Topic summary
Megas domestikos
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Grand domestic.
History and evolution
Following the Fourth Crusade, it appears that in the Latin Empire and the other Latin states formed on Byzantine soil, the title of megas domestikos was used as the Greek equivalent of the Western title of [grand] seneschal (Latin: [magnus] senescallus). In the Palaiologan period (1261–1453), the grand domestic was the unchallenged commander-in-chief of the army, except in the case of the emperor campaigning in person, when he functioned as a kind of chief of staff. Despite its purely military nature, the office was also bestowed in the way of an honorific dignity to generals and high-ranking courtiers alike, e.g. to George Mouzalon, or to the Prince of AchaeaWilliam II of Villehardouin.