Tamar of Georgia ruled from 1178 AD to 1213 AD, starting when she was just eighteen she co-ruled with her father King Giorgi III. Both of them being from the House of Bagration in this dynasty the transfer of power between rulers was rarely peaceful. As Jonathon and Emily Jordan put in their book, “He (Giorgi) watered down privileges of Georgia’s aznaurni, or nobility, and when a baronial faction rose to restore his nephew, Giorgi brutally crushed the revolt.”1 After having been rumored to have killed his older brother he castrated his nephew to insure that the title of king would be given over merit rather than birth. In the first few years after Giorgi’s death Tamar took a very passive role as queen, Georgia being a Orthodox Christrain the church bishops and the aznaurni were making a lot of choices for her. Though they picked a husband for her to be their military leader, Tamar still out ranked him for being a full-blood Georgian giving her the title: ‘king of kings, queen of queens.’ A lot of these nobles trying to help her out were secretly trying to put themselves into high enough positions that if something were to happen to Tamar they could potentially be next in line for the throne. But when one of her biggest political opponents died she took the opportunity to snuff out the flames of rebellion against the aznaurni. Leading her army to the door steps of the nobles ready to strike if they refuse to step down, she was able to stop the rebellion without spilling a drop of blood. (Summer Casias, 2025)
Shields were still mostly wood with some iron with leather or parchment on the inside for the handle (or handles depending on the type of shield). There were also kite shields that are in a long almond shape thought to have been better than regular round shields on horseback protecting the rider’s neck and torso. Though kite shields weren’t depicted in Georgian art until the twelfth century after Tamar’s time. (Summer Casias, 2025)
Bent Georgian Sword, National Museum of Georgia (13th century)
The weapons Georgians probably would've used during these battles were straight and bent swords, spears, lances, shields, and bows and arrows depicted in the frescos in the Nikortsminda Cathedral. They also wore splint armor also known as scale and lamellar armor. According to David Kuparadze and Dimitri Pataridze there were mining spots in southern and northern Georgia, “Assyrian inscriptions prove that Muski (Colchis settlers) in the 11th century BC were mainly engaged in viticulture and metalworking.” Meaning they were primarily using iron for these weapons and armor. Around the Black Sea there was a lot of sand containing stuff like titanium, vanadium, molybdenum and chromium that metal workers would add strength to the iron and give it a cleaner appearance. (Summer Casias, 2025)
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