Noble Blood - Queen Tamar's Revenge

Episode Date: July 18, 2023

When her council forced her to marry, Tamar immediately knew their selection was the wrong choice. When he would eventually try to lead an invading army into overthrowing her government, I bet she wished she could have said, "I told you so." Sign up for Dana's history writing course! Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. Woo, woo, woo, woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot.

But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, The cat just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks, Dad, on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of IHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. Just one quick note of housekeeping before we begin. We are back at Rain on Me over at the Noble Blood Patreon. That is patreon.com slash nobleblood tales. And me, Dana Schwartz, and Karamadankwa, my friend and actor and writer, are going through every episode of the CW series, Rain, which is ostensibly about Mary Queen of Scott. So join us over there. The Patreon also has stickers, exclusive merch, and episode scripts.

But, of course, the best possible support is just listening. So thank you so much. In movies, there is an undeniable difference. between the way feminine and masculine rage is portrayed. Masculine rage often manifests in more physical violence or audible expressions of emotion, in battle cries or fistfights, outbursts that are usually pretty self-explanatory. Think Braveheart or the entirety of the fast and furious franchise. Feminine rage, however, when it's shown in popular culture, is almost always,

a little bit weirder and I think sometimes more interesting. In October of last year, the BBC published an article called Female Rage, the brutal new icons of film and TV. In the article, the author argues that women in film have a history of being viewed as weak or passive, with the rare instance of violence, typically only instigated in direct response to an attack by a male counterpart. But the author goes on to write that in recent years, directors have utilized female violence, quote,

in a way that calls gendered stereotypes into question and champions female rage, particularly over male aggression. This is true and seen in movies like Jennifer's Body or in the showtime series Yellow Jackets. Female rage isn't something that necessitates physical violence in order to be fully captured on screen. Immediately, my mind turns to the now pretty ubiquitous gif of Margot Robbie giving herself a manic, if not slightly unhinged, smile in the mirror as Tanya Harding in the movie I Tanya.

If you haven't seen the film, there's a moment where Tanya is desperately smearing rouge on her cheeks. her face already flush with anger and embarrassment. Tanya closes her eyes, takes a breath, and then forces herself to smile in the mirror. Practicing a smile in the mirror is something that most of us have done, particularly those of us with social anxiety, checking in to make sure that we can pass off as calm and collected before heading off into the world. Only Marco Robbie's smile at that moment is anything but easy. It looks almost painful. She's bearing her teeth.

Her eyes shine, not with excitement, but with the specific type of pent-up frustration that only comes from being buried alive under the consequences of actions outside one's control. She's raging, but she's smiling. and it's impossible to look away. It's an unfortunate fact of history that women are rarely given the opportunity to act upon their anger. Women who act as men would in certain situations are dismissed as being shrill or irrational at best or murdered at worst.

The very word hysterical comes from the Greek word hysteria, meaning uterus. In fact, up until 1980, hysteria was a legitimate diagnosis in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, because calling an entire sex dramatic was far easier than actually researching the very real medical issues that female bodies suffer. But I digress. All this is to say, for millennia, women have had to control their anger, keep it under lock and key, lest their grievances cause them to be physically hurt or disregarded entirely as people. And I can think of no better historical figure that exemplifies that situation than the 12th century ruler, Queen Tamar of Georgia. Given the throne

at just 18 years old, the young Georgian queen was forced to marry a man she hardly knew just to be able to keep her power. Then, after years of being constantly disrescerned, in an unhappy marriage, when the court finally granted her a divorce, what did her ex-husband do? Oh, you know, just the usual, organized a coup to dethrone her and take Georgia for himself. But Tamar couldn't scream, she couldn't punch, she couldn't even fire the court who insisted that she marry that man in the first place, not if she wanted to continue her reign anyway. So instead she did as generations of women had done before and would continue to do for generations long after she was gone. Queen Tamar closed her eyes, took a breath, forced a smile upon her face,

and got to work. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood. The year was 1177. To orient you in Western history, In England, King Henry II was dealing with the fallout of the Great Revolt while his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, was under house arrest. To the east, across the Black Sea, the Kingdom of Georgia was in the midst of its own struggle for power. Most historians would categorize this period in time as being part of Georgia's golden age, which took place between the 11th and 13th centuries. It was a period known for its time.

unprecedented economic and cultural growth. But golden or not, there's hardly an age in history in which the right to rule isn't being fought over. In 1177, King George III of Georgia was the kingdom's sovereign, but that year his nephew conspired with a group of rebellious nobleman to take the throne for himself. The coup would ultimately be stopped by George and his court, but the attempt was enough to rattle the king into taking action to secure his legacy. Having no sons of his own, George took the only action he could to solidify his family's claim to the throne, breaking tradition and, for the first time in Georgia's history, naming a woman, his eldest daughter Tamar, as his co-ruler in 1178.

