menu
შოთა მათითაშვილი

შოთა
მათითაშვილი

ისტორიკოსი

Dr. Shota Matitashvili (შოთა მათითაშვილი) graduated from the Department of Humanities at the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University in 2011. In 2014 he earned his Master’s degree at the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. In 2021 he earned his second Master’s degree at the Central European University (Vienna). In 2018 he defended his PhD. thesis ‘History of Georgian Monasticism in the 4th-8th Centuries’’ at the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. Between 2011 and 2014 he worked at the Simon Janashia Georgian National Museum. Since 2015 he has been a lecturer at the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

The main topic of his academic research is Georgian medieval history; the religious, social and political history of Georgia in late antiquity; and Georgia in the context of Byzantine and Sassanid Persia.

His articles and books chiefly discuss the issues of early Georgian Christianity.

  1. ‘Female Asceticism in Late Antique Georgian Literature: The Origins of the Vita of St. Nino,’ Vigiliae Christianae 75 (2021): 253-277. 

  2. ‘The Monasteries Founded by the Thirteen Syrian Fathers in Iberia: the Rise of Monasticism in Sixth-Century Georgia,’ Studies in Late Antiquity, Vol. 2. No. 1, Spring, 2018: 439 (University of California Press) http://sla.ucpress.edu/content/2/1/4 

  3. ‘The Religious-Philosophical Foundation of Christian Asceticism, ‘Religiur-Pilosopiuri Mimomkhilveli (Religious-Philosophical Reviewer) N 6 (2018) (in Georgian).

  4. The History of Georgian Monasticism: Fourth and Fifth Centuries (Tbilisi, 2017) (monograph, in Georgian)

  5. ‘Dimitri Purtseladze at the Origins of New Church Historiography,’ Kartuli Tskarotmtsodneoba (Georgian Source Studies), N 15-16 (in Georgian). 2012 – ‘At the Origins of Georgian Monasticism,’ Sami Saunje (Three Treasures), N 1 (in Georgian). 


‘The Georgian Church in the 4th Century and the first half of the 5th century, and Persian politics towards Christian Countries of Transcaucasia,’ Kristianobis Kvlevebi, N 6 (2011) (in Georgian).


შოთა მათითაშვილი-ის სტატიები

სულხან-საბა ორბელიანი (1658–1725)
შოთა მათითაშვილი · მაისი 4, 2026

სულხან-საბა ორბელიანი (1658–1725)

გვიანფეოდალური ხანის საქართველოს მომავალი დიდი განმანათლებელი, სულხან-საბა ორბელიანი, 1658 წელს სოფელ ტანძიაში დაიბადა. მამამისი, ვახტანგ ორბელიანი, ქართლის სამეფოს მდივანბეგად მსახურობდა, ხოლო დედა, თამარი, ზაალ არაგვის ერისთავის ასული იყო. სულხანმა ბავშვობა ტანძიაში გაატარა, სადაც ძმებთან ერთად იზრდებოდა, ხოლო ტანძიის შემდეგ ძირითადად დმანისში ცხოვრობდა.

CATHOLICOS-PATRIARCH AMBROSIUS (KHELAIA)
შოთა მათითაშვილი · მარტი 4, 2026

CATHOLICOS-PATRIARCH AMBROSIUS (KHELAIA)

Ambrosius (secular name: Besarion) Khelaia came from a family of priests and missionaries. His father, Zosime Khelaia, and his grandfather, David Khelaia, were active missionaries in Abkhazia. Ambrosius’ father served at one of the most revered shrines of western Georgia, the Church of St. George in Ilori. In the Georgian imagination, Ilori has been shrouded in a mystical veil since ancient times.

მეფე ერეკლე II (1744-1798)
შოთა მათითაშვილი · ნოემბერი 1, 2025

მეფე ერეკლე II (1744-1798)

მეფე ერეკლე კახეთის მეფის, თეიმურაზ II-ის ვაჟი იყო. მეფე თეიმურაზ II კახეთს 1709-1744 წლებში განაგებდა (ჯერ როგორც უბრალოდ გამგებელი, შემდეგ კი - მეფე, 1744 წელს ის ქართლში გამეფდა). საინტერესოა რომ თეიმურაზის მამა, ერეკლე I (1688-1709), და ძმა - კონსტანტინე II (1722-1732), მაინცდამაინც არ გამოირჩეოდნენ არც სარწმუნოების და არც მაღალი იდეალების ერთგულებით

MISSIONARIES AND ASCETICS IN SIXTH CENTURY GEORGIA - THIRTEEN ASSYRIAN FATHERS
შოთა მათითაშვილი · სექტემბერი 6, 2024

MISSIONARIES AND ASCETICS IN SIXTH CENTURY GEORGIA - THIRTEEN ASSYRIAN FATHERS

The men were both ascetics and missionaries, whose mission was to preach Christianity, and the foundation of monasteries became part of this mission. It is hard to know to which theological doctrine these ascetics adhered, and there is a great variety of scholarly opinion regarding this fact, seeing some declaring them Chalcedonians, others anti-Chalcedonians, while part of the academic community believes them to have been Nestorians.

