Gregory Pakourianos

Gregory Pakourianos
Gregory Pakourianos. A fresco from Bachkovo.
Died	1086
Allegiance	Byzantine Empire
Rank	Strategos of Theme of Iberia
Wars	Byzantine–Seljuq Wars in the East and Battle of Dyrrachium

Gregory Pakourianos (Latinized as Gregorius Pacurianus) (Georgian: გრიგოლ ბაკურიანის-ძე), Grigol Bakurianis-dze; Greek: Γρηγόριος Πακουριανός; Armenian: Գրիգոր Բակուրյան, Grigor Bakurian; Bulgarian: Григорий Бакуриани; (died 1086) was a Byzantine politician and military commander. He was the founder of the Monastery of the Mother of God Petritzonitissa in Bachkovo and author of its typikon. The monks of this Orthodox monastery (today, the Bachkovo Monastery) in Bulgaria were Iberians. Gregory himself proclaimed that he belonged to "the glorious people of the Iberians" and insisted his monks to know the Georgian language.

Gregory's origins are a matter for scholarly dispute. He is believed to have hailed from the region of Tao or Tayk, which had been annexed by the Byzantines to the theme of Iberia in 1001. According to the contemporary historian Anna Comnena, who knew Pakourianos personally, Gregory was "descended from a noble Armenian family," while the Armenian chronicler Matthew of Edessa, from the 12th century, saying Pakourianos was of Georgian (Vrats) origin had in mind Pakourianos' religious affiliation. Gregory himself proclaimed that he belonged to "the glorious people of the Iberians" and insisted his monks to know the Georgian language. In her study on Byzantine administration over the provinces of Armenia, Armenian historian Viada Arutjunova-Fidanjan believes that Pakourianos was born into a Chalcedonian Armenian family.