And as you can imagine, the Georgian court wasn't thrilled with a woman ruling over their kingdom. But King George was not blind to that, hence the introduction of Tamar first as his co-ruler. It served as what we might today call a soft launch to her reign, introducing the country and nobles to the idea of a woman ruler, without fully throwing her to the wolves all on her own. And so together they did rule successfully for six years. As a unit, the father and daughter, led the kingdom into an era of economic stability and military success. Together, their throne seemed impenetrable.

And then George died in 1184, and the wolves that had been held back for so long finally caught the scent of fresh prey. After the death of Tamar's father, the Georgian court quickly made their true thoughts on Tamar as a ruler known. The court made several demands of their queen, the first of which was to hold a new, separate coronation. The point of this new coronation would be to specify,

that Tamar's right to rule was given by the court, not by the divine right of God. That way, she would ultimately feel more beholden to the Georgian court and their opinions on how she was to govern the people. The second coronation was just one of many concessions Tamar would need to make in order to maintain her throne. Another compromise came when she agreed to appoint a man named Mikhail Mariannichita as her high-e, Chancellor. If this were Game of Thrones, you can think of Mikhail as a little finger figure. Miquel was an ambitious man to the point of being self-serving in his role within the Georgian court. But he knew that he held the court's favor, and so he used that to persuade Tamar

into giving him the role of high chancellor. With whispers of rebellion echoing off the palace walls, Tamar grit her teeth and reluctantly gave Mikhail the position. if only to keep those surrounding them from actively conspiring her downfall. And while his appointment did quell the majority of talk to forcibly take Tamar off the Georgian throne, it inversely emboldened some of the court members to make even more outlandish requests of their queen. The final concession Tamar was forced to make was arguably the most radical of all. the leader of the Georgian noble party, no doubt inspired by Mikkel's success persuading Tamar,

into conceding him the position of high chancellor, demanded that a second palace be erected next to Tamars. This palace would house the Georgian nobility and allow them to decide matters of governance without the queen's input. Essentially, the leader of the noble party was asking for the queen to build them their own castle so that they could rule the kingdom, and she could pop in from time to time as a figurehead for the state with no actual power, because if she had given Mikkel an inch, the Georgian court were now going to ask for a mile. The suggestion for these two parallel palaces proved to be the final straw for Tamar. It was not only a metaphorical slap in the face, but the request proved to her

how close to powerlessness she was in the eyes of the court after all the concessions she had made. In retaliation, she gave the order to have the leader of the nobles imprisoned for his request. The court, in turn, threatened to depose the queen should she execute her prisoner, which led two negotiations and ultimately a compromise between both parties. After being stripped of his titles and position, the former leader of the nobles was released. And instead of a separate palace to be built for the sole governing body of the Georgian court, the queen and the court came together to form what was to be called the Darbazi, a special council that would allow both parties to convene and make decisions for the state together.

So finally, after a rocky start to her reign as sole sovereign of Georgia, Tamar and the Georgian court finally seemed at relative peace with one another. Tamar no longer felt the constant hum of rebellion within her ranks, and she allowed herself a moment to breathe in and enjoy the quiet that came after a well-fought victory. Though unbeknownst to her, the court would not be sated for long. Her next battle was coming, and this time it was in the form of a man named Yuri Bogolioski. The formation of the Derbazi was quickly followed by the council's first request that Tamar find a suitable husband to fill the gaping empty spot next to her on her throne, because of

