The Byzantine Office of Ἐπὶ τῶν κρίσεων and Its Holders (in the Light of Sphragistic Evidence and Written Sources)

Authors

  • Symeon Antonov Department of Ancient and Medieval History, “St Cyril and St Methodius” University of Veliko Tarnovo, Teodosiy Tărnovski St № 2, 5000, Veliko Tărnovo, Bulgaria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.07.01

Keywords:

epi ton kriseon, Byzantine supreme courts, Byzantine central and provincial administration, Byzantine 11th century

Abstract

The paper investigates the establishment of the office of the epi ton kriseon during the Reign of emperor Constantine IX Monomachos (1042–1055), analysing the reasons behind its creation and its initial character. In addition, a list of all holders of this office is provided, based on all available sources – sphragistic, epistolary, rhetorical, documentary, etc. The list is divided into two parts – before and after the sack of the Byzantine capital by the Crusaders in 1204. Certain conclusions are reached at the end of the paper based on the data from the first part of the list. Different aspects of the problem are examined, including the honorific titles of the epi ton kriseon, their other offices, activities and social bonds. Individuals who held this position include prominent figures such as Konstantinos, nephew of patriarch Michael I Keroularios (1043–1058) and the addressee of many letters from Michael Psellos, as well as the 12th–13th century historian Niketas Choniates. In the 11th–12th century, these officials were an indelible part of the Byzantine bureaucratic elite and the Constantinopolitan society; they exerted their power not only in the capital, but also in the provinces.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Actes d’Iviron, vol. II, ed. J. Lefort et al., Paris 1990 [= Archives de l’Athos, XVI].
Google Scholar

ADGMA, ed. F. Miklosich, I. Müller, vol. I, Wien 1860; vol. II, Wien 1862.
Google Scholar

Bydzantiná éggrafa tēs monēs Patmou 1. Aytokratorika, ed. E.L. Branousēs, Athēna 1980.
Google Scholar

Dossier grec de l’union de Lyon (1273–1277), ed. V. Laurent, J. Darrouzès, Paris 1976.
Google Scholar

Ékthesis palaiografikōn kai filologikōn ereynōn en Thakē kai Makedonia, ed. A. Papadopoulos-Kerameys, “Ὁ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει Ἑλληνικὸς Φιλολογικὸς Σύλλογος” / “O en Kōnstantinoupólei Ellēnikós Filologikós Sýllogos” 17, 1886, p. 3–64.
Google Scholar

Gautier P., Quelques lettres de Psellos inédites ou déja éditées, “Revue des études byzantines” 44, 1986, p. 111–197.
Google Scholar

Kekavmen, Sovety i rasskazy. Poučenie vizantijskogo polkovodca XI v., ed., trans. G.G. Litavrin, Sankt-Peterburg ²2003.
Google Scholar

Laurent V., Les signataires du second synod des Blakhernes (Été 1285.), “Échos d’Orient” 26, 1927, p. 129–149.
Google Scholar

Michael Attaleiates, History, ed. A. Kaldellis, D. Krallis, Cambridge, MA–London 2012.
Google Scholar

Michael Psellos, Orationes forenses et acta, ed. G.T. Dennis, Stuttgart–Leipzig 1994.
Google Scholar

Michaēl Pselloú istorikoi lógoi, epistolai kai álla anékdota, ed. K.N. Sathas, Venetia 1876 [= Μεσαιωνικὴ Βιβλιοθήκη, V / Mesaiōnikē Bibliothēkē, V].
Google Scholar

Michaelis Choniatae Epistulae, ed. F. Kolovou, Berlin – New York 2001 [= Corpus fontium historiae byzantinae, 41].
Google Scholar

Michaelis Pselli scripta minora magnam partem adhuc inedita, vol. II, ed. E. Kurtz, F. Drexl, Milano 1941.
Google Scholar

Nicetae Choniatae orationes et epistulae, ed. J.A. van Dieten, Berlin–New York 1972 [= Corpus fontium historiae byzantinae, 3]
Google Scholar

