The title of ''protosebastos'' ( el, πρωτοσέβαστος, ''prōtosébastos'', "first ''
sebastos''") was a high
Byzantine court title created by Emperor
Alexios I Komnenos.
History
Although the title first appears in a document of 1049, where
Domenico I Contarini, the
Doge of Venice, uses it alongside the title of ''
patrikios'' to refer to himself, it is commonly accepted that it was created by Emperor
Alexios I Komnenos (). It was first conferred to his brother
Adrianos, while another early holder, his brother-in-law
Michael Taronites Michael Taronites ( el, Μιχαήλ Ταρωνίτης) was a Byzantine aristocrat and brother-in-law of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. He was involved in a conspiracy against him and was banished in 1094.
Biography
Michael belonged to the aristocr ...
, was soon after raised to the even higher title of ''
panhypersebastos''. It was also conferred on
Sergius VI of Naples and his son,
John VI, at about the same time.
Later, during the 12th century, it was given to close relatives of the Byzantine emperor, such as the eldest son of a ''
sebastokratōr
''Sebastokrator'' ( grc-byz, Σεβαστοκράτωρ, Sevastokrátor, August Ruler, ; bg, севастократор, sevastokrator; sh, sebastokrator), was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers w ...
''. In the
Palaiologan period it was conferred to leading aristocratic families, such as the
Tarchaneiotai Tarchaneiotes ( el, Ταρχανειώτης), feminine form Tarchaneiotissa (Ταρχανειώτισσα), also attested in the variant forms Trachaneiotes, Trachaniates, Tarchoniates, was the name of a Byzantine aristocratic family from Adrianopl ...
, the
Raoul, etc.
The ''Book on Offices'' by
Pseudo-Kodinos, written shortly after the middle of the 14th century, places the ''prōtosebastos'' in the thirteenth place in the overall hierarchy after the emperor, between the ''
megas logothetēs'' and the ''
pinkernēs''. His ceremonial costume comprised a golden-green ''skiadion'' hat with silk embroideries, or a domed ''skaranikon'' in a reddish
apricot
An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''.
Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...
colour decorated with gold-wire embroidery, with a painted glass depiction of the emperor standing in front, and enthroned in the rear. A rich silk ''
kabbadion'' tunic was also worn.
Notable holders
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Adrianos Komnenos, brother of Alexios I Komnenos
*
Alexios Branas, general
*
Alexios Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...
, nephew of Manuel I Komnenos, ''de facto'' regent in 1180–82
*
Constantine Bodin
Constantine Bodin (Bulgarian and sr, italic=no, Константин Бодин, ''Konstantin Bodin''; 1072–1101) was a medieval king and the ruler of Duklja, the most powerful Serbian principality of the time, from 1081 to 1101, succeed ...
, ruler of
Duklja in 1081–1101
*
George Mouzalon, friend and chief minister of Theodore II Laskaris
*
Hrelja, magnate of the
Serbian Empire
*
John Komnenos, nephew of Alexios I Komnenos and governor of
Dyrrhachium
*
Michael Panaretos, official and historian of the
Empire of Trebizond
The Empire of Trebizond, or Trapezuntine Empire, was a monarchy and one of three successor rump states of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Despotate of the Morea and the Principality of Theodoro, that flourished during the 13th through to t ...
*
Philaretos Brachamios, general
*
Theodore Branas, general and husband of the twice empress
Agnes of France
References
Sources
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{{Byzantine offices after pseudo-Kodinos
Byzantine court titles