in the chapel, and suggested that David Soslan might have been a member of the Tsarazon family (), a heroic clan from Nuzal known to the Ossetic oral folk tradition. The hypothesis has not been accepted by most Georgian scholars, but enjoys much currency among the Ossetian historians. Marriage Tamar married David Soslan at the Didube Palace near Tbilisi between 1187 and 1189 after she divorced her first husband, the Rus' prince Yuri Bogolyubsky. As the Armenian chronicler Mkhitar Gosh reports in his Ishatarakan ("Memorabilia"), Tamar "married a man from the Alan kingdom, her relative on the mother’s side, whose name was Soslan, named David upon his ascension to the [Georgian] throne". In contrast to Yuri who was a candidate of the powerful nobles party, David was Tamar's personal choice. David, a capable military commander, became Tamar's major supporter and was instrumental in defeating the rebellious nobles rallied behind Yuri. Tamar and David had two children. In 1191, the queen gave birth to a son, George – the future king George IV (Lasha) – an event widely celebrated in the kingdom. The daughter, Rusudan, was born c. 1193 and would succeed her brother as sovereign of Georgia. David Soslan's status as Tamar's husband, as well as his presence in art, on charters and on coins, was strictly dictated by the necessity of male aspects of kingship, but he remained a subordinate ruler who shared the throne with Tamar but had no independent authority, his power being derived from his reigning spouse. David energetically supported Tamar's expansionist policy and was responsible for Georgia's military successes in a series of conflicts of those years. Medieval Georgian sources praise his handsomeness, military talents, valor, and devotion to Tamar. In the 1190s, David Soslan led the Georgian raids against Barda, Erzurum, Geghark'unik', Beylaqan and Ganja. His victories over the Ildegizids of Azerbaijan at Shamkor (1195) and the Seljuqids of Rüm at Basian (1202) secured the Georgian positions in the eastern and western Caucasian marches, respectively. He died shortly thereafter, c. 1207. References Sources Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Georgia Military personnel from Georgia (country) Georgian kings consort Alanic people 1207 deaths Year of birth unknown 12th-century people from Georgia (country) 13th-century people from Georgia (country) 12th-century Iranian people 13th-century Iranian people