15 Oct “Famous Among the Monarchs:” Queen Tamar and the Rhetoric of Female Success. Part II
Sandro Nikolaishvili continues to follow the panther’s footsteps into the storyworld of the medieval Georgia’s most celebrated woman.
The Verse and Prose lauding Tamar
Throughout her long reign, the Georgian Queen Tamar proved to her Christian and Muslim subjects that they were mistaken to doubt her abilities to govern the kingdom and achieve successes. She not only managed to maintain her father’s legacy but also made the Georgian kingdom even more formidable political and military power through aggressive campaigns and series of expansions. One of the reasons as to why Tamar attained great authority to become one of the dominant figures in Georgian history lies in a well-devised and sophisticated court rhetoric propagated to various strata of Georgian society by Tamar and her supporters. Highly rhetorical literary texts in prose and verse dedicated to Tamar and composed by her contemporary and near-contemporary intellectuals dwarf the literary pieces dedicated to her predecessors and successors. The Georgian royal court used diverse media, including poetry, to overcome institutional obstacles to woman’s sovereignty and enforce the idea that woman and political authority were not inconceivable. The Knight in the Panther Skin, one of the most popular and revered pieces of Georgian secular literature, contributed to the popularization of Tamar’s personality. As already pointed out, Šota Rustaveli constructs an image of a strong female monarch in the face of Tinatin – the poem’s female heroine and Tamar’s literary prototype. However, an equally essential message concerning Tamar’s kingship was articulated in the prologue of Rustaveli’s poem. Rustaveli directly addresses Tamar, eulogizes her as a “king,” and emphasizes the divine ordination of the monarchy.
Behold the sun of our King Tamar – bright of face and dark of hair.
I do not know how I shall hymn her praises. Do I dare to dare?
Pleasing gifts should be offered in joy from all who have seen her there.
By shedding tears of blood we praise our king and I’ll say at the start:
I think myself far from the least of those who’ve played a praising part.
((Šota Rustaveli (Lyn Coffin trans.), The Knight in the Panther Skin, 11. ))
It seems that poetry and rulership became increasingly interconnected during Tamar’s reign. The poetry acquired immense significance in ritualized court culture. We are fortunate to have two unique praise poems, Abdulmesiani and In Praise of King Tamar, composed in honor of Tamar. These poems were probably performed orally during special ceremonials in the queen’s presence. The appearance of laudatory poems, previously unknown in the Georgia milieu, was a sign of unprecedented literary developments caused by the changing nature of Georgian kingship. In her quest for legitimacy and power, Tamar relied on men of literature to craft her public image and good reputation. She was the benefactor and patron of intellectuals, and her court was a comfortable place for prominent learned men. For instance, poet Ioane Šavteli, the author of Abdulmesiani, was a member of Tamar’s inner circle. Tamar’s biographer characterizes Šavteli as a “great poet and famous rhetor.” Šota Rustaveli, in the epilogue of his Knight in the Panther Skin, praises his contemporary poets and states that everyone liked Šavteli’s poetry.
While the use of laudatory poems to construct and negotiate a positive image of the ruler was something new in medieval Georgia, it had a long tradition in Byzantium. The rhetorical texts that praised the emperor were frequently composed and performed orally in presence of the emperor and a broad public at the imperial court. In the twelfth-century Byzantium, eminent learned men and poets, Theodor Prodromos and “Manganeios” Prodromos wrote panegyrics to boost the reputation of John II and Manuel I Komnenos. Poetry and verse writing were one of the sub-branches of rhetoric that enabled learned men to display the scope of their intellectual ability. The verse was favored in Byzantium because it had an aesthetically pleasing advantage; it could appeal to the mind as well as to the senses. A learned gentleman was expected to be equally proficient in composing verse and prose.
The concept that poetry was a potent method for conveying messages to the audience was upheld by educated individuals in Tamar’s circle. Šota Rustaveli contended that poetry was a form of philosophy and wisdom, with the primary aim of succinctly expressing lengthy and complex ideas in an engaging manner.
