Bagrat IV of Georgia
Bagrat IV | |
---|---|
Chkondidi Monastery | |
Spouse | Helena Argyre Borena of Alania |
Issue | George II Maria of Alania Mariam |
Dynasty | Bagrationi |
Father | George I of Georgia |
Mother | Mariam of Vaspurakan |
Religion | Georgian Orthodox Church |
Khelrtva |
Bagrat IV (Georgian: ბაგრატ IV; 1018 – 24 November 1072), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the King (mepe) of Georgia from 1027 to 1072.[1] During his long and eventful reign, Bagrat sought to repress the great nobility and to secure Georgia's sovereignty from the Byzantine and Seljuk Empires. In a series of intermingled conflicts, Bagrat succeeded in defeating his most powerful vassals and rivals of the Liparitid family, bringing several feudal enclaves under his control and reducing the kings of Lori and Kakheti-Hereti, as well as the emir of Tbilisi to vassalage. Like many medieval Caucasian rulers, he bore several Byzantine titles, particularly those of Nobilissimus, Kouropalates, and sebastos.[2]
Early reign
Bagrat was the son of the king George I of Georgia (r. 1014–1027) by his first wife Mariam of Vaspurakan. At the age of three, Bagrat was surrendered by his father as a hostage to the Byzantine emperor Basil II (r. 976–1025) as a price for George's defeat in the 1022 war with the Byzantines. The young child Bagrat spent the next three years in the imperial capital of Constantinople and was released in 1025. He was still in Byzantine territory when Basil died and was succeeded by his brother Constantine VIII (r. 1025–1028). Constantine ordered the retrieval of the young prince, but the imperial courier was unable to overtake Bagrat – he was already in the Kingdom of Georgia.[3]
After George I died in 1027, Bagrat, aged eight, succeeded to the throne. Queen dowager Mariam then returned to prominence and became a regent for her underage son. She shared the regency with the grandees, particularly Liparit IV of Kldekari, and Ivane, Duke of Kartli.[4]
By the time Bagrat became king, the Bagratids’ drive to complete the
Dynastic wars
Shortly after Bagrat's ascension to the throne, Constantine VIII sent in an army to take over the key city-fortress of Artanuji (modern Ardanuç, Turkey) on behalf of the Georgian Bagratid prince Demetre, son of Gurgen of Klarjeti, who had been dispossessed by Bagrat IV's grandfather, Bagrat III, of his patrimonial fief at Artanuji early in the 1010s. Several Georgians nobles defected to the Byzantines, but Bagrat's loyal subjects put up a stubborn fight.[5]
Constantine's death in 1028 rendered the Byzantine invasion abortive, and, in 1030, Queen Mariam paid a visit to the new emperor Romanos III (r. 1028–1034). She negotiated a peace treaty, and returned with the high Byzantine title of curopalates for her son in 1032. Mariam also brought him the Byzantine princess Helena Argyre as wife. Helena was a daughter of Basil Argyros, brother of Emperor Romanos, and the marriage was a diplomatic effort to establish a strategic association. However, Helena's death shortly afterwards at Kutaisi presented the Georgian court with the opportunity to pursue yet another diplomatic initiative through Bagrat's marriage with Borena, daughter of the king of Alania, a Christian country in the North Caucasus.[3]
In 1033, the royal court faced another dynastic trouble, this time with Bagrat's half-brother Demetrius, a son of George I of his second marriage with Alda of Alania. Demetrius and Alda lived in Anakopia, a fortress in Abkhazia, which had been bequeathed to them by the late king George I. Although an attempt by some great nobles to exploit Demetrius' possible aspirations to the throne in their opposition to Bagrat's rule failed, the Georgian court's efforts to win his loyalty also went in vain. Threatened by Bagrat, the dowager queen Alda defected to the Byzantines and surrendered Anakopia to the emperor Romanos III who honored her son Demetrius with the rank of magistros.[6]
In 1039, Demetrius returned to Georgia with Byzantine troops. This time, he was supported by
Liparit, as duke of the district of
On behalf of the pretender Demetrius, Liparit enjoyed a series of successes against Bagrat. In spite of Demetrius' death in 1042, Liparit continued his struggle in alliance with the Byzantines and David I of Lorri. After the defeat at Battle of Sasireti, Bagrat was left with the western provinces only. During the Seljuk campaigns in Anatolia in 1048, Liparit, who had been fighting on the Byzantine side, was captured at the Battle of Kapetron. Bagrat took advantage of this, and returned to his eastern possessions. The king's fortunes were quickly reversed, however, upon Liparit's return from captivity. The rebellious duke forced Bagrat to flee to Constantinople where he was kept, as a result of Liparit's intrigues, for three years. In the absence of Bagrat (1050–1053), Liparit was an effective ruler of Georgia; he even installed Bagrat's son George as king and declared himself a regent. After Bagrat's return, Liparit again warred against him. Eventually in 1060 his followers conspired and surrendered the duke to King Bagrat, who forced him into a monastery. Now, Bagrat gained a momentum to restrict the power of dynastic princes, reduced the kings of Lorri and Kakheti to impotence, and briefly held Tbilisi.[7][8]
Seljuk attacks
In the 1060s, Bagrat faced with an even greater problem: the
The Seljuk threat prompted the Georgian and Byzantine governments to seek a closer cooperation. To secure the alliance, Bagrat's daughter
On 10 December 1068, Alp Arslan accompanied by the kings of Lorri and Kakheti as well as the emir of Tbilisi again marched against Bagrat. The provinces of
The last years of Bagrat's reign coincided with what Professor
See also
- Bagrat III of Klarjeti
- Gurandukht of Georgia
References
- ^ Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi. Otto Harrassowitz. 1984. p. 56.
Georgia, under Bagrat IV (1027–1072), felt itself threatened by both the nomads and Byzantium and faced tremendous problems in reconciling the haughty Transcaucasian Christian nobility to the need for a strong, centralizing monarchy.
- ^ Head, Barclay Vincent (1958). The Numismatic Chronicle. Royal Numismatic Society. p. 141.
Bagrat IV was promoted to the title of Sebastos in 1060
- ^ ISBN 0-7546-5737-X.
- ^ Rayfield, Donald (26 February 2013). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. Reaktion Books. p. 76.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ISBN 0-19-927968-3.
- ISBN 90-04-11442-4.
- ^ ISBN 0-684-16760-3.
- ISBN 0-253-20915-3
- ISBN 0-521-06936-X.
- ^ Bosworth, C. E., Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 6, pp. 642–643. "AḤMAD B. NEẒĀM-AL-MOLK".
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Lynda Garland with Stephen H. Rapp Jr. (2006). Mart'a-Maria 'of Alania'. An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors. Retrieved on 24 December 2007.
- ISBN 90-04-08265-4.
- ^ Lang, David Marshall (1966), The Georgians, p. 111. Praeger Publishers.