The Cult and Oath of St. George, as Evidence in Ancient Georgian Law

Abstract

Georgian  history, ethnographic heritage and customary law co­n­tains a lot of interesting information about the cult of St. George. In ancient Sa­me­g­re­lo, there was a law of god, in particular the law of St. George. A person suspected of committing a crime was made to swear in front of any powerful- miraculous icons, mo­stly it was the icon of St. George. There are facts of criminals, otherwise not proven to be guilty, being handed down to St. George’s icon. Georgian man is that rare case, when being handed down to an icon, even otherwise not proven guilty, would kneel before the icon, with confession and repentance, which is an obvious sign of deep faith, special awe and respect for St. George.

In our work, we pay more attention to the attitude of Georgians towards the church and icon of St. George in Ilori, which indicates that St. The cult of George was part of Georgian customary law. The work is also interesting from a procedural point of view, especially for readers interested in the history of Georgian law.

Our paper focuses on icon of St. George of Ilori. It is also interesting form procedural point of view, especially for reader interested in history of Georgian law.