The Church of Georgia is an inseparable part of the Ecumenical Orthodox Church; therefore its history is also part of the history of the Ecumenical Church. Likewise, it is a constituent part of the history of the Georgian people. In old times the Church invariably was the driving force of the nation's spiritual life. St. Ilia the Righteous (Chavchavadze) says: ?The Georgian Church always protected our people never committing its glory to oblivion? (I. Chavchavadze. Book II. p.180)

The Church of Georgia is pertinently called “Georgian Orthodox Church”, but at the same time, it is called “Georgian Apostolic Church” for she was established by the Apostles of Jesus Christ our Lord. The labour of St. Andrew the First-Called and that of the others was acknowledged in ancient Georgia as the truth beyond any doubt.

In the new age, especially at the beginning of the 20^th century, the missionary work of this Apostle was labeled as another legend. One of the arguments, this conception was grounded on, was that the Iberia of the Apostles' age was an insignificant country which could not have drawn their attention. But the truth was different - Georgia from the 30s of the 1^st century to the 60s of the 2^nd century was a powerful kingdom which extended almost all over Transcaucasia. The Roman historians Tacitus, Dionysius Cassius and some others often highlighted in their works the full-blooded life of this land. The Europeans of the medieval centuries were better aware of ancient Iberia than their contemporary Georgians. Archaeological findings all over this country also confirm the ancient authors' accounts. The Church tradition holds that after the Ascension of the Lord, the Apostles cast lots to determine the places of their further ministry. The historical source of the 6^th-11^th centuries ?The Life of Kartli? has that Georgia was allotted to the Mother of God, but on her Son's our Lord's will, she commissioned on this mission St. Andrew the First-Called sending with him her icon called Not-Made-By-Hands. On St. Andrew's preaching our people received Christianity; further, the Apostle established the first diocese in the Atskuri area, ordained priests and deacons. To summarize the ministry of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, he initiated the Church of Georgia.

On his second arrival, several of other Apostles followed him and on his third mission, Saint Simon the Zealot and Saint Matthias came to Georgia with him. Epiphanius of Constantinople (the 8^th c.) gives in his work comments on this episode.

In the 9^th century, Ephrem Mtsire (?Less?), alluding to Greek sources, wrote that apart from these Apostles, St. Bartholomew the Apostle preached in our country. Arcangelo Lamberti shares this opinion. Yet, a certain Slavic source of the 17^th century says that St. Thomas the Apostle founded the Church of Georgia.

And, there are some other historical chronicles which add to these names St Thaddeus the Apostle.

Furthermore, not only the Apostles from the Twelve but also some of the Seventy visited Georgia and converted people.

In conclusion, according to Holy Tradition, six of the Twelve Apostles preached in this land. They are: St. Andrew the First-Called, St. Simon the Zealot, St. Matthias, St. Bartholomew, St. Thomas and St. Thaddeus. Simon the Zealot and Matthias are buried here, in New Athos and in the Fortress of Gonio (near the town of Batumi).

The Church established by the Apostles, wherever she may be, is autocephalous; therefore, the Church of Georgia has been autocephalous since it was initiated.

In the 1^st-2^nd centuries, neither in Iberia nor in the Roman Empire did Christianity become a state religion. Nevertheless, it spread and strengthened increasingly. A 7^th century author Ioane Sabanisdze indicates in his book ?The Martyrdom of Abo of Tbilisi? that the Georgians were converted in the 2^nd - 3^rd centuries. Some archaeological findings also testify this date. As for instance, the archaeologists traced the remnants of a Christian community and attributed them to the period prior to St. Nino's age.

The presence of Christian burial grounds, attributed to the 2^nd and the 3^rd centuries prove that an organized Christian Church existed continuously from the 1^st and the 2^nd centuries (the Holy Apostles' time) to St. Nino's life and labour in Georgia. Presumably, Christian communities were considerably powerful in the Iberia of those times. King Rev the Righteous' reforms, conducted in the 3^rd century, clearly testify this assumption.

In the 1^st-3^rd centuries, Greek and Latin historians saw Georgia as an area for missionary work which was not overlooked by worldwide Christian centers. In one of the sources we read: ?Upon St. Clement the Preacher's missionary labour the Gospel was introduced in the region of Iberia which extends along the coast of the Pontus Sea and is called Colchis. He lived here in exile under the Emperor Traianeus?. (I. Tabaghua. ?Georgia in the European Archives and Book Depositories?, Book 1. p.171).

However, Irenaeus considered that the Georgians (Iberians) or Colchis, as they are called due to their geographical location, had received Christianity before the rule of the Emperor Traianeus (98-117). According to the same source, the Georgians, living near the mountains of Caucasus and expanding towards the Caspian Sea (the population of East Georgia), were converted later. This detail accords with that of ?Kartlis Tskhovreba? were we read that the people of West Georgia - Megrelians and Klarjis (South-West Georgia) were the first converts.

About the year 150, St. Justinian stated that there was no place in the world where people (even barbarians) did not pray to the Crucified Jesus Christ. St. Ireneaus shares this opinion (I. Tabaghua ?Georgia in the European Archives and Book Depositories?, Book 1.p.170).

Furthermore, the world missionary movement would not leave Iberia without attention as it was a powerful kingdom from the 30s of the 1^st century to the 60s of the 2nd century. In the 1^st-2^nd centuries three states - Rome, Iberia and Parthia declared their claims on the control over the vast lands in the south of Transcaucasia. Iberia had enough forces to withstand Parthia without the Romans' support and several battles brought her victory which aroused Rome's concern over the increasing strength of Iberia. In the 30s and the 50s of the 2^nd century, Parsman II, called ?Kveli??(?Virtuous?) was King of Georgia. In his reign Kartli fought with Rome openly, leading a straightforward policy and compelling the Roman forces to withdraw from Colchis and the neighboring territories. While at war with Rome, she did not seek alliance with Parthia either. It is evident that the rulers of Kartli boldly confronted Rome and Parthia at a time (G. Melikishvili. ?Georgia in the 1^st-3^rd Century A.D??, ?Essays on the History of Georgia?? Book I. 1970. p.510).

Parsman II was powerful and independent in his sovereignty. Despite his efforts, the Emperor Adriane could not reconstruct his relationships with him as the king of Georgia would not respond on them. Moreover, he turned down the emperor's invitation to Rome. The latter's biographer Elius Spartianus writes that Adriane sent the king a bountiful present of precious gifts which was more abundant than those, granted to other royals.

When the Emperor Anthony Pius (133-161) succeeded him, Parsman II visited Rome with his spouse and a large party of his court. They were welcomed with great pageantry. According to Dion Cassius, the emperor ?broadened the boundaries of Parsman's domain?. Presumably, Rome not only acknowledged the existing borders of Iberia but also presented to the king some more lands along the Black Sea coast and in Armenia. The distinguished guest from Georgia was granted to bring sacrifice in the Capitoline. The emperor was present at Parsman's military practice in which the king's son and the leaders of the Georgian army took part.

In Rome, an equestrian statue of the king was erected. Another biographer of the emperor Julius Capitolinus states that the king's visit to Rome was accepted as his respect towards the emperor. An inscription on a marble slab, found in an ancient Roman harbor, testifies as well that it was a foremost event.

All this speaks about Georgia's power and wealth in the age of the Apostles (the 1st-2nd cc.). She was a country of vast lands and secure borders, outstanding with her highly developed economy and progressive social relationships. Therefore she would have barely been left beyond the Apostles' and the missionaries' attention.

The missionary labour of the Christian preachers in Iberia continued throughout the 2^nd and the 3^rd centuries. The Scholar I. Javakhishvili cites the appearance of the first Christian communities in the first half of the 3^rd century. With the territorial extension of the land, these communities gained predominance over the whole nation. The reforms, conducted by King Rev the Righteous, provide grounds to assume that this teaching was received by the elite of that time.

In the 3^rd century, precisely in 261 the Emperor Galliano signed a decree which acknowledged Christianity as an established state religion. Almost half a century before this event, King Rev the Righteous had done the same in Iberia. The King died in 213. He knew the Holy Scriptures and was a merciful supporter of all men, yet remaining a pagan.

?Only in the 3^rd century did the emperors abolish human sacrifice while in Georgia it ended earlier than in Rome and the law, forbidding it, was in effect throughout the country. An ancient historical source attributes this noble step to King Rev the Righteous?. (Goralishvili. ?The Issue of the Conversion of Kartli and Prince Bakur? p.38.)

