Queen Tamar

Who is Queen Tamar?

Tamar the Great ruled the Kingdom of Georgia during the height of its medieval power, first as co-ruler with her father, King George III, from 1178, and then as sole monarch from 1184 until her death in 1213. She was the first woman to rule Georgia in her own right, and the Georgian Orthodox Church later granted her the traditional royal title of "king" (mepe) in recognition of her authority. Tamar overcame opposition from rebellious nobles early in her reign and went on to expand Georgia's borders to their greatest historical extent, presiding over military victories, a flourishing of trade along Silk Road routes, and a golden age of architecture, literature, and the arts. Her court patronized the poet Shota Rustaveli, whose epic "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" is traditionally dedicated to her. Tamar's reign is remembered in Georgian history and legend as the pinnacle of the medieval kingdom's political and cultural achievement, and she remains one of the most celebrated figures in the country's national memory, later canonized as a saint of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Tamar" entry · W.E.D. Allen, A History of the Georgian People · Georgian Orthodox Church hagiographic tradition