ABSTRACT
A distinctive feature of the ceremonial book of Pseudo-Kodinos is the hierarchical list of court titles, whose holders made up the human backbone of the Byzantine imperial court in the fourteenth century. The ranking, attire, and function of these titles are the subjects of chapters I, II, III, and vI – about 40 percent of the entire treatise. Scholars have discussed on several occasions different aspects of the court titles of Pseudo-Kodinos.1 Questions awaiting fuller investigation remain. When was the list of precedence composed? In what ways was the Palaiologan system of court titles similar and different from that of the ninth and the tenth century, which has been studied on the basis of similar lists of precedence and the Book of Ceremonies? The following discussion adduces arguments about the genesis of the court hierarchy of Pseudo-Kodinos during, or shortly after, the Second Civil War (1341-47): an internecine conflict between the emperor John vI Kantakouzenos (1341-54) and the regency government in Constantinople led by the dowager empress Anne of Savoy, the megas doux Alexios Apokaukos and the patriarch John XIv Kalekas (1334-47). The tenth-century court titles were divided both notionally and in actual practice into ‘dignities’, highly prestigious designations, and ‘offices’, titles with specific fields of responsibility. Pseudo-Kodinos bears witness to the transformation of the tenth-century system and raises questions about the chronology and path of the evolution. As will be shown, fading echoes of the middle Byzantine system reverberate in the Palaiologan court hierarchy and in documentary evidence. Another issue of tradition and innovation tackled below concerns the ‘new’ titles attested after 1204, a sizeable proportion of the hierarchy. Pseudo-Kodinos’ account of the service of the titles gives valuable insights into matters of governance and into the composition and daily routine of the court. What are the specific strengths and weaknesses of Pseudo-Kodinos as a source on administration and the court?
