Bagrat V of Georgia

Bagrat V the Great (Georgian: ბაგრატ V დიდი, Bagrat V Didi) (died 1393) from the Bagrationi dynasty was the son of the Georgian king David IX of Georgia by his wife Sindukhtar Jaqeli. He was co-ruler from 1355, and became king after the death of his father in 1360.

Bagrat V
ბაგრატ V
King of Georgia
PredecessorDavid IX
SuccessorGeorge VII
Died1393
Burial
Gelati Monastery
SpouseHelena Megale Komnene (d. 1366)
Anna Megale Komnene (m. 1367)
IssueGeorge VII
Constantine I
DynastyBagrationi
FatherDavid IX of Georgia
MotherSindukhtar Jaqeli
ReligionGeorgian Orthodox Church

Life

A fair and popular ruler, also known as a brave warrior.[1] Trapezuntine chronicler Michael Panaretos, a contemporary of the king, describes him as "a most excellent general."[2]

Caucasus after the collapse of the Ilkhanate.

Later he was an ally of the khan of the Golden Horde, Tokhtamysh, in his war with Timur (also known as Tamerlane). In late autumn 1386, a huge army of Timur's attacked Georgia. Tbilisi was besieged and taken on 21 November 1386, after a fierce fight. The city was pillaged and Bagrat V and his family were imprisoned.[2] Taking advantage of this disaster, the royal vassal Duke Alexander I of Imereti proclaimed himself an independent ruler and was crowned king of Imereti at the Gelati Monastery in 1387.

In order to secure his release, Bagrat V agreed to convert from Orthodox Christianity and become Muslim, though it is assumed that his conversion was not real but rather one of convenience. [3] Timur agreed to free Bagrat and sent him with 12,000 troops back to Georgia. However, with secret aid from Bagrat, his son George completely destroyed the Islamic escort force and released the king.[4]

In the spring of 1387, Timur again invaded Georgia but could not force the Georgians to submission. News of a revolt in Persia and an invasion of Azerbaijan by the Golden horde forced Timur to withdraw.

In 1389, on the death of Alexander of Imereti, Bagrat was able to reduce his successor to a vassal duke again.

He died in 1393, leaving the throne to his son George.

Family and children

George VII was Bagrat V's son with his first wife, Helena Megale Komnene, who died in 1366. In June 1367, Bagrat V married Anna Megale Komnene, daughter of Emperor Alexios III of Trebizond and Theodora Kantakouzene at Makriali Church in Lazia.[5] She gave birth to four children:

  • Constantine I
  • David
  • Tamar (subsequently wife of Prince Eles Baratashvili)
  • Olympias (Ulumpia; subsequently wife of Prince Kakhaber Chijavadze).[6]

References
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  1. Ivane Javakhishvili, The History of the Georgian Nation, vol. 3, Tbilisi, 1982, p.180
  2. Panaretos, ch. 105. Greek text and English translation in Scott Kennedy, Two Works on Trebizond, Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 52 (Cambridge: Harvard University, 2019), p. 55
  3. : At the Crossroads of Empires : 14th–15th Century Eastern Anatolia. Andrew Peacock, Between Georgia and the Islamic World : The Atabegs of Samc'xe and the Turks, Istanbul, p. 55
  4. Rayfield, Donald (2012). Edge of empires : a history of Georgia. Reaktion Books. p. 148. ISBN 9781780230306.
  5. Panaretos, Chronicle, ch. 87. English translation in Kennedy, Two Works on Trebizond, p. 43
  6. Ivane Javakhishvili, History of the Georgian Nation, Vol. 3, 1966, p. 278
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