Mesazon
Chora Church to Christ Pantocrator
.The mesazon (
Latin: cancellarius imperii).[1]
History and functions
The term's origins lie in the 10th century, when senior ministers were sometimes referred to as the mesiteuontes (μεσιτεύοντες), i.e. 'mediators' between the emperor and his subjects (cf. epi tou kanikleiou and the logothetes ton sekreton, but had not yet acquired a permanent and specific function, nor the power that would characterize it in later years.[2][3] Rather, it was a title bestowed on the principal imperial secretary of the moment, who acted precisely as an "intermediary" between the emperor and other officials.[4][5] This reflected the shift of the Byzantine government under the Komnenoi from the old Roman-style bureaucracy to a more restricted, aristocratic ruling class, where government was exercised within the imperial household, as in feudal Western Europe.[6]
The office of mesazon became formally institutionalized in the
List of mesazontes
- Constantine Leichoudes, until 1050.
- Theodore Styppeiotes, under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180).
- John Kamateros, under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.
- Michael Hagiotheodorites, under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.
- Theodore Maurozomes, under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.
- John III Vatatzes(r. 1221–1254).
- Theodore Mouzalon, until 1294.
- Nikephoros Choumnos, 1294–1305, under Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. 1282–1328).
- Theodore Metochites, 1305–1328, under Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos.
- Alexios Apokaukos, 1328–1345, under Emperors Andronikos III Palaiologos (r. 1328–1341) and John V Palaiologos (r. 1341–1391).
- Demetrios Kydones, 1347–1354, under Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos (r. 1347–1354); 1369–1383 under Emperor John V Palaiologos; 1391–1396 under Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos (r. 1391–1425).
- Demetrios Palaiologos Goudeles, from the late reign of John V Palaiologos to c. 1416 under Manuel II Palaiologos[8]
- Hilario Doria, 1390s–c. 1423, under Manuel II Palaiologos[9][10]
- Thessalonica under Emperor John VII Palaiologos.
- despot Theodore II Palaiologos
- George Doukas Philanthropenos, 1430–1439.
- Demetrios Palaiologos Kantakouzenos, 1434/5–1448 under Emperor John VIII Palaiologos (r. 1425–1448).
- George Doukas Philanthropenos and Manuel Iagaris Palaiologos, 1438–1439, while accompanying Emperor John VIII Palaiologos to Italy.
- Loukas Notaras, 1434–1453, last mesazōn of the Byzantine Empire under Emperors John VIII Palaiologos and Constantine XI Palaiologos (r. 1449–1453).
References
- ^ Halecki 1930, p. 370.
- ^ a b c d ODB, "Mesazon" (A. Kazhdan), p. 1346.
- ^ Magdalino 2002, pp. 252, 258.
- ^ Angold 1975, p. 147.
- ^ Haldon 2009, p. 544.
- ^ a b Haldon 2009, p. 545.
- ^ Angold 1975, p. 149.
- ISBN 978-1-317-04731-5.
- ISBN 978-1-108-83659-3.
- ^ Virgilio, Carlo (2015). Florence, Byzantium and the Ottomans (1439-1481). Politics and Economics (PhD thesis). University of Birmingham. pp. 51, 53, 56
Sources
- Angold, Michael (1975). A Byzantine Government in Exile: Government and Society under the Laskarids of Nicaea, 1204–1261. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-821854-8.
- Bartusis, Mark C. (1997). The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society 1204–1453. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-1620-2.
- Beck, Hans-Georg (1955). "Der byzantinische "Ministerpräsident"" [The Byzantine 'Prime Minister']. Byzantinische Zeitschrift (in German). 48 (2): 309–338. S2CID 191483710.
- Haldon, John F. (2009). "The State – 1. Structures and Administration". In ISBN 978-0-19-925246-6.
- Halecki, Oskar (1930). Un Empereur de Byzance à Rome. Warszawa: Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie.
- ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
- Loenertz, Raymond-Joseph (1960). "Le chancelier impérial à Byzance au XIVe et au XIIIe siècle" [The imperial chancellor in Byzantium in the 14th and 15th century]. Orientalia Christiana Periodica (in French). 26: 275–300.
- ISBN 0-521-52653-1.
- .
- Raybaud, Léon-Pierre (1968). Le gouvernement et l'administration centrale de l'empire byzantin sous les premiers Paléologues (1258-1354) [The government and central administration of the Byzantine Empire under the first Palaiologoi (1258-1354)] (in French). Éditions Sirey.
- Trapp, Erich; Beyer, Hans-Veit; Walther, Rainer; Sturm-Schnabl, Katja; Kislinger, Ewald; Leontiadis, Ioannis; Kaplaneres, Sokrates (1976–1996). ISBN 3-7001-3003-1.
- Verpeaux, Jean (1955). "Contribution a l'étude de l'administration byzantine: ὁ μεσάζων" [Contribution to the study of Byzantine administration: ὁ μεσάζων]. Byzantinoslavica (in French). 16: 270–296.
