Social and Legal Status of Women in Medieval Georgia

Abstract—Formation of legislation in medieval Georgia had long term development. It was closely related to both the Eastern and the Western experiences. Law documents are important sources for representation of history of Georgian legislation, however, at the same time, they are providing valuable data on many other aspects of societal life. In the early middle ages we are faced the distinct status of women in inheritance law. Since 9th century existence of the dowry institute has a great importance to clarify aspects of women's rights. The impression is that women were perceived no longer as an items, but as individuals. Although, it is clear that such attitude was more characteristic for high social stratum. In period of “Golden Age” (XIth-XIIth centuries) of medieval Georgian culture and political ascendance of Georgian state the social position of women became rather strong. Women owned property; they were politically visible and culturally active. The eloquent example of women’s promotion in medieval Georgia is of course Queen (always referred as King) Tamar (1184-1213), who is the most venerated and beloved Georgian ruler. The paper deals with the issue of the social status of women. Their economic relations, property, inheritance and legal rights.

Index Terms—Medieval history, Georgian legislation, law and gender perception.

Zurab Targamadze is with Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, GE, and Exhibition curator of Rustavi History Museum, Georgia (e-mail: zurab.targamadze147@hum.tsu.edu.ge).

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Cite: Zurab Targamadze, "Social and Legal Status of Women in Medieval Georgia," International Journal of Culture and History vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 72-79, 2017.