{{Short description|King of Georgia from 1412 to 1442}} {{Infobox royalty | name = Alexander I the Great<br>ალექსანდრე I დიდი | image = Alexander I of Georgia (Svetitskhoveli fresco).jpg | caption = Fresco of King Alexander I from the [[Svetitskhoveli Cathedral]]. | succession = [[List of monarchs of Georgia|King of Georgia]] | moretext = ([[Style of the Georgian sovereign|more...]]) | reign = 1412–1442 | coronation = | predecessor = [[Constantine I of Georgia|Constantine I]] | regent = {{Plainlist| * [[Vakhtang IV|Vakhtang]] (1433–1442) * [[Demetrius, son of Alexander I of Georgia|Demetrius]] (1433–1442) * [[George VIII|George]] (1433–1442) * [[Zaal (son of Alexander I of Georgia)|Zaal]] (1433–1442)}} | reg-type = Co-kings | successor = [[Vakhtang IV]] | spouse = Dulandukht [[Orbelian dynasty|Orbelian]]<br>[[Tamar of Imereti (died 1455)|Tamar of Imereti]] | issue = {{plainlist| * [[Bagrationi, wife of John IV of Trebizond|Unnamed daughter]] * [[Vakhtang IV]] * [[Demetrius, son of Alexander I of Georgia|Demetrius]] * [[George VIII of Georgia|George VIII]] * [[David II, Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia|David]] * [[Zaal, son of Alexander I of Georgia|Zaal]]}} | full name = Alexander I the Great<br />Aleksandre I Didi<br />Athanasius ([[monastic name]]) | dynasty = [[Bagrationi dynasty|Bagrationi]] | father = [[Constantine I of Georgia]] | mother = Natia [[Amirejibi]] | birth_date = 1390 | birth_place = | death_date = between August 26, 1445 and March 7, 1446 | death_place = | burial_place = [[Svetitskhoveli Cathedral]], [[Mtskheta]] | signature = Alexander I signature.svg | signature_type = [[Khelrtva]] | religion = [[Georgian Orthodox Church]] }} '''Alexander I the Great''' ({{Lang-ka|ალექსანდრე I დიდი|tr}}; 1390 – between August 26, 1445 and March 7, 1446), of the [[Bagrationi dynasty|Bagrationi]] house, was [[List of monarchs of Georgia|king]] (''[[mepe]]'') of [[Kingdom of Georgia|Georgia]] from 1412 to 1442. Despite his efforts to restore the country from the ruins left by the [[Turkoman invasions of Georgia|Turkomans]] warlords and [[Timur]]'s [[Timurid invasions of Georgia|invasions]], Georgia never recovered and [[Collapse of the Georgian realm|faced the inevitable fragmentation]] that was followed by a long period of stagnation. Alexander was the last ruler of a united Georgia which was relatively free from foreign domination.<ref>Colin P. Mitchell. [https://books.google.com/books?id=1uCaELAsv3MC&dq=kakheti+depopulation+abbas&pg=PA69 ''New Perspectives on Safavid Iran: Empire and Society'']. Taylor & Francis, 3 mrt. 2011 {{ISBN|1136991948}} p 66</ref> In 1442, he abdicated the throne and retired to a monastery.
== Biography == Alexander was the eldest son of [[Constantine I of Georgia]] and his wife Princess Natia [[Amirejibi]], daughter of the Georgian diplomat prince [[Kutsna Amirejibi]]. He was brought up by his grandmother (Natia's mother) Rusa (died 1413), an educated and religious noblewoman, who greatly influenced the future king’s preoccupations and his enthusiasm for religious building.
