Kata or Katay ( ka, კატა, კატაჲ) was a daughter of

David IV David IV, also known as David the Builder ( ka, დავით აღმაშენებელი, ') (1073–1125), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the 5th king of United Georgia from 1089 until his death in 1125. Popularly considered to be ...

King of Georgia This is a list of kings and queens regnant of the kingdoms of Georgia before Russian annexation in 1801–1810. For more comprehensive lists, and family trees, of Georgian monarchs and rulers see Lists of Georgian monarchs. Kings of Iberia ...

. She was married off by her father into the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

imperial family 1116, but the identity of her husband is not revealed in the medieval sources. There are three modern hypotheses regarding her marriage.Lynda Garland & Stephen Rapp. ''Mary 'of Alania': Woman and Empress Between Two Worlds'', p. 121. In: Lynda Garland (ed., 2006), ''Byzantine Women: Varieties of Experience, 800-1200''. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., .

Marriage

Medieval chronicle

Kata's marriage is mentioned by the 12th-century ''History of the King of Kings David'', part of the compiled

Georgian Chronicles ''The Georgian Chronicles'' is a conventional English name for the principal compendium of medieval Georgian historical texts, natively known as ''Kartlis Tskhovreba'' ( ka, ქართლის ცხოვრება), literally "Life of Kar ...

, which does not specify the name of her husband. The chronicle extols Kata and her sister, Tamar, a wife of the shah of Shirvan, as luminaries of the West and the East, respectively, reflecting the splendor of their father.Prinke, Rafał T. (2011), "Kata of Georgia", ''Foundations'' 3 (6): 489-502.

Modern theories

There are different scholarly opinions as to who exactly was Kata's spouse. According to a hypothesis commonly accepted by historians in Georgia, Prinke, Rafał T. (1998)
Krew Bagratydów. Genealogiczne związki Rurykowiczów i Komnenów z Bagratydami w XII wieku
. in: ''Nuntius Vetustatis, sive Opuscula diversa Professori Georgio Wisłocki septuagenario dedicata'', Posnaniae, Anno Domini MCMXCVIII. she married Isaac Komnenos, the third son of the emperor

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...

Suny, Ronald Grigor Ronald Grigor Suny (born September 25, 1940) is an American historian and political scientist. Suny is the William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Michigan and served as director of the Eisenberg In ...

(1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation'', p. 36.

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes 140 ...

, . and became Irene, a name recorded by the Byzantine sources as that of Isaac's wife. If the hypothesis is true and Helene, a daughter of Isaac and Kata, was indeed the wife of the

Rurikid The Rurik dynasty ( be, Ру́рыкавічы, Rúrykavichy; russian: Рю́риковичи, Ryúrikovichi, ; uk, Рю́риковичі, Riúrykovychi, ; literally "sons/scions of Rurik"), also known as the Rurikid dynasty or Rurikids, was ...

Rus' prince

Yuri Dolgorukiy Yuri I Vladimirovich ( rus, Юрий Владимирович, Yuriy Vladimirovich), commonly known as Yuri Dolgorukiy or the Long Arm ( rus, Юрий Долгорукий, Yuriy Dolgorukiy, meaning "Far-Reaching", c. 109915 May 1157) was a Rur ...

, then it may provide, through

descent from antiquity In European genealogy, a descent from antiquity (DFA or DfA) is a proven unbroken line of descent between specific individuals from ancient history and people living today. Descents can readily be traced back to the Early Middle Ages, but beyond ...

, a Bagratid ancestry to numerous Russian and Polish descendants. Alternatively, Isaac's wife Irene may have been the same person as an anonymous daughter of

Volodar of Peremyshl Volodar Rostyslavych, ''Volodar Rostislavich'' () (died 1124) was Prince of Zvenyhorod (1085–92) and Peremyshl' (1092–97). He actively was involved in the Polish internal affairs. Volodar also waged a war against the Grand Prince of Kiev ...

known from the Slavonic

Primary Chronicle The ''Tale of Bygone Years'' ( orv, Повѣсть времѧньныхъ лѣтъ, translit=Pověstĭ vremęnĭnyxŭ lětŭ; ; ; ; ), often known in English as the ''Rus' Primary Chronicle'', the ''Russian Primary Chronicle'', or simply the ...

to have married the likewise unnamed son of the emperor Alexios. Another version given currency, among other scholars, by

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, ...

, holds that Kata was married to the '' megas doux'' Alexios Bryennios, a son of

Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger Nikephoros Bryennios (or Nicephorus Bryennius; Greek: Νικηφόρος Βρυέννιος, ''Nikēphoros Bryennios; ''1062–1137) was a Byzantine general, statesman and historian. He was born at Orestias (Adrianople) in the theme of Macedonia.D ...

and

Anna Komnena Anna Komnene ( gr, Ἄννα Κομνηνή, Ánna Komnēnḗ; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine princess and author of the ''Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, the Byzantine emperor, ...

. The third hypothesis, supported by Paul Gautier and Mihail-Dimitri Sturdza, states that Kata's husband was

Alexios Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...

, the eldest son of the Byzantine emperor

John II Komnenos John II Komnenos or Comnenus ( gr, Ἱωάννης ὁ Κομνηνός, Iōannēs ho Komnēnos; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he ...

. The Byzantine chronicle of

Joannes Zonaras Joannes or John Zonaras ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης Ζωναρᾶς ; 1070 – 1140) was a Byzantine Greek historian, chronicler and theologian who lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held th ...

mentions the arrival of the Georgian ( Abasgian) bride of the elder son of John II at

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

immediately after his accession to the throne, not long after 1118. Kazhdan, Alexander & Franklin, Simon (1984), ''Studies on Byzantine literature of the eleventh and twelfth centuries'', p. 94. Cambridge University Press, .

Ancestry

References

{{Reflist Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Georgia 12th-century Byzantine people 12th-century people from Georgia (country) Komnenos dynasty 12th-century women from Georgia (country)

Marriage

Medieval chronicle

Modern theories

See also

Ancestry

References