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Parakoimomenos
The ''parakoimōmenos'' ( el, παρακοιμώμενος, literally "the one who sleeps beside he emperor's chamber) was a Byzantine court position, usually reserved for eunuchs. The position's proximity to the emperors guaranteed its holders influence and power, and many of them, especially in the 9th and 10th centuries, functioned as the Byzantine Empire's chief ministers. History and functions The title was used anachronistically by various Byzantine writers for prominent eunuch court officials of the distant past, including Euphratas under Constantine the Great (reigned 306–337), the notorious Chrysaphius under Theodosius II (), or an unnamed holder of the office under Emperor Maurice (). The position was probably created no later than the reign of Leo IV the Khazar (), when the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor mentions a "''koubikoularios'' and ''parakoimomenos”'' serving Leo. In the beginning, it was a modest office, given to those ''koubikoularioi'' (from Lati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basil Lekapenos
Basil Lekapenos ( gr, Βασίλειος Λεκαπηνός, Basíleios Lekapēnós; – ), also called the Parakoimomenos () or the Nothos (, "the Bastard"), was an illegitimate child of the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos. He served as the ''parakoimomenos'' and chief minister of the Byzantine Empire for most of the period 947 to 985, under emperors Constantine VII (his brother-in-law), Nikephoros II Phokas, John I Tzimiskes, and Basil II (his great nephew). Biography Origin and early career Basil was the illegitimate son of the emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (ruled 920–944) by a concubine. It is reported that his mother was a slave woman of "Scythian" (possibly implying Slavic) origin, but according to Kathryn Ringrose "this may just be a pejorative topos". The exact date of his birth is unknown; the ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' suggests ca. 925, while the Dutch scholar W. G. Brokaar suggested sometime between 910 and 915. Later Byzantine chroniclers like John Skyli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samonas Incites Emperor Leo Against Andronikos Doukas
Samonas ( el, , 875 – after 908) was an Arab-born eunuch, who was captured by the Byzantines and became one of the most influential officials of the Byzantine Empire during the first decade of the 10th century. Biography Samonas was born in circa 875 in Melitene, apparently the son of a distinguished family (his father served as ambassador to Byzantium in 908).. Captured by the Byzantines, he was made a eunuch and entered service in the household of Stylianos Zaoutzes, the powerful chief minister and father-in-law of Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912).. After the death of both Stylianos and his daughter, the Empress Zoe Zaoutzaina, in 899, his relatives plotted to overthrow Leo in a bid to preserve their power and influence. Their conspiracy, however, was betrayed by Samonas to Leo: the members of the Zaoutzes clan were deprived of their titles and wealth and exiled, but Samonas was rewarded by receiving one third of their fortune and being taken into imperial service as ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samonas
Samonas ( el, , 875 – after 908) was an Arab-born eunuch, who was captured by the Byzantines and became one of the most influential officials of the Byzantine Empire during the first decade of the 10th century. Biography Samonas was born in circa 875 in Melitene, apparently the son of a distinguished family (his father served as ambassador to Byzantium in 908).. Captured by the Byzantines, he was made a eunuch and entered service in the household of Stylianos Zaoutzes, the powerful chief minister and father-in-law of Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912).. After the death of both Stylianos and his daughter, the Empress Zoe Zaoutzaina, in 899, his relatives plotted to overthrow Leo in a bid to preserve their power and influence. Their conspiracy, however, was betrayed by Samonas to Leo: the members of the Zaoutzes clan were deprived of their titles and wealth and exiled, but Samonas was rewarded by receiving one third of their fortune and being taken into imperial service as ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byzantine Aristocracy And Bureaucracy
Through the 5th century Hellenistic political systems, philosophies and theocratic Christian-Eastern concepts had gained power in the eastern Greek-speaking Mediterranean due to the intervention of Important religious figures there such as Eusebius of Caesarea and Origen of Alexandria who had been key to the constant Christianized world of late antiquity. By the 6th century they had already influenced the definitive power of the monarch as the representative of God on earth and his kingdom as an imitation of God's holy realm. The Byzantine empire was a monarchic theocracy, adopting, following and applying the Hellenistic political systems and philosophies. The monarch was the incarnation of the law ''nomos empsychos'', and his power was immeasurable and divine in origin. He was the ultimate benefactor, carer and saviour of his people, '' Evergétis'', '' Philanthrōpía'' and ''Sōtēr''. They in turn were his ''paroikoi'' (subjects). He was the sole administrator and lawg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basil The Macedonian
Basil I, called the Macedonian ( el, Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, ''Basíleios ō Makedṓn'', 811 – 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a lowly peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the Imperial court. He entered into the service of Theophilitzes, a relative of Emperor Michael III (r. 842–867), and was given a fortune by the wealthy Danielis. He gained the favour of Michael III, whose mistress he married on the emperor's orders, and was proclaimed co-emperor in 866. He ordered the assassination of Michael the next year. Despite his humble origins, he showed great ability in running the affairs of state. He was the founder of the Macedonian dynasty. He was succeeded upon his death by his son (perhaps actually Michael III's son) Leo VI. From peasant to emperor Basil was born to peasant parents in late 811 (or sometime in the 830s in the estimation of some scholars) at Chariopolis in the Byzantine theme of Macedonia (an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Bringas
