The Roki Spa (Georgian :როქის სპა) was an army of mercenaries [1] between the 12th and 13th centuries recruited by Georgian monarchs during the wars. The term Roki was adopted from Byzantine Empire — Roga (ῥόγα) that meant cash salary, especially remunerations paid to members of the armed forces and civil service. [2] It was probably formed after the successful military reforms of David IV of Georgia. He made provision for the recruitment of a mercenary army among Alans, Kasogs, Durdzuks, Kipchaks, Kurds, etc. [3] They were armored in Chorasmian style and were headed by Monatukhutsesi (Master of Servants). [4] Their duty was protection of strategic places, such as castles in frontier provinces, where they would be headed by Tsikhistavi (governor of castles).
The number of employees depended on the country's economic ability. The hired mercenaries were sometimes paid with money, sometimes even in nature (shells, fowl, cattle, precious things, weapons...etc.). In order to pay a hired army, the government even imposed special taxes. Between the 12th to 13th centuries such a tax was called "Sak'ivchak'o". The mercenaries were used by the central authorities against both the foreign enemy, as well as feudal opposition. The mercenary army was never a major military force of Georgian feudal army, it only served as a supportive force.
An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by possessing an army aviation component. Within a national military force, the word army may also mean a field army.
Medieval warfare is the warfare of the Middle Ages. Technological, cultural, and social advancements had forced a severe transformation in the character of warfare from antiquity, changing military tactics and the role of cavalry and artillery. In terms of fortification, the Middle Ages saw the emergence of the castle in Europe, which then spread to the Holy Land.
A mercenary, also called a merc, soldier of fortune, or hired gun, is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather than for political interests.
A fief was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal allegiance, services or payments. The fees were often lands, land revenue or revenue-producing real property like a watermill, held in feudal land tenure: these are typically known as fiefs or fiefdoms. However, not only land but anything of value could be held in fee, including governmental office, rights of exploitation such as hunting, fishing or felling trees, monopolies in trade, money rents and tax farms. There never existed a standard feudal system, nor did there exist only one type of fief. Over the ages, depending on the region, there was a broad variety of customs using the same basic legal principles in many variations.
Heraclius II, also known as Erekle II and The Little Kakhetian, was a Georgian monarch (mepe) of the Bagrationi dynasty, reigning as the king of Kakheti from 1744 to 1762, and of Kartli and Kakheti from 1762 until 1798. In the contemporary Persian sources he is referred to as Erekli Khan, while Russians knew him as Irakly (Ираклий). Heraclius is the Latinized form of his name.
The Battle of Didgori was fought between the armies of the Kingdom of Georgia and the Seljuk Empire at the narrow place of Didgori, 40 km west of Tbilisi, on August 12, 1121. The large Muslim army, under the command of Ilghazi, was unable to maneuver and suffered a devastating defeat due to King David IV of Georgia's effective military tactics.
The Battle of Garni was fought in 1225 near Garni, in modern day Armenia, then part of the Kingdom of Georgia. The invading Khwarazmian Empire was led by Jalal al-Din Mangburni, its last Sultan, who was driven from his realm by the Mongol Empire and was trying to recapture lost territories. The battle ended with a Khwarezmid victory and is marked as a disastrous event in Georgian history due to betrayal. As a result, the royal court of Georgian Queen Rusudan (1223–1245) moved to Kutaisi and the country was exposed to subsequent looting during the Mongol invasions of Georgia.
George VII of the Bagrationi dynasty, was king (mepe) of Georgia from 1393 to 1407. George put up a stiff resistance and had to spend much of his reign fighting against Timur.
Simon I the Great, also known as Svimon, of the Bagrationi dynasty, was a Georgian king (mepe) of Kartli from 1556 to 1569 and again from 1578 to 1599. His first tenure was marked by war against the Persian domination of Georgia. In 1569 he was captured by the Persians, and spent nine years in captivity. In 1578 he was released and reinstalled in Kartli. During this period, he fought as a Persian subject against the Ottoman domination of Georgia. In 1599 Simon I was captured by the Ottomans and died in captivity. During 1557 to 1569 he was known as Mahmud Khan and from 1578 to 1599 as Shahnavaz Khan. He was also referred to as Simon the Mad by the Ottomans.