The poet’s art was from the start a branch of wisdom’s mighty tree.
The task of poetry is holy, as all godly men agree,
And verse is pleasant for a worthy man to listen to and see.
Long thoughts contained in shorter lines most beautifully expressed may be.
As horses can best test their mettle in a long and rugged race,
And players best boast their skillful moves and hits in a public place,
Long poems test a poet’s skill in giving sweet words their proper space.
((Šota Rustaveli (Lyn Coffin trans.), The Knight in the Panther Skin, 12-13. ))
Probably few female rulers are claimed by contemporaneous written accounts to be as powerful and exalted in status as Tamar. Particularly bold statements are made by In Praise of King Tamar and Abdulmesiani. These poems, composed in highly ornate and rhetorical language and rich with laudatory epithets and imageries, transgress the gender boundaries traditionally maintained in medieval narratives and present Tamar as a divinely appointed ideal and Christ-like ruler, almost god-like being, morally superior and perfect human. For instance, In Praise of King Tamar claims that Tamar, like Christ, assumed flesh and came from heaven to earth for the salvation of humankind. According to Tamar’s encomiasts, she brought her subjects peace, stability, and unprecedented prosperity. She is portrayed as a powerful and independent female ruler who had a central role in the governance of the state.
The audience/reader is further persuaded that though Tamar could not lead the armies in the battles, she was the main architect of the Georgian kingdom’s successful expansion. The military victories won against the Muslim powers during Tamar’s rule are claimed to have a similar scale and importance as emperor Herakleios’ (r.610–641) triumph over the Sassanian Persia in the seventh century. Although the Georgian army won major battles under the command of Tamar’s second husband, Davit Soslan, the court rhetoric tried to bring to the fore Tamar’s role in these victories. Interestingly, claims made by laudatory poems concerning Tamar’s role in the military successes align with statements made by the historiographical narratives. For instance, the Life of Tamar, King of Kings argues that the queen was the defender of the Christians and that “her army” was always ready to put the Muslims in check: “Let him learn of the tribute Tamar laid upon the lands which stretched from Georgia to Iraq and from Bagdad to Maragha … It is enough to say that the Caliph in person prays to the creator for mercy.” Elsewhere, the Life of Tamar argues: “The hopes of the Muslims were running out, and totally powerless, they appealed to the mercy of Tamar…”
Undoubtedly, Tamar was an ambitious ruler who defied societal norms to maintain her status as a senior ruler in the kingdom. The extant literary narratives persistently emphasize that Tamar carried out governmental duties, a role traditionally reserved for men. Moreover, the court propaganda underlined the hierarchy between Tamar and her husband, Davit Soslan, challenging the typical power dynamics of the time. Ioane Šavteli in Abdulmesiani asserted Tamar’s supremacy, a bold statement in a society where male rulers were the norm. The poet stated that Davit had derived his power and the “sun-like brightness” from Tamar, thus highlighting her influence and power. One may doubt the extent to which the rhetorical texts reflect reality regarding Tamar’s position in the kingdom. However, bi-lingual (Georgian-Arabic) coins, the official media of the royal court, confirm the claims made by Tamar’s poets.
Two features underline Tamar’s prominent position on the coins. First, her abbreviated name in Georgian was placed on the left side of the coin obverse – a place traditionally reserved for the senior ruler. Second, the legend in Arabic hails only Tamar as “Queen of the Queens, Glory of the World and Faith, Tamar, daughter of Giorgi, Champion of the Messiah.” By means of the laudatory phrase “champion of the Messiah,” Tamar addressed her Muslim subjects and Arab-speaking audience that she was the guardian and defender of the Christians. The Georgian kings started to fashion themselves as “the sword of the Messiah/champion of the Messiah” from the second quarter of the twelfth century when the Georgian kingdom was on the offensive against the Seljuk Turks.