Archaeological excavations confirm the existence of Christian communities in the 2^nd-3^rd centuries in this land. The scholar A. Bobokhidze describes a Christian church of the 3^rd century in the valley of Nastakisi: ?…in the valley of Nastakisi, larger settlements also appear early in the Middle Ages, which is testified by the ruins, found while the excavations were being conducted on the site. Each building on the valley consisted of several rooms, with one of them bigger than the others. In all those houses, one room was a small church with a projecting apses and a narthex.

Christianity was not a state religion at that time; rather it is seen as illegal and harbored in such buildings. This fact is of great significance in the study of the history of Christianity in the Kingdom of Kartli.

The structural arrangement of the Church of that time is particularly interesting. Of course, it is beyond doubt that the Christians would have clergymen who would conduct ministry to their needs - partaking of the Holy Communion, receiving the Holy Baptism and participating in other mysteries. It should be noted here that the communities of various towns or settlements were not in subordination to each other; a single Christian Church with one centre and one administration was not formed yet. Nevertheless, there were bishops who carried out the ministry and priests were called bishops.

In conclusion, the Christian Church and Christian communities existed in Georgia from the 1^st to the 4^th century and this period created a favorable ground for a successful accomplishment of St. Nino's missionary work.

In the 4^th century, the proclamation of Christianity as of a legal religion in Georgia was neither unexpected nor imposed; rather the thee-century tradition of its existence in this land had prepared its foundation.

It would not have been easy for St. Nino to inculcate the true faith of God among this people unless the Apostles had prepared the foundation for a general conversion to Christianity. It was also revealed in the chaste virgin's life when in a vision the Lord told her: ?The harvest is truly plentiful, but the labourers are few? (Matthew 9:37).

These words meant that the seeds sown by the Apostles had prepared the people throughout centuries for the nation-wide baptism.

The ancient Georgian chronicle ?Moktsevai Kartlisai? (?The Conversion of Kartli?) which belongs to the 6^th-9^th centuries, describes the spread of Christianity in Georgia. The first part of it is a selection of historic chronicles, written at different times, while the second one represents an account of St. Nino's life and labour.

Presumably, the second book with the title ?St. Nino's life? was compiled in the 4^th century and contains the evidence of its authorship - Queen Salome of Ujarma and the prominent lady Perozhavra Sivnieli were the two ladies who made up a record of St. Nino's life from her personal account which she gave them, while in the village of Bod (Bodbe).

Although the well-known scholars Nicholas Marr, Ivane Javakhishvili and Korneli Kekelidze place the source in the 9^th century, we do not have any reasons for turning down the authenticity of the authorship, attested by the source and accept it as authentic. The following historical fact also confirms our belief - in the second half of the 4^th century, Prince Bakur who was the grandson of King Rev and Queen Salome and the son of their son Trdat, being on a visit in the Byzantine Empire, met with the outstanding historians Gelasius of Caesarea and Ruphinus and in a conversation he told them the story of his people's conversion to Christianity. This narration is a kind of abridged version of ?St. Nino's Life?.

Gelasius of Caesarea described the same event in his ?History of the Church?. Regrettably, the work is presumed lost. Yet, the same historical episode is preserved in the books of the later period authors among whom the earliest is Ruphinus (died in 410). He translated and included in his work Gelasius of Caesarea's account about the events which had taken place in Georgia.

Later, the three Greek historians - Socratus (born in 380), Theodoritus of Cyrene (the 5^th c.) and Sozomen spoke about the same event in their works. Socratus alluded to Ruphinus while writing about it in ?The History of the Church?; Theodoritus of Cyrene mentions it in his book giving it the same title. Sozomen is considered to have based his account directly on Ruphinus' ?History?.

This book, which afterwards was used as the original source by Greco-Roman historians, was written at the end of the 4^th century, fifty years after the conversion of Kartli. Ruphinus' detail that one of the royalties of Iberia Prince Bakur was the person from whom he learnt about the events is very significant.

To draw a conclusion, the earliest source which gives an account of Georgia's conversion to Christianity was written in the 4^th century by Prince Bakur's grandmother Queen Salome of Ujarma. Evidently, the prince referred to this precise book when discoursing on the subject with the Greek historians.

But, when did St. Nino come to Georgia? And did she really enlighten the whole nation? ?

The holy fathers of the Ruis-Urbnisi council answered this question conclusively when in the decree of the council they gave the following: ?St. Nino converted all Georgia to Christianity but St. Andrew the First-Called had preached throughout the country prior to her?? St. Nino came to Georgia in 303. The Royal court believed on the Lord and established Christianity as a state religion and in 324-326 the people of the entire country were baptized.

Prince Vakhushti Bagrationi dates the conversion by the year 317 and this is a fact of paramount importance, shared by the scholars D. Bakradze and I. Gvaramadze. However, P. Ioseliani, G. Sabinin and R. Tsamtsiev considered the year 318 as the exact date of the event.

The scholar V. Goiladze names the year 324 as the date of Bishop Ioane's ordination and sees the Church of Georgia of the Cappadocian origin rather than of Antiochian.

This is quite a conclusive consideration. Thus, Prince Vakhushti Bagrationi's assumption should be acknowledged valid and the years 317-318 should be accepted as the date of the conversion while the years 324-326 - as the date of the people's baptism and of the establishment of the Church. The single Georgian Church was formed in the 4^th century. Under her jurisdiction, in accordance with the decree of the Ruis-Urbnisi Council, were vast territories in both East and West Georgia. This convocation underscored as well that St. Andrew preached not only in a definite area of West Georgia, but throughout Georgia. St. Nino baptized not only the people of East Georgia but the whole nation. The council also stated that the Church in West Georgia started enacting her jurisdiction on the precise day of her establishment. This cancels the opinion that a Greek diocese was founded with its Episcopal throne. According to N. Adonets, the well-known Episcopal thrones of Lazika were not in West Georgia but in Trabzon region (now the territory of Turkey).

Early in the 5^th century, Georgia was laid under tribute to Persia. Although the Persians failed to deprive this country of her statehood, they sought to assimilate the people. Restricting and forbidding Georgian traditions and customs, they forced them to receive their religion which was Zoroastrianism; but Christianity had become an established national religion by that time and the Georgian traditions and customs had deep roots in this religion. When fighting against it, the Persians were confident that the people would lose their self-awareness if they renounced their belief.

Here, it should be noted that the Byzantines did not fall short in this respect either for by the end of the 4^th century they took over a considerable part of the southern territories (Klarjeti), joining these lands to their state and in the first part of the 5^th century they occupied most of the lands of West Georgia from Egristskhali up to Tsikhe-Goji.

However, Persia controlled the most part of Georgia and it posed a serious threat. King Vakhtang Gorgasali followed the traditions of the Greek Orthodoxy. He reigned in the second half of the 5^th century. Before his death, the king pronounced his will in which he addressed to his people asking ?not to abandon the love of the Greeks?, he meant Orthodoxy. Nevertheless, he had fought against the Eastern Roman Empire and had retrieved the lost territories.

Furthermore, in the 5^th century two divergences of Christianity are seen, one of which was supported by Byzantium; the other was of Persian orientation. The Persian royal court, on perceiving that the dissemination of Zoroastrianism could gain very little ground and the Christian peoples would never renounce their faith, altered their policy choosing to subordinate them to pro-Iranian Christian Churches of which were Syrian and Persian, with their anti-Byzantine values.

Undoubtedly, these circumstances would have their effect on the Georgian community as the country was under Persia's control.

It is beyond question that in the 5^th century both groupings of Hellenic and Persian orientations were present in the Church, causing extreme tension at the royal court. According to ?Kartlis Tskhovreba? the Georgian kings had to withstand both hostile neighbours or would take advantage of the animosity between them and fight alternatively against the Greeks with Persia's support or against the Persians with that of Byzantium's.

Christianity had not been established as the state religion until the Emperor Constantine legalized it. Therefore Christian communities did not depend on the supervision by the governing authorities and the latter could not impose their will in respect of the structural order within the Church. Consequently, until the 4^th century each of the Christian communities was placed under the authority of its archbishop, and archbishops fulfilled their ministry independently from each other. They were elected by the council of the community's clergy and the dioceses were independent, i.e. autocephalous. This order was in accordance with the 34^th apostolic canon.