Registrum Patriarchatus Constantinopolitani, ed. J. Koder et al., Wien 2001 [= Corpus fontium historiae byzantinae, 19/3].
Google Scholar

Angold M., The Byzantine Empire, 1025–1204. A Political History, London–New York 1997².
Google Scholar

Cheynet J.-C., La mise en place des thèmes d’après les sceaux: les stratèges, “Studies in Byzantine Sigillography” 10, 2010, p. 1–14.
Google Scholar

Cheynet J.-C., Morrisson C., Seibt W., Sceaux byzantins de la collection Henri Seyrig, Paris 1991.
Google Scholar

Chondridou S.D., O Kōnstantinos TH’ Monomachos kai ē epochē tou, Athēna 2002.
Google Scholar

Christofilopoulou Ai., Ta bydzantiná dykasteria katá tous aiōnes I’–IA’, “Δίπτυχα Εταιρείας Βυζα-ντινών και Μεταβυζαντινών Μελετών” / “Diptycha Etaireias Bydzantinōn kai Metabydzantinōn Meletōn” 4, 1986/1987, p. 163–177.
Google Scholar

Darrouzès J., Recherches sur les offikia de l’Église byzantine, Paris 1970 [= Archives de l’Orient chrétien, 11].
Google Scholar

Fine J.V.A., Basil II and the Decline of the Theme System, [in:] Studies on the Slavo-Byzantine and West-European Middle Ages. In memoriam Ivan Dujčev, vol. I, ed. P. Dinekov et al., Sofia 1988,p. 44–47.
Google Scholar

Gkoutdzigkōstas A.E., Ē aponomē dikaiosynēs sto Bydzantio (9os–12os aiōnes). Ta kosmika dikaiodotika organa kai dikastēria tēs prōteýousas, Thessalonikē 2004 [= Bυζαντινά Kείμενα και Μελέτες / Bydzantiná Keimena kai Melétes, 37].
Google Scholar

Glykatzi-Ahrweiler H., Recherches sur l’administration de l’empire byzantin aux IX–XIe siècles, “Bulletin de correspondance hellénique” 84, 1960, p. 1–111.
Google Scholar

Jeffreys M., Constantine, Nephew of the Patriarch Keroularios and His Good Friend Michael Psellos, [in:] The Letters of Psellos. Cultural Networks and Historical Realities, Oxford, 2017, p. 59–88.
Google Scholar

Jordanov I., Corpus of Byzantine Seals from Bulgaria, vol. III, Sofia 2009.
Google Scholar

Kazhdan A., Kouropalates, [in:] The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ed. A. Kazhdan et al., vol. II, New York–Oxford 1991, p. 1157.
Google Scholar

Kazhdan A., Magistros, [in:] The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ed. A. Kazhdan et al., vol. II, New York–Oxford 1991, p. 1267.
Google Scholar

Kazhdan A., Sebastos, [in:] The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ed. A. Kazhdan et al., vol. III, New York–Oxford 1991, p. 1862–1863.
Google Scholar

Kazhdan A., Vestes, [in:] The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ed. A. Kazhdan et al., vol. III, New York–Oxford 1991, p. 2162–2163.
Google Scholar

Kazhdan A., Cutler A., Proedros. Proedros as Civilian Dignity, [in:] The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ed. A. Kazhdan et al., vol. III, New York–Oxford 1991, p. 1727.
Google Scholar

Kazhdan A., Macrides R.J., Epi ton kriseon, [in:] The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ed. A. Kazhdan et al., vol. I, New York–Oxford 1991, p. 724–725.
Google Scholar

Kănev N., Prinosăt na sfragistikata za razkrivane na devalvacijata na vizantijskite početni litli v jerarchijata na t.nar. sistema na premistvo ot srednovizantijskija period – primerite s titlite magistăr i patrikij (granicata na VIII/IX – granicata na ΧΙ/ΧΙΙ v.), [in:] idem, Vizantinobălgarski studii,Veliko Tărnovo 2013, p. 299–308.
Google Scholar

