David III or IV ( ka, დავით III/IV, ''davit' III/IV'') was a 15th-century

Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia ''Catholicos-Patriarch'' has been the title of the heads of the Georgian Orthodox Church since 1010. The first Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia was Melkisedek I (1010–1033). In the 15th century the Georgian Orthodox Church was divided into th ...

known from the group of documents dated from 1435 to 1439. They testify to David's efforts to restore the patriarchal see of

Mtskheta Mtskheta ( ka, მცხეთა, tr ) is a city in Mtskheta-Mtianeti province of Georgia. It is one of the oldest cities in Georgia as well as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the World. Itis located approximately north of T ...

from the devastation of Timur's invasions earlier that century. David's tenure coincided with the

Council of Ferrara The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1449. It was convoked as the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V shortly before his death in February 1431 and took place ...

held from 1438 to 1439, at which the Georgian delegates rejected the union with the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The scholarly opinion is divided as to whether David III is the same catholicos as David II (III) and David IV (V), mentioned in the years 1426–1428 and 1447–1457, respectively, or not. Traditional lists of the Georgian prelates, such as those compiled by

Michel Tamarati Michel Tamarati, born Mikhail Tamarashvili ( ka, მიხეილ თამარაშვილი), (September 1858 – September 16, 1911) was a Georgian Roman Catholic priest and historian, known for his oft-cited French-language history of ...

and

Roin Metreveli Roin Metreveli ( ka, როინ მეტრეველი) is a Georgian academician and historian. He was the first elected rector of the Tbilisi State University, after Petre Melikishvili and Ivane Javakhishvili Ivane Alexandres dze J ...

, and accepted by the

Georgian Orthodox Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...

, place three different catholicoi named David in the 15th century, while some historians, especially

Cyril Toumanoff 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, ...

, see in these names one and the same person, a son of King

Alexander I of Georgia Alexander I the Great (, ''Aleksandre I Didi'') (1386 – between August 26, 1445 and March 7, 1446), of the Bagrationi house, was king of Georgia from 1412 to 1442. Despite his efforts to restore the country from the ruins left by the Turco-Mong ...

. The confusion arises from the three chronological groups of documents, while the inconsistency in the numerals after the catholical names is because some historians, like Tamarati, omit the catholicos David of 859–861.

Notes

References

* * * {{authority control Catholicoses and Patriarchs of Georgia (country) 15th-century Eastern Orthodox archbishops 15th-century people from Georgia (country)