Of course, that was their first request. In addition to simply wanting an heir to continue the royal line, the Darbasi no doubt hoped that a husband would create an advantageous political alliance with a neighboring kingdom. And even if Tamar had advocated for herself to make decisions in conjunction with the council, ultimately her input on the matter was of little consequence to the Darbasi, which is why as soon as a man who had, happened to check all the right boxes made himself known to the court, the council was quick

to approve the match. The lucky man was Yuri Bogolioski, the son of a Russian prince who had amassed a respectable military reputation considering he was just 24 years old. Tamar was vehemently against the betrothal. Understandable, considering A, she had never met the man, and B, all she knew about him was that he had been exiled by his uncle and that he was living with a nomadic tribe of people known as the Kipcheks ever since. Not exactly the resume of a prince charming. But the Darbazi was insistent and as soon as the young suitor found his way to Georgia, the two were wed in 1185 and Yuri took his place as king next to Tamar. And then, against all odds, something incredible happened. The two fell in love, had a handful of kids, and lived happily

ever, co-ruling as king and queen side by side over an age of prosperity. Except, no, of course they didn't, because this is Noble Blood, and I'm sure you know, political marriages like that rarely end well when a so-called Prince Charming comes along. Unfortunately for Tamar, her marriage to Yori was just beginning of her problems. The first of their many issues was a problem that had been conveniently left off of Yuri's suitor resume. He liked to drink a lot. One of Tamar's chroniclers wrote, quote, the Russian, when drunk, was utterly debauched and utterly depraved. He even went in for sodomitic behavior, end quote. Needless to say their marriage did not produce any children. Some historians argue that the marriage itself was likely never even consummated.

Uri would blame their childless marriage on Tamar being infertile, but as we will later see, that was not the case. And it goes without saying, but even if she were incapable of having children, it would be no one's fault. If anything, the only one at fault would be the man who felt the need to openly defame his wife to her entire kingdom. Uri was not. Uri was not. if not petty with a capital P. From the moment they were wed, Tamar spent nearly every meeting she had with the Darbazi begging for a divorce.

At one point, Tamar even sent monks to scold her husband in an attempt to curb some of his more unsavory behaviors, but ultimately it was no use. Yuri's only saving grace came two years later, when finally, in 1187, the Darbazi granted. granted her a divorce, and Yuri was sent packing to Constantinople with a hefty sum of gold and jewels in compensation for their failed marriage. And that should have been the end of the story for Yuri, but if you couldn't tell by the fact that he spread rumors of Tamar's infertility just to

save face for their failed marriage, he wasn't one to let sleeping dogs lie, but we will get back to him later. After their divorce, Tamar was once again without a husband and without a way to secure the Georgian royal line. But for once, things actually seemed to be looking up for Tamar. By 1187, the High Chancellor that she had been once forced to appoint, Mikhail Marianne Ishtey, had since passed away. That same chronicler, I quoted earlier, remarked here, quote, nobody grieved, their great nor small, for everyone loathed him." But what was especially fortunate about his death for Tamar was that now she had greater freedom to choose her next suitor.

This time, she did marry for love, choosing a man who just so happened to be the foster son of her aunt in a session prince by the name of David Sosselin. So two years after her divorce was finalized, Tamar married. David in 1189. But even a love match wouldn't stem the wave of trouble that her first husband Yuri had brewing on the horizon. After his exile to Constantinople, Yuri was quick to reconnect with Georgian allies, friends he had made during the brief years of his marriage. With their help, the jilted ex-husband began to formulate a plan, one that would, in theory, put him back on the Georgian throne he thought he deserved.

In 1191, Uri formally launched his attack against Tamar with the help of his Georgian supporters. The attack was to be held on two fronts, one that would be led in the capital to the east and another that would take the kingdom's stronghold in the southern districts. And his plan may have worked, Had Tamar not heard of the rebellion before Yuri and his men even set foot on Georgian soil. As upset as Tamar no doubt was at the news that her ex-husband was orchestrating a coup to dethrone her,

I hope at least some part of her felt vindicated in her initial resistance against marrying Yuri in the first place. She had been right. He was a terrible husband. The Darbazi were so obsessed with marrying her off to the first qualified suitor that came along, and now he was attempting to take down the entire kingdom. She couldn't necessarily say, I told you so, but ordering her new husband to lead the defensive troops at the capital hopefully felt just as good. While her husband guarded Tamar in the capital,

her new high constable was sent to the south, with the majority of their forces. Yuri and his compatriots were ill-equipped to face a Georgian militia that was ready for them, and so the southern rebels were decimated almost as soon as they began their attack. Upon hearing the fate of their forces in the South, those in the capital quickly began to abandon their ranks,

and it wasn't long before the lead commanders and Yuri himself were captured. And finally, after years of Tamar being subject to the orders of men who claimed to know what was best for her and for her kingdom, all eyes turned to her, the queen, to decide exactly what they should do next. In the wake of Yuri's failed coup, George's queen was left to decide her former husband's fate. Many probably expected Tamar to execute him after his arrest. kings before her had surely done more violence for lesser crimes against the crown.

