Michael ( ka, მიქელი, ''Mik'el'') (died 1329), from the House of Bagrationi, was king of the western

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 ...

kingdom 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 1327 to 1329. Michael was a son of the Georgian king David VI Narin and his wife, Tamar Amanelisdze, or a Palaeologian princess. In the latter case, Michael might have been named after his Byzantine ancestor, the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Michael VIII Palaiologos Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...

. Michael opposed accession of his elder brother,

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

, on the death of their father in 1293. In a subsequent internecine war, Michael seized control of the provinces of

Racha Racha (also Račha, , ''Račʼa'') is a highland area in western Georgia, located in the upper Rioni river valley and hemmed in by the Greater Caucasus mountains. Under Georgia's current subdivision, Racha is included in the Racha-Lechkhumi and ...

Lechkhumi Lechkhumi (Georgian language, Georgian: ლეჩხუმი, ''Lečxumi'') is a historic province in northwestern Georgia (country), Georgia which comprises the area along the middle basin of the Rioni river, Rioni and Tskhenistskali and also th ...

, and

Argveti Argveti (), also Margveti (), is a historic district in Imereti, western Georgia. Overview The area lay on the historic Iberian- Lazican frontier, i.e., between what are now eastern and western parts of Georgia. From the 3rd century BC to the ...

. The conflict continued until 1327, when Michael succeeded on the death of the childless Constantine as king of Imereti, although he had claimed the title earlier, as in the 1326 charter sanctioning a reparational payment (''sasiskhlo'', a Georgian equivalent of

weregild Weregild (also spelled wergild, wergeld (in archaic/historical usage of English), weregeld, etc.), also known as man price (blood money), was a precept in some archaic legal codes whereby a monetary value was established for a person's life, to b ...

) by a certain Gogitashvili to

Mikeladze Mikeladze ( ka, მიქელაძე) was a Georgian noble family, known from at least the 14th century. The senior, and the princely, line of the Mikeladze flourished in Imereti (western Georgia), while a collateral branch was later establish ...

. Michael sought to resubjugate to the crown the great nobles and provincial dynasts (''

eristavi ''Eristavi'' (; literally, "head of the nation") was a Georgian feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine '' strategos'' and normally translated into English as "prince" or less commonly as "duke". In the Georgian aristocratic hierarch ...

''), who had asserted greater autonomy for themselves in the reign of Constantine I. His efforts were of limited success; all he could achieve was the pledge from the ''eristavi'' to pay tribute and provide troops for a royal army. Michael died in 1329. He was succeeded by his son, Bagrat I, who, owing to his minority, never firmly sat on the throne of Imereti and was reduced to the position of a vassal duke by the resurgent king of eastern Georgia, George V "the Brilliant", in 1330.

References

Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Imereti Kings of Imereti 1329 deaths Year of birth unknown Eastern Orthodox monarchs 13th-century people from Georgia (country) 14th-century people from Georgia (country) {{Georgia-royal-stub