Things changed when the state recognized Christianity as the official religion. It is a well-known fact that by this time (the early 4^th c.) ?tetrarchy? or the ?rule of the four? held the supreme authority in the Roman Empire and this meant the division of the state into two separate parts, with an emperor and two Caesars ruling each. Rome, Antioch, Alexandria and other major cities were places of headquarters for the magistrates and residences for the Archbishops of the same provinces. The overseers of the Church acted in concert with the lay governors who upheld the formers' authority and influence. These were favourable circumstances for gaining wealth and power. Eventually, the whole process led minor Churches to being abolished while greater ones broadened the spheres of their influence. The Ecumenical Councils of the 4^th century announced the autocephaly of minor Churches but they also confirmed the extension of bishops' scope of authority as of the overseers of the major cities. This process totally embraced the 4^th century and ended in 451.

At large, for the independent bishoprics the 5^th century was an age of unification in large patriarchates. The Council of 451 founded a new patriarchate - the Patriarchate of Jerusalem in which the independent bishoprics of Palestine were united.

In the same period (the 5^th c.) and in the same way was established the Patriarchate of Georgia.

It is a known fact that in all those places, where Christianity gained ground, bishops were appointed overseers of the Churches.

In the Kingdom of Georgia ?Saeristavo?, otherwise ?Sapitiakhsho? as it is often called, corresponded to ?province? in the Roman Empire. Before the establishment of the Patriarchate the supreme hierarch of the Church bore the title of ?Archbishop? and evidently, he was the head of the bishops throughout the land which was under the royal authority of the king of Georgia.

Having united all Georgia and having regained the vast lands of Klarjeti and those along the sea coast, King Vakhtang Gorgasali started to settle affairs in the Church. He held the Byzantine Church and the Churches of the East as models in this work.

The Churches in the Eastern Roman Empire and Persia were controlled by state authorities. The shah himself appointed the foremost hierarchs to different Christian Churches in his country. To that a good example would be the Church of Armenia in the 5^th century.

Even the supreme legislative body - the Ecumenical Councils, held in Byzantium were conducted with the emperor's active intervention.

The Church of Georgia was not subordinated to the sovereign's power but in the 5^th century King Vakhtang Gorgasali made an attempt to arrange it according to the new Byzantine rules and canons which meant some kind of submission to the royal authority. It is a well-known fact that to this Catholicos Michael answered the king with an abuse - it was a physical insult rendered to him.

Taking advantage of the created political circumstances and referring to the Church Law, the king removed Michael painlessly, without offending the believers, and sent him on trial in Constantinople. Subsequently, the Patriarch of Antioch sent twelve bishops to Kartli. Apparently, King Vakhtang replaced the bishops of Persian orientation by those sent from Greece. He also dismissed the hierarchs who, having gained fortune and power refused to submit to the King's sovereignty.

Thus, we can summarize that the establishment of the Georgian Patriarchate by King Vakhtang Gorgasali resulted in the broadening of the territories under its jurisdiction as Byzantium returned the lands of Klarjeti (South Georgia) and those of the sea coast (from Tsikhe-Goji up to the Klisura River) to the king.

It was King Vakhtang Gorgasali's will to organize the Church as a united and centralized Patriarchal Church; and, the title of Catholicos of All Georgia (Gr. Catholicos - ?universal?) was conferred on the Bishop of Mtskheta (the capital city of the country). The almost contemporary chronicle of that age ?Moktsevai Kartlisai? names Peter as the first Catholicos of all Georgia: ?Since then started the supremacy of Catholicoses, and the first Catholicos was Peter?.

Early in the 6^th century, Persia subjugated Georgia and abolished the royal sovereignty over the country. Here, it should be noted that Georgian and Greek sources give diverse records about this abolition.

One of the earliest Georgian chronicles says that in the first half of the 6^th c. the royal sovereignty was not abolished; some Greek sources confirm this assertion. In particular, Procophius of Caesarea states that after Persia and Rome had signed a lasting truce in 552, Georgia was not ruled by a monarch. However, the Byzantine chroniclers Malala and Theophanous mention the Georgian King Dzamanarzo, the queen and the magistrates who visited Constantinople in the year 553 with the purpose of holding negotiations with Justinian Caesar.

Presumably, the Persian conquerors allowed the country to have some kind of autonomy where the dynasty of Gorgasli and Parnavaz was left in power and the political circles of Georgia, refusing to acknowledge the abolition, referred to the person in supreme authority as to ?king?. Anyway, it is indisputable that till the 70s and the 90s of the 6^th century, the country was under the rule of Persia and the Georgian national institutions, among them the Georgian Chalcedonic Church, were severely persecuted.

After the total conquest of East Georgia, the Persians made efforts to drive the Greeks off the sea coast of West Georgia. The war for Lazika between Persia and Byzantium ended in the year 563 with a truce, according to which Lazika remained with the Byzantines; Georgia was divided between Byzantium and Persia.

In the 590s Persia lost a considerable part of Iberia (Georgia) and in 591 Persia and Byzantium shared East Georgia also between each other.

In the same century, out of the anti-Byzantine political views Persia favoured Monophysitism, patronized the Church of Armenia and, after having failed to implant Zoroastrianism in the Transcaucasian countries, started to defend this confession in the region. Church authors were commissioned to preach the ideas of Monophisitism and instill in people the necessity of union with Persia. To attain this goal, the king of Persia sent his men with a special errand. They were to promulgate a false legend about the spread of Christianity by one person throughout the three countries - Armenia, Kartli and Albania and also to teach people that the creator of the Armenian, the Georgian and the Albanian alphabets was a man of Persian origin.

Persia's policy resulted in a long term severe pressure which turned out to be a test for the Armenian hierarchs who fell short to resist the temptation of gaining wealth from the service to the Persian authorities.

These circumstances created a favorable ground for the acknowledgment of Monophysitism (Khachetsar) as their confession and it was declared as such in the middle of the 6^th c. by the Armenian Church Council, held in the town of Dvin under the Catholicos Nerses (548-567).

Eventually, the Armenian Church, authorized by Persia, gained the right of supervision over the other Churches in Transcaucasia which also were under Persian rule. Along with these circumstances, in the 7^th - 9^th century the Arabs supported and strengthened the Armenian Church since they also favoured anti-Chalcedonic and anti-Byzantine orientations. The Caliphate did all in their power to win over the strong Armenian Church by concessions and every help.

Furthermore, the Armenian Church succeeded to achieve its objective of spreading the influence on the adjoining Georgian and Albanian provinces where consequently the Georgian population assumed the Armenian way of life in the Church because the Holy Service was conducted in this language.

These circumstances were specific for Hereti and Gugarka (South Georgia) were Armenian inscriptions appeared on the walls of churches and on the pages of sacred books. The events of the 7^th century well describe how the Armenian Church gained superiority over the Georgian community in South Kartli or Gugarka.

Here is one example, illustrating the above mentioned: our great Catholicos Kirion made attempts to restore the Georgian Church Service in Gugarka but it turned out to be totally unacceptable for the Armenian Church and a decision was taken to punish him. The Shah of Persia Khosrov convened a Church Council in 614 which adopted a decree, obligating the Christians of the Persian Empire to receive ?the Armenian Christianity?. Catholicos Kirion was compelled to leave the country and flee to Lazika (Trabzon region).

In those hard times, in the mid-6^th century Syrian Fathers came to Georgia and started their ministry. They carried out their unceasing lifelong labour and passed away early in the 7^th century. If we trace the life in the Church of Georgia from the time of their arrival and up to the end of their work, we will see those fathers as fighters against Monophysitism who won their battle.

According to the Georgian chronicles, in the 540s, before the Syrian Fathers' arrival Monophysitism had gained steadfast positions. Father Giorgi Mtsire (?Less?) quotes the words of Giorgi Mtatsmindeli (of the Holy Mount): ?…like weeds, those wicked Armenian seeds were sown in our country?? The sacred books of the 4^th and the 5^th centuries, translated from Greek, with precision were retranslated and reedited in conformity with Armenian theological literature. It was done under the influence of the Armenian Church in the 6^th-7^th centuries.

During their thirty-year-old ministry, the Syrian Fathers attained to a complete victory of the Chalcedonic confession. Moreover, this victory provided a theoretical basic for the falling of the Georgian Church away from the Armenian. And, it happened when the Armenian clergy made attempts to spread their language and culture throughout the Iranian Transcaucasia. Therefore the labour of the Thirteen Syrian Fathers strengthened the national foundation of Georgian culture and thereby averted the danger of national and cultural degeneration of our people.

