u/Tenmokuzan

The Imperial Monastery of Lakape is a Byzantine institution that is relatively poorly known from written sources, yet exceptionally well documented through sigillographic evidence. The only secure textual reference to the monastery appears in a novel of Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (963–969), which mentions Armenian lands that had been granted to the “Imperial Monastery of Lakape.” This source indicates that the monastery already possessed a sufficiently substantial landed estate to be affected by imperial policies concerning military lands.

Apart from this reference, the monastery virtually disappears from the narrative sources. Its seals therefore constitute the principal body of evidence for reconstructing its history. They reveal a particularly active institution between the mid-tenth and the late eleventh century.

The seals of Epiphanios (who is also known through two parallel specimens) provide the only sigillographic evidence for an hegoumenos, that is, an abbot, of the Imperial Monastery of Lakape. To date, Epiphanios remains the only superior of this monastery attested by sigillographic sources.

Κ(ύρι)ε β[(οή)θ(ει) τ]ῷ σῷ δ[(ούλῳ) Ἐπ]ιφαν(ίῳ) [μ]ονα[χ(ῷ)] / [Κ]ουβουκ(λεισίῳ) [(καὶ)] ἡγουμ(ένῳ) [τ(ῆς)] β(ασιλικῆς) μον(ῆς) [Λα]κάπ[ας]

I’d like to present an interesting seal (even for numismatists!), as it belonged to a chrysoteles. The chrysoteles was a provincial fiscal officer responsible for the assessment and supervision of monetary taxes (paid in gold), attached to the financial administration of the genikon. Here, the name is no longer legible, but this chrysoteles was associated with the themes of the Armeniakoi and probably Koloneia. The reading of the second theme is less certain, though the geographical proximity of the two themes tends to support this hypothesis.

On the obverse, Saint George is depicted, surrounded by a circular inscription forming an invocative formula.

The Greek reading: … Χρ[(υ)σω]τελ(οῦς) Ἀρ[μεν]ιακ(ῶν) καὶ Κολ[ων(ίας)] (?) τῷ …

Close advisor to Basil II (976–1025) and later a key supporter of Romanos III (1028–1034), John the Orphanotrophos became one of the most powerful and feared figures at the Byzantine court during the eleventh century. Rewarded with the prestigious title of parakoimomenos, reserved for the emperor’s closest attendants, he gradually transformed his influence into a true family power base.

Ambitious and a remarkably skilled political operator, John secured the highest offices of the Empire for his brothers, including two who, like himself, were eunuchs. His rise reached its peak when one of his brothers ascended the throne as Michael IV (1034–1041). Yet behind the emperor stood John himself, regarded by many contemporary chroniclers as the true ruler of the Empire.

But this spectacular dominance came to a sudden end. When his nephew Michael V came to power, John was overthrown and disgraced. The male members of his family were mutilated in order to eliminate any potential political threat, while John himself was blinded and exiled to the island of Lesbos, where he died in 1043.

By way of explanation, the orphanotrophos was the director of the great imperial orphanage (orphanotropheion) of Constantinople, a charitable institution placed under the direct patronage of the Byzantine emperors. The title of parakoimomenos, literally “the one who sleeps beside [the emperor],” designated one of the highest dignitaries of the imperial court, often entrusted with the Empire’s most sensitive affairs.

+KЄ R,Θ, / TⲰ CⲰ Δ૪ / .Ⲱ MON./X, S OPΦA/NOTPO/.

Κ(ύρι)ε β(οή)θει τῷ σῷ δού(λῳ) Ἰω(άννῃ) μοναχ(ῷ) (καὶ) ὀρφανοτρόφ(ῳ)