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Painting of Emperor Basil II in triumphal garb, exemplifying the Imperial Crown handed down by Angels.
Painting of Emperor Basil II in triumphal garb, exemplifying the Imperial Crown handed down by Angels. Imperial Crown was also a model of car from Imperial, the luxury division of the Chrysler Corporation. An angel is a Spiritual Supernatural being found in many Religions Although the nature of angels and the tasks given to them vary from tradition to tradition

The Byzantine Empire had a complex system of aristocracy and bureaucracy, which was inherited from the Roman Empire. Aristocracy is a form of Government, where rule is established through an internal struggle over who has the most status and influence over society and internal relations Bureaucracy is the structure and set of regulations in place to control activity usually in large organizations and government The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial At the apex of the pyramid stood the Emperor, sole ruler and divinely ordained, but beneath him a multitude of officials and court functionaries operated the administrative machinery of the Byzantine state. This is a list of the Emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly known as the Byzantine Empire by modern historians In addition, a large number of honorific titles existed, which the emperor awarded to his subjects or to friendly foreign rulers.

Over the more than 1000 years of the empire's existence, different titles were adopted and discarded, and many lost or gained prestige. At first the various titles of the empire were the same as those in the late Roman Empire, as the Byzantine Empire was not yet distinguished from Rome. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial By the time of Heraclius in the 7th century many of the titles had become obsolete; by the time of Alexius I, many of the positions were either new or drastically changed, but they remained basically the same from Alexius' reign to the fall of the Empire in 1453. Heraclius, or Herakleios (Flavius Heraclius Augustus;) (c 575 - February 11, 641) was a Byzantine Emperor, who ruled the East The 7th century is the period from 601 to 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. Alexios I Komnenos, or Comnenus (Greek Αλέξιος Α' Κομνηνός (1048 &ndash August 15, 1118) Byzantine emperor (1081&ndash1118 The Fall of Constantinople refers to the capture of the Byzantine Empire's capital by the Ottoman Empire on Tuesday May 29, 1453 (Julian Calendar

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Aristocracy

A senatorial class remained in place, which at times incorporated a large part of the upper officialdom. Many families remained important for several centuries, and several Emperors rose from the aristocracy. Two groups can be distinguished: a metropolitan civil nobility and a provincial military one, the latter remaining regionally based and having large land-holdings, but apparently no military forces of their own, in the way of Medieval Europe. The Monomachi were an example of the former, and the Comneni of the latter. The Comnenian dynasty was notorious for keeping a great number of the important offices within their kin-group. In the 11th and 12th century some 80 civil and 64 military noble families have been identified, a very small number for so large a state. [1]

The 10th century saw a rise in importance of the aristocracy, and an increased number of new families entering it. In the provinces aristocratic absorption of small farmers landholdings into large estates was becoming a problem, before the Turkish incursions largely removed that concern. The Turkish people (Türk Halkı also known as " Turks " ( Türkler) are defined mainly as being speakers of Turkish as a First language After the crises of the Turkish and Crusader depredations of the Empire, the aristocracy increased in power and wealth relative to the weakened imperial power, and for example became of equal importance in artistic patronage with the monarch in the last centuries. The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents Patronage is the support encouragement privilege and often financial aid given by a person or an organization

Aristocratic titles

Byzantine Culture
Art
Aristocracy &
Bureaucracy
Army
Architecture
Coinage
Cuisine
Dance
Diplomacy
Dress
Economy
Gardens
Law
Literature
Music
Medicine
Navy
Science

Below the rank of Emperor, the Byzantines distinguished two distinct categories of dignities (ἀξίαι): the "dignities by prize" (διά βραβείων ἀξίαι), which were purely honorific court titles and were conferred by the award of a symbol of rank, and the "dignities by proclamation" (διά λόγου ἀξίαι), which were offices of the state and were conferred by imperial pronouncement. Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 4th century until the Fall of Constantinople The Byzantine army was the primary military body of the Byzantine armed forces serving alongside the Byzantine navy. Byzantine architecture is the Architecture of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine currency, money used in the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the West consisted of mainly two types of Coins the Gold solidus Byzantine cuisine was marked by a merger of Greek and Roman gastronomy History Greek Dance in Antiquity was originally held to have some kind of educational value as evidenced in Plato's dialogues on this Byzantine diplomacy concerns the principles and methods the mechanisms the ideals and techniques that the Byzantine empire espoused and used in order to negotiate with the other Byzantine dress changed considerably over the thousand years of the Empire but was essentially conservative The Byzantine economy was among the most advanced in Europe and the Mediterranean for many centuries Byzantium undoubtedly occupies an important place in the history of garden design Byzantine Law was essentially a continuation of Roman Law with Christian influence however this is not to doubt its later influence on the western practice Byzantine literature may be defined as the Greek literature of the Middle Ages, whether written in the territory of the Byzantine Empire or outside Byzantine music is the music of the Byzantine Empire composed to Greek texts as ceremonial festival or church music Byzantine medicine is the medicine practiced in the Byzantine Empire from about 400 AD to 1453 AD The Byzantine navy comprised the naval forces of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine science played an important role in the transmission of classical knowledge to the Islamic world and to Renaissance Italy, and also in the transmission The former were further divided into three categories, depending on who was eligible for them: different sets of titles existed for the "Bearded Ones" (Βαρβάτοι, i. e. not eunuchs), the eunuchs (Ἐκτομίαι) and women. State officials usually combined titles from the two categories, so that a high official would be both Magistros (an "awarded" title) and Logothetes tou dromou (a "decreed" office).

