Stephen II ( ka, სტეფანოზ II, ''Step'anoz II''), of the

Chosroid dynasty The Chosroid dynasty (a Latinization of ''Khosro anni'', ka, ხოსრო ��ანები), also known as the Iberian Mihranids, were a dynasty of kings and later presiding princes of the early Georgian state of Iberia from the 4th to t ...

, was a presiding prince of

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

(

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...

, eastern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

) from 637/642 to c. 650.The son and successor of Adarnase I, Stephen pursued his father's pro-

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

politics and was probably bestowed by the

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

with the title of '' patricius''. In 645, however, he was forced to recognize the

Caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

as his

suzerain A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy and economic relations of another subordinate party or polity, but allows i ...

when the

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

moved into Georgia. He was succeeded by his son, Adarnase II. Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation: 2nd edition'', p. 27.

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...

, Martindale, John Robert (1992), ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', p. 1196.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, . The exterior stone plaque of the church of the Holy Cross at

Mtskheta Mtskheta ( ka, მცხეთა} ) is a city in the Mkhare, region of Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Georgia (country), Georgia. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is locat ...

, Georgia, mentions the principal builders of this church: Stephanos the ''patricius'', Demetrius the ''

hypatos (; : , ) and the variant (; ) was a Byzantine court dignity, originally the Greek translation of Latin (the literal meaning of is 'the supreme one', which reflects the office, but not the etymology of ''). The dignity arose from the honorary ...

'', and Adarnase the ''hypatos'' who have traditionally been equated by the Georgian scholars with Stephen I, son of Guaram;

Demetre Demetre is an Old Greek male name. Examples *Demetre Chiparus *Demetre II of Georgia *Demetre I of Georgia *Demetre Kantemir *Demetre of Guria *Demetres Koutsavlakis *Demetrescu-Tradem External links Etymology of DemetreEtymology of Demet ...

, brother of Stephen I and Adarnase I. However, an opinion expressed by Professor

Cyril Toumanoff Cyril Leo Toumanoff ( ka, კირილ თუმანოვი; ; 10 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Georgian-American historian, and academic genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armen ...

disagrees with this view by identifying these individuals with Stephen II, Demetre (brother of Stephen I), and Adarnase II (son of Stephen II), respectively. Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts'', p. 344. Peeters Bvba .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen 02 Of Iberia Princes of Iberia 7th-century monarchs in Asia Patricii Chosroid dynasty