In the late

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 Constantinopl ...

, the term ''kephale'' ( gr, κεφαλή, kephalē, head) was used to denote local and provincial governors. It entered use in the second half of the 13th century, and was derived from the colloquial language. Consequently, it never became an established title or rank of the Byzantine imperial hierarchy, but remained a descriptive term.. In essence, the ''kephalē'' replaced the Komnenian-era '' doux'' as the civil and military governor of a territorial administrative unit, known as a ''katepanikion'' (κατεπανίκιον, ''katepaníkion''),Not to be confused with the very different katepanates of the 10th-11th centuries. but also termed a ''kephalatikion'' (κεφαλατίκιον, ''kephalatíkion''). In size, these provinces were small compared to the earlier ''

themata The themes or ( el, θέματα, , singular: , ) were the main military/administrative divisions of the middle Byzantine Empire. They were established in the mid-7th century in the aftermath of the Slavic invasion of the Balkans and Muslim con ...

'', and could range from a few

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

s surrounding the ''kephales seat (a ''kastron'', "fortress"), to an entire island. This arrangement was also adopted by the

Second Bulgarian Empire The Second Bulgarian Empire (; ) was a medieval Bulgarians, Bulgarian state that existed between 1185 and 1396. A successor to the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Tsars Kaloyan of Bulgaria, Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II ...

(as bg, кефалия, ''kefaliya'') and

Serbian Empire The Serbian Empire ( sr, / , ) was a medieval Serbian state that emerged from the Kingdom of Serbia. It was established in 1346 by Dušan the Mighty, who significantly expanded the state. Under Dušan's rule, Serbia was the major power in the ...

(as sr, кефалиja, ''kefalija''). In the 14th century, superior ''kephalai'' were appointed (''katholikai kephalai'', "universal heads") overseeing a group of provinces under their respective '' erikaikephalai'' (" artialheads"). The former were usually kin of the emperor or members of the senior aristocratic clans. By the late 14th century, with the increasing decentralization of the Empire and the creation of

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

s in the form of semi-independent

despotate Despot or ''despotes'' ( grc-gre, δεσπότης, despótēs, lord, master) was a senior Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy, court title that was bestowed on the sons or sons-in-law of reigning emperors, and initi ...

s, these senior posts vanished.

References

Sources

* Byzantine administrative offices Gubernatorial titles {{Italic title