Kănev N., Titlata proedăr kato čast ot părvorazrednite početni titli văv Vizantija prez IX–XI v. Proedri, zasvidetelstvani po sfragistični danni, [in:] idem, Vizantinobălgarski studii, Veliko Tărnovo 2013, p. 144–227.
Google Scholar

Kănev N., Vizantijskata titla magistăr prez IX – načaloto na XII v. Prinosăt na sfragistikata za săstavjane na lista na nositelite na titlata magistăr, [in:] idem, Vizantinobălgarski studii, Veliko Tărnovo2013, p. 228–298.
Google Scholar

Laurent V., Le corpus des sceaux de l’empire byzantin, vol. II, L’administration central, Paris 1981.
Google Scholar

The Letters of Psellos. Cultural Networks and Historical Realities, ed. M. Jeffreys, M.D. Lauxtermann, Oxford, 2017.
Google Scholar

Macrides R.J., The Competent Court, [in:] Law and Society in Byzantium. Ninth–Twelfth Centuries, ed. A.E. Laiou, D. Simon, Washington D.C. 1994, p. 117–129.
Google Scholar

McGeer E., Nesbitt J., Oikonomides N., Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, vol. V, Washington, D.C. 2005.
Google Scholar

Oikonomidès N., Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles, Paris 1972.
Google Scholar

Oikonomidès N., L’evolution de l’organisation administrative de l’empire byzantine au XIe siècle (1025–1118), “Travaux et memoires du Centre de recherches d’histoire et civilisation byzantines”6, 1976, p. 125–152.
Google Scholar

Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit, ed. E. Trapp et al., Wien 2001.
Google Scholar

Prosopography of the Byzantine World, ed. M. Jeffreys et al., London 2016.
Google Scholar

Sakkos S.N., Ho patēr mou meidzōn mou estin, vol. II, Érides kai sýnodoi katá tón ib’ aiōna, Thessalonikē 1968.
Google Scholar

Seibt W., Der byzantinische Rangtitel Sebastos in vorkomnenischer Zeit, “Travaux et mémoires du Centre de recherches d’histoire et civilisation byzantines” 16, 2010, p. 759–764.
Google Scholar

Theocharidēs G.I., Hoi Tdzamplakōnes, “Μακεδονικὰ. Σύγγραμμα Περιοδικόν τῆς Ἑταιρείας Μακε-δονικῶν Σπουδῶν” / “Makedoniká. Sýggramma Periodikón tēs Hetaireias Makedonikōn Spoudōn” 5, 1963, p. 125–183.
Google Scholar

Treadgold W., Byzantium and Its Army, 284–1081, Stanford 1995.
Google Scholar

Treadgold W., The Middle Byzantine Historians, Basingstoke 2013.
Google Scholar

Wassiliou-Seibt A.-K., Corpus der byzantinischen Siegel mit metrischen Legenden, vol. II, Siegellegenden von Ny bis inclusive Sphragis, Wien 2016.
Google Scholar

Wassiliou-Seibt A.-K., Die Neffen des Patriarchen Michael I. Kerullarios (1043–1058) und ihre Siegel. Ikonographie als Ausdrucksmittel der Verwandtschaft, “Bulgaria Mediaevalis” 2, 2011, p. 107–119.
Google Scholar

Wassiliou-Seibt A.-K., Seibt W., Die byzantinischen Bleisiegel in Österreich, vol. II, Zentral- und Provinzialverwaltung, Wien 2003.
Google Scholar

von Lingenthal K.E. Zachariä, Geschichte des griechisch-römischen Rechts, Berlin 1892.
Google Scholar

Zacos G., Nesbitt J.W., Byzantine Lead Seals, vol. II, Bern 1984.
Google Scholar

Downloads

Published

2017-12-30

How to Cite

Antonov, S. (2017). The Byzantine Office of Ἐπὶ τῶν κρίσεων and Its Holders (in the Light of Sphragistic Evidence and Written Sources). Studia Ceranea, 7, 9–25. https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.07.01

Issue

Section

Articles

Similar Articles

<< < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.