Editing Tamar of Georgia (section)

== Legacy and popular culture ==

=== Medieval ===
[[File:Vepkhistkaosani zichy.jpg|thumb|300px|''[[Shota Rustaveli]] presents his poem to Queen Tamar'', a painting by the [[Hungary|Hungarian]] artist [[Mihály Zichy]] (1880s).]]
[[File:The XIIc. cross of Queen Tamara of Georgia - Gold, rubies, emerald and pearls.jpg|thumb|right|160px|Golden cross of Queen Tamar, composed of [[rubies]], [[emeralds]], and large [[pearls]]]]
Over the centuries, Queen Tamar has emerged as a dominant figure in the Georgian historical [[Pantheon (religion)#Extension of the concept into structures and celebrities|pantheon]]. The construction of her reign as a "Golden age" began in the reign itself and Tamar became the focus of the era.<ref name="Eastmond-97">{{harvnb|Eastmond|1998|p=97}}.</ref> Several medieval Georgian poets, including Shota Rustaveli, claimed Tamar as the inspiration for their works. A legend has it that Rustaveli was even consumed with love for the queen and ended his days in a monastery. A dramatic scene from Rustaveli's poem where the seasoned King Rostevan crowns his daughter Tinatin is an allegory to George III's co-option of Tamar. Rustaveli comments on this: "A lion cub is just as good, be it female or male".<ref>{{harvnb|Rayfield|1994|p=74}}.</ref>

The queen became a subject of several contemporary [[panegyric]]s, such as [[Chakhrukhadze]]'s ''Tamariani'' and [[Ioane Shavteli]]'s ''Abdul-Mesia''.<ref>{{harvnb|Rayfield|1994|pp=82–85}}.</ref> She was [[eulogy|eulogized]] in the chronicles, most notably in the two accounts centered on her reign – ''The Life of Tamar, Queen of Queens'' and ''The Histories and Eulogies of the Sovereigns'' – which became the primary sources of Tamar's sanctification in Georgian literature. The chroniclers exalt her as a "protector of the widowed" and "the thrice blessed", and place a particular emphasis on Tamar's virtues as a woman: beauty, humility, love of mercy, fidelity, and purity.<ref name="{{harvnb|eastmond|1997|pp=111–112}}." /> Although Tamar was [[canonization|canonized]] by the Georgian church much later, she was even named as a [[saint]] in her lifetime in a bilingual [[Greek language|Greco]]-Georgian [[colophon (publishing)|colophon]] attached to the manuscript of the [[Vani Gospels]].<ref name="Eastmond-97" />

The idealization of Tamar was further accentuated by the events that took place under her immediate successors; within two decades of Tamar's death, the [[Khwarazmian dynasty|Khwarezmian]] and [[Mongol invasions of Georgia|Mongol]] invasions brought Georgian ascendancy to an abrupt end.<ref>{{harvnb|Eastmond|1998|pp=97–98}}.</ref> Later periods of national revival were too ephemeral to match the achievements of Tamar's reign. All of these contributed to the cult of Tamar which blurred the distinction between the idealized queen and the real personality.<ref>{{harvnb|Eastmond|1998|p=98}}.</ref>

In popular memory, Tamar's image has acquired a legendary and romantic façade. A diverse set of folk songs, poems and tales illustrate her as an ideal ruler, a holy woman onto whom certain attributes of [[Georgian paganism|pagan deities]] and Christian saints were sometimes projected. For example, in an old [[Ossetians|Ossetian]] legend, Queen Tamar conceives her son through a sunbeam which shines through the window. Another myth, from the Georgian mountains, equates Tamar with the pagan deity of weather, Pirimze, who controls winter.<ref>{{harvnb|Sikharulidze|1979|pp=167–176}}.</ref> Similarly, in the highland district of [[Pshavi]], Tamar's image fused with a pagan goddess of healing and female fertility.<ref>{{harvnb|Dragadze|1984|p=179}}.</ref>

