The Office of ‘Kanikleios’ at the Imperial Palace as Represented on Byzantine Lead Seals

The office of kanikleios, epi tou kanikleios or chartoularios tou kanikleiou in the palace administration is known from the sources and lead seals as of the 9th century. The duty of this person was to carry the purple inkpot of the emperor and be present when the emperor was to sign an imperial decree (chrysobullon) or an official document. He also had the authority to undersign in place of the emperor. Another duty of the kanikleios was to prepare the documents (codicilli) for those to be appointed to a higher office or given a higher title in the palace. As the kanikleios was always present by the emperor, he was a powerful person in the palatial hierarchy. Our paper will focus on the depiction of the kanikleios on the lead seals. The provenance of such seals, which are acquired by the museum from private collections, is generally not known. However, a seal of Konstantin Mesopotamites the kanikleios from the late 12th century was uncovered at Kadıkalesi/Anaia in 2005 by Prof. Dr. Zeynep Mercangöz of Ege University and this example has contributed a new dimension to this issue.

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