06/03/2024
Tamar was the ruler of Georgia from 1184 to 1213 CE. She is considered one of the greatest of medieval Georgia's monarchs, and she presided over its greatest territorial expansion, taking advantage of the decline of other major powers in the region. Tamar was the first female monarch of Georgia, and despite initial resistance to a female ruler, she was Georgia's greatest medieval monarch.
Tamar was the eldest daughter of George III of Georgia (aka Giorgi III, r. 1156-1184 CE). Without any sons of his own, and having blinded and castrated his only nephew after a rebellion fomented around him, George had no male heirs. But George made his decision of successor clear by having Tamar crowned co-monarch in 1178 CE in front of all the Georgian senior aristocracy and clergy.
Tamar then was the nominal co-ruler while George continued to rule for another six years. But when George died in 1184 CE, the nobility made demands of their new queen. First, they insisted that she be recrowned by them, to which she agreed. Next, they demanded that she remove former serfs and foreigners from power, including the powerful Qipchaq general Qubasar, the amirspasalari (commander-in-chief); to this she also agreed. But when they, led by Qutlu Arslan, suggested that the nobility should have the power to appoint government ministers and enact laws, she resisted. Tamar arrested Qutlu and had the rebellious nobles back down when she offered to pardon them.
Many in the kingdom were eager to have Tamar marry so an heir could be secured for the throne. The nobility proposed Yuri Andreyevich Bogolyubsky, a Kievan Rus duke-in-exile. This choice was supported by Catholicos Mikel and Tamar's aunt, Rusudan, who was a powerful figure at court. Yuri was fetched, and the two were wed, with Tamar remaining the ruling monarch. Yuri proved a successful military commander. However, the two did not get along well and in frustration, Tamar requested and was granted an annulment.
She next married someone of her own choosing: the Ossetian prince David Soslan (also given as Davit Soslan). David was distantly related to Tamar and he had been raised at the Georgian court in Tbilisi, making him an acceptable match, even if Ossetia was not as powerful of an ally as the Kievan Rus could have been. Tamar's marriage with David was a success: they had two children - the future King George IV of Georgia (aka Giorgi IV, r. 1213-1223 CE) and Queen Rusudan (r. 1223-1245 CE) - and the royal couple reportedly balanced each other.
Under Tamar, Georgia reached its greatest territorial and political height. Its armies campaigned from Trebizond to Iran, and Georgia was undisputedly a major power in the region. Tamar is almost certainly the most lauded of Georgia's medieval rulers and was written about and eulogized by Georgians medieval and modern.
Tamar passed this powerful state to her son, George IV, who seemed poised to continue Tamar's legacy as the leader of a powerful Georgia. Unrest by Georgia's vassals and George's own impulsiveness soured these prospects, but the greatest injury to the legacy of Tamar's Georgia was out of her control: just a decade after her death, the Mongols would arrive in Georgia, and in their wake, the Georgia of Tamar would be but a memory.
โMichael Goodyear
๐ทQueen Tamar, 12th-13th-century Vardzia Monastery mural, Georgia.
