Joseph, Catholicos of Abkhazia
Catholicos Joseph | |
---|---|
Catholicos of Abkhazia | |
Tenure | 1769–1776 |
Born | 1739 |
Died | 1776 |
Dynasty | Bagrationi dynasty |
Father | Alexander V of Imereti |
Religion | Georgian Orthodox Church |
Khelrtva |
Joseph or Ioseb (
Career
Joseph was born in the family of Alexander V, King of Imereti in western Georgia, and his wife, Tamar Abashidze. He pursued a clerical career, mostly at the major cathedral of Gelati near Imereti's capital of
In May 1769, Solomon sent Joseph to Racha to make peace with Rostom. The catholicos swore at the Barakoni Church that his brother king guaranteed security. Rostom agreed eagerly, but he was betrayed by Solomon, who had him captured during a banquet and had his eyes burned out. The duchy of Racha was abolished and its lands confiscated; some were granted to Joseph. In the years that followed, Joseph pushed for efforts to persuade the Mingrelian government to abolish the rival catholicate established by Rostom's fugitive brother Besarion. The negotiations were fruitless, but, after Besarion's death in 1773, no attempt was ever made to install a catholicos in Mingrelia.[1]
Catholicos Joseph spared no effort to aggrandize his cathedral at Gelati. A new wall was constructed around it; several new estates, serf households, precious liturgical items, and a collection of manuscripts, including the 13th-century
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1780230306.
- ^ a b Mchedlidze, Gulnara. "იოსებ ბაგრატიონი, კათალიკოსი [Ioseb Bagrationi, Catholicos]". ქართველი ისტორიული მოღვაწენი [Georgian historical figures] (in Georgian). National Center of Manuscripts. Retrieved 25 June 2015.