The University of Georgia
Doctor of History, Professor
Tbilisi, Georgia
ORCID: 0009-0003-6208-0480
Relations between the Princely House of Shervashidze and the Catholicosate of Abkhazia (Western Georgia) in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Abstract
Information concerning relations between the princely House of Shervashidze and the Catholicosate of Abkhazia during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is scarce. This study is based on an analysis of ecclesiastical documents issued by the Catholicoi of Abkhazia—David Nemsadze and Grigol Lortkipanidze—and by representatives of the princely House of Shervashidze, including Qvapu, Kerekim, and others. The paper aims to identify the principal forms of interaction between secular and ecclesiastical authorities and to determine the political, ethnic, and religious factors that shaped these relations during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
To understand these processes, it is necessary to consider the changes that occurred in the sixteenth century. Shifts in the ethnic and religious situation in Abkhazia led to the transfer of the residence of the Catholicosate of Abkhazia from Bichvinta to Gelati. Consequently, direct contact between the hierarchs of the Catholicosate and the Principality of Abkhazia became considerably restricted. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the absence of security guarantees prevented the Catholicoi from travelling to Abkhazia, thereby hindering the exercise of their ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the region. In the eighteenth century, the cathedral at Bichvinta ceased to function.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the policies of the Principality of Abkhazia were shaped to a considerable degree by its confrontation with Odishi and its attempts at territorial expansion. In these conflicts, the Shervashidze rulers actively employed the military forces of the highlanders of the northwestern Caucasus and encouraged their settlement in Abkhazia. According to Georgian written sources, these developments brought about significant ethnodemographic and religious changes within Abkhazia itself. These changes affected both the local Christian population and the activities of the Catholicosate of Abkhazia.
Ecclesiastical documents indicate that the population living under the jurisdiction of the Catholicosate of Abkhazia faced severe social and security-related difficulties. The same documents reveal that the Catholicoi maintained relations with the princes of Abkhazia in order to protect the rights of the local Christian population, prevent the displacement of the Catholicosate’s dependants, and resolve emerging conflicts peacefully.
Political developments in the region during the eighteenth century, particularly the increasing influence of the Ottoman Empire, further complicated the position of both the Principality of Abkhazia and the Catholicosate of Abkhazia. Restrictions on the activities of Christian institutions substantially altered the forms and intensity of relations between the princely House of Shervashidze and the ecclesiastical authorities. Analysis of the documents demonstrates that, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, these relations were shaped not only by ecclesiastical and legal traditions but also by the political, ethnic, and religious changes taking place in the region. These developments gradually weakened the practical influence of the Catholicosate of Abkhazia within Abkhazia itself.
Keywords: Princely House of Shervashidze; Catholicosate of Abkhazia; secular and ecclesiastical authority; Western Georgia.