Queen Tamara, daughter of Tsar George III, who ruled Georgia at the end of the 12th century, had a far from cloudless personal life.
She was married twice, and the fate of her two spouses is still of great interest to historians. There were a lot of unusual things in their lives. The Russian prince Yuri Andreevich and the Ossetian prince David Soslan shared a bed with Queen Tamara, but none of them became the head of the family for her, the lord, as was customary in the Caucasus. Queen Tamara ruled over them in the same way as her other subjects. This was her tragedy as a spouse and a woman.
Secrets of the Tiflis court
Queen Tamar (this is how her name sounds correctly, but we will call her as is customary with us - Tamara) was born in 1166. However, the year of her birth, like the year of death, is not known exactly. She was half Ossetian (her mother, Burdukhan, came from a noble Ossetian family), but modern Georgian historians prefer not to remember this.
And Tamara's father came from the Bagration family. According to legend, the Bagrations originate in a straight line from the biblical king David the Psalmist. This was even reflected in the Bagration family coat of arms - among other attributes, it depicts the cymbal of the great king of the Jews.
There are other versions of the origin of the Bagration. Some historians believe that the Bagrations, like the Armenian Bagratuni dynasty, were descendants of the noble Iranian clan Orontids, whose representatives were satraps and then kings of Armenia.
However, before becoming the king of Georgia, George III had to fight for the throne. After the death of Tsar Demeter (Dmitry), his eldest son, David, received the Georgian crown. True, he reigned a little - only six months. Suddenly David died (as the Georgian chroniclers wrote, he was poisoned by his younger brother George). David was to be succeeded by his minor son Demeter. George, however, decided that he, and not his nephew, should be the king of Georgia.
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By that time, Tamara, the daughter of George, was already twelve years old - at that time, quite a suitable age for marriage. Demeter, who was brought to Tamara by his cousin, was in love with his cousin. This circumstance gave the struggle for power between him and his uncle an additional piquancy.
In the end, the wisdom of a mature man and a politician defeated the youth and impetuosity of the young prince. Demeter was captured by his uncle, who brutally executed the failed ruler of Georgia. Demeter was blinded, then castrated, and then he disappeared altogether, no one knows where. Most likely, he was killed and secretly buried. George from the Bagration family became the king of Georgia.
The groom from the north
It was good for everyone to George, but the trouble is that he had no sons. There was only a daughter, Tamara. Whom to leave the throne to? And George decided to marry Tamara to the kingdom during his lifetime. It’s unheard of, but the lion of the king of beasts gives birth not only to the same lions, but also to lionesses.
This is approximately how George argued to the great feudal lords - the didebuls, who were members of the Darbazi (State Council), and with whom even the tsar had to reckon. He managed to persuade them, and soon after his death, in 1184, Tamara became the ruler of Georgia. By that time she had already turned 18-20 years old - at that time more than a mature age for marriage. It was necessary to find her a spouse. And they found him.
The groom came from the north. This was the son of the Grand Duke of Vladimir-Suzdal Andrei Bogolyubsky, Yuri Andreevich. After the murder of his father, he was expelled from his native places by his uncle Vsevolod the Big Nest. Yuri Andreevich had experience in government (for three years he was Prince of Novgorod). The stranger who had no support in Georgia, according to the didebuls, was an ideal candidate for them and the young queen.
At first, Tamara refused to marry. But the didebula managed to persuade her to go down the aisle with the Russian prince. She had another candidate for husbands - the Ossetian prince (childhood friend and distant relative) David Soslan. But the didebuls did not like him, and the queen had to become the wife of Yuri Andreyevich. And David Soslan had to leave Tiflis in order to avoid major troubles and hide for a while.
Yuri (or George, as he was called in Georgia) turned out to be a good commander, but a lousy politician. The Georgian troops he commanded took the well-fortified city of Dvin in Armenia. Yuri Andreyevich also made two successful campaigns: the first - against the Seljuk Turks who lived in the Kars region, the second - to the east, against the "country of the Parthians" (present-day Iran).
And while he was at war with external enemies, his wife Tamara was engaged in internal affairs. And so successfully that after some two and a half years she was able to curb the willful didebula and prepare for the overthrow of her unloved husband.
The sword in the hand of the wife
First of all, Tamara managed to properly process the members of the State Council, who were unhappy with the strengthening of Yuri Andreevich and the growth of his popularity among the soldiers of Georgia. Tamara, purely as a woman, accused her unloved spouse of all mortal sins - drunkenness, sodomy and even bestiality. Nonsense, of course, but if someone wants their opponent to look black, like soot …
In 1188 Tamara expelled her husband from Georgia and declared her marriage to be dissolved. However, she parted with him with dignity - with generous gifts the Russian prince was sent to Constantinople.
And as soon as the former spouse left Tiflis, Tamara immediately summoned her favorite David Soslan to the capitals and stated that he was the one who was worthy to share a marital bed with her.
Twice more Yuri Andreevich tried to return to Georgia and again become its ruler. And both times were unsuccessful. The first time he almost reached Tiflis with the troops of the didebuls, dissatisfied with Tamara, and was even crowned by them as the king of Georgia. But Tamara (or rather, the army led by her new spouse) suppressed the rebellion, and Yuri was captured by his ex-wife. True, she did not execute him, but simply expelled him from the country. The second time Yuri's army was scattered on the Georgian border, and he fled, after which his name is no longer mentioned in the annals.
And David Soslan turned out to be a talented and brave commander. In 1195, Georgian troops under the command of the Ossetian prince defeated the ruler of Iranian Azerbaijan Abu-Bakr near Shamkhor. And in 1202 he utterly defeated the army of the Rum sultan Rukn-ad-din at Basiani. With the support of the brave Ossetians, the Comnenos expelled from Constantinople in Asia Minor by the crusaders created the Trebizond Empire, which became an ally of Georgia.
Tamara had two children from her marriage to David Soslan. Her son George, nicknamed Lasha, became the king of Georgia after her death and in 1223 died in a battle with the Mongols. There was also a daughter who began to rule Georgia after her brother's death. Under her, the Georgian kingdom fell under the onslaught of the Mongols.
David Soslan died in 1207. Queen Tamara survived her husband by only a few years. Her body was transferred to Mtskheta, and then to Gelati, where she was buried. However, the exact place of burial has not been established.
According to one version, the queen bequeathed to bury her in secret, so that in the event of an invasion of the infidels, which she foresaw, to avoid outrage. Nine funeral groves departed in nine directions, and nine boxwood coffins were buried in nine provinces of her kingdom. It is said that after this, the nine brothers pierced each other with swords, so as not to reveal the secret.
Philip Rubis