[August 16] Giorgi I, king of Georgia

Parents: Bagrat III, king of Georgia, and Martha
Date of Birth: circa 998
House: Bagrationi
Spouse(s): (1) Mariam, daughter of John-Senekerim Artsruni, king of Vaspurakan, then (2) Alda
Predecessor: Bagrat III
Reign: 1014 – 1027
Summary: As the first king who inherited a unified Georgian state, Giorgi was an unfortunately poor replacement for his father, Bagrat III. When Giorgi inherited the throne, he was still a teenager and the nobles jumped at the opportunity to take control of the country. Meanwhile, Kakheti and Hereti, two eastern provinces of Georgia, rebelled and elected their own king, Kvirike III, who went on to conquer a portion of Arran. Later in his reign, Giorgi decided it was better to ally with Kvirike than go to war with him, thereby leaving the territorial war to his descendants. Most of Giorgi's reign was dominated by war with the Byzantine Empire, which had seized significant parts of Georgia some twenty year earlier as part of a treaty made with King David III of Georgia. Bagrat III failed to keep the lands but Giorgi made it his mission to recapture them. He invaded Tao, a small area west of Georgia, in alliance with the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim in 1015. With Egypt suddenly at war with the Byzantines, Emperor Basil II had to divide his forces between the two fronts. The Byzantines were already at war with the Bulgars in the west but things feel apart when the Bulgars were conquered and Al-Hakim died. In 1021, Basil led an army into Georgia. The ensuing war lasted for two years and ended with Giorgi fleeing from battle and signing a peace treaty that lost not only Tao, but other southwestern lands. Worse for Giorgi, he was forced to send his son to Constantinople as a hostage. Georgia and the Byzantine Empire maintained peaceful relationships for a number of years thereafter, with Basil eventually releasing Giorgi's son in 1025 and Byzantine laborers helping to build a major cathedral in Mtskheta. Basil died soon after and Constantine VIII, the new emperor, decided it was best to keep the Georgian king's son, but the son had already been returned to Georgia. The Byzantines and Georgians were ready to return to open warfare in the summer of 1027 when Giorgi suddenly died. His formerly hostage son, Bagrat IV, succeeded him and ruled Georgia for 45 years.
Date of Death: 16 August 1027
Successor: Bagrat IV

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• John II, emperor of Trebizond (1297)
• Albert II, duke of Austria (1358)
• Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia (1419)
• Ashikaga Yoshikatsu, shogun of Japan (1443)
• John, elector of Saxony (1532)
• Peter I, king of Serbia (1921)