The Church Reform of Georgian King David IV: The Ruisi-Urbnisi Council (1104)

Abstract

The Ruisi-Urbnisi Church meeting, which took place in the XII century, is an important socio-political and religious-legal event in the history of Georgia and an important product of the reformist policies of Davit Aghmashenebeli. The meeting symbolises the beginning of the implementation in public life of the legal principles that laid the foundation for the formation of the Central Georgian state at that time.

The only document related to the Ruisi-Urbnisi Church meeting is the surviving "Monument to the Ruisi-Urbnisi Church meeting", which outlines the reasons and goals of the meeting.  The document summarises the ideological foundations of the reforms that shaped the formation of an autocratic state dominated by the Church. 

This study intends to investigate the situation of the Georgian church prior to the Ruisi-Urbnisi Church meeting, the reasons and results of the meeting, the implementation of the decisions taken at the meeting and their impact on the Georgian society.