Confessor
Confessor Tsotne Dadiani the Confessor
? — †ок. 1260
Also known as: Цотне Мгвимели
Confessor Tsotne Dadiani — a Georgian mtavari (ruling prince) of Odishi (Mingrelia), son of Prince Shergil; when a group of Georgian princes preparing an anti-Mongol uprising was seized by the Mongols at the fortress of Kokhtastavi (c. 1245), Tsotne voluntarily surrendered himself to captivity to share their fate, although he himself was not among the conspirators. Regent of Western Georgia in 1245–1250, later full prince of Odishi. Canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church in 1999.
Tsotne Dadiani was a Georgian ruling prince (mtavari) of Odishi (the historical region of Mingrelia in western Georgia), son of Prince Shergil Dadiani and brother of Prince Vardan III. During the period of Mongol domination over Georgia, a group of Georgian princes, resentful of the conquerors' oppression, formed a conspiracy to raise a revolt against the Mongols. The plot was discovered, and the princes were seized by Mongol commanders at the fortress of Kokhtastavi (c. 1245) and sentenced to a cruel punishment — left stripped and exposed to the cold and to insects. Tsotne, who had not himself taken part in the conspiracy and remained free, upon learning of his countrymen's fate voluntarily came before the Mongols and shared the sufferers' torment, stripping alongside them — an act that so impressed the Mongol commanders that all the prisoners were pardoned. For this feat of confession and sacrificial love for his neighbors, Tsotne is venerated by the Georgian Church as a confessor. After these events he served as regent (ruler) of Western Georgia from 1245 to 1250, and later, after the death of his brother Vardan III, became the full prince of Odishi. He died around 1260. He was canonized by the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church on October 26, 1999. His memory is kept on July 30.