While Tamar occasionally accompanied her army and is described as planning some campaigns, she was never directly involved in the fighting.<ref name="Eastmond-94" /> Yet, the memory of the military victories of her reign contributed to Tamar's other popular image, that of a model warrior-queen. It also echoed in the ''[[The Tale of Tsaritsa Dinara|Tale of Queen Dinara]]'', a popular 16th-century [[Russian literature|Russian]] story about a fictional Georgian queen fighting against the [[Iran|Persians]].<ref>{{harvnb|Čiževskij|1971|p=236}}; {{harvnb|Suny|1994|p=49}}.</ref> [[Tsar]] of All the Russias [[Ivan the Terrible]] before the [[Siege of Kazan|seizure of Kazan]] encouraged his army by the examples of Tamar's battles<ref>История русской литературы, Дмитрий Дмитриевич Благой, Volume 1, p. 208.</ref> by describing her as "the wisest Queen of [[Kingdom of Georgia|Iberia]], endowed with the intelligence and courage of a man".<ref>{{harvnb|Salia|1983|p=189}}</ref>

=== Modern ===
[[File:Queentamar giorgi.jpg |thumb|left|[[Grigory Gagarin|Prince Gagarin]]'s reproduction of the royal panel at Betania, depicting George IV (left), Tamar (center), and George III (right), flanked by the warrior saints (1847).]]
[[File:Tamar 2013 stamp of Georgia.png|thumb|220px|left|Queen Tamar on the 2013 Georgian postage stamp.]]
Much of the modern perception of Queen Tamar was shaped under the influence of 19th-century [[Romanticism]] and growing [[nationalism]] 
among Georgian intellectuals of that time. In the Russian and Western literatures of the 19th century, Georgia was perceived as having "oriental tendencies", thus the image of Queen Tamar reflected some of these Western [[Orientalism|conceptions of the Orient]] and the characteristics of women in it.<ref>{{harvnb|Eastmond|1997|p=116 (Note #39)}}.</ref> The [[County of Tyrol|Tyrolean]] writer [[Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer]] described Tamar as a "Caucasian [[Semiramis]]".<ref>{{harvnb|Vasiliev|1936|p=13}}.</ref> Fascinated by the "[[exoticism|exotic]]" Caucasus, the Russian poet [[Mikhail Lermontov]] wrote the romantic poem ''Tamara'' ({{langx|ru|Тамара}}; 1841) in which he utilized the old Georgian legend about a [[siren (mythology)|siren]]-like mountainous princess whom the poet gave the name of Queen Tamar. Although Lermontov's depiction of the Georgian queen as a destructive seductress had no apparent historical background, it has been influential enough to raise the issue of Tamar's sexuality, a question that was given some prominence by the 19th-century European authors.<ref>{{harvnb|Eastmond|1997|pp=103–104}}.</ref> [[Knut Hamsun]]'s 1903 play ''[[Queen Tamara (play)|Queen Tamara]]'' was less successful; the theatre critics saw in it "a modern woman dressed in a medieval costume" and read the play as "a commentary on the new woman of the 1890s."<ref>{{harvnb|Oxfeldt|2005|p=220 (Note #117)}}.</ref> Russian conductor [[Mily Balakirev]] composed a [[symphonic poem]] named "[[Tamara (symphonic poem)|Tamara]]".

In Georgian literature, Tamar was also romanticized, but very differently from the Russian and Western European view. The Georgian romanticists followed a medieval tradition in Tamar's portrayal as a gentle, saintly woman who ruled a country permanently at war. This sentiment was further inspired by the rediscovery of a contemporary, 13th-century wall painting of Tamar in the then-ruined [[Betania Monastery]], which was uncovered and restored by Prince [[Grigory Gagarin]] in the 1840s. The fresco became a source of numerous engravings circulating in Georgia at that time and inspired the poet [[Grigol Orbeliani]] to dedicate a romantic poem to it. Furthermore, the Georgian literati, reacting to [[Russian Empire|Russian]] rule in Georgia and the suppression of national institutions, contrasted Tamar's era to their contemporary situation, lamenting the irretrievably lost past in their writings. Hence, Tamar became a personification of the heyday of Georgia, a perception that has persisted down to the present time.<ref>{{harvnb|Eastmond|1997|pp=103–111}}.</ref>

During [[World War II]], three battalions of the [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|collaborationist]] [[Georgian Legion (1941–1945)|Georgian Legion]] were named after Tamar.