A Wise and Erudite Ruler
The panegyric poems could not bypass without commenting Tamar’s wisdom and learnedness. The wisdom, an essential royal ideal, is the source of Tamar’s good rulership and a cornerstone of her authority. Ioane Šavteli celebrates Tamar as an exemplary philosopher, equally learned in ancient philosophy and patristic theology. The poet goes as far as to claim that Tamar displayed far superior knowledge of philosophy than Proclus and Iamblichus – Neoplatonist philosophers of Late Antiquity greatly admired in the eleventh- and twelfth-century Byzantium.
Apart from praising and elaborating on Tamar’s profound erudition in theology and philosophy, her poets present her as a good polemist and exemplary rhetorician. We are to believe that Tamar’s eloquent speech and persuasive abilities had such an overwhelming impact on listeners that even pagans would come under its sway and convert to Christianity. In the twelfth-century Byzantine imperial discourse, aside from the emperor’s learnedness, his rhetorical abilities were frequently commented on and praised. The rhetoric was believed to be a powerful medium which had an ability to manipulate the audience. We should not underestimate Tamar’s court literati’s claims concerning her elite learning and erudition. As an heir to the Georgian throne, she probably received the best education, and her father, Giorgi III, sought to it that the best teachers instructed her. Learnedness and good intellectual capabilities could empower Tamar to consolidate her reputation further. Interestingly, Tamar’s wisdom was celebrated not only by her court poets but also by the writers of the historiographical narratives. The Histories and Eulogies of the Monarchs draws parallels between the wisdom of Tamar and Old Testament Solomon: “With the serenity and moderation of David, and the wisdom of Solomon, and courage and care of Alexander, she held the kingdom firmly in her hands, which stretched from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea…”
By all accounts, Tamar is an exceedingly intelligent and wise ruler. Her authority is claimed to have had a broad appeal in Georgia, Christian East, and the Islamic world. Her charisma, a wide range of virtues, and captivating and almost supernatural beauty enforced the obedience of her subjects and forced the most prominent military men to bend their knees and become her loyal servants. There is no ambivalence towards Tamar’s political authority because of her gender. No text hinted that she transgressed the divine order by appropriating power. Nor is there any claim that Tamar had to assume masculine behavior to overcome the weakness characterizing the female sex. One of her biographers made the following statement when claiming that Tamar handled all her royal obligations and duties excellently: “We should also say that many other women showed their power, but not one did it like Tamar.” Another biographer, who composed his historiographical text after her death, summarized the first Georgian female ruler’s reign in the following manner: “If someone among you goes again and again through the chronicles that narrate the lives of old and new kings, he will see that not one of them exceeds by his deed those performed by Tamar.”
The elevation of a female ruler to the rank of royal power caused significant changes to the Georgian ideology of rulership. The royal rhetoric became more sophisticated and multidimensional. The learned men close to Tamar exploited rhetoric’s discursive possibilities and produced the encomiastic literature, which did not exist in Georgia before. Without a doubt, the praise poems Abdulmesiani and In Praise of King Tamar and Rustaveli’s epic poem, The Knight in the Panther Skin enhanced Tamar’s authority. These literary pieces succeeded in imposing a new social norm on high echelons of society, namely that a woman could rule the kingdom and be equally successful and virtuous as other male rulers. After her death, Tamar left behind a great legacy and her unblemished authority. As it appears, the Georgian royal rhetoric was so successful in promoting the image and reputation of Tamar that her successors were eager to associate themselves with her. During his reign, Tamar’s son and heir, king Giorgi-Laša IV (r. 1210–1222), never ceased to fashion himself on the coins as “Giorgi, son of Tamar.” Had Tamar failed to attain great fame and reputation, Giorgi-Laša IV would not have affiliated himself with his mother. Instead, he would have referred to his father, Davit Soslan, or grandfather, Giorgi III, on his coinage. Tamar’s daughter, Rusudan (r. 1222–1235), who assumed power after Giorgi-Laša IV’s death and ruled in her own right, also modeled herself on her coinage as “Rusudan, daughter of Tamar.” Undoubtedly, association with Tamar was a source of legitimacy and prestige, a testament to the enduring influence of her reign.