Proceedings of The 6th International Conference on Social sciences, Humanities and Education
Year: 2022
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.33422/6th.icshe.2022.06.120
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Economic conditions of Georgian Church and Monasteries in the XI – beginning of the XIII century (based on Historical Documents)
Vazha Santeladze
ABSTRACT:
Georgian Church has always been an important player in the political and economic history of the country. Throughout centuries its strength has been based not only on its ideological influence but also its economic strength.
The present paper studies the economic conditions of the Georgian Church based on the surviving historical documents from the XI c. to the beginning of the XIII centuries: “Report by Melkhisedek Catholicos to the Cathedral of Mtskheta “, “Written by the Head Priest St. Nicolao”, “Deeds by King George to Georgian Church” and others. Through these documents, we can trace the relationship between the King or a particular feudal lord and the Church, the social circle of church donors, economic status of the feudal lord, the growth of the property of the churches and monasteries, and the complicated relationship between the Church and the State: the Church with its growing wealth striving to be “a state within a state” and the State aiming to gain the support of the Church as the most influential institution and at the same time trying to control this influence. The paper also gives analysis of various kinds of taxes and grants paid to the Church, and the structure of the church property management board.
keywords: Georgian Church, economic history