The ruler successfully managed to carry out such a difficult task under those conditions. He destroyed and expelled Turkomans. Only once, for the last time, [[Qara Yusuf]] managed to disturb the Georgian land and water, and that too because of the intolerant exodus of the subjects of Alexander the Great.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ქართული ენციკლოპედიის ი. აბაშიძის სახელობის მთავარი სამეცნიერო რედაქცია |url=https://georgianencyclopedia.ge/ka |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=georgianencyclopedia.ge}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=September 2025|reason=No voice on Alexander I could be found in this encyclopaedia}}<ref name=":0" /> In 1416 Qara Yusuf invaded Akhaltsikhe, and he returned to his homeland with much loot.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=http://qim.ge/aleqsandre%20didi1.html |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=qim.ge}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Sanikidze |first=Levan |title=Unsharpened swords vol. 2 |date=1991 |isbn=978-9941-32-859-6 |edition=Merani |location=Tbilisi |pages=254}}</ref>
With his ascension to the throne (1412), Alexander moved to western Georgia and mediated a peace between his vassals, the rival princes of [[Principality of Mingrelia|Mingrelia]] and [[Principality of Abkhazia|Abkhazia]]. Then he, in 1414, met the rebellious prince [[Atabeg]] [[Ivane II Jaqeli|Ivane Jaqeli]] of [[Samtskhe atabegate|Samtskhe]] on battlefield and forced him into submission. Having dealt with these powerful feudal lords, he, aided by [[Shio II of Georgia|Catholicos Patriarch Shio II]], began a program the restoration of major Georgian fortresses and churches. He imposed a temporary building tax on his subjects from 1425 to 1440, but despite the king’s efforts many towns and villages, once flourished, were left in ruin and overgrown by forest. [[File:Alexander_I_of_Georgia_(Nabakhtevi_fresco).jpg|thumb|196x196px|A fresco of the King Alexander I from the [[Nabakhtevi Virgin Mary Church|Nabakhtevi monastery]] in Georgia.|left]] [[File:Map–Georgia and surroundings, 14-15th c.–en.svg|262px|[[Kingdom of Georgia]] with [[Lori Province|Lori]] and [[Kingdom of Syunik|Synuik]]|alt=|thumb]]
In 1431, he re-conquered [[Lori Province|Lori]], a Georgian marchland occupied by the [[Kara Koyunlu]] [[Turkmen people|Turkoman tribesmen]] of Persia who [[Turkoman invasions of Georgia|had frequently raided]] the southern Georgian marches from there and had even sacked [[Akhaltsikhe]] in 1416.<ref>According to the 15th-century Armenian historian [[Thomas of Metsoph]] (''T’ovma Metsobets’i''), the Kara Kouynlu leader [[Kara Yusuf]] invaded Samtskhe and pillaged its capital Akhaltsikhe in 1416 in response to the profanation inflicted by the local Christian Georgians and Armenians on a [[mosque]].</ref> Around 1434/5, Alexander encouraged the Armenian prince Beshken II [[Orbelian Dynasty|Orbelian]] to attack the Kara Koyunlu clansmen in [[Syunik Region|Syunik]] (Siunia) and, for his victory, granted him Lorri under terms of vassalage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sanikidze |first=Levan |title=Unsharpened swords |date=1991 |isbn=978-9941-32-824-4 |edition=Merani |location=Tbilisi |pages=828}}</ref>
In 1440, Alexander refused to pay tribute to [[Jahan Shah]] of the Kara Kouynlu. In March, Jahan Shah surged into Georgia with 20,000 troops, destroyed the city of [[Samshvilde]] and sacked the capital city [[Tbilisi]]. He massacred thousands of Christians, According to [[Thomas of Metsoph]], Jahan Shah imposed a large tax on the Christians living in Tbilisi in order to convert them to Islam. It is not known from other sources how much this tax was and whether Christians paid it or not.<ref>Studies in the history of Georgia, Vol. 3, Tbilisi, 1979, p. 732</ref> [[File:Constantine_I,_Alexander_I,_Vakhtang_IV,_George_VIII_relief.jpg|left|thumb|220x220px|[[Constantine I of Georgia|Constantine I]] (his father), Alexander I, [[Vakhtang IV of Georgia|Vakhtang IV]] (his son) and [[George VIII of Georgia|George VIII]] (his son)]] In order to reduce the power of frequently rebellious aristocracy, he opposed them by appointing his sons – Vakhtang, Demetre, and George – as his co-rulers in [[Kakheti]], [[Imereti]] and [[Kartli]], respectively. This, however, proved to be even dangerous to the kingdom's integrity and the fragile unity kept by Alexander would soon disappear under his sons.