Diverse opinions exist about the national background of the Fathers. Some scholars think they were of Georgian origin. There is no definite answer to this question but one thing is certain - they promoted the Georgian language, considering it patronized by the All Holy Mother of God. ?The Life of Ioane Zedazneli? (the leader of the Assyrian Fathers) says that he had not known Georgian prior to that ministry, neither had he heard about the existence of this country. But on the order of the Mother of God, he, St. Shio and others of his disciples were given the utterance of this language like the Holy Apostles who were given the same gift of speaking languages in that ancient time. They conducted the Church Services in this language and even wrote theological books. ?Kartlis Tskovreba? describes the event of meeting of the Assyrian Fathers with the Catholicos who received them on their arrival - the Fathers answered his welcoming words in Georgian. Apart from this, the Assyrian Fathers recognized Georgian as the language of the Chalcedonic confession since it was already considered the national religion in the 6^th century. As the scholar K. Kekelidze observes, the Syrian Fathers led their ministry in the monasteries and adds that ?there is no evidence of the existence of monasteries in the true sense of the word prior to the Thirteen Fathers. These Fathers were their first founders in this country?? ( K. Kekelidze, ?The History of Old Georgian Literature?. Book I. p 88) However, King Vakhtang Gorgasali had established one in Klarjeti and the Georgians had had several in Jerusalem and in the Holy Land as well. In one of them, which bore the name of Monk Ioane Lazi, were found the first Georgian inscriptions.

Thus, we can summarize that the Syrian Fathers saved the Church of Georgia from the disastrous danger of Monophysitism or Armenian confession as it was called then, whereby making their major contribution in the life of the Church.

The 6^th century was most difficult for the Church as well as for the state. Nevertheless, it should be particularly noted that the Georgian national institutions did not recognize the abolition of statehood and considered this disaster of the age as temporal conditions which would improve shortly. The Church exercised her jurisdiction throughout the whole land. The language for the Divine Service was Georgian till the 7^th century, excluding Tao and part of Klarjeti where, early in the 6^th century, Armenian was favoured by Persian authorities. The integrity of the country is also felt in the architectural similarity of the buildings belonging to the Church in both West and East Georgia. ?Kartlis Tskhovreba? and ?Moktsevai Kartlisai?, also some other sources permanently confirm that Georgia was a politically integral kingdom. The unity was based on the ethnic integrity of the nation. According to the above mentioned chronicles, all the land from Egritskhali to Hereti inclusive was settled by the Georgian people. In the 4^th-6^th centuries East and West Georgia, taken together, were called ?All Kartli?.

The end of the 6^th century and the beginning of the 7^th century were marked with an over-all revival. The restoration of King Vakhtang Gorgasali's realm started with the reestablishment of the Georgian public institutions. But the campaign against Georgia, started by Heracles Caesar, did not allow the country to accomplish the process of renewal.

This revival frightened the Caesar as Georgia was a permanent rival of Rome and later, of the Greco-Roman Empire in the Caucasus. For this reason he severely avenged on the people of Georgia and massacred many Christians in the churches in East Georgia; as the chronicles have ?the churches witnessed the blood-both of believers?. Heracles took over a considerable part of the territories along the Black Sea coast. However, his attitude towards the Armenian Church was totally different (sources speak about his Armenian origin). Due to flexible approaches in her policy, the Church of Armenia was commendable to Byzantium and Heracles Caesar, after having defeated Persia, signed a treaty of alliance with her.

After the Roman campaign in Georgia, the Armenian Church returned to the Chalcedonic confession and put forth claims on the supremacy over the Georgian and the Albanian Churches. The leaders of the Church had to appeal to the Patriarch of Antioch, seeking his confirmation to the Autocephaly of the Georgian Church which would guarantee her defense against any kind of claims on predomination over her.

By that time, the sixth Ecumenical Council was convened. ?Kartlis Tskhovreba? reports that the Council, held in 680-681 in Constantinople, considered the issue of the Church of Georgia, conferred on her foremost hierarch the title of Patriarch or successor to the Apostolic Throne, determined the boundaries of the territorial autocephaly of the Church and confirmed her right to sanctify the chrism in her country. The same chronicle reports that all the Caucasus was brought under the jurisdiction of the Georgian Church.

To conclude, the Patriarchate of Georgia was established in the 7^th century and existed till the mid-8^th century.

Early in the 8^th century, the Arab conquest brought extreme hardship and tough social conditions to Georgia. Therefore, the country was unable to mitigate the power of foreign Churches, existing in Georgia. The Church of Armenia once again made attempts to broaden the scope of her influence over South Georgia. However, at the Council of Manaskert, held in 726, the Armenian clergy declared Monophysitism as the only confession their Church would adhere to, rejecting both Monotelitism and the Chalcedonic confession and terminated their contacts with Byzantium. Remaining steadfast in the Chalcedonic confession, this event gave opportunity to the Georgian Church to break up all the relationships with the Armenian Church.

The eighth century is the age of liberation for Georgian culture. Although the political circumstances were still complicated, the releasing of the Church and of the people from the Armenian influence and the renaissance of culture started on straight away. In the succeeding centuries, the treasury of the Church of Georgia - Hymnography developed without impediment. This is the age of Abo Tbileli (commemorated on January 7^th) and the Princes of Argveti David and Constantine Mkheidzes (commemorated on March 20^th) who shone forth as lights with their martyrdom in this land, accepting it from the Arab conquerors.

According to the Georgian historical sources, in the 4^th-8^th centuries all Georgia was called Kartli. She had secure frontiers with the adjoining kingdoms. Egrisi - in the west, Hereti - in the east and the Fortress of Tukharisi and Klarjeti - in the south were the furthermost areas of the land. The name “Kartli” was applied to all Georgia. Therefore the Patriarchate of Kartli executed its jurisdiction both in East and West Georgia since the day of its foundation, i.e., from the 4^th century. As for the Church of Georgia, she executed her authority throughout the country since the day of her establishment, i.e., from the 1^st century.

In the 80s and the 90s of the 8^th century, the kingdom split into three parts: Abkhazeti, Kartli and Kakhet-Hereti. If ?Kartli? had been the name of all Georgia prior to this, now West Georgia was referred to by the name ?Abkhazeti? in its stead. But before those times, ?Abkhazeti? had been the name of the lands beyond the Klisura (or Kelasuri) River which were subordinated to Byzantium. In the 8^th century, the country beyond the Kelasuri River gained independence from the Greeks. The prince of this region Leon I got married to Princess Gurandukht who was the daughter of King Mir of Kartli. The king had no sons; his brother King Archill accepted martyrdom under the Arab conquerors. The princess governed her domain West Georgia by the hand of her husband, Leon I. Therefore the land was called ?Abkhazeti? after the name of the ruling dynasty.

The foundation of the independent ?Kingdom of Abkhazians? was followed by the establishment of the autocephalous Church and this fact was consistent with the Church Law.

Thus, beginning from the 8^th century, two Catholicosates coexisted in Georgia, - one of Abkhazeti and the other of Mtskheta (or Kartli). The Catholicos of the latter was considered senior, while that of the former - junior. In 730, South Georgia was devastated by Murvan Kru (Deaf), an Arab conqueror. People pertinently called him ?Deaf? because of the atrocities he committed while their outcry never moved him. After his withdrawal, the monasteries of Opiza started to revive in Klarjeti. The restoration of monasticism in South Georgia had begun before St. Grigol of Khandzta appeared in the spiritual life of Tao-Klarjeti; he built monasteries throughout Khandzta and Shatberdi, founded convents in Mere and Gunatle. His disciples established many more among which the most outstanding was the monastery of Ishkhani; they also founded a bishopric in this area. The construction of monasteries started in Baretelta, Tskharostavi, Nedzvi.

In West Georgia, St. Grigol founded the Monastery of Ubisa. About fifty years had passed in all this labour, before St. Grigol of Khandzta was consecrated as Archimandrite of the local monasteries. He applied the typikon of Sabatsminda (the Holy Lavra of St. Savas of Jerusalem) to the life and ministry in his monasteries; he also compiled a selection of hymnography called ?Iadigari? (Eng. ?Yearly?).

