Bagrat IV of Georgia

Bagrat IV (1018–1072) ruled Georgia from 1027. After his father George I's defeat by Byzantium in 1022, he was held hostage in Constantinople for three years before succeeding to the throne aged eight.

Once ruling in person, he curbed the great nobles, defeating the Liparitid family, and reduced the rulers of Kakheti and the Muslim emir of Tbilisi to vassalage. Caught between Byzantium and the rising Seljuk Turks, he balanced both powers. His daughter Maria of Alania married two Byzantine emperors.