[1] The narrative of Gobron's martyrdom unfolds against the background of the military expedition by Yusuf Ibn Abi'l-Saj, the Sajid emir of Azerbaijan, in Georgia in 914.

Unable to seize hold of the fortress of Tmogvi, the emir laid siege to Q'ueli, which was then in possession of the Georgian Bagratid prince Gurgen of Tao.

Q'ueli held out for 28 days: the young commander Gobron, whose original name—we are told by his biography—was Mikel (Michael), mounted a fierce resistance and made a series of sorties, but he finally felt obliged to surrender to the emir.

The Georgian king Adarnase succeeded in ransoming certain nobles who had been seized by the Muslims in Q'ueli, but Gobron was kept by the emir in captivity.

Neither the promise of honors, nor tortures and witnessing the massacre of 133 of his comrades-in-arms could inveigle Gobron into renouncing Christianity as demanded by Yusuf.