Another historical fact would add to the standing of the Georgian Church of those times: Iconoclasm upset the peace in the Church of Greece for almost a century. Veneration of icons was declared idolatry and was persecuted by the Byzantine Caesars and the clergy. Putting in prison and death penalty were frequently used forms of punishment. The Church of Georgia was among the few who adhered to the tradition and never rejected the veneration of icons. Gothia terminated all contacts with Constantinople, too. As Greek sources also prove, the Bishop of Gothia was consecrated in Iberia.

In the 9^th -10^th centuries Georgia regained freedom. She was not dependant on the Arabs or other invaders. Independence enabled her to have her own principalities of Abkhazia, Tao-Klardjeti and Kakhet-Hereti. This process involved the revival of national culture - writers of religious books and composers of hymns appeared. Among them were Ioane Minchkhi - from West Georgia, Epiphane of Khandzta (the 8^th -9^th cc.), Makari Luteteli of Khandzta and Sabatsminda (the 9^th c.), Basil of Khandzta (the 9^th c.), Giorgi Merchule (the 9^th-10^th cc.), Michael Modrekili (the 10^th c.), Ioane Mtbevari (the 10^th c.), Ezra (the 10^th c.), Ioane Konkorisdze (the 10^th c.), Kurdanai-Kvirike (the 10^th c.). It was the time of thrive in hymnography. Authors made up songs, heirmoses, compiled selections of hymns. In those centuries lived and worked St. Nino`s hymnographer I (the 8<sup>th</sup>-9<sup>th</sup> cc.), St. Nino`s hymnographer II (the 9^th-10^th cc.), the hymnographer of St. Constanti Kakhi (the 9^th-10^th cc.), Samuel Mgalobeli, the writer Ioane of Bolnisi (the 9^th c.), St. Nino's hymnographer III (the 9^th-10^th cc.), Mskhemi of Zedazeni (the 10^th c.), the hymnographers of David of Gareji (the 9^th-the 10^th cc.), Iovane Minchkhi (the 10^th c.), Stephanoz of Chkhondidi (the 10^th c.), the author of ?Abukura? (the 9^th c.), Giorgi of Sabatsminda and of Sinai, Ioane-Zosime, Philip of Bethlehem (the 10^th c.). To these centuries are related selections of hymnography, called Iadigari (Eng. ?Yearly?) which was compiled in Palestine. It was the time when the Georgian language developed to its uttermost.

Two Catholicosates coexisted in Georgia in these centuries. In the year 830, King Bagrat III (Curopalate) recognized this duality and appointed the Catholicos to the Church of Abkhazia.

It was the legal formation of the Catholicosate of Abkhazia which brought about the question of sanctifying the chrism. According to the decision of the Church Council of 451 which was to be applied to all the Churches, two options were considered - either the Catholicos of Abkhazia was to be empowered to sanctify it or the Church was to receive it from another, supreme Church. Eprem Mtsire states that the chrism had been sanctified in Georgia since the 5^thc century.

Giorgi Merchule, the author of ?The Life of Grigol of Khandzta? says in his book that the new Church unit which had emerged on the territory between the Lake of Van and Arzrum, received the chrism from Jerusalem but later, on the decision of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, the Catholicosate of Kartli assumed the responsibility to provide this area with it as West Georgia had been part of Kartli from primordial times: “For initially the Catholicoses of the East (Abkhazia) would bring the chrism from Jerusalem, but on the order of Christ Jesus, Patriarch Eprem established the sanctification of the chrism with the confirmation and order of the Patriarch of Jerusalem since Kartli (Georgia) is the entire land where matins and every prayer is offered in the Georgian language”. We presume this is the correct interpretation of the ancient text.

The Georgian language was maintained as Liturgical until the 20s of the 19^th century when the Holy Synod of the Church of Russia abolished the Georgian Patriarchate.

In the year 978, under King Bagrat III, Georgia was reunified and the Kingdom of Iberia or Kartli revived once again. The cornerstone of this process was the exalted national consciousness of the people and their unceasing yearn for it.

In the 6^th-10^th centuries, the nation's aspiration to the renewal and restoration of the integral Georgian Kingdom was so strong that up to the 8^th century public reason did not acknowledge the split and Kartli was still considered an entire state which extended from the Black Sea to Bardava. Although, following the 8^th century, there were Kingdoms of Abkhazia, Tao-Klarjeti, Kakheti and Hereti, each of these Georgian states sought to reconstruct ancient Iberia by reunifying the territories into an entire land.

In 978, under King Bagrat III Kartli was restored, Georgia was reunified. In 1010 the king joined the regions of Kakheti and Hereti to his realm. Thereby, the Iberian state of the house of Parnavazids and Khosroids, founded by King Parnavas in the 4^th-3^rd century B.C.? was reestablished. Prior to this event, as it was already mentioned above, the Georgian Church still consisted of two administrative units, the so-called Catholicosates - of Kartly and of Abkhazia. They were gaining strength intensively. The Liturgical language in Abkhazia was solely Georgian up to the 20s of the 19^th century (before the so-called Church rebellion in Imereti). Shortly after the reunification, the two Catholicosates united in one patriarchate and the title ?Patriarch of the East? was conferred on Melchizedek I. ?The East? implied vast territories under its jurisdiction? including North Caucasus up to Lake Van.

Melchizedek was a relative and pupil of King Bagrat III whom the king himself had brought up. On taking the office, he did not delay his visit to the emperor's court in Constantinople. Obviously, the objective of the visit was to gain Constantinople's recognition of the Patriarch's primate in the Church of Georgia.

Constantinople acknowledged the primate of the Patriarch and handed over a rich monastery with 105 villages as a present to the Patriarchal centre Svetitskhoveli and to the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia Melchizedek. Historical documents of the 11^th-13^th centuries testify this event.

On Melchizedek's request, the Arab Emir of Tbilisi Ali exempted the Church from taxes in the Tbilisi Emirate.

On King Bagrat's decease, a war between the Byzantine Empire and Georgia broke out. It was not a war of episodic collisions, rather it was a wide-scale warfare which lasted several decades and in which the emperors of the Byzantine Empire and the kings of Georgia participated personally. The war started in 1021 under Basil II and ended in the reign of Constantine Monomach, in 1054. This is the period when in Georgia Giorgi I was King and Bagrat IV succeeded him. Under the latter, the war ended and a peace truce was signed.

Basil Caesar hoped the Georgian state would not withstand his attacks and would fall but the Church of Georgia supported her land and led the people's rebellion against the invaders in the areas, conquered by the enemy.

In those times, Byzantium and its emperors were looked upon as the pillars of Christendom. People venerated them as performers of God's will. It is probable that out of this esteem? part of the Georgians turned away and took their side. Had the clergy not taken a sober action to arouse the common people, the enemy would have taken advantage of their sincere belief.

The steadfast fidelity of the Georgian Church in this war kindled the wrath of the Byzantine court. She was declared a heterodox Church of heretics and, not long after, it was followed by a persecution of the Georgian monasteries and monks all over the empire. Many primordial rights of the Georgian Church were brought into question.

In the 11^th century? Byzantium considered the Armenian Church heretical. In the southern parts of Georgia, the Church still bore traces of its influence and this precise fact was underscored by the Byzantine ideologues as the reason of doubt as to the right confession of the Georgian theologians.

But, it fact no ?weed?, which would have profaned the Georgian Orthodox Church, was in it. The Greeks assumed the translation of sacred books as such. Nevertheless, we do not accept this opinion because a Church cannot be considered non-Orthodox only for the reason that books were translated or edited from Armenian, of necessity.

?Accusers? and ?reproaches? were to be found among both Georgians and Greeks. They denounced the Georgian versions because they were not written in the similar vein to the Byzantine, widespread at that time. Early in the 11^th century, the number of ?accusers? and ?reproaches? increased all the more due to the war between Byzantium and Georgia.

With extreme precision, Ekvtime and Giorgi Mtatsmindelis and their school revised the already existed translations of the Scriptures and kept them consistent to the utmost with the Greek sources in order to exclude the reasons for the Georgians' persecution.

Starting from the mid-10^th century, being a powerful state, the Byzantine Empire encountered coexistence with the unified Georgian Kingdom implausible.

However, in the second half of the 11^th century, things changed drastically in the external as well as in the internal life of Byzantium. The Turkish invasion caused the empire to suffer crisis and this brought about the necessity of the revision of their attitude towards Georgia. A new age, when Byzantium would need a loyal state, dependant on its influence? had started. Therefore, three-year negotiations (1054-1057) led the two countries to a peace truce.