Joseph Bringas ( el, ) was an important Byzantine eunuch official in the reigns of Emperor Constantine VII (r. 945–959) and Emperor Romanos II (r. 959–963), serving as chief minister and effective regent during the latter. Having unsuccessfully opposed the rise of Nikephoros Phokas to the imperial throne in 963, he was exiled to a monastery, where he died in 965. Biography Historian Leo the Deacon reported that Bringas hailed from Paphlagonia. He gradually rose in imperial service to the rank of ''patrikios'' and the court post of '' praipositos''. Emperor Constantine VII appointed him first as ''sakellarios'' and then as ''Droungarios'' of the Imperial Fleet, the position he held at the time of the emperor's death.. When Emperor Constantine VII's son, Romanos, assumed the Byzantine throne, he appointed Bringas as his ''parakoimomenos'' (chamberlain). The young emperor preferred to spend his time hunting, and largely left affairs of state to him. In this capacity, Bringas f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. The terms "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" were coined after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire, and to themselves as Romans—a term which Greeks continued to use for themselves into Ottoman times. Although the Roman state continued and its traditions were maintained, modern historians prefer to differentiate the Byzantine Empire from Ancient Rome ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kabbadion
The ''kabbadion'' ( el, καββάδιον) was a caftan-like garment of oriental origin which became a standard part of court costume in the last centuries of the Byzantine Empire. The first known reference to the ''kabbadion'' occurs in the ''Kletorologion'' of 899, where it is mentioned as the dress of the barbarian (''ethnikoi'') members of the Emperor's bodyguard, the ''Hetaireia''. It re-appears in the mid-14th century in the ''Book of Offices'' of pseudo-Kodinos as the standard ceremonial dress for almost all court members. Kodinos describes it as an "Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...n" garment adopted by the Persians, clearly indicating a provenance from the Islamic world. It is therefore usually equated with the long, caftan-like and full-sleeved tu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Logothetes Tou Genikou
The ( gr, λογοθέτης τοῦ γενικοῦ, often called or simply (, 'the general ogothete), and usually rendered in English as the General Logothete, was in charge of the 'general financial ministry', the of the middle Byzantine Empire.. History and functions The was responsible for general taxation and revenue, and also served as a court for financial cases. As such, it broadly fulfilled the tasks of the earlier , although it was mostly derived from the "general department" of the praetorian prefecture. The first attested , the monk Theodotos, is mentioned in 692, but the post may have been instituted as early as 626. The bureau of the and its logothete remained one of the chief ministries for the entire middle Byzantine period (7th–12th centuries). During the Komnenian period, its importance declined, but recovered under the Angeloi. Following the sack of Constantinople in 1204 and the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire, the office of the was retained as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kouropalates
''Kouropalatēs'', Latinized as ''curopalates'' or ''curopalata'' ( el, κουροπαλάτης, from lat, cura palatii "he one incharge of the palace"). and Anglicized as curopalate, was a Byzantine court title, one of the highest from the time of Emperor Justinian I to the Komnenian period in the 12th century.. The female variant, held by the spouses of the ''kouropalatai'', was ''kouropalatissa''. History and nature of the title The title is first attested (as ''curapalati'') in the early 5th century, as an official of ''vir spectabilis'' rank under the ''castrensis palatii'', charged with the maintenance of the imperial palace (cf. Western European "majordomo"). When Emperor Justinian I () made his nephew and heir Justin II ''curopalates'' in 552, however, the office took on new significance, and became one of the most exalted dignities, ranking next to ''Caesar'' and ''nobilissimus'' and, like them, reserved initially for members of the imperial family. Unlike them, however, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudo-Kodinos
George Kodinos or Codinus ( el, Γεώργιος Κωδινός), also Pseudo-Kodinos, ''kouropalates'' in the Byzantine court, is the reputed 14th-century author of three extant works in late Byzantine literature. Their attribution to him is merely a matter of convenience, two of them being anonymous in the manuscripts. Οf Kodinos himself nothing is known; it is supposed that he lived towards the end of the 14th century. The works referred to are the following: #''Patria'' (Πάτρια Κωνσταντινουπόλεως), treating of the history, topography, and monuments of Constantinople. It is divided into five sections: (a) the foundation of the city; (b) its situation, limits and topography; (c) its statues, works of art, and other notable sights; (d) its buildings; (e) and the construction of the Hagia Sophia. It was written in the reign of Basil II (976-1025), revised and rearranged under Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118), and perhaps copied by Codinus, whose name it bear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protostrator
''Prōtostratōr'' ( el, πρωτοστράτωρ) was a Byzantine court office, originating as the imperial stable master. Its proximity to the imperial person led to a highly visible role in imperial ceremonies, and served as a springboard for several capable individuals, like Manuel the Armenian or the future emperors Michael II and Basil I the Macedonian, to reach the highest offices. From the mid-11th century, the post rose in importance, becoming more an honorific dignity for senior members of the court, than an actual office. From the 13th century on, the post could be held by several persons, and ranked eighth in the overall hierarchy of the court. Throughout its history, it was a title often borne by senior military commanders. The female form of the title, given to the wives of the ''prōtostratores'', was ''prōtostratorissa'' (πρωτοστρατόρισσα). History and evolution The title means "first ", reflecting the office's initial nature as chief of the impe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
