() was one of the highest secular

titles A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. It was an exceptional post (the 899 ''Kletorologion'' of Philotheos lists it as one of the 'special dignities', ), and conferred only twice in the Empire's history. Its holder was not the emperor's

biological father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fathe ...

, and although the exact functions associated with the post remain obscure, it is generally hypothesized that it was meant to denote a

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

acting as a

custodian Custodian may refer to: Occupations * Fullback (rugby league), in rugby, also called a sweeper * Janitor, a person who cleans and maintains buildings * Legal guardian or conservator, who may be called a custodian in some jurisdictions Religion ...

and

tutor Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

over a young emperor. A different interpretation, however, has been offered by A. Schmink, whereby the alternative spelling (βασιλειοπάτωρ), found both in contemporary seals and in the ''Life of Theophano''

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian ...

, ought to be preferred. The title could then be interpreted as meaning 'father of the palace', confirming the holder's position as the emperor's chief aide without implying any sort of tutelage over him. The title was created, sometime between August 891 and May 893, by Emperor

Leo VI the Wise Leo VI, also known as Leo the Wise (; 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well read, leading to his epithet. During ...

() for

Stylianos Zaoutzes Stylianos Zaoutzes () was a high Byzantine official of Armenian origin. Rising to high rank under Byzantine emperor Basil I (reigned 867–886), he then rose further to prominence under Basil's successor Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912), who ...

, the father of Leo's long-time mistress and later second wife, Zoe Zaoutzaina. Coming in addition to Stylianos's earlier title of and the position of , by this act Leo, according to the traditional interpretation, is held to have formally placed the affairs of the Byzantine Empire in Zaoutzes's hands until the latter's death in 899. More recent scholarship, however, has cast doubt on the image of the "all-powerful " (Shaun Tougher), citing evidence in support of Leo's effective control of the government. Either way, the title placed Stylianos at the apex of the civil bureaucracy, directly below the emperor himself. The title was revived in 919 for admiral Romanos Lekapenos after he married his daughter

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer * Saint Helena (disambiguation), this includes places Places Greece * Helena ...

to Emperor

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

(), but within a few months he was raised further to and, shortly after, was crowned senior emperor, with Constantine VII relegated to co-emperor. The title was not used thereafter except in a literary context;

Symeon Metaphrastes Symeon or Simeon (died ), distinguished as Symeon Metaphrastes (Latin) or Symeon the Metaphrast (, ''Symeṓn ho Metaphrastḗs''), was a Byzantine writer and official regarded as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. His feast day is celebrated ...

for instance

anachronistic An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common typ ...

ally calls

Arsenius the Great Arsenius the Deacon, sometimes known as Arsenius of Scetis and Turah, Arsenius the Roman or Arsenius the Great, was a Roman imperial tutor who became an anchorite in Egypt, one of the most highly regarded of the Desert Fathers, whose teachings w ...

a , as he was the tutor of

Honorius Honorius (; 9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius in 395, Honorius, under the regency of Stilicho ...

and

Arcadius Arcadius ( ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to his death in 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the eastern half of ...

, the sons of Emperor

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. He won two civil wars and was instrumental in establishing the Nicene Creed as the orthodox doctrine for Nicene C ...

(). There was also an attempt by supporters of Michael Palaiologos () to revive the title in 1258, when he was appointed regent over the underage

Nicaean emperor The Empire of Nicaea (), also known as the Nicene Empire, was 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 (1967), p. 55: "There in ...

John IV Laskaris John IV Doukas Laskaris (or Ducas Lascaris) (; December 25, 1250 – 1305) was the fourth emperor of the Nicaean Empire from August 16, 1258 to December 25, 1261, one of the Greek successor states formed after the Sack of Constantinople by th ...

(), but instead, he assumed the titles of , then , before finally being crowned emperor in 1259.

References

Sources

* * * {{cite book, last=Tougher, first=Shaun, title=The Reign of Leo VI (886-912): Politics and People , year=1997, location=Leiden, publisher=Brill, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPquae5A4zIC, isbn=978-90-04-10811-0 Honorifics Byzantine court titles Byzantine imperial titles