Seal of Michael Antipapos, vestarches and pronoetes of Athens (Schlumberger, 1894)

( el, βεστάρχης) 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 ...

honorific dignity in use from the late 10th to early 12th centuries. The term means 'master of the ', another group of high court dignitaries. Etymologically, these terms are related to the , 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 (cf. Bréhier) to connect the or with the officials of the , no such relation appears to have existed.. It is first mentioned in the ''

Escorial Taktikon The ''Escorial Taktikon'' (other spellings: ''Escurial Taktikon'', ''Escorial Tacticon'', ''Escurial Tacticon''), also known as the ''Taktikon Oikonomides'' after Nicolas Oikonomides who first edited it, is a list of Byzantine offices, dignities, ...

'', a list of offices and court titles and their precedence compiled in the 970s. Initially, it was restricted to senior court eunuchs, but came to be awarded to senior officers as well after the mid-11th century. Its holders included famed generals such as

Michael Bourtzes Michael Bourtzes ( el, Μιχαήλ Βούρτζης, Arabic: ''Miḥā’īl al-Burdjī''; ca. 930/35 – after 996) was a leading Byzantine general of the latter 10th century. He became notable for his capture of Antioch from the Arabs in 969, b ...

Nikephoros Melissenos Nikephoros Melissenos ( el, Νικηφόρος Μελισσηνός, – 17 November 1104), Latinized as Nicephorus Melissenus, was a Byzantine general and aristocrat. Of distinguished lineage, he served as a governor and general in the Balkans ...

, and possibly also the future Byzantine emperors

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 ...

and Romanos Diogenes, but also some senior judicial officials of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. In the palace hierarchy, it came between the title of and that of , but was devalued with the general inflation of awards during the latter decades of the 11th century: by the turn of the century, the new title of ( gr, πρωτοβεστάρχης, , first ) is attested as being awarded to judges and notaries. Both titles are in evidence in the early 12th century, but apparently fell completely out of use soon after.

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=Éditions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, year=1972, language=French, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RFdmAAAAMAAJ Byzantine court titles