Tornikios

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T'ornike (Georgian: თორნიკე) also known as Tornikios or Thornikios (died in 985) was a retired Georgian general and monk who came to be better known as a founder of the formerly Georgian Orthodox monastery of Iveron on Mt Athos in the modern-day northeastern Greece.

T'ornike came from a notable Georgian noble family, which according to some genealogical accounts descended from the Mamikonian line of Armenia, and was in the immediate circles of the ruling dynasty of the Bagrationi. His father, Chordvaneli, had been in the suite of the Georgian prince Ashot II Kuropalates who had paid a visit to the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogennetos in Constantinople in c. 950. Three of his nephews had military careers and one of them, Varazvache, held a post of katapan (military governor) of the significant Byzantine eastern outpost Edessa in 1037-8.

T'ornike served a very successful military and courtier career (specifically he was eristavi, a Georgian equivalent to stratēgos) under the Georgian Bagratid dynasty and also gained a Byzantine title of patrikios. He resigned his position as a general of the Georgian prince David III of Tao in c. 963 and, under the name of Ioane (Ioannis, or John), retired to Athanasius’ Lavra on Mount Athos. He was joined, in the early 970s, by another retired Georgian officer Ioane and his son Ek'vt'ime.

In 976, a rebellion led by Bardas Sklerus broke out in the Asian provinces of the Byzantine Empire, a greatest upheaval of the emperor Basil II’s early reign. Sklerus had won a series of battles against the then-loyal general Bardas Phocas and marched from the east through Anatolia to Constantinople. Basil summoned Ioane-T’ornike to his capital to mediate the alliance with David of Tao, a measure that seemed to be necessary to save the situation. The monk agreed reluctantly, persuaded chiefly by his fellow monks that it would be in the best interests of the Athonite community for him to obey the imperial command. David responded vigorously and entrusted his former general the command of some 12,000 Georgian cavalrymen sent to reinforce the imperial army. The decisive battle was fought at Pankalia near Caesarea on March 24, 979 and resulted in the crushing defeat of the rebels.

In reward for their support, David was awarded with the lifetime stewardship of the extensive lands in northeastern Anatolia, while Ioane-T'ornike was conferred with the title synkellos (assistant to patriarch). More importantly, the victorious monk-general returned to Athos laden with the spoils of war, "precious objects" as well as twelve kentenaria (1,200 lb) of gold, that enabled the Georgians to establish their own house on Athos. Although populated now with Greeks, the monastery is to this day known by the Greek appellation Iveron, "of the Iberians", i.e., Georgians. The emperor also showered him with lands and privileges, granted him subsidies and exemption from taxes. The new monastic house, destined to become a vibrant center of the Georgian Orthodox culture, was jointly run by Ioane-T’ornike as ktetor (founder) and his friend Ioane as hegoumenos (abbot).

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