Demetrius (''Dimitri''; ka, დიმიტრი) ( 1413 – 1453) was the second son of

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Alexander I of Georgia Alexander I the Great (, ''Aleksandre I Didi'') (1386 – between August 26, 1445 and March 7, 1446), of the Bagrationi house, was king ('' mepe'') of Georgia from 1412 to 1442. Despite his efforts to restore the country from the ruins left by ...

by his first wife Dulandukht Orbeliani. He was

co-king A coregency is the situation where a monarchical position (such as prince, princess, king, queen, emperor or empress), normally held by only a single person, is held by two or more. It is to be distinguished from diarchies or duumvirates (su ...

with his father from 1433 to 1442 and with his brother

Vakhtang IV Vakhtang IV ( Georgian: ვახტანგ IV) (c. 1413 – December 1446), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was a king (''mepe'') of Georgia who reigned from 1433 to his death, associated to the throne of his father Alexander I from 1433 to the lat ...

from 1442 to 1446. On Vakhtang's death, Demetrius became a ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...

'' king of Georgia but his accession to the throne was precluded by his younger brother George VIII.

Biography

Demetrius first appears in the charter dated to 1413. Traditional Georgian historiography founded by

Prince Vakhushti Vakhushti ( ka, ვახუშტი; 1696 – 1757) was a Georgians, Georgian royal prince (''batonishvili''), geographer, historian and cartographer. His principal historical and geographic works, ''Description of the Kingdom of Georgia'' and ...

in the 18th century erroneously makes him a younger brother of George VIII and frequently omits him from the list of the kings of Georgia. Demetrius was co-opted by his father Alexander I in 1433. He was sent by him as ambassador to

Shah Rukh Shah Rukh or Shahrukh Mirza (, ''Šāhrokh''; 20 August 1377 – 13 March 1447) was the ruler of the Timurid Empire between 1405 and 1447. He was the son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), who founded the Timurid dynasty in 1370 ...

Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...

's son. After Alexander I's renouncement of the throne in 1442 in favor of Vakhtang IV, Demetrius remained a co-king with the latter, whereas Alexander's third son, George VIII, was made a co-king

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...

d in

Kakheti Kakheti (; ) is a region of Georgia. Telavi is its administrative center. The region comprises eight administrative districts: Telavi, Gurjaani, Qvareli, Sagarejo, Dedoplistsqaro, Signagi, Lagodekhi and Akhmeta. Kakhetians speak the ...

. Upon the death of Vakhtang IV in 1446, Demetrius III was to become ''de jure'' king-regnant of Georgia, but the throne was seized by George VIII, inaugurating a series of conflicts which would eventually lead to the dissolution of the kingdom of Georgia by the close of the 15th century. Demetrius retired to the western province of

Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი, ) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 mun ...

. He was killed by a horse while hunting in 1453.

Family

Demetrius was married, sometime after 1446, to Gulashar, whom

Marie-Félicité Brosset Marie-Félicité Brosset (24 January 1802 – 3 September 1880) was a French historian and scholar who worked mostly in the Russian Empire. He specialized in Georgian and Armenian studies. Brosset's interest in the Caucasus developed while ...

identified with his aunt, Princess Gulkan of

, the widow of Demetrius's paternal uncle

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

. She died in 1471 or c. 1475. Their son, Constantine II, was the last king of a united Georgia (1478–1490) and the first king of Kartli (1490–1505). The historian Vakhushti claims that Demetrius had another son, David, who was installed as king in Kakheti in 1465 by the local nobility and founded the dynasty of the kings of Kakheti. Vakhushti makes David the father of George, king of Kakheti, whom he differentiates from George VIII, Demetrius's younger brother, at first king of Georgia and then king of Kakheti. The David of Vakhushti is, however, a fictitious figure.

Ancestry

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Demetrius, son of Alexander 01 of Georgia 1410s births 1453 deaths Year of birth uncertain 15th-century people from Georgia (country) Kings of Georgia Hunting accident deaths Accidental deaths in Georgia (country)