Ashot I of Iberia
Prince of Iberia
Years: 770 - 830
Ashot I the Great (died 826/830) is a presiding prince of Iberia (modern Georgia), first of the Bagratid family to have attained to this office c. 813.
From his base in Tao-Klarjeti, he fights to enlarge the Bagratid territories and seeks the status of an imperial protectorate against the Arab encroachment until being murdered c. 830.
Ashot is also known as Ashot I Curopalates for the imperial title he carried.
A patron of Christian culture and a friend of the church, he is eventually canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church.
