Bagrat III
Bagrat III (ca. 960-1014), from the Bagrationi dynasty, was the first king of the unified Kingdom of Georgia from 978 to 1014.
A son of King Gurgen of Kartli and an adopted son and heir of King David of Tao, he was also a nephew and heir of King Theodosius III of Abkhazia.
Fighting for the unification of all Georgian lands, David of Tao and his close ally the Kartlian noble Ioanne Marushisdze raised Prince Bagrat to the throne of Kartli (975) and Abkhazia (978) and installed Gurgen as a coregent. Bagrat assumed full sovereign powers on the death of Gurgen in 1008.
Bagrat III crushed powerful feudal opposition led by Kavtar Tbeli in the early 980s and secessionist Duke (eristavi) Rati Bagvashi of Kldekari in 989. In 1001, Bagrats adoptive father David of Tao died and his possessions fell under the Byzantine control. Bagrats efforts to restore his lawful succession in Tao were unsuccessful. However, he managed to annex northern Tao and gained a title of the King of Abkhazians and Georgians thus unified most of western and part of eastern Georgian lands into a single state in 1008.
In 1010, he added the eastern Georgian countries of Kakheti and Hereti to his domain which, besides the Byzantine-occupied southern Tao and Arab-held Emirate of Tbilisi, completed the unification of the Georgian lands. In the last years of his reign, Bagrat entered in alliance with the Armenian King Gagik I of Ani and subdued Fadlon, a ruler of the neighbouring country of Ran.
Not only did he encourage learning and patronize the fine arts, but he built, in 1003, the so-called Bagrats Cathedral at Kutaisi, one of the finest examples of Georgian medieval architecture.
He was succeeded by his son Giorgi I.
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| Preceded by: Gurgen (as the King of Kings of Georgians), Theodosius III (as the King of Abkhazians) | King of Georgia | Succeeded by: Giorgi I |} |
Categories: Monarchs of Georgia | Kings of Georgia | 960 births | 1014 deaths