The Cumans-Kipchaks in Georgia are of an ancient nomadic Turkic people who inhabited large territories from Central Asia to Eastern Europe. They played an important role in the history of many nations in the region, Georgia among them. At the height of this Caucasian power from the 12th to the 13th centuries, Georgian monarchs recruited thousands of Kipchak/Cuman mercenaries and successfully exploited their service against the neighboring Muslim states.
The compagnie d'ordonnance was the first standing army of late medieval and early modern France. The system was the forefather of the modern company. Each compagnie consisted of 100 lances fournies, which was built around a heavily armed and armored gendarme, with assisting pages or squires, archers and men-at-arms, for a total of 600 men. By 1445, France had 15 compagnies, for an army of 9,000 men, of which 6,000 were combatants and 3,000 non-combatants. Over the course of the 15th century, the compagnies d'ordonnance expanded to a peak strength of 58 compagnies of 4,000 lances and 24,000 men in 1483. It was later supplemented by the bandes d'artillerie, the franc-archers militia after 1448 and standing infantry regiments from 1480 onward.
From the 12th century in central Europe, a Burgmann was a knight ministeriales or member of the nobility who was obliged to guard and defend castles. The role is roughly equivalent to the English castellan and the name derives from the German word for castle, Burg.
The allotment system was a system used in Sweden for keeping a trained army at all times. This system came into use in around 1640, and was replaced by the modern Swedish Armed Forces conscription system in 1901. Two different allotment systems have been in use in Sweden; they are the old allotment system and the new allotment system, the latter often referred to as just "the allotment system". The soldiers who were part of these systems were known as "croft soldiers" due to the small crofts allotted to them.
David II, of the Bagrationi dynasty, was king (mepe) of Imereti from 1784 to 1789 and from 1790 to 1791.
A free company was an army of mercenaries between the 12th and 14th centuries recruited by private employers during wars. They acted independently of any government, and were thus "free". They regularly made a living by plunder when they were not employed; in France they were called routiers and écorcheurs and operated outside the highly structured law of arms. The term "free company" is most often applied to those companies of soldiers which formed after the Peace of Brétigny during the Hundred Years' War and were active mainly in France, but it has been applied to other companies, such as the Catalan Company and companies that operated elsewhere, such as in Italy and the Holy Roman Empire.
In the Middle Ages, the ban or banality was originally the power to command men in war and evolved into the general authority to order and to punish. As such, it was the basis for the raising of armies and the exercise of justice. The word is of Germanic origin and first appears in fifth-century law codes. Under the Franks it was a royal prerogative, but could be delegated and, from the tenth century, was frequently usurped by lesser nobles.
Dedoplistskaro or Dedoplistsqaro is a municipality of Georgia, in the region of Kakheti.
Satavado, same as county, was a large feudal landholder and feudal hierarchy-political unit in the 15th-18th centuries in Georgia. Satavados were established in times of political and economical overthrow of Georgian Kingdom, by exploitation peasants and grooving immunity of feudal lords when they formed a new class of Tavadi (prince) / (duke). The Tavadi were one of the highest ranks of Georgian nobility, second only to the Royal Families of Georgia. The title of Tavadi is equivalent to the European titles of prince and duke. There are various ranks of princes in Georgian history. Other ranks include Mtavari and Eristavi
The Duchy of Tskhumi was a duchy (saeristavo) in a medieval Georgia. Ruled by a House of Shervashidze, the duchy existed from 8th to 14th century, in the north-western part of Georgia and comprised territories around modern Sukhumi, Georgia.
Zakaria Gageli or Zakaria of Gagi was a Georgian noble of Armenian descent and one of the commanders of Tamar's army during the late 12th and early 13th centuries. He was the ruler of feudal lands in the Kingdom of Georgia.