The ''vestararius'' was the manager of the medieval

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

office of the ''vestiarium'' (cf. the Byzantine imperial wardrobe and treasury, the ''

vestiarion The ''vestiarion'' (, from , "wardrobe"), sometimes with the adjectives ''basilikon'' ( "imperial") or ''mega'' ( "great"),. was one of the major fiscal departments of the Byzantine bureaucracy. In English, it is often known as the department of ...

''), responsible for the management of papal finances as well as the papal wardrobe.Lunt, 1950, p. 3. The ''vestiarium'' is mentioned as the papal treasury as early as the seventh century, during the period of Byzantine

cultural hegemony In Marxist philosophy, cultural hegemony is the dominance of a culturally diverse society by the ruling class who shape the culture of that society—the beliefs and explanations, perceptions, values, and mores—so that the worldview of the rul ...

in the West called the " Byzantine Papacy", but the ''vestararius'' itself is attested to only from the eighth century. Along with the highest financial officers '' arcarius'' and the '' sacellarius'', the ''vestararius'' was one of the three most important staff officials of the

Lateran Palace The Apostolic Palace of the Lateran (; ), informally the Lateran Palace (), is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main pope, papal residence in Rome. Located on Saint John's Square in Lateran on the Caelian Hill, the palace is ...

(the '' palatini'').Lunt, 1950, p. 4. By the ninth century, the ''vestararius'' was a member of the

papal household The papal household or pontifical household (usually not capitalized in the media and other nonofficial use, ), called until 1968 the Papal Court (''Aula Pontificia''), consists of dignitaries who assist the pope in carrying out particular ceremon ...

second only to the seven judges, while the other two offices figured among the "seven judges of the palace" who constituted the core of the papal court. While the other offices were responsible for the collection and dispensation of papal assets, respectively, the ''vestararius'' was responsible for guarding the wealth, possibly depositing in the wardrobe along with the papal vestiments. The ''vestararius'' was also responsible for the written financial archives and accounts, and may have received and distributed some sums independently of the other offices.Lunt, 1950, p. 5. By 813, the ''vestararius'' was seated beside the pope in the Palace in giving judgement and in 875 was sent as an

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

to the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

. Theophylact I, Count of Tusculum, who for all intents and purposes ran the temporal affairs of the papacy during the ''

saeculum obscurum (, "the dark age/century"), also known as the Rule of the Harlots or the Pornocracy, was a period in the history of the papacy during the first two thirds of the 10th century, following the chaos after the death of Pope Formosus in 896, which ...

'' of the first half of the tenth century, was a holder of the office of ''vestararius''. His wife, Theodora, held the extraordinary position of ''vestararissa''.Louis Duchesne, (Arnold Harris Mathew, tr.) ''The Beginnings of the Temporal Sovereignty of the Popes, A.D. 754-1073'' (London, 1907) p. 205. By The financial administration of the papacy as a whole began to be referred to as a ''camera'' in 1017, but the name change may not have been of any real significance.Lunt, 1950, p. 6. The last known reference to the office of ''vestararius'' appears in 1033. There is no concrete evidence of continuity between the ''vestararius'' and the ''camerarius'', which is referred to for the first time in 1099, although their functions are nearly the same.Lunt, 1950, p. 7. Either office (or both) may have existed during this period, or the responsibilities may have fallen to some third office, often hypothesized to have been filled by

Hildebrand Hildebrand is a character from Germanic heroic legend. ''Hildebrand'' is the modern German form of the name: in Old High German it is ''Hiltibrant'' and in Old Norse ''Hildibrandr''. The word ''hild'' means "battle" and ''brand'' means "sword" ...

Notes

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References

*Lunt, William E. 1950. ''Papal Revenues in the Middle Ages''. Columbia University Press. 2 Vols. Economic history of the Holy See History of the Roman Curia Medieval economic history Officials of the Roman Curia