For this reason, Alexander the Great is frequently claimed to have disintegrated Georgia and said not to deserve his epithet "the Great" his people bestowed on him.<ref>Suny (1994), page 45</ref> This appellation dates almost from his own day, however, and as the modern Georgian historian [[Ivane Javakhishvili]] presumes, might have been related to the large-scale restoration projects launched by the king and his initial success in the struggle with the Turkmen nomads.<ref>Ivane Javakhishvili (1982), page 243</ref>
As worldly problems overwhelmed his kingdom, Alexander abdicated the throne in 1442 and retired to a monastery under the [[monastic name]] of Athanasius.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}
==Marriages and children== He married c. 1411 Dulandukht, daughter of Beshken II [[Orbelian dynasty|Orbelian]], by whom he had two son and one daughter: * [[Bagrationi, wife of John IV of Trebizond|A daughter]] ({{Circa|1411}} – c. 1438) who married, 1425, the emperor [[John IV of Trebizond]];<ref>[[Toumanoff, Cyril]] (1949–51). "The Fifteenth-Century Bagratids and the Institution of Collegial Sovereignty in Georgia", ''Traditio'' 7: 181-3.</ref> * [[Vakhtang IV]] ({{Circa|1413}} – 1446), King of Georgia ({{Reign|1442|1446}}); * [[Demetrius, son of Alexander I of Georgia|Demetrius]] ({{Circa|1413}} –1453), co-ruler in [[Imereti]]; father of [[Constantine II of Georgia]];
Alexander's second marriage with Princess [[Tamar of Imereti (died 1455)|Tamar of Imereti]] (died after 1455), daughter of [[Alexander I of Imereti]], took place around 1414. Their children were: * [[George VIII]] (1415/1417 – 1476), King of Georgia ({{Reign|1446|1465}}) and first King of [[Kingdom of Kakheti|Kakheti]] ({{Reign|1466|1476}}); * [[David II, Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia|David]], Catholicos Patriarch of Georgia consecrated in 1426. *[[Zaal (son of Alexander I of Georgia)|Zaal]] (born {{Circa|1428}} – died after 1442), he was made a co-king by his father in 1433.<ref name="Toumanoff">Toumanoff, "The Fifteenth-Century Bagratids", ''Traditio'' 7: 190.</ref>
== See also == *[[History of Georgia (country)|History of Georgia]] *[[Turkoman invasions of Georgia]]
== Notes == {{Reflist}}
== References == {{commons category}} * Ivane Javakhishvili, ''The History of the Georgian Nation'', vol. 3 (1982), Tbilisi State University Press (In Georgian) * Ronald Grigor Suny, ''The Making of the Georgian Nation'': 2nd edition (December 1994), Indiana University Press, {{ISBN|0-253-20915-3}} * [http://rbedrosian.com/tm4.htm T'oma Metsobeli's ''History of Tamerlane and His Successors''] * Sanikidze, Levan (1991). [https://dspace.nplg.gov.ge/handle/1234/80217 Unsharpened swords vol. 2.] Tbilisi: Merani. {{ISBN|978-9941-32-859-6}}
{{s-start}} {{succession box | title= [[List of the Kings of Georgia|King of Georgia]] | before= [[Constantine I of Georgia|Constantine I]] | after= [[Vakhtang IV of Georgia|Vakhtang IV]]| years=1412–1442}} {{s-end}} {{Kings of United Georgia}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander 01 Of Georgia}} [[Category:Kings of Georgia]] [[Category:1386 births]] [[Category:1440s deaths]] [[Category:Burials at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral]] [[Category:Year of death unknown]] [[Category:Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Georgia]]