George IV of Georgia

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Giorgi IV Lasha

Giorgi IV Lasha (Lasha Giorgi; in Georgian: გიორგი IV ლაშა, ლაშა გიორგი) (1192-1223) from the House of Bagrationi, was king of Georgia in 1213-1223.

A son of Queen Tamar and David Soslani, he was declared as a coregent by his mother in 1207. He continued Tamar’s policy of strengthening of the Georgia feudal state. He put down the revolts in neighbouring Muslim vassal states in the 1210s and began preparations for a large-scale campaign against Jerusalem to support the Crusaders in 1220. However, the Mongol approach to the Georgian borders made the Crusade plan unrealizable. The first Mongol attacks were repulsed in 1221-1222. However, Georgians suffered heavy losses in this war and the King himself was severely wounded. As a result Lasha Giorgi became severely ill and died at the age of 31. He was succeeded by his sister Rusudan.

Giorgi Lasha was known as a free minded person and met much criticism from a conservative feudal society. The nobles and Christian clergymen rejected and failed to recognize his wife, a girl from a non-noble family. Ultimately, the King had to compromise and divorced her, refusing, however, to marry anyone else.

Medieval sources are presently the best available sources. They characterize Giorgi IV as a wise ruler and brave warrior, while others point to his immoral life style and addiction to mysticism and even Sufism.

He was survived by a son David (the future King David VII Ulu)