Stephen II of the Chosroid dynasty

Chosroid Dynasty

The Chosroids were a dynasty of the kings and later of the presiding princes of the early Georgian state of Iberia, natively known as Kartli, from the fourth to the ninth centuries. Of Iranian origin and a branch of the Mihranid House, the family accepted Christianity as their official religion c...

, was a presiding prince

Principate of Iberia

The Principate of Iberia is a conventional term applied to an aristocratic regime in early medieval Caucasian Georgia that flourished in the period of interregnum between the sixth and ninth centuries, when the leading political authority was exercised by a succession of princes...

 of Iberia

Caucasian Iberia

Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...

 (Kartli

Kartli

Kartli is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari , on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role in ethnic and political consolidation of the Georgians in the Middle Ages...

, eastern Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

) from 637

637

Year 637 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 637 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Battle of Mag Rath: Dál Riata influence...

/642

642

Year 642 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 642 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* August 5 – In the Battle of...

 to c. 650

650

Year 650 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 650 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Khazars conquer the Great Bulgarian Empire...

.

The son and successor of Adarnase I

Adarnase I of Iberia

Adarnase I or Adrnerse , of the Chosroid dynasty, was a presiding prince of Iberia from 627 to 637/642....

, Stephen pursued his father’s pro-Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 politics and was probably bestowed by the Emperor with the title of patricius. In 645, however, he was forced to recognize the Caliph

Caliphate

The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...

 as his suzerain when Arabs moved into Georgia. He was succeeded by his son, Adarnase II

Adarnase II of Iberia

Adarnase II , of the Chosroid dynasty, was a presiding prince of Iberia from c. 650 to 684/5. He is presumably the Iberian patrician mentioned in the 660s letter of Anastasius Apocrisarius pertaining to the martyrdom of Maximus the Confessor, and the prince Nerses whose revolt against Arabs is...

.

The exterior stone plaque of the church of the Holy Cross

Jvari (monastery)

Jvari or Jvari Monastery is a Georgian Orthodox monastery of the 6th century near Mtskheta , Mtskheta-Mtianeti region, eastern Georgia. The name is translated as the Monastery of the Cross...

 at Mtskheta

Mtskheta

Mtskheta , one of the oldest cities of the country of Georgia , is located approximately 20 kilometers north of Tbilisi at the confluence of the Aragvi and Kura rivers. The city is now the administrative centre of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region...

, Georgia, mentions the principal builders of this church: Stephanos the patricius, Demetrius the hypatos, and Adarnase the hypatos who have traditionally been equated by the Georgian scholars with Stephen I

Stephen I of Iberia

Stephen I , of the Guaramid Dynasty, was a presiding prince of Iberia from c. 590 to 627. He was killed during the battle with the invading Byzantine army....

, son of Guaram

Guaram I of Iberia

Guaram I was a Georgian prince, who attained to the hereditary rulership of Iberia and the Roman title of curopalates from 588 to c. 590. He is commonly identified with the Gorgenes of the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes....

; Demetre

Demetrius the Hypatos

Demetre "Vipatosi" was a Georgian nobleman from Iberia, and an honorary consul or hypatos. He may be identical with the brother of Prince Stephen I of Iberia known from the medieval historian Juansher as a church builder during his brother’s tenure...

, brother of Stephen I and Adarnase I

Adarnase I of Iberia

Adarnase I or Adrnerse , of the Chosroid dynasty, was a presiding prince of Iberia from 627 to 637/642....

. However, an opinion expressed by Professor Cyril Toumanoff

Cyril Toumanoff

Cyril Leo Heraclius, Prince Toumanoff was an United States-based historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, the Byzantine Empire, and Iran...

disagrees with this view by identifying these individuals with Stephen II, Demetre (brother of Stephen I), and Adarnase II (son of Stephen II), respectively.