunlu or Kara Koyunlu ( az, Qaraqoyunlular , fa, قره قویونلو), also known as the Black Sheep Turkomans, were a culturally Persianate, Muslim Turkoman "Kara Koyunlu, also spelled Qara Qoyunlu, Turkish Karakoyunlular, En ...
Turkoman tribesmen of Persia who had frequently raided the southern Georgian marches from there and had even sacked Akhaltsikhe in 1416. Around 1434/5, Alexander encouraged the Armenian prince Beshken II Orbelian to attack the Kara Koyunlu clansmen in Syunik (Siunia) and, for his victory, granted him Lorri under terms of vassalage. In 1440, Alexander refused to pay tribute to
Jahan Shah ''Muzaffar al-Din'' Jahan Shah ibn Yusuf (1397 in Khoy or 1405 in Mardin – 30 October or 11 November 1467 in Bingöl) ( fa, جهان شاه; az, Cahanşah ) was the leader of the Qara Qoyunlu Oghuz Turkic tribal confederacy in Azerbaijan and Ar ...
of the Kara Kouynlu. In March, Jahan Shah surged into Georgia with 20,000 troops, destroyed the city of Samshvilde and sacked the capital city
Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...
. He massacred thousands of Christians, put heavy indemnity on Georgia, and returned to
Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
. In order to reduce the power of frequently rebellious aristocracy, he opposed them by appointing his sons – Vakhtang, Demetre, and George – as his co-rulers in Kakheti,
Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 munic ...
and
Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...
, respectively. This, however, proved to be even dangerous to the kingdom's integrity and the fragile unity kept by Alexander would soon disappear under his sons. For this reason, Alexander the Great is frequently claimed to have disintegrated Georgia and said not to deserve his epithet "the Great" his people bestowed on him. This appellation dates almost from his own day, however, and as the modern Georgian historian
Ivane Javakhishvili Ivane Alexandres dze Javakhishvili ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილი; 23 April 1876 – 18 November 1940) was a Georgian historian and linguist whose voluminous works heavily influenced the modern scholarship of the history ...
presumes, might have been related to the large-scale restoration projects launched by the king and his initial success in the struggle with the Turkmen nomads. As worldly problems overwhelmed his kingdom, Alexander abdicated the throne in 1442 and retired to a monastery under the
monastic name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should not be "foreign ...
of Athanasius.


Marriages and children

He married c. 1411 Dulandukht, daughter of Beshken II Orbelian, by whom he had two sons: * Vakhtang IV, King of Georgia * A daughter (c. 1411 – c. 1438) who married, 1425, the emperor
John IV of Trebizond John IV Megas Komnenos ( el, Ιωάννης Μέγας Κομνηνός, ''Iōannēs Megas Komnēnos'') (died April 1460) was Emperor of Trebizond from 1429 until his death. He was a son of Emperor Alexios IV of Trebizond and Theodora Kantakouzene ...
Toumanoff, Cyril Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, ...
(1949–51). "The Fifteenth-Century Bagratids and the Institution of Collegial Sovereignty in Georgia", ''Traditio'' 7: 181-3.
*
Demetrius Demetrius is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male given name ''Dēmḗtrios'' (), meaning “Demetris” - "devoted to goddess Demeter". Alternate forms include Demetrios, Dimitrios, Dimitris, Dmytro, Dimitri, Dimitrie, Dimitar, Dumi ...
(c. 1413–1453), co-ruler in Imereti; father of Constantine II Alexander's second marriage with Tamar (died after 1441), daughter of prince
Alexander I of Imereti Alexander I ( ka, ალექსანდრე I, ''Alek'sandre I'') (died 1389), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was king of western Georgian kingdom of Imereti from 1387 to 1389. Prior to that, he was '' eristavi'' ("duke") of Imereti under the au ...
, took place around 1414. Their children were: * George VIII, first king of independent Kakheti *
David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, Catholicos Patriarch of Georgia consecrated in 1426. * Zaal (born c.1428 – died after 1442), Alexander's fifth son, sixth and last child. He was made a co-king by his father in 1433.Toumanoff, "The Fifteenth-Century Bagratids", ''Traditio'' 7: 190.


See also

* History of Georgia


Notes


References

* Ivane Javakhishvili, ''The History of the Georgian Nation'', vol. 3 (1982), Tbilisi State University Press (In Georgian) * Ronald Grigor Suny, ''The Making of the Georgian Nation'': 2nd edition (December 1994), Indiana University Press,
T'oma Metsobeli's ''History of Tamerlane and His Successors''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander 01 Of Georgia Kings of Georgia Eastern Orthodox monarchs 1386 births 1440s deaths Burials at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Georgia Year of death unknown