During the negotiations, the purpose of the Georgian ruling authorities, apart from the political matters, was to achieve the recognition of the Patriarchal primate in the Georgian Church by both Byzantium and the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The first successful gain of the Georgian party was a cessation of the severe persecution of the Georgian monks in the empire and specifically in Iviron. The party was very representative. King Bagrat IV and Queen Mariam arrived in Constantinople with nobility, magistrates and prominent statesmen. Seeking to set in order things in the Church, Giorgi Mtatsmindeli, appreciated as the supreme authority of those times, left Mount Athos to join them and attend the rounds of negotiations.

From Constantinople he went to Antioch and to Jerusalem. With him the Patriarch of Antioch Peter III had a special discussion of the issues on the Church Law and true faith. Giorgi Mtatsmindeli convinced him that the establishment of the Georgian Patriarchate was not at variance with the Church Law, and respectively, it did not profane the true faith; and the Patriarch of Antioch conferred with him more intensively. Being amazed at Giorgi's lofty spirituality and learning, he took him into his confidence, entrusting him with the arrangement of things in the Patriarchate of Antioch and often heard his admonition even on the matters of his personal life.

Under Peter III the Council of Antioch was convened at which the Patriarchal primate in the Church of Georgia was recognized. This act put an end to the persecution of the Georgian churches and monks throughout the empire. However, it would relapse at times until 1057.

Patriarch Peter III did not live long. Shortly after the council, in 1057, He died. Giorgi Mtatsmindeli had talks with his successor. Patriarch Theodosius, instigated by Greek monks, declared to him that the Church of Georgia was to be subordinated to the Church of Antioch and warned that if she didn't, the persecution would continue.

The Patriarch grounded his demand on the theory of ?Pentarchy? which maintained that autocephalous was only the Church where the Apostles had preached. The Church of Antioch was considered to have been founded by the Apostle Peter while they assumed none of the Apostles had been to Georgia.

Giorgi Mtatsmindeli attested that the Georgian Church had been established by the Apostle Andrew and that Simeon the Zealot was buried in this land. This Church was original by itself. Further, he followed the Patriarch's argumentations and asserted that if subordination was in question, Antioch had to be subordinated to the Church of Georgia as Andrew the First-Called was the first among the disciples whom Christ called and Peter was his brother whom he brought to Christ.

The Patriarch was convinced conclusively that the Apostles preached in Georgia and Giorgi Mtatsmindeli's answer rendered logical reasoning to his judgment.

Thus, in 1054-1057, the Byzantine Patriarchate acknowledged the autocephaly of the Church of Georgia and stopped the lawless persecution.

Events of paramount significance took place in Georgia in the 12^th century. In 1089 the sixteen-year-old Prince David, afterwards called ?Agmashenebeli? (?Builder?), acceded to the throne. He inherited a land of grave conditions; a long period of Turkish raids had left Georgia devastated. Tbilisi had been a seat of Arab emirs for 400 years; Kakheti had seceded and been transformed into an independent country; internal discords had prevailed; powerful feudal lords sought to weaken the king's sovereignty.

In the year 1103, the Ruis-Urbnisi Council declared the Church of Georgia single and supportive of the royal sovereignty.

Authority over the fundamental state institutions (internal, financial, military affairs) was vested with the king's immediate vizier - Mtsignobartukhutsesi, called otherwise Chkhondideli (the king's chancellor) who, at the same time, was Bishop of the Chkhondidi diocese. The royal army also lay under his authority. Chkhondideli was the only magistrate who counseled the king about the declaration of war; at times, he participated in battles. Under Chkhondideli's command the city-fortress of Samshvilde was released from the enemy in the year 1110; the victory in this battle was followed by the liberation of the major fortresses in Kvemo Kartli. The loss of Samshvilde was a shock for the Turks. The sultan sent an army of one hundred thousand, but King David withstood them and the enemy fled. Bishop Giorgi of Chkhondidi took over the town of Rustavi in the year 1115. King David and Chkhondideli accomplished the settling of the Kipchacks in Georgia. The army, formed from these people guarded the boundaries of the kingdom and participated in campaigns. Their settlements extended along the borders in the contemporary Armenia and Azerbaijan (near to Shirvan). Therefore these people never mingled with the native Georgians.

Every victory of King David was the victory of Christianity and it aimed at vanquishing its enemies. The king supported the Crusaders in every way at the start of their campaign. Being a faithful Christian, King David always abided in hope on the Lord. So it was in the battle of Didgori too, when the Turks, as innumerable as the sands in the sea, gathered to fight the Georgian warriors; their troops were concentrated in Trialeti, Manglisi and Didgori. It was the 18^th of August, 1121. According to some sources, the army of 600 000 were stationed in these lands and no place to set foot on was left. The fearless king, immovable in his heart, put his army in battle formation opposite the enemy's.

The chronicler recounts that the Turks retreated after the first clash and later fled from the battle field. The Most High God preserved David, and St. Martyr George, visibly for everyone, led the army and the king. The battle is known to have lasted three hours. The Turks could not even withstand the Georgians' very first attack. The following year, King David liberated Tbilisi from the 400-year-old Arab oppression.

On the one hand, as an outstanding political leader of a strong willpower and wisdom, with a talent of organizing military and administrative affairs, he established a powerful centralized state; and on the other hand, being a highly educated person, he held in esteem scholars and scientists. Honesty, truthfulness and fidelity were the highest values for him. His preceptor Arsen of Ikhalto, the most illustrious person among the clergy, bore all these virtues in his character. Books were the king's inseparable friends. He maintained unceasing contacts with monks, gained a profound knowledge of theology and knew very well theological works.

David the Builder brought peace to the country, replenished and reconstructed the ruined. His age surpassed all times with peace and prosperity. He embraced a pious love of God and discerned it as the mother of wisdom. The king had a deep love for the Holy Scriptures. The Old and New Testaments were his spiritual food. Servants with mules and camels, loaded with books, attended to him always and everywhere; on dismounting from the horse, promptly they would bring them to him and the king read till the nightfall; he read even when at war, in his free time. Prayer and fasting were his way of life. Improper songs, performances, carousing, offensive language, hated by the Lord, and all kinds of misconduct were forbidden even in the army.

On Mount Sinai, where Moses and Elijah beheld God, the king built a monastery and sent an abundant offering of gold.

He would give out generously but not from the royal treasury; he helped the needy with his own property.

Monasteries and lavras where released from debts and even the elders of his kingdom were granted relief on taxes so that they could labour in the Lord without impediment.

God had endued him with a gift of perceiving every deed and word of men, whether good or evil and no one among the young or the old dared to betray or be disloyal to him. So also the hierarchs, priests, deacons, monks and nuns and every man in the land were trustworthy in their deeds. Honesty, legality, decency were primary virtues.

Once, Armenian bishops appealed to the king, asking to convoke an assembly where speakers would put forth their arguments in defense of their confessions. They also suggested that if the Armenians sustained defeat, they would accept the unity in faith and renounce their confession; but if they won, they demanded that an order, forbidding everyone to call them heretics or condemn them, be issued. King David convoked the assembly where Catholicos Ioane of Kartli, bishops, hermits of deserts, Arsen Ikaltoeli and many other scholarly people and wise men were called to.

The debate started at dawn and lasted till nine o'clock in the evening. A tedious process of arguing the point was interrupted by the king with the following words: ?You, fathers, as philosophers, penetrate obscure depths and discern the imperceptible which we, unlearned people and laymen cannot comprehend. You know that I have been brought up as a military man and scholarly knowledge and science transcend my understanding. Therefore I will tell you in simple and plain words?… and the parables which concluded these words left no room for the Armenians' argumentations.

The king answered them like Basil the Great who once silenced pagans at Athens. The heretics admitted the defeat.

The chronicler describes King David as “a paragon of virtue, admired by his enemies.”

David the Builder reigned 36 years. Like the biblical King David who abdicated in favor of his son Solomon, he crowned with a crown of precious stones his son Demeter, who, in everyway, took after him; arraying him in purple, he girded his waist with his own sword, which had brought glory to him, and blessed him. Thus, the king gave up the earthly life to gain the Heavenly Kingdom, the abode of relief and joy, where there is no sorrow but life which cannot be overshadowed by death.

The glorious king died in the year 1125, on the 24^th of January.

