The (, βεστιαρίτης, '' vestiarites'') were a corps of imperial bodyguards and fiscal officials in 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 ...

, attested from the 11th to the 15th centuries.

History and functions

The appear in the mid-11th century, with the first known , John Iberitzes, attested in 1049.. As their name indicates, they had a connection to the imperial wardrobe and treasury, the , probably initially raised as a guard detachment for it. From circa 1080 on, they were formally distinguished into two groups: the "inner" or "household" ( or ), attached to the emperor's private treasury (the or ) under a , and the "outer" () under a , who were probably under the public or state treasury (). Gradually, they replaced various other groups of armed guards that the Byzantine emperors had employed inside

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

itself, such as the or the , and became the exclusive corps of the emperor's confidential agents. As the princess and historian

Anna Komnene Anna Komnene (; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine Greek historian. She is the author of the '' Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Her work constit ...

writes, they were the courtiers "closest" to the emperor. With the military crisis of the 1070s, they were also formed into a regular palace guard regiment, serving alongside the

Varangian Guard The Varangian Guard () was an elite unit of the Byzantine army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varangian Guard was known for being primarily composed of recruits from Nort ...

in the Komnenian-era army. The are attested as late as 1387, and likely continued to exist after. In the 13th and 14th centuries, however, their role was chiefly fiscal: they were responsible for levying soldiers and wagons from the provinces, under the control of the of the themes of the East. The chief of the was called (πρωτοβεστιαρίτης) in the 13th and 14th centuries (not to be confused with the much older and more important office of ). The title is attested as late as 1451, when it was held by the historian George Sphrantzes. In the mid-14th century ''Book of Offices'' of

Pseudo-Kodinos George Kodinos (), also Pseudo-Kodinos or Codinus, is the conventional name of an anonymous late 15th-century author of late Byzantine literature. Their attribution to him is only traditional, and is based on the fact that all three works come ...

, it ranks nineteenth in the order of precedence, following the . According to the same work, its insignia were: a wooden staff () with gold and red-gold knobs, a hat with

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

of the type, another type of hat called of white and gold

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

with gold-wire embroidery and images of the emperor in the front and back, and a silk robe of office or .

References

Sources

* * * * * {{Byzantine offices after pseudo-Kodinos Guards units of the Byzantine Empire Byzantine fiscal offices