Demetrius (''Dimitri''; ka, დიმიტრი) ( 1413 – 1453) was the second son of

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 ...

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 ...

by his first wife Dulandukht Orbeliani. He was co-king with his father from 1433 to 1442 and with his brother Vakhtang IV from 1442 to 1446. On Vakhtang's death, Demetrius became a ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' king of Georgia but his accession to the throne was precluded by his younger brother George VIII.

Biography

Demetrius first appears in the charter dated to 1413. Traditional Georgian historiography founded by

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 ...

in the 18th century erroneously makes him a younger brother of George VIII and frequently omits him from the list of the kings of Georgia. Demetrius was co-opted by his father Alexander I in 1433. He was sent by him as ambassador to

Shah Rukh Shah Rukh or Shahrukh ( fa, شاهرخ, ''Šāhrokh'') (20 August 1377 – 13 March 1447) was the ruler of the Timurid Empire between 1405 and 1447. He was the son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), who founded the Timurid dynast ...

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 Kür ...

's son. After Alexander I's renouncement of the throne in 1442 in favor of Vakhtang IV, Demetrius remained a co-king with the latter, whereas Alexander's third son, George VIII, was made a co-king

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

d in

Kakheti Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region (mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises eigh ...

. Upon the death of Vakhtang IV in 1446, Demetrius III was to become ''de jure'' king-regnant of Georgia, but the throne was seized by George VIII, inaugurating a series of conflicts which would eventually lead to the dissolution of the kingdom of Georgia by the close of the 15th century. Demetrius retired to the western province of

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 ...

. He was killed by a horse while hunting in 1453.

Family

Demetrius was married, sometime after 1446, to Gulashar, whom

Marie-Félicité Brosset Marie-Félicité Brosset (24 January 1802 – 3 September 1880) was a French orientalist who specialized in Georgian and Armenian studies. He worked mostly in Russia. Early life and first works Marie-Félicité Brosset was born in Paris int ...

identified with his aunt Gulkan, the widow of Demetrius's paternal uncle

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

. She died in 1471 or c. 1475. Their son, Constantine II, was the last king of a united Georgia (1478–1490) and the first king of Kartli (1490–1505). The historian Vakhushti claims that Demetrius had another son, David, who was installed as king in Kakheti in 1465 by the local nobility and founded the dynasty of the kings of Kakheti. Vakhushti makes David the father of George, king of Kakheti, whom he differentiates from George VIII, Demetrius's younger brother, at first king of Georgia and then king of Kakheti. The David of Vakhushti is, however, a fictitious figure.

Ancestry

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Demetrius, son of Alexander 01 of Georgia 1410s births 1453 deaths Year of birth uncertain 15th-century people from Georgia (country) Kings of Georgia Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Georgia Hunting accident deaths Eastern Orthodox monarchs Accidental deaths in Georgia (country)