Constantine ( ka, კონსტანტინე, ''Konstantine''; , ''Konstantin Davidovich Imeretinsky'') (4 July 1789 – 3 May 1844) was a Georgian royal prince (''

batonishvili ''Batonishvili'' ( ka, ბატონიშვილი, ) is a title for royal princes and princesses who descend from the Kings of Georgia from the Bagrationi dynasty. ''Batonishvili'' is suffixed after or before the given names e.g. David ' ...

''), belonging to the

Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი, ) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 mun ...

branch of the

Bagrationi dynasty The Bagrationi dynasty (; ) is a royal family, royal dynasty which reigned in Georgia (country), Georgia from the Middle Ages until the early 19th century, being among the oldest extant Christianity, Christian ruling dynasties in the world. In ...

. A son of King

David II of Imereti David II ( ka, დავით II, ''Davit II''; 1756 – 11 January 1795), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was king (''mepe'') of Imereti (western Georgia) from 1784 to 1789 and from 1790 to 1791. Life He was the son of George IX of Imereti, who had ...

, Constantine was recognized as

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

by Solomon II, who had supplanted his father. Constantine's succession to the throne of Imereti was precluded by the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

annexation of that country in 1810. Constantine subsequently entered the Russian Imperial military service, where he rose to the rank of Major-General.

Early life and captivity

Prince Constantine was a son of King

and Ana Orbeliani. At the age of three, he was surrendered by his father as a hostage to Solomon II, who had won a power struggle and dethroned David in 1791. When David attempted to reclaim the throne in 1792, Solomon had Constantine incarcerated in the castle of Mukhuri. When David II died in exile in the Ottoman pashalik of Akhaltsikhe in 1795, Constantine found himself in a conflicting situation; he became the only heir to the throne, as the nearest legitimate blood-relative of his childless captor, Solomon II. In March 1802, David's widow Queen Ana, being harassed by Solomon, escaped from Imereti and applied to

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic perio ...

to secure the release of his son. The Russian diplomat Aleksandr Sokolov ( ru) arrived in Imereti for negotiations, but Solomon was adamant as he was fearful that the Russians would uphold the more amenable Constantine's claim to the throne. After long threats and bribery from the Russian commander in the Caucasus, Prince Tsitsianov, Solomon agreed to release Constantine on the condition that he did not long reside in

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 ( ...

, the capital of Russia's Georgian possessions, and leave for Russia proper as soon as possible. Queen Ana also agreed to this compromise and Constantine was escorted to Tiflis on 30 May 1803. In April 1804, Solomon was forced to accept the Russian suzerainty in the Convention of Elaznauri and, in one of its provisions, recognized Constantine as his heir apparent.

Escape and revolt

Prince Constantine resided at Tiflis under the Russian supervision until June 1804 when, anxious that the Russian authorities considered resettling him in Russia proper, he took advantage of Tsitsianov's departure for the Erivan campaign and escaped to Imereti. There he took shelter at the estate of his brother-in-law, Prince Davit Agiashvili. Solomon reconciled with Constantine and granted him several castles and villages such as Chkhari and Tsirkvali for his princely estate (''sabatonishvilo''). A group of Russian soldiers sent after him failed to overtake him; neither threats nor persuasion could force Constantine to return to Tiflis. Solomon, likewise, repeatedly turned down requests from the Russian government to surrender him. As Solomon's relations with Russia progressively deteriorated, Tsar Alexander ordered that Solomon be deposed and, together with his heir Constantine, deported from Imereti. In February 1810, the Russian army moved on to conquer Imereti. Constantine was with Solomon, encouraging him to resist until the king finally decided to capitulate in March 1810. In April 1810, Constantine also surrendered and, unable to obtain a permission to live as a private person in his estate, was ordered to move to Russia. On 31 July, he left Tiflis for

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Life in Russia

In 1812, by the Tsar's

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

, Prince Constantine was enlisted in the Life Guard Cossack Regiment as a ''

Rittmeister Rittmaster () is usually a commissioned officer military rank used in a few armies, usually equivalent to Captain. Historically it has been used in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Scandinavia, and some other countries. A is typically in charge of a s ...

'' and promoted to being a '' Flügeladjutant'' to Tsar

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...

. He was transferred to the Life Guard Hussar Regiment in 1813. He took part in the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

against

Napoleonic France The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

from 1812 to 1814. In 1817, Constantine became major-general and appointed as a commander of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Hussar Division. He was awarded the Russian orders of St. Vladimir, 4th Class, St. Anna, 1st Class, and of St. George, 4th Class. Prince Constantine retired from the military service in 1838. He died in

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 ...

in 1844 and was buried at the

Donskoy Monastery Donskoy Monastery () is a major monastery in Moscow, founded in 1591 in commemoration of Moscow's deliverance from the threat of an invasion by the Crimean Khan Kazy-Girey. Commanding a highway to the Crimea, the monastery was intended to def ...

Family

Prince Constantine was married three times. First, he married Princess Anastasia

Abashidze The House of Abashidze ( ka, აბაშიძე) is a Nobility of Georgia (country), Georgian noble family and a former List of Georgian princely families#A, Georgian princely house. Appearing in the 15th century, they achieved prominence in t ...

in 1806 and divorced her in 1815. They had two children: * Nino (1807–1847) *Giorgi (1809–1819) Constantine married his second wife, Maria Teresa Denis Lopes da Silva, daughter of a Portuguese diplomat, in 1822 and had two children with her: *Konstantin (1827–1885) *Nikoloz (1830–1894) Thirdly, Constantine married Ekaterina Sergeyevna Strakhova (died 22 October 1875) and had one child with her: *

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

(1837–1900) Constantine was allowed to retain the title of ''

tsarevich Tsarevich (, ) was a title given to the sons of tsars. The female equivalent was ''tsarevna''. Under the 1797 Pauline Laws, Pauline house laws, the title was discontinued and replaced with ''tsesarevich'' for the heir apparent alone. His younger ...

'' ("prince royal"), his children were equated to the Russian princely nobility (''

knyaz A , also , ''knjaz'' or (), is a historical Slavs, Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times. It is usually translated into English language, English as 'prince', 'king' or 'duke', depending on specific historical c ...

'') in 1812. They and their descendants bore the title and surname of Princes and Princesses Imeretinsky (იმერეტინსკი, Имеретинский), with the qualification of "Serene Highness" (Светлейший князь) added to their style as ruled by the

State Council of the Russian Empire The State Council ( rus, Госуда́рственный сове́т, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj sɐˈvʲet) was the supreme state advisory body to the tsar in the Russian Empire. From 1906, it was the upper house of the parliament under t ...

on 20 June 1865. This line had become extinct in male line by 1978.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Constantine, Prince of Imereti 1789 births 1844 deaths Georgian princes Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Imereti Heirs apparent of Georgia (country) who never acceded Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Russian military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Imperial Russian Army generals Georgian generals in the Imperial Russian Army Georgian major generals (Imperial Russia)