Last week the Church commemorated the life of the Holy Queen and martyr Ketevan. Saint Ketevan was a Georgian noblewoman of the early 17th century who married Prince David, heir to the throne of Kakheti–a kingdom in eastern Georgia. At this time in history, Kakheti was under the control of Shah Abbas of neighboring Persia and the shah was doing all in his power to control the kingdom and convert its inhabitants to Islam. Ketevan and David had two children—a son, Teimuraz, and a daughter, Elene. David’s father, the reigning King Alexander II, decided to step down from the throne to become a monk, and David succeeded him. However, only a few months after taking the throne, King David died unexpectedly. Shah Abbas saw this as an opportunity to send David’s brother Constantine–a convert to Islam–to Kakheti to take power. Constantine arrived and killed not only his father, but his remaining brother as well. At this, Queen Ketevan rallied the nobles of Kakheti to resist Constantine, and the usurper died in battle. Queen Ketevan treated Constantine’s defeated supporters with mercy, and then negotiated with Shah Abbas to confirm her underage son, Teimuraz I, as king of Kakheti, while she assumed the role of a regent until her son came of age.
In 1614, Ketevan and her grandsons were held hostage by Shah Abbas, in another attempt to divide the royal family and rule Kakheti more directly. Ketevan was held in Shiraz for many years until Abbas, in an act of revenge, ordered the queen to renounce Christianity, and upon her refusal, had her tortured to death. According to one observer, Ketevan’s steadfastness delayed the Islamization of the Georgians in Persia: “The question arose as to why it was that, while all young Georgians were forced to embrace Islam, their mothers were not. The explanation given was that since the Queen would not change her faith Georgian mothers likewise refused.”
French Augustinian missionaries, who had witnessed Ketevan’s martyrdom, wrapped Queen Ketevan’s body in linens and buried it in a Catholic monastery. Some time later her relics were delivered to her son, Teimuraz, and he buried her with great honor in the Alaverdi Cathedral of Saint George.
Holy Mother Ketevan, pray to God for us!