Demetre Gurieli ( ka, დემეტრე გურიელი, died ), of the

House of Gurieli The House of Gurieli () was a Georgian princely ('' mtavari'') family and a ruling dynasty (dukes) of the southwestern Georgian province of Guria, which was autonomous and later, for a few centuries, independent. A few ducal rulers of the dynas ...

, was

Prince of Guria The Principality of Guria ( ka, გურიის სამთავრო, tr) was a historical state in Georgia. Centered on modern-day Guria, a southwestern region in Georgia, it was located between the Black Sea and Lesser Caucasus, and was r ...

from 1658 to 1668 and

King of Imereti The Kingdom of Imereti ( ka, იმერეთის სამეფო, tr) was a Georgian monarchy established in 1455 by a member of the house of Bagrationi when the Kingdom of Georgia was dissolved into rival kingdoms. Before that time, Im ...

from 1663 to 1664. His rule in Guria as well as in Imereti were result of coups and part of a chaotic civil war raging in these western Georgian polities. Demetre's royal career in Imereti terminated with his deposition and blinding. Demetre was a member of the Gurieli, a family of princes-regnant of Guria. His parentage is not directly attested in the surviving chronicles and documents; Demetre appears to have been a son of Simon I Gurieli, a patricide, who was deposed and blinded in 1626. Demetre emerged from obscurity in 1658, when he was installed in Guria by King Alexander III of Imereti in place of his relative

Kaikhosro I Gurieli Kaikhosro I Gurieli ( ka, ქაიხოსრო I გურიელი; died 1660), of the House of Gurieli, was Principality of Guria, Prince of Guria from 1626 to 1658. He was installed by Levan II Dadiani, Principality of Mingrelia, Prince of ...

, whom the king had deposed and forced into exile in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. Formerly an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

monk, Demetre recompensed his act of unfrocking by donating the church of the Redeemer in Aketi as a

metochion A ''metochion'' or ''metochi'' ( gr, μετόχιον, metóchion or gr, μετόχι, metóchi; russian: подворье, podvorie) is an ecclesiastical embassy church within Eastern Orthodox tradition. It is usually from one autocephalous or ...

to the

patriarchal see Patriarchate ( grc, πατριαρχεῖον, ''patriarcheîon'') is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, designating the office and jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical patriarch. According to Christian tradition three patriarchates were esta ...

of Bichvinta. In 1660, Kaikhosro, with Ottoman support, returned and put Demetre to flight to Imereti. Demetre was able to resume his rule in Guria after having Prince Machutadze murdered Kaikhosro. In the conflict with Kaikhosro, Demetre relied on

Vameq III Dadiani Vameq III Dadiani (also Vamiq; ka, ვამეყ ��ამიყIII დადიანი; died 1661) was Prince of Mingrelia, of the House of Dadiani, from 1658 until being deposed in 1661. He was also briefly King of Imereti in 1661. He ass ...

, an ambitious

prince of Mingrelia Principalities Princes and dukes of Guria * Kakhaber I Gurieli c. 1385–1410 *Mamia Gurieli c. 1450–1469 *Kakhaber II Gurieli 1469–1483 * Giorgi I Gurieli 1483–1512 *Mamia I Gurieli 1512–1534 *Rostom Gurieli 1534–1564 *Giorgi II Guriel ...

and briefly king of Imereti, whom he eventually betrayed and joined King

Vakhtang V of Kartli Vakhtang V ( ka, ვახტანგ V), born Bakhuta Mukhranbatoni ( ka, ბახუტა მუხრანბატონი) (1618 – September 1675), was the King of Kartli (eastern Georgia) from 1658 until his death, who ruled as a vas ...

, who intervened in the chaotic civil war in Imereti in 1661. Amid a series of coups and counter-coups, one part of the Imeretian nobles made Demetre king after the abdication of Vakhtang V's son Archil in 1663. His rule proved short-lived: the Imeretians caught, blinded, and expelled him and restored Bagrat V. According to the 18th-century Georgian historian

Prince Vakhushti Vakhushti ( ka, ვახუშტი, tr) (1696–1757) was a Georgian royal prince (''batonishvili''), geographer, historian and cartographer. His principal historical and geographic works, '' Description of the Kingdom of Georgia'' and the ''G ...

, Demetre's final downfall occurred in 1668. Thereafter he disappeared from history. As prince of Guria, he was succeeded by

Giorgi III Gurieli Giorgi III Gurieli ( ka, გიორგი III გურიელი; died 1684), of the Georgian House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1669 to 1684 and King of Imereti from 1681 to 1683. He was energetically involved in civil wars in western ...

, an exiled son of his erstwhile foe, Kaikhosro Gurieli. Vakhushti's dating is sometimes questioned in modern historiography, notably by Davit Khakhutaishvili, who argued that Demetre's rule in Guria should have ended no later than 1664.

References

Kings of Imereti 1668 deaths Year of birth unknown House of Gurieli Eastern Orthodox monarchs 17th-century people from Georgia (country) {{Georgia-noble-stub