მეფედ კურთხევის შესახებ XI საუკუნის საქართველოში
ABOUT BEING BLESSED AS A KING IN 11TH CENTURY GEORGIA

Summary/Abstract: In the year 978 Bagrat, the son of Gurgen Bagration, King Bagrat III in the future, was consecrated as the “King of Abkhazia” in Kutaisi. In the year 1001 Bagrat III received the title of “King of Georgians”. In our opinion, the ceremony of consecration as a king existed both in The Kingdom of Abkhazia and in The Kingdom of Georgia. Therefore, we do think, it is completely permissible to bless Bagrat III twice, in the year 978 as the “King of Abkhazia” and in the year 1001 as the “King of Georgians”. Perhaps after the final joining of Kakheti and Hereti, as parts of Georgian Kingdom, in the year 1010, Bagrat III was once again blessed as king, and this time with the title “King of Abkhazians and Georgians, Tao and Rantians and Kakhetians”.After Bagrat III, the consecration of George I and Bagrat IV as the Kings several times did not happen again. The situation is changing with regard to George II. When King Bagrat IV went to Byzantium in the year 1054, Georg II was consecrated as a king in Ruisi, on the initiative of Liparit Bagvashi.The consecration of George II in Ruisi was unusual and not very pleasant for the Bagrations. Probably, Georg II did not like to remember this ceremony of consecration as the king and tried to forget it. Georg II tried to forget this fact not only himself, but this fact should be forgotten by the society, primarily the feudal elite. Therefore, we do think that after the death of Bagrat IV in the year 1072, George II should have been re-consecrated as king in Kutaisi, in the Bagrat Cathedral.It is likely that the tradition of twice consecrating as the kings was laid from the consecration of Georg in Kutaisi II in the year 1072.

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