Seal of Ioannes Artabasdos, vestes, hypatos, krites tou velou and of the Kibyrrhaiotai

Vestēs ( el, βέστης) was a

Byzantine 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 ...

court title A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

used in the 10th and 11th centuries. The term is etymologically connected to the ''

vestiarion The ''vestiarion'' ( el, βεστιάριον, from la, vestiarium, "wardrobe"), sometimes with the adjectives ''basilikon'' ("imperial") or ''mega'' ("great"),. was one of the major fiscal departments of the Byzantine bureaucracy. In English, it ...

'', the imperial

wardrobe A wardrobe or armoire or almirah is a standing closet used for storing clothes. The earliest wardrobe was a chest, and it was not until some degree of luxury was attained in regal palaces and the castles of powerful nobles that separate accommo ...

, but despite earlier attempts to connect the ''vestai'' and the related title of '' vestarchēs'', the head of the class of the ''vestai'', with the officials of the ''vestiarion'' (cf. Bréhier), no such relation appears to have existed.. The title is first attested for the reign of Emperor John I Tzimiskes (r. 969–976), when it was held by Nikephoros Phokas, son of the ''

kouropalatēs ''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 tim ...

'' Leo Phokas. The title remained high in the Byzantine imperial hierarchy throughout most of the 11th century, being often combined with the title of ''

magistros The ''magister officiorum'' (Latin literally for "Master of Offices", in gr, μάγιστρος τῶν ὀφφικίων, magistros tōn offikiōn) was one of the most senior administrative officials in the Later Roman Empire and the early cent ...

'' and awarded to prominent generals, among others Isaac Komnenos (

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, to Fall of Constantinople, its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. On ...

in 1057–1059) when he was of the East,

Leo Tornikios Leo Tornikios ( el, Λέων Τορνίκιος) was a mid-11th century Byzantine general and noble. In 1047, he rebelled against his cousin, the Byzantine Emperor, Constantine IX Monomachos (). He raised an army in Thrace and marched on the cap ...

and

Nikephoros Botaneiates Nikephoros III Botaneiates, Latinized as Nicephorus III Botaniates ( el, Νικηφόρος Βοτανειάτης, 1002–1081), was Byzantine emperor from 7 January 1078 to 1 April 1081. He was born in 1002, and became a general du ...

(Byzantine emperor in 1078–1081) during his tenure as ''doux'' of Eddessa and

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

. The Escorial ''Taktikon'', a list of offices and court titles and their precedence compiled in the 970s, distinguishes between "bearded" (''barbatoi'') ''vestai'', who also held the titles of ''

patrikios The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned aft ...

'' or ''

'', and the eunuch (''ektomiai'') ''vestai'', who held the title of '' praipositos''. As with other titles, the prestige of the ''vestēs'' declined towards the end of the 11th century, when it is attested as being held by lower-ranking officials. To counter this devaluation, the superior title of ''prōtovestēs'' (Greek: πρωτοβέστης, "first ''vestēs''") appeared at the same time. Both titles, however, do not appear to have survived the reign of Emperor

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...

(r. 1081–1118).

References

Sources

* * * *{{cite book, last=Oikonomides, first=Nicolas, authorlink=Nicolas Oikonomides, title=Les Listes de Préséance Byzantines des IXe et Xe Siècles, location=Paris, publisher=Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, year=1972, language=French, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RFdmAAAAMAAJ Byzantine court titles