Her own allies all but offered Tamar Yuri's head on a silver platter in exchange for their own freedom. But the queen was not so easily swayed. She would have her revenge exactly how she saw fit. In the end, there would be no bloodshed. It may seem a bit anticlimactic, but Tamar was famously. against execution and torture, and so in the end she decided to stick to her guns, or not, as it were, and simply strip the nobles who had fought against her of their titles and their lands. And Yuri? Well, he was sent once again back on a boat to Constantinople, only this time

without his generous alimony. You might find yourself a little disappointed in the lack of of dramatic ending to this fairly epic episode from history. After Altamar had been through, it's natural for us as a modern audience to want catharsis, to want to see her get a more concrete revenge against the deranged ex who literally tried to take away her kingdom. If this were a movie, I imagine that would be the sort of notes that the writer would get from the studio head. Bigger ending, more catharsis.

But I like to think Tamar's revenge against Yuri was held not in her desire for violence against him, but in her determination to create a better life for herself without him in it. Tamar would go on to have two children with her second husband, David, both of whom would take the Georgian throne during their lifetimes. Tamar and David would lead the kingdom through several more military successes, and her legacy would be one that lauded her as more than just being the first female sovereign of Georgia. In my mind, Tamar got exactly what she wanted in the end. There was no bloodshed.

Instead, she got to live the rest of her life with Yuri as merely an afterthought. In the words of a poet, it isn't love, it isn't hate, it's just indifference. For Tamar of Georgia, a woman who had been forced, into roles, carved for her by men for their own gain, her revenge against her ex-husband was not going to be what defined her legacy. Her greatest revenge was the very fact that she got to live the rest of her life, rarely, if ever, thinking about him at all. She didn't have to compromise her stances or principles. She got to be exactly the kind of ruler she wanted. That is the legendary reign of Queen Tamar of Georgia,

but stick around after a brief sponsor break to hear a little bit more about her legacy. Everyone, I'm Ago Wodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live, and the Big Money Players Network, it's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever.

I went and had lunch with them one day, and I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give. this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit.

If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks Dad on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone?

I'm Ago Wode. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live and The Big Money Play Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo. Woo. Woo. My dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with them one day. And I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings.

I'm working my way up through, and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat.

Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to thanks dad on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. In doing research for this episode, I was initially curious as to why Tamar is so often only referred to as Tamar of Georgia instead of Queen Tamar of Georgia, since, as the ruling sovereign, that is the title she should technically have. But when I dug deeper, I realized it's a much bigger can of worms. As it turns out, in the Georgian language, there are no grammatical genders. So when so when so, sources cite Tamar as being the queen of Georgia, they are imposing the gender rules from their

own language into Georgian history. In reality, Queen Tamar could just as likely be King Tamar, depending on the translator or the language of the text it's being translated into. But despite the accuracy of her title, one interesting piece of information I found actually had to do with the currency minted during her reign. The pieces found during the period clearly list David, Tamar's second husband, below her name. So even though he was technically the king of Georgia, the currency made sure to specify that Tamar as queen was the true ruler of Georgia and he was more of a consort. It's interesting to consider how translations of historical documents affect our perceptions of history, even on these most basic levels. In thinking about a language without gendered grammar,

it makes you wonder how much weight we put onto these titles to begin with, and how much our perception of history is based on the language we're using when reading or listening about it in the first place. Just food for thought. Noble Blood is a production of IHeart Radio, and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is created and hosted by me, Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and researching

by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Mira Hayward, Courtney Sender, and Lori Goodman. The show is edited and produced by Noamie Griffin and Rima Il-Ka Ali, with supervising producer Josh Thane and executive producers Aaron Manky, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. What's up, everyone? I'm Ago Vodam. My next guest, it's Will Ferrell. My dad gave me the best advice ever. He goes, just give it a shot.

But if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat. Just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human