Ashot II of Tao
Ashot II (Georgian: აშოტ II) (died 25 January 954[1]) was a Georgian prince of the Bagratid dynasty of Tao-Klarjeti with the Byzantine title of curopalates.
Ashot was the second son of Adarnase I, king of Iberia/Kartli and younger brother of David II (r. 923–937). David succeeded Adarnase as titular king of Iberia, but not as curopalates, this honorific being granted by the Byzantine emperor to Ashot. Ashot's original holding was the duchy of Lower Tao to which he added Upper Tao obtained following the death of his relative Gurgen II of Tao in 941. Ashot II also received from the emperor, c. 952, the Armenian canton of Phasiane.[2] By virtue of holding the title of curopalate, Ashot rivaled the influence and prestige of elder brother David II, King of Iberia.[3]
During Ashot's tenure, the Vita of Saint Grigol Khandzteli was composed by Giorgi Merchule. Ashot actively supported the development of monasticism in Tao-Klarjeti and rebuilt the main church of the monastery at Opiza. Ashot died without heir and his lands and titles passed to his brother King Sumbat I.[2] 954, the year of Ashot's death reported by the medieval chronicler Sumbat was confirmed by a Georgian inscription found at the historical village of Merenesi in what is now the Şenkaya district in Turkey in 2017.[1]
According to the art historian W. Djobadze, the bas-relief from Opiza which was brought to Georgia at the end of World War I and which is now on display at the State Museum of Fine Arts in Tbilisi, does not render Ashot I Kuropalates (died 830) and the Biblical King David as it has been sometimes assumed, but the 10th century re-builders of the monastery, Ashot II and David II.
Genealogy
Georgian monarchs family tree of Bagrationi dynasty of Tao-Klarjeti[4][5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notes
- ^ Adarnase IV restored Georgian kingship in 888[6] as the Kingdom of the Iberians and this would go on to dominate the political life of Georgia for a thousand years.[7]
- ^ David III, being childless, took advice from the Georgian aristocracy and adopted his kin, prince Bagrat in 975.[8] This will lead and pave the way for the unification of Georgia.[9]
- ^ King Bagrat III, the first monarch of unified Georgia was ruthless in his state administration. While visiting Castle of Panaskerti in Tao, king summoned his two cousins, Sumbat III and Gurgen. They were arrested and executed. Sumbat’s son Bagrat, and Gurgen’s son Demetrius, escaped to the Byzantine Empire. The Bagrationi line of Tao was already extinct since 941;[10] now with purging his own cousins the line of Klarjeti was also gone and no rival could ever claim the Georgian throne.[11]
References
- ^ Jump up to: a b Tsikarishvili, Levan; Gozalishvili, Bebur; Koguashvili, Shalva; Imedashvili, Ana (2017). "აშოტ II კურაპალატის თაობაზე წარწერა ტაოში აღმოაჩინეს" [An inscription about Ashot II Curopalates is found in Tao]. Istoriani. 83.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Toumanoff, Cyril (1967). Studies in Christian Caucasian History, pp. 493-493. Georgetown University Press.
- ^ Tavadze, Leri (2012). "კურაპალატის ტიტული ტაო-კლარჯეთის ბაგრატიონთა სამეფო სახლში" [Title of kouropalates in Tao-Klarjeti Bagrationi royal house] (PDF). Proceedings of the Institute of Georgian History (English summary) (in Georgian). Special: To the Splendid Hermitage Places of Klarjeti. Tbilisi: Meridian Publishers: 87–89. ISSN 1987-9970.
- ^ Settipani, p. 540
- ^ Rayfield (2013) location: 9218
- ^ Rayfield (2013) location: 1337
- ^ Rapp (2016) location: 5454
- ^ Rayfield (2013) location: 1379
- ^ Rayfield (2013) location: 1338-1384
- ^ Rayfield (2013) location: 1323
- ^ Rayfield (2013) location: 1502
Bibliography
- Rayfield, D. (2013) Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia, Reaktion Books, ISBN 9781780230702
- Rapp, S. H. Jr. (2016) The Sasanian World Through Georgian Eyes, Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature, Sam Houston State University, USA, Routledge, ISBN 9781472425522
- Settipani, C. (2006) Continuité des élites à Byzance durant les siècles obscurs. Les princes caucasiens et l'Empire du VIe au IXe siècle, Paris, ISBN 9782701802268