Demeter I, David V and Giorgi III, the three successive kings differed from each other by moral and social standards they adhered to. Neither did they share political viewpoints. Nevertheless, the structure of the relationship between the state and the Church was maintained without alteration. However, the periods of the three kings were followed by the age of Queen Tamar (1178-1213) when all this took another shape, particularly in the early years of her reign. Here, we should mark out several major points.

Starting from the time of David the Builder, until Queen Tamar's accedence to the throne, magistrates had been appointed according to the candidates' personal virtues. Hereditary rights and class-affiliation were not taken into the consideration. Likewise, Giorgi III had chosen his loyal and deserving people from lower ranks. But now, under Queen Tamar the nobles protested their subordination to the former magistrates Khubasar and Apridon appealing to the queen with a request to confiscate their property and deprive them of their posts. Queen Tamar made concessions.

Rivalry between the people of titles for the vacant high offices started off. The queen gave prevalence to the Mkhargrdzelis. Particularly, were promoted Zacharia, Ivane, Sargis and Avag Mkhargrdzelis.

According to the chronicler, loane Mkhargrdzeli was put in the position of Atabagi on his request. But, later he was disloyal to the country through negligence. Nor were the other Mkhargrdzelis faithful in fulfilling their duty to the Motherland.

Many of the rights and powers, which had been held by Mtsignobartukhutsesi-Chkondideli, were shifted to the Atabagis, particularly, the power structures such as armed forces and internal forces. To follow the chronicler's words, if prior to these changes the bishop -chancellor had been called “king's father,” now the Atabags were presumed as ones.

In the period of Georgia's reunification, Chkondideli (the king's chancellor) selflessly sought to create an integral Georgian state, whereas after the institution of the post of Atabagi, the unified Georgia disintegrated. Envy and treason prevailed over the consolidation of Chkondideli's times. The four Mkhargrdzelis and their descendants failed to replace the chancellor.

Purportedly, the clergy of the Orthodox Church were discontented with the promotion of a Monophysite to the office of Commander-in-Chief at the royal court. Apparently, the Catholicos as well as the nobility of the old kingdom were aware that the high standing of Monophysites could be fraught with a political failure of the state. According to the historian N. Berdzenishvili, so it happened, and Queen Tamar's son King Lasha-Giorgi (1213-1222) tried to improve this drawback. The king adhered to centrist political tendencies. Having removed all the Mkhargrdzelis from their posts, he sought the restoration of the powerful sovereignty of the times of David the Builder and his immediate descendents.

Lasha-Giorgi wished to follow in David the Builder's footsteps. But, he was vehemently defeated by the exalted nobles Atabagi and Mkhargrdzelis who defamed him by the slander that he was a weak-willed person of low morality. Lahsa-Giorgi died young and his sister Rusudan, being supported by them, succeeded him.

Here, it should be noticed that Zacharia Mkhargrdzeli was a Curt by nationality, a Monophysite by confession and a Georgian military leader and statesman.

While describing Queen Tamar's life and reign, we should mark out her achievements in the foreign policy and in the domestic affairs, also her humanity which were rooted in the spiritual heritage of King David the Builder and were cherished by the state.

David the Builder's will and his “Payers of Repentance” (“Galobani Sinanulisani”) were known to his following generations. Moreover, their fulfillment was obviously taken as the responsibility of every statesman, particularly of Queen Tamar. This will of the king was chosen as criterion by the queen's historian Basil Ezosmodzgvari when he described and appraised her life and work.

Queen Tamar released the neighbouring kingdoms from the Muslim rule but she did not join them to her realm; rather she gave them the status of dependant countries which were to pay tribute to her and had the right of maintaining the sovereignty to their royal houses. She even endowed the impoverished kings with wealth.

Prior to King David's time, the Georgian people had been the target of aggression for other nations and this had made them direct their efforts towards gaining independence and attaining reunification. However, on creating a most powerful integral state in the entire Caucasus, they refused to conquer the lands beyond their borders, revealing the deepest love, inward warmth and kindness. Such was Queen Tamar's state policy which, as we mentioned above, was rooted in David's policy of humanism.

Non-Georgian peoples responded to Tamar's policy with wondrous admiration. She was loved not only by the Georgians but by the other peoples of the Caucasus, especially by those, living in the mountains of North Caucasus.

The tithe of the state income, apportioned for the benefit of the impoverished was implicitly observed in her kingdom. It should be noted too that the tithe for the poor had been traditional in Georgia even prior to King David the Builder. But, Queen Tamar as well as King David supported the poor from their own property, from what they gained with their own handwork, also. Interestingly, she made a distinction between her private property and that of the state, whereas in feudal countries, at large, this kind of difference was never known.

As the chronicler says, she brought appeasement to the community. Punishment by lashing and by chopping of parts off the body was banned. Death penalty was abolished.

The queen's attitude to other confessions should be recognized as an outstanding exhibition of her humanism.

The country expanded and flourished, gained fame and glory but her personality never yielded to pride.

Queen Tamar's policy diverged from that of King David's but it was not unexpected since the Christian morality was its cornerstone and moreover, its theoretical source had been provided by David himself - by his deeds, by his well-known will and ?Prayers of Repentance?. In these works he repents that he has fallen short of following a more humane policy in his life; but Tamar succeeded.

The Georgian society accepted David the Builder's viewpoint on the political order of the state as a fundamental plan and his will. Due to this recognition, Queen Tamar, seeking to fulfill it, placed the whole state system under its accomplishment.

The prosperous country of Queen Tamar was conquered by the Mongols. But the incursion of Jalhal-Ad-Din Khan of Khorezm and destruction of Tbilisi preceded this conquest.

Jalhal-Ad-Din invaded Georgia in 1225 when Queen Rusudan was on the throne. She appointed the Atabagi Ivane Mkhargrdzeli as Commander-in-Chief of the army. The battle took place near the Georgian village of Garnisi (now the territory of Armenia). The Georgian army sustained a defeat which was an outcome of envy and enmity among high-rank officers.

Shalva and Ivane Akhaltsikhelis led the advanced regiments of Meskhetians in this war. Not once the Commander-in-Chief was asked to send additional forces to help resist the attack but Mkhargrdzeli did not heed their call for help. Ivane Akhaltsikheli was killed in battle, Shalva was taken captive. Jalhal-AD-Din did not kill him on his capture, welcomed him as an honourable guest and tried to coax him into renouncing his faith; but his persuasions were futile. Shalva, after having endured much suffer, accepted the death of a martyr and received the crown of a saint.

As the chronicler has, this battle was the starting point of Georgia's fall and destruction by the Khorezmians and later, by the Mongols. The total Georgian army were not present in the war of Garnisi; not numerous part of it solely found themselves abandoned by the main forces and were led by the Akhaltsikhelis to face the enemy, countless as they were.

The Commander-in-Chief Mkhargrdzeli fled to his own estate. Shanshe Mkhargrdzeli Mandaturtukhuthsesi (the provost marshal) only defended his own patrimony Anisi. Varlam Gageli, who also was Mkhargrdzeli, concluded a truce with the enemy. The rest of the regions of the land were devastated frightfully.

Jalhal-AD-Din's troops besieged Tbilisi. Queen Rusudan fled to Kutaisi leaving the commanders Botso and Bidzina with a regiment to guard the city. Then, the native Persians treacherously opened the city gates to the enemy and Tbilisi turned into an arena of the war. The merciless enemy massacred the townsfolk. Jalhal-AD-Din ordered to take the dome off the Sioni Cathedral and had an abominable throne put in its place. On his order, the holy icons of the Lord our God Jesus Christ and of the Most Holy Mother of God were taken out of Sioni Church, put at the starting edge of the bridge and Christian captives were to tread over them. Those who refused to do their will were killed. Martyred on that day were 100000 in number. But, the Lord our God protected Georgia and did not abandon His flock the Georgian people, showing His mercy on them in those hard times.

Starting from the beginning of the 13^th century, the united Mongol state of Genghis Khan conquered a considerable part of Asia and Europe - North China, Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan and other countries. The Georgian chronicler reports that the Mongols invaded the lands of the Kipchaks, Khazars, Osetians and Russia and reached as far as the dark lands. He calls ?dark lands? the zone of North Pole. In the West, they came close to the centers of Europe - as far as the lands of the Bulgarians and those of the Serbs.

