ზნეობრივი ნორმები შუა საუკუნეების საქართველოში

Abstract

All human societies have been characterized by certain moral norms from archaic period up to present. Moral norms imply a combination of behavioral rules that emphasize the right and wrong ideas and system of ideas. Moral norms are one of the forms of tradition transferred from one generation to another by tradition. All the peoples/ethnicities possessed and possess socio-normative culture characteristic to them. Etiquette, moral norms also regulated relationship among people of different “class categories”. Moral norms of the archaic society differed from the moral norms of the socially differentiated society. The main values of feudals in any medieval society were bravery, courage, warfare, loyalty to suzerain, respect of the rights of vassals, generosity, and for the peasants – industriousness, obedience, loyalty to landowners and frugality. What were moral norms of the Georgians? Georgians always understood that their behavior differed from the behavior of others. Moral norms of Georgians are rooted in the depth of history as seen in the Georgian literature. We come across these norms in the oldest work “Martyrdom of Shushanik” and in the masterpiece of the Georgian literature – “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin”. This paper cannot avoid “History of Georgia” by Vakhushti Bagrationi and “Kalmasoba” by Ioanne Bagrationi. The king-poet of the second half of 17th century Archil dedicated a special work to this “Morality of Georgia”. From the very beginning King Archil makes classification of moral norms; he separately outlines “divine” and “military” norms, the moral norms of “reliever” (cheerer) and “needy”, “war” and “hunting” morality. As the Christian king-poet he prefers divine morality and considers love to be the top moral norm. He especially outlines inclination to sport games, which in the medieval period was the best means for preparation of the defenders of homeland. The Georgian tradition condemned unlimited eating and drinking. A man should drink as much as he could; he should leave the feast table so that to walk straight. If any drunken person appeared somewhere, he was always mocked. It becomes also clear that unlimited mourning was not a tradition among Georgians either. King Archil also mentioned the relation legalized between a feudal and his subject to be a moral norm. It was considered to be a moral norm feeding a person of lower rank by nobles. Reverence and respect between a lower-rank person and a senior one were the tradition. Tradition of standing and sitting existed in Georgia – it was unacceptable for a man, while sitting, to put his foot on the other foot. In the Middle Ages relying on the wall with a back while sitting, bending the head extremely, sitting on half part of the chair and putting a finger in the nose were unacceptable for Georgians. “Sipping” drinks in the society, cracking nuts with teeth, laughing loudly, and twisting the mustache permanently could be added to the above-mentioned list. Why did the king-poet need to remind the Georgian people those moral norms established in the Georgian society for centuries and transmitted from one generation to another? Disintegration of the country in Late Middle Ages was followed by a whole number of negative processes, among them, in the sphere of moral norms. That is why King Archil considered it necessary to remind to compatriots, hoping that his “Moralality of Georgia” would play the role of a “teacher”. According to Ioanne Bagrationi, a moral person should love, first of all, the parents; should not do evil; should be devoted to king (state), homeland and belief (religion); should understand what this action could bring as a result; should love a well-wisher; should not say everything whatever he knows; a person should not do whatever he is not able to fulfill; a person should be patient, modest; should not be envious to anyone; should not defame anyone; should not be an agent and spy against anyone. A man should not eat “improperly”; should not drink as much as to be drunk; should be calm and not impudent; should be silent; should not boast, should not be proud and arrogant; in great misfortune a man should not worry excessively and in happiness should not be weakened. In Georgia both peasants and nobles had travel, home and festive/guest garments. At the feast table women and men sat separately, according to the oldest Georgian tradition. The same tradition can be confirmed for the wedding participants in Byzantium. It is obvious that the royal authorities took care to restore the moral norms changed under the influence of foreign factors. There was no tradition of kissing at each meeting in Georgia, even more, the men did not kiss one another. Honorable persons, seniors in age were kissed on the shoulder. Habit of kissing among men at the meeting or at feast is the heritage from the Soviet period. We should say some words on the tradition preserved up to the present in Kvemo Kartli: people, coming from the funeral did not greet anyone, as if they did not see people walking. In the society it was not a good manner to sit with hands crossed on the chest, because this was characteristic only to mourners. Thus, certain moral norms existed in Georgia, which regulated relations among people. There is no doubt that the moral norms nourished with Christianity and based on the oldest traditions were important in Georgia. In conclusion, it should be said that the Georgian people had moral norms established centuries ago. The medieval authors aimed at preserving the moral norms based on Christianity and endangered by foreign factors.