"Georgia is called Mother of the Saints, some of these have been
inhabitants of this land, while others came among us from Time
to time from foreign parts to testify to the revelation of our
Lord Jesus Christ." (from - Passion of St. Abo). Anyone who has
glanced at the old chronicles which tell the story of the
Crusades will have met references to the Georgians or Iberians,
described as a Christian nation living in the Caucasus between
the Black Sea and the Caspian, close to the Saracens and the
Tartars, and near the land of Gog and Magog. About the year
1180, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Jacques de Vitry, wrote:
"There is also in the East another Christian people, who are
very warlike and valiant in battle, being strong in body and
powerful in the countless numbers of their warriors. They are
much dreaded by the Saracens and have often by their invasions
done great damage to the Persians, Medes and Assyrians on whose
borders they dwell, being entirely surrounded by infidel
nations. These men are called