It is an incredulous but sheer fact that having as powerful a state as theirs, the Mongols could not subjugate the whole of Georgia or abolish the Georgian statehood; they never conquered West Georgia where, owing to these circumstances, the royal court was shifted to. In the time of the Mongol conquest Queen Rusudan was the sovereign. The scholar I. Javakhishvili describes her as an inexperienced person with no appropriate virtues to govern the country.

Could the supreme authorities of the state and the Commander-in-Chief fight the war up to the end and repel the enemy? Evidently, they could. Despite the latter's uttermost attempts to expend on the lands of West Georgia, they could never tread over its boundaries, and it is another prove of it.

As a matter of fact, the Mongols subjugated East Georgia without any obstruction. In that hard time, the Church of Georgia considered it indispensable to help to the appeasement of the nation. The Bishop of Chkhondidi determined to reunify Georgia in an integral country. Around 1242, Queen Rusudan sent Arsen Chkondideli-Mtsignobartukhutsesi to the regions of the Volga River to hold negotiations with Bati Khan.

The talks were successfully concluded with a treaty, by virtue of which the Mongols acknowledged the supreme authority of the Georgian king (queen) over the indivisible Georgian Kingdom. East Georgia undertook certain obligations, while West Georgia, as an unconquered side, was free of any. Nonetheless, all Georgia was laid under tribute.

In the year 1259, Tbilisi was the seat of two kings, one of whom was David Narini Queen Rusudan's son. This king rose against the Mongols and subsequently fled to West Georgia. Since then, the lands of West Georgia came from under the Mongols' dominion and her rulers maintained the former Georgian state policy.

Sadly, in the Mongols' time the country had been split into three parts - East Georgia, West Georgia and South Georgia. Nonetheless, the Church continued to maintain the country as total. This precise fact inspired the Georgian people to observe Derbent and Nikopsia as the borders of their Motherland. Here, it should be noted also that the real frontier of East Georgia lay along the ?White River? ( or the Akhshu River) which was only in 60 or 70 kilometers from Derbent and the Caspian Sea. This river was the eastern border of the ethnic Georgian settlements not only in the Mongols' time, but it had been such in the centuries prior to it. As for instance, when in the second half of the 10^th century, Kakheti and Hereti united, their lands extended up to the Akhshu River. The region was densely populated and its inhabitants were Georgians, particularly, belonging to one of the tribes Herians. Later, the Mongols expanded their pastures over the adjoining lands and this made them leave their homes; those who remained, eventually, sustained degeneration.

The border of South Georgia lay along the River Araks (Rakhs). Anisi and Dvin were considered Georgian cities yet. Tao also belonged to Georgia. The rebels of Tao were mentioned among the conspirators of Kokhtastavi.

Under Prince Beka Jakheli even the land of Chaneti, which Byzantium had returned back, was within the boundaries of Georgia. The Jakhelis, princes of Samtskhe and their families were true Christians, pious believers who respected the clergy, bishops and monks. Prince Beka Jakheli built monasteries and churches, held in esteem monks and priests. Always present at matins, Holy Liturgies and vespers, he demanded from his army to follow the same order, and God was merciful to him.

The Black Sea itself up to Nikopsia (Tuapse) was the border of West Georgia.

In the most ruthless century of the Mongol violence the Georgian people could retain the frontiers of the kingdom, statehood and sense of ethnic unity, while their neighbours lost the ethnic character under their rule. The nomads could not settle down in Georgia while the territories near her - Ran, Mugan, Shirvan and also the lands of Armenia served them for winter and summer camps. Our neighbours - the Albanians, lost their self-awareness due to the Seljuk Turks' invasions and disappeared completely under the Mongols; as for the Armenian refugees, they found shelter in Georgia and also in other countries.

It must be underscored that the Georgian people opposed the Mongol tyranny with the high order of Christian morals, the core of which was the love of the neighbour, mutual help and self- sacrifice. Many Georgians lay their lives for the faith, their friends and the homeland. Not only ordinary people defended their king and the country in this way but also kings sacrificed their lives to their people's survival.

It may be believed that the Georgians brought this sacrifice, expecting to be worthy of inheriting eternal life from Christ, and it is true of the end of the Mongol rule. However, at the initial stage, they did not persecute the Christians (they were not Muslim then). Therefore self-sacrifice for the sake of faith was the virtue indispensable for the later period. Under Kazan-Khan (1295-1304) Islam was established as the state religion of the Mongols. Soon the word ?Tatar? assumed a new meaning which broadened its sense from ?Mongol? to ?Muslim?, in general. Interestingly, according to the chronicler's account, they started the persecution on the instigation from the Persians.

The devotion of King Demeter II (1270-1289) to his people is an outstanding historical fact. The king followed the Mongols' custom and had three wives. Monk Basil condemned this conduct but he did not heed his words. And, the monk prophesied to the king that if he did not accept his warning to turn away from his sinful life, he would loose the throne and his children would be dispersed. In the hard times for his people, the love of his Motherland overpowered all the rest in the king's heart and he sacrificed his life to the essential objective of his royal obligation - rescue of his own people. King Demeter went to the Golden Horde of his own volition and was arrested right upon his arrival. While awaiting the death sentence, he had a chance to escape. His faithful people counseled him to take good horses and flee for there was no one who would replace him in his realm, but he answered: ?Heed my words, I have laid my life and my soul for my people although I know death awaits me here. Now if I flee, the people will suffer massacre and what will I gain if I obtain the world but destroy my soul???

Arghun, who on March 12^th, (26)1289 executed the king beheading him, a few years later, being week with ill health, was strangled on the same day (March 12^th) and at the same hour.

Precisely, for the virtue of devotion and mutual love the Mother of God saved the Georgian army in the battle of Alamut. It is a well-known fact that the fight for the fortress of Alamut turned out tough for the Mongols and the war lasted for seven years. The Georgian army was also involved in it. The owners of the fortress were Moulids (Assassins), infamous for their custom of killing people by stealth. When one of them murdered a Mongolian noin Chaghata, his people accused the Georgians and mounted attack on them. The Georgian noblemen, being determined to surrender for the sake of sparing the soldiers from the battle with the unequal Mongol forces, said: if we do not accept the fight, only we nobles will be executed whilst most of our people will be saved; but if we do, they will kill all of us. Each of them without exception, three times bowed the knee to the icon of the Mother of God and in supplication offered the prayer: ?The doors of caring do now open unto us, O Most Blessed Theotokos, so that hoping in you we shall not fail; Through you we may be delivered from adversities, for you are the salvation of the Christian faith?? The Most Holy Mother of God had compassion for them and compelled the murderer to confess to his evil deed.

One can find in the annals of the Georgian history a great number of events when people exposed their selflessness, the most remarkable and glorious of which is the heroism of Prince Tsotne Dadiani (1246).

All this speaks about the people's spiritual uprightness and valour through which they could rescue Georgia and throw off the Mongol yoke in a comparatively short period of time although the high authorities of the kingdom had been unable to render a solid resistance to the enemy on their entry into the country. East Georgia endured the Mongols' presence for 100 years while the latter failed to expand their power over West Georgia. The most crucial was the fact that our people did not mingle with them and did not assimilate with the aliens, while other nations were influenced and assumed their ethnic character.

Fidelity and love are the Georgians' inherent characteristic features. Nonetheless, neither envy nor enmity is alien to them as we have already mentioned. Outstanding personalities were particularly envied. This vice bred animosity and dissociated them from each other. The Mongols noticed it and often said: ?You Georgians do not like each other's prowess in battles?; and the Georgians also saw this shortcoming of theirs, saying: ?we aren't obedient to each other???

Apparently, this character turned to be one of the principal reasons of the disunited Georgian front while fighting against the enemy. The Georgian aristocracy failed to unite their troops although each of the magistrates represented a considerable force.

Apart from the internal discord, the geographical location of the land also assisted to the destruction of the country for it lay between two Mongol hordes, two mortal enemies (northern and southern). The passes in the mountains of Caucasus, Darial Gorge and partly the Caspian Gates of Derbent were under the Georgians' control. This exposed them to the enemy raids when the two hordes would rise against each other.

In such difficult times, the Georgian clergymen, in conjunction with defending the faith within the boundaries of the land, preached the Teaching beyond its borders also. The Georgian missionaries Pimen the Simple, who originated from Gareji and Anton the son of Naokhrebeli, who came from Meskheti, preached in the North Caucasus, specifically in Dagestan.