THE UNIFICATION OF MEDIEVAL GEORGIA
შოთა მათითაშვილი · ივლისი 11, 2024

THE UNIFICATION OF MEDIEVAL GEORGIA

At the end of the tenth century, the Georgian kingdoms and principalities entered a decisive battle for the unification of all the Georgian lands. The Kingdom of Apkhazeti (western Georgia), Tao-Klarjeti (southern Georgia), and Kartli, dominated by various great houses and the Kingdom of Kakhet-Hereti, struggled for dominance and supremacy in the Caucasus. In the early 10th century, the leading political role was assumed by Apkhazeti, yet, soon, the southern Georgian kingdom of Tao-Klarjeti was to re-emerge as a significant force in Caucasian politics.

THE RISE OF MEDIEVAL GEORGIAN MONASTICISM - ST. GREGORY OF KHANDZTA
შოთა მათითაშვილი · მაისი 10, 2024

THE RISE OF MEDIEVAL GEORGIAN MONASTICISM - ST. GREGORY OF KHANDZTA

In 813, the Presiding Prince Ashot I Curopolate fled the Arab oppression in Tbilisi and went to the southern Georgian province of Klarjeti. There, he established the new principality of Tao-Klarjeti. This principality played a crucial role in the history of Georgia during the ninth and tenth centuries, although Prince Ashot was not the first to set up home there. Before Ashot, men and women who sought seclusion for a ‘holy life’ had traveled to Klarjeti; monks and nuns led by medieval Georgian monastic leader Gregory of Khandzta (759–861). The intensive monastic colonization of these lands was one of the strongest factors that contributed to the rise of the Principality/Kingdom of Tao-Klarjeti.

KING VAKHTANG I GORGASALI
შოთა მათითაშვილი · მარტი 9, 2024

KING VAKHTANG I GORGASALI

King Vakhtang I Gorgasali (ca. 442–502) was arguably the greatest Georgian king of late antiquity. From the early Middle Ages onwards, he became one of the main protagonists of Georgian folklore - a great king whose power could shake even the icy peaks of the Caucasus; a fierce fighter with superhuman strength and bravery. Unfortunately for scholars, most medieval accounts about King Vakhtang are predominantly legendary. However, that does not mean he did not exist and was invented later, nor is he as legendary as, say, King Arthur. Indeed, most scholars agree that King Vakhtang was a historical figure who ruled the Kingdom of Iberia in the late fifth century.

QUEEN TAMAR AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE GEORGIAN KINGDOM
შოთა მათითაშვილი · აგვისტო 8, 2022

QUEEN TAMAR AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE GEORGIAN KINGDOM

The reign of Queen Tamar was a unique event, not only in the history of Medieval Georgia, but also in the history of Medieval Christendom as a whole. This female king ruled her kingdom as a true and lawful ruler in her own right.

KING DAVID IV THE RESTORER
შოთა მათითაშვილი · ივლისი 9, 2022

KING DAVID IV THE RESTORER

Since George was unable to solve the major problems that Georgia was facing, he abdicated and placed the crown on the head of his sixteen-year-old son, David. This young man represented new hope for the Georgian Kingdom. The once glorious kingdom was now completely helpless, and lay in ruins.

EQUAL TO THE APOSTLES AND THE ENLIGHTENER OF GEORGIA
შოთა მათითაშვილი · მაისი 31, 2022

EQUAL TO THE APOSTLES AND THE ENLIGHTENER OF GEORGIA

This is the fascinating and miraculous story about the conversion of the Iberian (eastern Georgian) Kingdom to Christianity at the beginning of the fourth century.

THE GOLDEN KINGDOM OF COLCHIS
შოთა მათითაშვილი · აპრილი 4, 2022

THE GOLDEN KINGDOM OF COLCHIS

Colchis was the first definitive political formation created by the ancestors of modern Georgians. It emerged in the lands of western Georgia (while another ancient Georgian kingdom, that of Iberia, was established in eastern Georgia).

KING PARNAVAZ
შოთა მათითაშვილი · მარტი 29, 2022

KING PARNAVAZ

The story of Parnavaz (299-234 B.C.) begins with a legend about the military expedition of Alexander the Great in Iberia (eastern Georgia or Kartli). Alexander conquered all the lands of the known world, and during his glorious conquests he also visited Iberia.