Mariam, ( ka, მარიამი) was a Georgian queen and regent. She was the daughter of
John-Senekerim Artsruni
The Artsruni ( hy, Արծրունի; also transliterated as Ardzruni) were an ancient noble (princely) family of Armenia.
Background and history
The Artsruni's claimed descent from Sennacherib, King of Assyria (705 BC–681 BC). Although ...
, an
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
n king of
Vaspurakan
Vaspurakan (, Western Armenian pronunciation: ''Vasbouragan'') was the eighth province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, which later became an independent kingdom during the Middle Ages, centered on Lake Van. Located in what is now southeaster ...
, and the first consort of the king
George I of Georgia
:''There was also a Giorgi I, Catholicos of Kartli who ruled in 677–678.''
Giorgi I ( ka, გიორგი I) (998 or 1002 – 16 August 1027), of the House of Bagrationi, was the king of Georgia from 1014 until his death in 1027. He was 2 ...
. As a
dowager queen
A queen dowager or dowager queen (compare: princess dowager or dowager princess) is a title or status generally held by the widow of a king. In the case of the widow of an emperor, the title of empress dowager is used. Its full meaning is clear ...
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 ...
, she ruled as regent for her underage son,
Bagrat IV, from 1027 to 1037, and was involved in diplomacy with the
Byzantine Empire
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 ...
.
Life
Mariam was married to George I (r. 1014-1027) as his first wife, but seems to have been divorced by the king so that he could marry
Alda, daughter of the king of
Alania
Alania was a medieval kingdom of the Iranian Alans (proto-Ossetians) that flourished in the Northern Caucasus, roughly in the location of latter-day Circassia, Chechnya, Ingushetia, and modern North Ossetia–Alania, from its independence from th ...
. Mariam returned to prominence upon the death of George and the ascension of their son, Bagrat IV, to the throne of Georgia in 1027. During Bagrat’s minority, she shared the regency with the grandees, particularly with the
dukes
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
Liparit and
Ivane. In 1031/2, Mariam paid a visit to
Romanos III Argyros
Romanos III Argyros ( el, Ρωμανός Αργυρός; Latinized Romanus III Argyrus; 968 – 11 April 1034), or Argyropoulos was Byzantine Emperor from 1028 until his death. He was a Byzantine noble and senior official in Constantinople whe ...
's court 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 (" ...
on behalf of Bagrat, and returned with a peace treaty, the dignity of
curopalates
''Kouropalatēs'', Latinized as ''curopalates'' or ''curopalata'' ( el, κουροπαλάτης, from lat, cura palatii " he one incharge of the palace"). and Anglicized as curopalate, was a Byzantine court title, one of the highest from the ti ...
and the Byzantine bride
Helena (daughter of Romanos III's brother
Basil
Basil (, ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' , also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variety also kno ...
) for her son.
Mariam continued to play a prominent role in Georgia’s politics even after Bagrat assumed full reigning powers. The Georgian chronicles speak of the Armenians being her subjects because of her parentage, a possible reference to a three-month-long Georgian control of
Ani
Ani ( hy, Անի; grc-gre, Ἄνιον, ''Ánion''; la, Abnicum; tr, Ani) is a ruined medieval Armenian city now situated in Turkey's province of Kars, next to the closed border with Armenia.
Between 961 and 1045, it was the capital of the ...
before the city was finally annexed by the Byzantines in 1045, and report a disagreement between Bagrat and Mariam regarding the future of Bagrat’s half-brother
Demetre, who defected to the Byzantines in 1033 handing over the fortress of
Anacopia
New Athos or Akhali Atoni ( ka, ახალი ათონი, ''Akhali Atoni''; ab, Афон Ҿыц, ''Afon Ch'yts''; russian: Новый Афон; ''Novy Afon'', gr, Νέος Άθως, ''Neos Athos'') is a town in the Gudauta ''raion'' of ...
. Mariam advocated the reconciliation between the brothers and made a futile attempt at bringing the rebellious Demetre back to loyalty. During Bagrat’s enforced exile at the Byzantine court in the 1050s, Mariam accompanied her son and spent three years with him in residence at Constantinople during the reign of
Constantine IX Monomachos
Constantine IX Monomachos ( grc-x-medieval, Κωνσταντῖνος Μονομάχος, translit=Kōnstantinos IX Monomachos; 1004 – 11 January 1055), reigned as Byzantine emperor from June 1042 to January 1055. Empress Zoë Porphyrogenita ...
.
Mariam was distinguished by her contributions to the Christian church and monastic foundations. She was fluent in several languages including
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
. Mariam is commemorated for donations to the
Iviron monastery
The Monastery of Iviron ( ka, ქართველთა მონასტერი, tr; el, Μονή Ιβήρων, Monḗ Ivirōn) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery in the monastic community of Mount Athos in northern Greece.
History
The monas ...
(on
Mount Athos
Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...
) in its Synodicon. He was known for his association with the eminent Georgian monk and scholar
George the Hagiorite
George the Hagiorite ( ka, გიორგი მთაწმინდელი) (1009 – 27 June 1065) was a Georgian monk, calligrapher, religious writer, theologian, and translator, who spearheaded the activities of Georgian monastic communiti ...
under whose auspices Mariam would eventually become a
nun
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...
. According to the ''Life of George the Hagiorite'', after the marriage of her granddaughter
Martha-Maria to
Michael VII Ducas
Michael VII Doukas or Ducas ( gr, Μιχαήλ Δούκας), nicknamed Parapinakes ( gr, Παραπινάκης, lit. "minus a quarter", with reference to the devaluation of the Byzantine currency under his rule), was the senior Byzantine e ...
(1065), Mariam traveled to
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
with the intention to make a further pilgrimage to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, carrying with her an imperial order for the
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
and
patriarch
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...
of Antioch. These, however, persuaded the queen to refrain from visiting the
Saracen
upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...
-held Jerusalem; George the Hagiorite himself took her money and distributed it among the poor and the monasteries there.
The death of Mariam is not mentioned in the chronicles; she was present at Bagrat IV’s deathbed in 1072,
[A passage from the Georgian chronicle says: "Mother, I pity you, because all your children have gone before you, and thus you will die." Robert W. Thomson (1996), ''Rewriting Caucasian History. The Medieval Armenian Adaptation of the Georgian Chronicles. The Original Georgian Texts and the Armenian Adaptation'', p. 305. ]Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, . and was certainly dead by 1103 when she is commemorated in the record of the Georgian church council at Ruisi–Urbnisi.
References
{{end
Artsruni dynasty
Queens consort from Georgia (country)
Regents of Georgia
11th-century viceregal rulers
11th-century Armenian people
11th-century women rulers
11th-century Armenian women
11th-century people from Georgia (country)
11th-century women from Georgia (country)