The style of the Georgian sovereign ( ka, ქართველი მეფის წოდება, tr) refers to the formal mode of address to a Georgian monarch ('' mepe'') that evolved and changed many times since the establishment of the ancient

Kingdom of Iberia In Greco-Roman geography, Iberia (Ancient Greek: ''Iberia''; ; Parthian: ; Middle Persian: ) was an exonym for the Georgian kingdom of Kartli or Iveria ( or ), known after its core province. The kingdom existed during Classical Antiquity and ...

, its transformation to the unified Kingdom of Georgia and its successive monarchies after the disintegration of the realm. Pre-Christian Georgian monarchs of the Pharnavazid dynasty were divinely assigned '' pharnah'' and its loss usually led to the monarch's imminent death or overthrow in Georgian kingship. Introductory part of the style for the monarchs from the Bagrationi dynasty always started with "'' By the Grace of God'', We, of Jesse,

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

, Bagrationi, Supreme by

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

anoint Anointing is the ritual, ritual act of pouring aromatic oil over a person's head or entire body. By extension, the term is also applied to related acts of sprinkling, dousing, or smearing a person or object with any perfumed oil, milk, butter, ...

ed and crowned by God", underlining their divine right and claim for biblical descent. The consolidation of the deified Bagrationi dynasty and its unprecedented political unification of lands, would inaugurate the Georgian Golden Age and creation of the only medieval pan-Caucasian empire that would rule for a thousand years. Georgian monarchs would have intense religious and political competition with the Byzantine emperors, saw themselves as the successors of the emperor

Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

and even as rulers of a new Byzantium based in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

, whence the

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

would view the Georgian Orthodoxy as an " imperial church" that would fight the heretics. Even though unprecedentedly "Byzantinized Georgia" entertained its powerful neighbor's concepts and models of Constantinopolitan bureaucracy and aristocracy, it was never slavishly adopted or mimicked; rather, it was creatively and deliberately adapted to the local culture and environment. At the same time, the rulers of Christian Georgia would still be embracing the traditional influences of the Persian

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

and Arabic legends that would remain strong and intact; some of their styles would even become

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic in type. As the Crown would be gathering additional lands the style would continue to expand, but remain distinctly enumerated and include all the subjects of the Georgian monarch. Even after the collapse of the unified kingdom, Georgian kings would continue to emblazon themselves with the former imperial style and they would stake the claim to be the absolute rulers of all-Georgia. This imperial legacy of the Bagrations continues to bear fruit even today, with its self-image as the unrivalled pinnacle of the Georgian politics, culture and society. According to the chronicler of Queen Tamar, verbally insulting a monarch was punishable with

tongue The tongue is a Muscle, muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for chewing and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper s ...

mutilation Mutilation or maiming (from the ) is Bodily harm, severe damage to the body that has a subsequent harmful effect on an individual's quality of life. In the modern era, the term has an overwhelmingly negative connotation, referring to alteratio ...

and

decapitation Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...

, always carried out by non-Georgian executioners. Even though the

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

was extremely rare in

high medieval The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

Georgia, the

royal court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...

would never pardon the insult towards a monarch. King Vakhtang VI, however, maintained that there was no official punishment for '' lèse-majesté''.Khakhanov, p. 6

Style

Sovereigns of Iberia

Sovereigns of the united Georgia

Sovereigns of Kartli

Sovereigns of Kakheti

Sovereigns of Imereti

Sovereigns of Kartli—Kakheti

Notes

References

Bibliography

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Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

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Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

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Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

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University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

*Rapp, S. H. Jr. (2014) Caucasia and Byzantine Culture, Edited by Dean Sakel,

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

*Rapp, S. H. Jr. (2016) The Sasanian World Through Georgian Eyes, Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature, Sam Houston State University, USA,

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, * Rayfield, D. (2013) Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia,

Reaktion Books Reaktion Books is an independent book publisher based in Islington, London, England. It was founded in 1985 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and moved to London in 1987. Reaktion originally focused on the fields of art, architecture, and design. In recen ...

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Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

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*Kartvelishvili, T. Jojua, T. Baindurashvili, Kh. Gelashvili, I. Gogoladze, T. & Shaorshadze, M. (2019) Sources of the XVII century about the Kings of Kartli and Kakheti, Vol. I,

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*Paghava, I. (2021) Copper Coin with the Effigy of David the Builder and the Titulary of Georgian Monarchs, V. VIII, Mkhedari Publishing *Paghava, I. & Chanishvili, E. (2021) Numismatic history of David IV the Builder: Money Circulation, Issued Coinage, and Monetary Policy, Tsereteli Institute of Oriental Studies of the Ilia State University, ISSN 2587-4780 *Tavadze, L. (2012) Byzantine imperial style in Georgia, Tbilisi State University, The Institute of the Georgian History, Tbilisi *Gamkrelidze, G. (2010) War and Arms in Iberia and Colchis, Sulakauri Publishers, Tbilisi, ISBN 978-99941-15-242-9 *Catalogue of Georgian Numismatics
CoGN
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TITUS Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September AD 81) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, becoming the first Roman emperor ever to succeed h ...

(Online Version) Historical Materials from Southern Georgia, Text collection: HMSG, XV century archives {{Imperial, royal, and noble styles Royal styles Lists of Georgian monarchs Pharnavazid dynasty Chosroid dynasty Bagrationi dynasty