Mirian III

Rufinus tells of a king of the Iberians who was caught in sudden darkness while hunting, vowed to worship Christ if he were delivered, and afterwards preached the new faith to his own people and sent to the emperor Constantine for priests. He does not give the king’s name (Rufinus, Church History 10.11 (book 1, chapter 10 in Migne), cols. 481–482).

The Georgian texts call him Mirian, or Mirean, and his queen Nana. The Conversion of Kartli says that he was converted “by a miracle” in the seventh year after Nino came to Mtskheta, built a church in the royal garden, and was baptised with his household when Bishop Ioane arrived from Constantine (Conversion of Kartli Wardrop, p. 62). The Life of Nino sets the hunt on Mount Tkhoti (Life of Nino pp. 36–37) and says that the king was baptised under the hand of Nino, and the queen and their children by the priests and deacons (Life of Nino p. 42). The chronicle says that after her burial he built the Upper Church of stone and that he died four years later (Conversion of Kartli Wardrop, p. 64). The texts cited here call him simply King Mirian, without a numeral. See the Conversion of Georgia.