Sebastokrator

''Sebastokrator'' ( grc-byz, Σεβαστοκράτωρ, Sevastokrátor, August Ruler, ; bg, севастократор, sevastokrator; sh, sebastokrator), was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers whose states bordered the Empire or were within its sphere of influence ( Bulgarian Empire, Serbian Empire). The word is a compound of '' sebastós'' (, the Greek equivalent of the Latin ''Augustus'') and ''krátōr'' ('ruler', the same element as is found in '' autokrator'', 'emperor'). The wife of a ''Sebastokrator'' was named ''sebastokratorissa'' (, ''sevastokratórissa'') in Greek, ''sevastokratitsa'' () in Bulgarian and ''sebastokratorica'' in Serbian.

Eastern Roman Empire

The title was created by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos () to honour his elder brother Isaac Komnenos.. According to Anna Komnene, Alexios did this to raise Isaac above the rank of ''Caesar'', which he had already promised to his brother-in-law, Nikephoros Melissenos. Anna Komnene compares the rank of ''sebastokratōr'' to "a second emperor", and also records that along with the ''Caesar'' a ''sebastokratōr'' was granted the right to wear a crown (but not the imperial diadem). During the Komnenian dynasty (1081–1185), the title continued to be the highest below that of Emperor until 1163, when Emperor Manuel I created the title of ''despotes''. During that period, it was given exclusively to members of the imperial family, chiefly younger sons of the emperor.

After the dismemberment of the Byzantine Empire by the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the title was adopted in the Latin Empire, the Empire of Nicaea, and the Bulgarian Empire. In Nicaea and the post-1261 restored Byzantine Empire, the title remained one of the highest court dignities, and was almost always restricted to members of the imperial family. The last known holder of the title was Demetrios Kantakouzenos, a ruler in the Peloponnese in the late 14th century.

According to the sources, the distinctive colour associated with the title was blue: the ''sebastokratōr''′s ceremonial costume included blue stockings and blue boots. In circa 1260, according to George Akropolites, the ''sebastokratores'' who were members of the imperial family were distinguished from those who were not by having embroidered golden eagles on their shoes. By the time of pseudo-Kodinos in the mid-14th century, the insignia associated with the rank were a ''skiadion'' hat in red and gold, decorated with gold-wire embroideries, with a veil bearing the wearer's name and pendants identical to those of the ''despotēs''. He wore a red tunic (''rouchon'') similar to the emperor's, but without the ''rizai'' decorations and the insignia of military power. His mantle (''tamparion'') was no longer known, but the stockings were blue; under John VI Kantakouzenos (), however, when the emperor raised his brothers-in-law Manuel and John Asanes to the rank, he permitted them to wear ''tamparia'' and stockings like those of the ''despotēs''. The ''sebastokratōr''s shoes and stockings were blue, with gold-embroidered eagles on red background; and his horse tack was also of blue, his saddle blanket featuring furthermore four red-embroidered eagles. His tent was white with blue decorations. The form of the domed ''skaranikon'', on the other hand, for the ''sebastokratōr'' was unknown to pseudo-Kodinos. The ''sebastokratōr'' also had the prerogative of signing documents with a special blue ink.

Bulgaria

Kaloyan inherited the title possibly from his father Aleksandar (d. after 1232), a son of Tsar Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria ().

Serbia

This title was also adopted in the court of medieval Serbia, under the Nemanjić dynasty, the Serbian Kings and Emperors (1217–1346; 1346–1371).

List of holders

*Aleksandar Asen (d. after 1232), Bulgarian prince
*Kaloyan (fl. 1259), Bulgarian magnate, held Sredets (modern Sofia)
* Peter, sebastokrator of Sredets, Bulgaria
*Hrelja, semi-independent feudal lord in the region of northeastern Macedonia and Rila mountain, Byzantine magnate
*Dejan (fl. 1346-1356), Serbian magnate, held Žegligovo and Preševo, and the Upper Struma river with Velbužd (modern Kyustendil)
*Alexios III Angelos, Byzantine
* John Angelos, Byzantine
*Sabas Asidenos, Byzantine and Nicaean magnate
*Conon de Béthune, French crusader
*Constantine Doukas of Thessaly
* John Doukas, Byzantine
*Stephen Gabrielopoulos, Byzantine
*John I Doukas of Thessaly, Byzantine
*John II Doukas of Thessaly, Byzantine
*Demetrios I Kantakouzenos, Byzantine
*Andronikos Komnenos (son of John II)
*Isaac Komnenos (brother of Alexios I), Byzantine
*Isaac Komnenos (son of Alexios I), Byzantine
*Isaac Komnenos (son of John II), Byzantine
* Branko Mladenović, Serbian
*Momchil, brigand in Rhodopes
* Stefan the First-Crowned, Serbian
*Jovan Oliver, Serbian
*Constantine Palaiologos (half-brother of Michael VIII), Byzantine
*John Palaiologos (brother of Michael VIII), Byzantine
*Vlatko Paskačić, Serbian
* John Petraliphas, Byzantine
*Strez, Bulgarian
*Blasius Matarango (fl. 1358–67), Albanian nobleman, prince of Karavasta region

Gallery

File:Kalojan desislava.jpg, Donor portrait of the Bulgarian ''sebastokratōr'' Kaloyan and his wife Desislava, fresco from the Boyana Church (1259).
File:Constantine Palaiologos sebastokrator and Eirene.jpg, The ''sebastokratōr'' Constantine Palaiologos and his wife Eirene. Donor portrait from an early 14th-century monastery ''typikon''.Note the distinctive ''stephanos'', as well as the red ''chlamys'' embroidered with golden double-headed eagles, worn over the ''kabbadion'' kaftan.
File:Isaac Komnenos the Porphyrogennetos.jpg, A Byzantine fresco in the Chora Church depicting the ''sebastokratōr'' Isaac Komnenos, son of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.
File:Jovan Oliver.jpg, The ''Sevastokrator'' Jovan Oliver, fresco from the Lesnovo monastery.

References

Sources

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{{Byzantine offices after pseudo-Kodinos

Byzantine court titles
Byzantine imperial titles
Bulgarian noble titles
Greek noble titles
Serbian noble titles