''Proedros'' ( el, πρόεδρος, "president") was a senior

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 and ecclesiastic title in the 10th to mid-12th centuries. The female form of the title is ''proedrissa'' (προέδρισσα).

Court dignity

The title was created in the 960s by

Nikephoros II Phokas Nikephoros II Phokas (; – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless included brilliant military exploits whi ...

and was first awarded to Basil Lekapenos, the eunuch '' parakoimōmenos''. It was placed very high in the court hierarchy, coming immediately below the position of the '' zostē patrikia'' and before the ''

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 ...

'', meaning that it was the most senior non-imperial title open to males. The title apparently continued to be restricted to eunuchs until the mid-11th century, when it was opened up to the wider aristocracy and extensively awarded. The holder of this dignity was also the president of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

(), and the term ''proedros'' was often used to denote precedence in other offices, e.g. ''proedros'' of the ''notarioi'' for the '' prōtonotarios''. The title was widely awarded in the 11th century, after it was opened up to non-eunuchs, prompting the creation of the ''prōtoproedros'' (πρωτοπρόεδρος, "first ''proedros''") to distinguish the most senior amongst its holders. The title, along with most of the middle Byzantine court nomenclature, fell into gradual disuse in the

Komnenian period The Byzantine Empire was ruled by emperors of the Komnenos dynasty for a period of 104 years, from 1081 to about 1185. The ''Komnenian'' (also spelled ''Comnenian'') period comprises the reigns of five emperors, Alexios I, John II, Manuel I, A ...

, and disappeared in the latter 12th century. According to the ''

De Ceremoniis The ''De Ceremoniis'' (fully ''De cerimoniis aulae Byzantinae'') is the conventional Latin name for a Greek book of ceremonial protocol at the court of the Byzantine emperors in Constantinople. Its Greek title is often cited as ("Explanation of ...

'' (I.97) of Emperor

Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe K ...

(r. 913–959), the clothing and insignia of the ''proedros'' in the 960s were: "a rose-colored and gold-embroidered

tunic A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin ''tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Ro ...

, a gem-encrusted belt, and a white ''

chlamys The chlamys ( Ancient Greek: χλαμύς : chlamýs, genitive: χλαμύδος : chlamydos) was a type of an ancient Greek cloak.loaktrimmed with golden bands and with two gold ''tablia'' quare patchesand decoration of ivy leaves."

Ecclesiastic office

The term ''proedros'' was often used for a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

, who was naturally the president of the local clergy, and in some rare cases for

metropolitan bishop In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis. Originally, the term referred to the ...

s. In the 13th century, however, it acquired a more specific meaning: it was given to bishops who at the same time held jurisdiction over a vacant episcopal see. As the ''proedros'' of the vacant episcopal see, that bishop ran its administration, but was differentiated from the regular bishop, since he was never officially installed into that episcopal see. As in the court, the term ''proedros'' was also used to denote precedence among a group of officials.

References

Sources

* *{{cite book, last=Spatharakis, first=Ioannis, title=The Portrait in Byzantine Illuminated Manuscripts, location=Leiden, publisher=E. J. Brill, year=1976, isbn=978-90-04-04783-9, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AQ4VAAAAIAAJ Byzantine court titles Eastern Christian ecclesiastical offices

Court dignity

Ecclesiastic office

See also

References

Sources