The Story of Georgian Law: Sources of State and Ecclesiastical Law by Ivane Javakhishvili

Every nation has passed through periods of critical challenges in its history. During such times, it has always been graced by a savior figure, someone who articulates the innermost sentiments of the people and embodies their cultural and political individuality and sovereignty. Such figures have been entrusted with the vital task of mobilizing the life energy of the nation and invigorating its national and creative spirit to overcome transformative moments. Ivane Javakhishvili's contribution, who is recognized as a “Pillar of Georgian Science,” extends far beyond his scholarly achievements. At a time when the Georgian nation faced one of the most turbulent periods in its existence, under the oppression of the Russian-Bolshevik dictatorship, Javakhishvili expressed the nation's highest cultural aspirations, its unyielding will for freedom, and the moral values inseparable from them. Ivane Javakhishvili, a researcher of broad perspective and exceptional erudition, examined national history in the context of neighboring civilizations and their connection. During his student years, he conducted extensive and intensive fact-finding work, searching for and gathering both Georgian and foreign sources on Georgian history, critically processing them, systematizing them, and analyzing them with high academic rigor. Ivane Javakhishvili was also deeply involved in practical work to revive and develop national culture. For him, organizing science in Georgia became a top priority, as it was necessary for consolidating a nation under colonial rule. While working on The Story of Georgian Law, Ivane Javakhishvili aimed to clarify and analyze the history and dogma of Georgian law. An essential prerequisite for this study was the critical examination of legal monuments, which would facilitate the precise clarification and establishment of the conceptual content of Georgian legal terminology. In his research, the scholar employed concepts from ancient Greece, Rome, Byzantine law of the Middle Ages, and European legal institutions, analyzing their meanings and comparing them to corresponding Georgian terms. This colossal endeavor led him to the broadly cultural conclusion shared in contemporary scholarship that the medieval Georgian cultural-political system (social-economic and legal-political) was “strikingly similar to and reminiscent of the feudal system of Western Europe, known as feudalism.” This conclusion is a notable illustration that Georgian culture is typologically European and that Georgia is a natural member of the cultural-historical family of Europe, one of its most ancient members.