Constantine II of Georgia

King of Georgia from 1478 to 1505

Constantine II

King of Georgia
Reign| 1478–1505
Predecessor| Alexander II of Imereti
Successor| David X (as King of Kartli)

Born| 1447
Died| 1505
Issue| David X of Kartli
George IX of Kartli
Bagrat I, Prince of Mukhrani
Melchizedek II of Georgia
Dynasty| Bagrationi dynasty
Father| Prince Demetrius
Religion| Georgian Orthodox Church
Khelrtva|

Constantine II (Georgian: კონსტანტინე II, romanized: k'onst'ant'ine II) (c. 1447 - 1505), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the 23rd and last king (mepe) of United Georgia from 1478 until his death. Early in the 1490s, he had to recognise the independence of his rival rulers of Imereti and Kakheti, and to confine his power to Kartli. In 1505, Constantine II died, and was succeeded by his son David X.

## Life

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Royal charter of King Constantine II.

Constantine II was the son of Prince Demetrius. In 1465, together with his uncle, the Georgian king George VIII, Constantine was taken prisoner by the rebel prince Qvarqvare II Jaqeli, atabeg of Samtskhe (principality in southern Georgia). He managed, however, to escape the captivity, and taking opportunity of the Imeretian king Bagrat VI’s absence at the campaign in Kartli, vainly attempted to seize control of the Imeretian capital Kutaisi. Despite the failure, he considered himself king and later won some power in Kartli. However, only with Bagrat’s death in 1478 was Constantine able to drive out Bagrat’s son, Alexander II, and become king of Georgia, though already fragmentised and torn apart with the bitter civil wars.[1] In 1483, he was defeated by Qvarqvare II of Samtskhe at the Battle of Aradeti. Alexander took advantage and established himself in Imereti but lost Kutaisi to Constantine again in 1484. In the winter of 1488, the Ak Koyunlu Turkomans led by Sufi Khalil Beg Mawsilu attacked Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, and took the city after a long-lasted siege in February 1489. Though the foreign occupation of the capital did not last long, the situation was immediately exploited by Alexander who seized control of Kutaisi and the rest of Imereti. From 1490 to 1493, Constantine was compelled to de jure recognise his cousin Alexander I of Kakheti and Alexander II of Imereti as independent sovereigns and to grant Qvarqvare II significant autonomy. Constantine himself was left with Kartli as the extent of his kingdom. Thus, by the end of the 15th century, Georgia was divided into three independent kingdoms (Kartli, Kakheti, and Imereti) and five autonomous principalities (Samtskhe, Mingrelia, Guria, Abkhazia, and Svaneti).

Between 1492-1496, Constantine attempted to win an international support to reunite the country and defend it against the increasingly aggressive Muslim empires of Ottoman Turkey and Safavid Iran. For this purpose, Georgian ambassadors were sent to the Burji sultan of Egypt Qaitbay, and also to Pope Alexander VI and Isabella I of Castile. The embassies, however, proved to be fruitless.

Upon the death of Qvargvare II's son Kaikhosro I, only two years after he ascended the throne of the Samtskhe principality, he was succeeded by his equally "pious" brother Mzechabuk. At the same time, the Iranian Safavids, led by the emerging king (shah) Ismail I were tempted to loot the feudal state, if only to distract himself from his main quarry; Shirvan.[2] In the same year, in 1500, Ismail I baited Constantine as well as king Alexander II of Imereti to attack Ottoman possessions located nearby Tabriz.[2] As a precaution, Ismail had Aleksander send his son Demetre to the newly conquered region of Shirvan, where the prince negotiated a peace agreement. Ismail promised Constantine, that once Tabriz was captured, he would cancel the tribute Constantine still paid to the Ak Koyunlu Turcomans. Each Georgian ruler contributed 3,000 men to the existing Ismail's own 7,000,[2] and by 1503 they enabled him to recapture Nakhchivan from the Ottomans. However, Ismail I broke his promise, and made Kartli and Kakheti his vassals.[2]

### Death

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Constantine II died in 1505, leaving the throne to his son, David X. As indicated by surviving church records, he might have abdicated the throne and retired to monastery under the name of Cyril in 1503 or 1504.[3]

## Marriage and children

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Constantine II married in 1473 Tamar (died c. 1492). He had the following children:

* David X of Kartli
* George IX of Kartli
* Bagrat I of Mukhrani
* Dimitri, co-king 1488–1490
* Vakhtang, fl. 1526
* Alexander, fl. 1526–1556, ancestor of the Gochashvili family
* Melchizedek II of Georgia, Catholicos Patriarch of Georgia
* Targamos, fl. 1517–1525
* Gulshar, married Prince Kakhaber Chijavadze
* Astandar, married Prince Manuchar N.
* Martha

## References

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1. ^ Suny 1994, p. 45.
2. ^ a b c d Rayfield, Donald (15 February 2013). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. Reaktion Books. ISBN 9781780230702. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
3. ^ Saitidze, Gocha (1997). "კონსტანტინე-ყოფილი კირილე: [XVI საუკუნის დასაწყისის ქართლის სამეფოს ისტორიიდან" [Constantine – Cyril (To the history of Kartli kingdom in the beginning of the 16th c.)] (PDF). Artanuji (in Georgian and English). 6: 20–27.

## Sources

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* Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994). The Making of the Georgian Nation. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253209153.

Regnal titles

Preceded by

Alexander II

|  King of Georgia (Kartli)
1478–1505  | Succeeded by

David X

* v
* t
* e

Kings of United Georgia

| Kingdom of Georgia (1008—1256)|

* Bagrat III
* George I
* Bagrat IV
* George II
* David IV
* Demetrius I
* David V
* George III
* Tamar the Great
* George IV
* Rusudan
* David VI-David VII (jointly)

|

Kingdom of Western Georgia (1256—1329)|

* David VI
* Vakhtang II
* Constantine I
* Michael
* Bagrat I

Kingdom of Georgia (1256-1329) (in eastern Georgia)|

* David VII
* Demetrius II
* David VIII
* Vakhtang III
* George V

Reunification (1329–1490)|

* George V
* David IX
* Bagrat V
* George VII
* Constantine I
* Alexander I
* Vakhtang IV
* George VIII
* Bagrat VI
* Alexander II
* Constantine II

* v
* t
* e

Triarchy in Georgia (1463–1810)

| Kingdom of Imereti (1463–1810)|

* Alexander II
* Bagrat III
* George II
* Levan
* Rostom
* Bagrat IV
* George III
* Alexander III
* Bagrat V
* Archil
* George III
* Alexander IV
* George V
* Simon
* Mamia III
* George VI
* George VII
* George IV
* Alexander V
* George IX
* Solomon I
* Teimuraz
* David II
* Solomon II

|

Kingdom of Kartli (1478–1762)|

* Constantine II
* David X
* George IX
* Luarsab I
* Simon I
* David XI
* Simon I
* George X
* Luarsab II
* Bagrat VII
* Simon II
* Teimuraz I
* Rostom
* Vakhtang V
* George XI
* Heraclius I
* Levan
* Kaikhosro
* Vakhtang VI
* Jesse
* Bakar
* Constantine II
* Ali Mirza
* Teimuraz II & Tamar

Kingdom of Kakheti (1465–1762)|

* George VIII
* Alexander I
* George II
* Levan
* Alexander
* David I
* Constantine I
* Teimuraz I
* Jesse
* Rostom
* Archil II
* David II
* Constantine II
* Teimuraz II
* Heraclius II

Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti (Georgia) (1762–1801)|

* Heraclius II
* George XII
* David XII

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