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

David IV David IV, also known as David IV the Builder ( ka, დავით IV აღმაშენებელი, tr; 1073 – 24 January 1125), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the 5th List of monarchs of Georgia, king (''mepe'') of the Kingdom of Ge ...

King of Georgia This is a list of kings and queens regnant of the kingdoms of Georgia (country), Georgia before Georgia within the Russian Empire, Russian annexation in 1801–1810. For more comprehensive lists, and family trees, of Georgian monarchs and ruler ...

. She was married off by her father into the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

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 Lynda Garland (born 13 October 1955) is a scholar and professor at the University of Queensland. Her research focuses on female images in the Late Antiquity period and Byzantine Society. Biography Professor Lynda Garland is currently the Hono ...

& 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, 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 (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...

, Suny, Ronald Grigor (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 ...

, . 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, also known as the Rurikid or Riurikid dynasty, as well as simply Rurikids or Riurikids, was a noble lineage allegedly founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who, according to tradition, established himself at Novgorod in the ...

Rus' Rus or RUS may refer to: People * East Slavic historical peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia ** Rus' people, the people of Rus' ** Rus, a legendary eponymous ancestor, see Lech, Czech and Rus * Rus (surname), a surname found in Ro ...

prince

Yuri Dolgorukiy Yuri I Vladimirovich (; ; c. 1099 – 15 May 1157), commonly known as Yuri Dolgorukiy (, ) or the Long Arm, was a Monomakhovichi prince of Rostov and Suzdal, acquiring the name ''Suzdalia'' during his reign. Noted for successfully curbing t ...

, 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. Ancestry 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 Rostislavich (; ; died 1124) was Prince of Zvenyhorod (1085–1092) and Peremyshl' (1092–1097). He actively was involved in the Polish internal affairs. Volodar also waged a war against the grand prince of Kiev, Sviatopolk II of K ...

known from the Slavonic

Primary Chronicle The ''Primary Chronicle'', shortened from the common ''Russian Primary Chronicle'' (, commonly transcribed ''Povest' vremennykh let'' (PVL), ), is a Rus' chronicle, chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been or ...

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

Cyril Toumanoff Cyril Leo Toumanoff ( ka, კირილ თუმანოვი; ; 10 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Georgian-American historian, and academic genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armen ...

, holds that Kata was married to the '' megas doux''

Alexios Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and constant warfare throughout his reign, Alexios wa ...

, a son of

Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger Nikephoros Bryennios (or Nicephorus Bryennius; Greek: Νικηφόρος Βρυέννιος, ''Nikēphoros Bryennios; ''1062/82–1137) was a Byzantine general, statesman and historian. He was born at Orestias (Adrianople) in the theme of Macedonia ...

and

Anna Komnena Anna Komnene (; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine Greek historian. She is the author of the '' Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Her work constit ...

. The third hypothesis, supported by

Paul Gautier Paul-Eugène-Marie Gautier (2 July 1931 – 3 July 1983), known as Paul Gautier, was a French Byzantinist Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theolo ...

and Mihail-Dimitri Sturdza, states that Kata's husband was

, the eldest son and co-emperor of the Byzantine emperor

John II Komnenos John II Komnenos or Comnenus (; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was List of Byzantine emperors, Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he was the eldest son of Emperor Alexio ...

. The Byzantine chronicle of

Joannes Zonaras Joannes or John Zonaras ( ; 1070 – 1140) was a Byzantine Roman historian, chronicler and theologian who lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held the offices of head justice and private s ...

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

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

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) Daughters of kings

Marriage

Medieval chronicle

Modern theories

See also

Ancestry

References