''Konostaulos'' or ''konostablos'' ("constable", in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

variously ), later corrupted to ''kontostaulos''/''kontostablos'' (κοντόσταυλος), was a late

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 ...

title, adopted from the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

. The derivative dignity of ''megas konostaulos'' (μέγας κονόσταυλος, "Grand Constable") became one of the highest court posts in the

Palaiologan period The Byzantine Empire was ruled by the Palaiologos dynasty in the period between 1261 and 1453, from the restoration of Byzantine rule to Constantinople by the usurper Michael VIII Palaiologos following its recapture from the Latin Empire, founde ...

(1261–1453) and was awarded to high-ranking generals.

History

It was adopted in the 11th century, under influence from the

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, from the French ''connétable'' (cf.

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

" constable"), which in turn derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

comes stabuli ''Comes'' ( ), plural ''comites'' ( ), was a Roman title or office, and the origin Latin form of the medieval and modern title "count". Before becoming a word for various types of title or office, the word originally meant "companion", either i ...

'' ("count of the stable").. In the 11th–12th centuries, the ''konostaulos'' appears to have been a purely honorary title, although it may also have replaced the middle Byzantine ''komēs tou staulou'', the direct descendant of the late Roman ''comes stabuli'', in his functions. In the last years of the reign of the

Nicaean emperor The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhouse ...

John III Vatatzes (), the post of ''megas konostaulos'' was created, being the chief of the "

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

" (i.e. Western European) mercenaries. Its first holder was the future emperor Michael Palaiologos. Thereafter, however, the title appears to have become separated from any particular office and to have become a purely honorary dignity. It ranked quite high in the Palaiologan-era hierarchy, coming ninth in the overall precedence, after the '' megas primmikerios'', and was therefore conferred upon the members of several Byzantine noble families, as well as minor foreign rulers allied to the Byzantine Empire, such as

Licario Licario, called Ikarios ( gr, Ἰκάριος) by the Greek chroniclers, was a Byzantine admiral of Italian origin in the 13th century. At odds with the Latin barons (the "triarchs") of his native Euboea, he entered the service of the Byzantine em ...

and

Leonardo II Tocco Leonardo II Tocco (1375/76 – 1418/19) was a scion of the Tocco family and lord of Zakynthos, who played an important role as a military leader for his brother, Carlo I Tocco, in early 15th-century western Greece. Biography Leonardo was the seco ...

. Its distinctive costume is described in the mid-14th century ''Book of Offices'' of

pseudo-Kodinos George Kodinos or Codinus ( el, Γεώργιος Κωδινός), also Pseudo-Kodinos, ''kouropalates'' in the Byzantine court, is the reputed 14th-century author of three extant works in late Byzantine literature. Their attribution to him is mere ...

: a gold-brocaded brimmed hat (''skiadion''), a plain silk ''

kabbadion The ''kabbadion'' ( el, καββάδιον) was a caftan-like garment of oriental origin which became a standard part of court costume in the last centuries of the Byzantine Empire. The first known reference to the ''kabbadion'' occurs in the ''K ...

'' tunic, but without the usual staff of office (''dikanikion''). For ceremonies and festivities, he bore the domed ''skaranikon'' hat, of orange silk and decorated with gold wire embroidery, and with an enameled portrait of the emperor standing in front and another of the emperor enthroned on the rear. The simple title ''konostaulos'' continued in use, at least in the

Despotate of the Morea The Despotate of the Morea ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μορέως) or Despotate of Mystras ( el, Δεσποτᾶτον τοῦ Μυστρᾶ) was a province of the Byzantine Empire which existed between the mid-14th and mid-15th centu ...

, but its functions are unclear.

List of known ''megaloi konostauloi''

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{Byzantine offices after pseudo-Kodinos Byzantine court titles Byzantine military offices