Tamar's marriage to the prince Yuri of the [[Grand Principality of Vladimir]] has become a subject of two resonant prose works in modern Georgia. [[Shalva Dadiani]]'s play, originally entitled ''The Unfortunate Russian'' (უბედური რუსი; 1916–1926), was attacked by [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] critics for distorting the "centuries-long friendship of the Russian and Georgian peoples."<ref>{{harvnb|Suny|1994|p=290}}.</ref> Under [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] pressure, Dadiani had to revise both the title and plot in accordance with the official ideology of the Soviet state.<ref>{{harvnb|Tillett|1969|p=329}}.</ref> In 2002, a satirical short story ''The First Russian'' (პირველი რუსი) penned by the young Georgian writer [[Lasha Bugadze|Lasha Bughadze]] and focused on a frustrated wedding night of Tamar and Yuri outraged many conservatives and triggered a nationwide controversy, including heated discussions in the [[Media of Georgia|media]], the [[Parliament of Georgia]] and the Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church.<ref>{{harvnb|Spurling|2001|p=96}}.</ref> In 2018, a Georgian court banned the sale of condoms from the company Aiisa, which depicted Tamar.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://dfwatch.net/georgian-court-bans-condoms-depicting-queen-tamar-50293 | title=Georgian court bans condoms depicting Queen Tamar | date=5 May 2018 }}</ref>

She is a playable leader of Georgia in the [[4X]] video game ''[[Civilization VI]]'', in the ''Rise and Fall'' expansion. She also has a dedicated campaign in [[Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition|Age of Empires II]] introduced with the ''Mountain Royals'' expansion.

=== Veneration ===
[[File:Tamar icon (45).jpg |thumb|Icon of Tamar]]

Tamar has been [[canonized]] by the [[Georgian Orthodox Church]] as the Holy Righteous Queen Tamar (წმიდა კეთილმსახური მეფე თამარი, ''ts'mida k'etilmsakhuri mepe tamari''; also venerated as "Right-believing Tamara"), with her [[Calendar of saints|feast day]] commemorated on [[May 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)|1 May]]<ref>Machitadze, Archpriest Zakaria (2006), [http://www.pravoslavie.ru/enarticles/070521130132 "Holy Queen Tamar (†1213)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517145513/http://www.pravoslavie.ru/enarticles/070521130132 |date=2008-05-17 }}, in [http://www.pravoslavie.ru/enarticles/070306192614 ''The Lives of the Georgian Saints'']  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614125437/http://www.pravoslavie.ru/enarticles/070306192614 |date=2008-06-14 }}.''pravoslavie.ru''. Retrieved on 2008-07-21.</ref><ref>{{in lang|el}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/2842/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ἡ Ἁγία Ταμάρα ἡ βασίλισσα].'' 1 Μαΐου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.</ref> (of the [[Julian Calendar]], which equates to 14 May on the [[Gregorian Calendar]]) and on Sunday of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Благоверная Тама́ра Грузинская, царица |url=https://azbyka.ru/days/sv-tamara-gruzinskaja-carica |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=azbyka.ru |language=ru}}</ref> The [[Antiochian Orthodox]] observe the feast of St Tamara on 22 April.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://ww1.antiochian.org/node/18296|title=St. Tamara, Queen of Georgia &#124; Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese|website=ww1.antiochian.org|access-date=2019-06-17|archive-date=2020-02-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217194906/http://ww1.antiochian.org/node/18296|url-status=dead}}</ref>