Imperial titles

These were the highest titles, usually limited to members of the imperial family or to a few very select foreign rulers, whose friendship the Emperor desired.

Titles used by the emperors

Titles used by the imperial family

Court titles

The back of this coin by Manuel I Comnenus bears his title, porphyrogenitos.
The back of this coin by Manuel I Comnenus bears his title, porphyrogenitos. For the eldest son of Andronikos I Komnenos and father of Alexios I of Trebizond, see Manuel Komnenos (born 1145.

Titles for the "Bearded Ones"

By descending order of precedence, the "by prize" titles for the "Bearded Ones" were:

Titles for the eunuchs

By descending order of precedence, the "by prize" titles for the eunuchs were:

Titles for women

Palace offices

Military offices

Army

Navy

Further information: Organization of the Byzantine navy

Other military titles

Administrative offices

The vast Byzantine bureaucracy had many titles, and varied more than aristocratic and military titles. In Constantinople there were normally hundreds, if not thousands, of bureaucrats at any time. Like the Church and the military, they wore elaborately differentiated dress, often including huge hats. Byzantine dress changed considerably over the thousand years of the Empire but was essentially conservative These are some of the more common ones, including non-nobles who also directly served the emperor.

Logothetes originally had some influence on the emperor, but they eventually became honorary posts. In the later empire the Grand Logothete became the mesazon ("manager" or, more literally, "middle-man").

Other administrators included:

The protoasecretes, logothetes, prefect, praetor, quaestor, magister, and sacellarios, among others, were members of the senate, until this became an increasingly unused aspect of the Empire after Heraclius. The Byzantine Senate or Eastern Roman Senate was the continuation of the Roman Senate, established in the 4th century by Constantine I.

Court life

At the peaceful height of Middle Byzantium, court life "passed in a sort of ballet",[2] with precise ceremonies prescribed for every occasion, to show that "Imperial power could be exercised in harmony and order", and "the Empire could thus reflect the motion of the Universe as it was made by the Creator", according to the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who wrote a Book of Ceremonies describing in enormous detail the annual round of the Court. Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, "the Purple-born" ( Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Ζ΄ Πορφυρογέννητος Special forms of dress for many classes of people on particular occasions are set down; at the name-day dinner for the Emperor or Empress various groups of high officials performed ceremonial "dances", one group wearing " a blue and white garment, with short sleeves, and gold bands, and rings on their ankles. In their hands they hold what are called phengia". The second group do just the same, but wearing "a garment of green and red, split, with gold bands". These colours were the marks of the old chariot-racing factions, the four now merged to just the Blues and the Greens, and incorporated into the official hierarchy. As in the Versailles of Louis XIV, elaborate dress and court ritual probably were at least partly an attempt to smother and distract from political tensions. Early years Birth and ancestry Louis XIV was born in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on September 5 1638 and bore the Heir apparent

However, even by the time of Anna Comnena, with the Emperor away on military campaigns for much of the time, this way of life had changed considerably, and after the Crusader occupation it virtually vanished. Anna Komnene or Comnena (Greek Άννα Κομνηνή Anna Komnēnē December 1, 1083 &ndash1153 was a Byzantine princess and scholar daughter of A French visitor was shocked to see the Empress going to church far less well attended than the Queen of France would have been. The Imperial family largely abandoned the Great Palace for the relatively compact Palace of Blachernae. The Palace of Blachernae (Βλαχερναί was an imperial Byzantine residence in the suburb of Blachernae, located in the northwestern section of Constantinople

See also

References

  1. ^ Robin Cormack, "Writing in Gold, Byzantine Society and its Icons", 1985, George Philip, London, p180, using Kazhdan A. The Byzantine navy comprised the naval forces of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine army evolved from that of the late Roman Empire. The Byzantine army was the primary military body of the Byzantine armed forces serving alongside the Byzantine navy. P. , 1974 (in Russian) ISBN 054001085-5
  2. ^ Steven Runciman, Byzantine Style and Civilization, 1975, Penguin

Sources

Anna Komnene or Comnena (Greek Άννα Κομνηνή Anna Komnēnē December 1, 1083 &ndash1153 was a Byzantine princess and scholar daughter of Edward Gibbon ( April 27, 1737 January 16, 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. Dumbarton Oaks is a 19th century Federal-style Mansion with famous gardens in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D
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