ABSTRACT
It is a truism amongst Byzantinists that from the twelfth century onwards the heyday of powerful court eunuchs had passed, and that eunuchs were no longer as prominent as they had once been in Byzantine society. The figure of Nikephoritzes is usually held to be the last example of the politically significant eunuchs who characterised the imperial administration of Byzantium. At the same time however, it is acknowledged that eunuchs did not completely disappear from the late empire, though those of this period are certainly much less studied than their predecessors. In this chapter I will explore the evidence for the existence of eunuchs within the empire from 1081-1453, as well as the accuracy of the accepted truth of their declining significance. The diverse theories propounded to explain this development will also be assessed, and alternatives suggested. Ultimately, however, a solution proves elusive, though it can be observed that while Byzantium’s tradition of court eunuchs declined and expired with its empire, the phenomenon was kept alive for several more centuries by the heirs of the Byzantine empire, the Ottoman Turks.
