David III of Tao
| David III the Great დავით III დიდი | |
|---|---|
Curopalates of Kingdom of Iberia | |
| Reign | 978–1000/1001 |
| Successor | Bagrat III |
| Born | 930s |
| Died | 1001 Tao-Klarjeti |
| Issue | Bagrat III (adopted) |
| Dynasty | Bagrationi dynasty |
| Father | Adarnase V |
| Religion | Georgian Orthodox Church |
David III Kuropalates (
David is best known for his crucial assistance to the Byzantine
History
David was the younger son of
Alliance with the Byzantine Empire
He succeeded his brother, Bagrat II, as a duke of Tao in 966, and through his expansionist policy and flexible diplomacy began assembling a larger state. In order to enact his ambitious plans, David had to secure his independence from the Byzantine Empire, which would reach its greatest height under the emperor Basil II (r. 976–1025).
The Byzantines' eastern neighbors – the fragmented Armenian and Georgian principalities – rarely threatened the empire directly, but were of particular interest to
David's reward was the lifetime rule of key imperial territories in eastern Asia Minor, known to the contemporary Georgian sources as the "Upper Lands of
These formidable acquisitions made David the most influential ruler in the Caucasus, enabling him to interfere in and arbitrate dynastic disputes in both Georgia and Armenia.[3] The medieval Georgian authors call him "greatest of all the kings of Tao"[5] and the eleventh-century Armenian chronicler Aristakes Lastivertsi describes him as:
a mighty man, a builder of the world, very honorable, a lover of the poor, indeed, the definition of peace. For in his day it was as the prophecy states: everyone reposed under his vine and his fig tree.[6]
Being in control of highly important commercial centers, his principality profited from taxing the major trading routes running through southwestern Caucasus and eastern Anatolia. David invested these revenues in extensive building projects: constructing towns, forts and churches, and promoting Georgian monastic communities and cultural activities both in Georgia and abroad.
Issue of succession
Having no children of his own, David adopted his kinsman, the young prince Bagrat, heir to the Bagratid throne of Kartli (Iberia). He did so at the request of the energetic Georgian nobleman Iovane Marushis-dze. Through his fortunate bloodlines Bagrat was destined to sit upon two thrones. Furthermore, through his mother Gurandukht, sister of the childless Abkhazian king Theodosius III, Bagrat was a potential heir to the realm of Abkhazia. Making a plan for the creation of an all-Georgian state, David occupied Kartli for his foster-son in 976 and repulsed the troops from the easternmost Georgian Kingdom of Kakheti, which had recently occupied the western sector of Kartli with its rock-hewn city of Uplistsikhe. Two years later, in 978, David and Marushis-dze secured the crown of Abkhazia for Bagrat by displacing Theodosius III.
David's good fortunes changed in 987 when he, anxious to make his extensive possessions a hereditary Bagratid domain, joined his long-time friend Bardas Phokas in a rebellion against the emperor Basil. Once the rebels were defeated by the Byzantine-
Another problem arose around the same year, when Bagrat of Abkhazia planned a
Bagrat then went [to David] alone, fell at his feet and swore that he was going against Rati. [David] believed that too and released him in peace.[7]
David III's campaigns against the Muslims
After the reconciliation with the emperor and his kinsmen, David led a series of successful raids against the Muslim
Death
David was murdered by his nobles early in 1000 or 1001. According to Aristakes:
They had mixed poison into the communion on Good Thursday, and had given it to him [Dawit'] to drink, causing that venerable man to choke to death. [This was] because they had wearied of him, and were interested in promises [made to them] earlier by the emperor.[6]
Although the
Wars of the Kuropalates’ succession
Basil II was at that time in the eastern provinces of his empire, wintering on the plain of
King Bagrat, David's foster-son, met with Basil but, unable to prevent the annexation of David's realm, had to recognize the new borders in reward of the imperial title of kouropalates. Despite this setback, Bagrat was able to become the first king of an all-Georgian unified monarchy,[10] a result made possible largely by the efforts of David of Tao, who, as the modern scholar Stephen Rapp puts in, "appropriately ranks high on any 'Top Ten' list of Georgian history."[11]
There is some disagreement among modern scholars on whether David ceded to the Byzantines only those lands which had been granted to him as a reward for his assistance against the rebel Bardas Skleros, or if it had been the whole of his principality that was acquired by Basil II. As the former was endowed upon David for lifetime stewardship, it would be more reasonable to assume that he conceded his entire realm, i.e., Thither Tao/Tayk and the adjacent Armenian counties up to Lake Van. Whatever the extent of David's domain, the Georgian kings would not so easily reconcile with the loss of those territories, leading to a series of conflicts with the Byzantine Empire in the eleventh century.[12]
References
- ISBN 0-271-01628-0, p. 39.
- ^ Holmes, Catherine (2003). "Basil II (A.D. 976-1025)". An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors. Retrieved 2006-06-16.
- ^ ISBN 0-253-20915-3, p. 32
- ISBN 0-521-36447-7, p. 596
- Gurgen(994-1008), who held the royal title.
- ^ a b "The History of Vardapet Aristakes Lastivertc'i". Armenian Historical Sources of the 5-15th Centuries. Retrieved 2006-06-16.
- ^ "Armenian adaptation of the Georgian Chronicle". Armenian Historical Sources of the 5-15th Centuries. Retrieved 2006-06-16.
- ^ Canard, M. Armenia in The Encyclopaedia of Islam Online Demo Version[permanent dead link].
- ^ (in Russian) Yuzbashyan, Karen (ed. 1968). Повествование вардапета Аристакэса Ластиверци (The History of Vardapet Aristakes Lastivertc'i), Комментарии (Commentaries). Online version: Тhietmar. 2002. Retrieved on March 24, 2009
- ^ "David of Tao.". Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2006-06-16.
- ISBN 90-429-1318-5, p. 415
- ^ (in French) Avalichvili, Z. (1933), "La succession da curopalate David d'Iberie, dynaste de Tao". Byzantion VIII; 1: 199
