The Trading-Craft Class, the Church and the Peculiarities of Feudalism in Eastern Georgia in the XVI-XVIII Centuries

In the 16th to 18th centuries, the Georgian Church, particularly through its Catholicosate of Mtskheta, served as a significant feudal landowner and patron for merchants and craftsmen in Eastern Georgia. This role was pivotal during a period marked by foreign domination—dividing Georgia between Iran and the Ottoman Empire—which imposed heavy taxes that stifled trade and craft development. The Church's tax exemptions and privileged status for its serfs provided an attractive alternative, suggesting it acted as a protective force (aegis) for these classes while also showing interest in recruiting them into its ranks. The study examines whether the Church was indeed a desirable patron, the ethnicity of its serfs, and how this dynamic shaped feudalism's peculiarities in Eastern Georgia during this era.

Margaryan, G. A. (2022). THE TRADING-CRAFT CLASS, THE CHURCH AND THE PECULIARITIES OF FEUDALISM IN EASTERN GEORGIA IN THE XVI-XVIII CENTURIES. History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Caucasus, 18(2), 275–283. https://doi.org/10.32653/ch182275-283