The Serbian coat of arms, together with the Serbian state, began to develop in the Middle Ages under the influence of Byzantium. The two main elements of the Serbian coat of arms, a two-headed white eagle in flight and a shield with a cross and four letters «S» originate from the Nemanjić and Lazarevic dynasties, that is, from the Byzantine dynasties of Komnenos and Paleologus. As in Byzantium, these heraldic symbols were created independently of each other, but unlike the Byzantine ones, the Serbian symbols were fortunate enough to merge into the coat of arms of the restored Kingdom of Serbia 120 years ago. Therefore, for the study of our heraldry, it is necessary to first make an overview of Byzantine heraldry and the highest court titles; despot, sevastokrator and Caesar.
1. BYZANTIA
1.1. BYZANTINE SHIELD
The first Byzantine flag was made by Emperor Constantine the Great (born in 274 in Nis, emperor 306-337). Legend says that Constantine in 312. before the battle with the Roman rebels, he saw a cross in the sky and the words "In this sign you will win". He immediately placed a golden cross on a red square war flag and won. This is how the famous Constantine's clamp, the state flag of Byzantium, was created, although coats of arms did not yet exist at that time (fig. 1).
Грбови су почели да се развијају као идентификациони симболи крсташких трупа у XИИ веку. У византијски културни простор стижу 1204., када су Крсташи освојили Цариград и прогласили Латинско царство. Основни знак крсташких грбова је био штит са крстом и четири фигуре између кракова. Цареви из француске породице Куртне су за грб Латинског царства узели Константинов стег, ставили га на штит и додали му четири златника са крстићима (сл. 2). Након пада Цариграда Комнини су основали Трапезунтско царство у Малој Азији и за грб узели златног двоглавог орла у полету на црвеном пољу. Године 1261. никејски цар Михаијло ВИИИ Палеолог је ослободио Цариград од крсташке окупације и за грб обновљене Византије је узео црвени штит са златним крстом и четири златна слова «В», византијским «вита», почетним словом Византије (сл. 3). Овај грб се у хералдици краће зове «Византијски штит». Године 1402. Стефан Лазаревић је од византијског регента Јована ВИИ добио титулу деспота и по угледу на Византијски штит узео за грб Српске Деспотовине црвени штит са сребрним (белим) крстом и четири слова «С», које се у старосрпској азбуци звало «слово», почетним словом Србије (сл. 4). Византијски и Српски штит имају почетна слова својих држава, и тек у XВИИ веку их је француски хералдичар Вилтон6 прогласио за «оцила» јер западна хералдика није знала за слова у грбу већ само за геометријске фигуре и слике из природе.
1.2. TWO-HEADED EAGLE
The double-headed eagle first appears in Mesopotamia fifteen centuries before Christ, as a dipole symbol of old religions that culminated in Zarathustra's teaching that in the universe, the good god of light, Ahura Mazdao, is at war with the god of darkness, Ahriman. In the ancient Greek polytheistic religion, from the eighth century BC, the supreme god was Zeus, lord of the sky, thunder and weather. He sat on his throne at the top of Olympus with a bundle of lightning in his left hand, and a scepter, on which stood an eagle, in his right hand. The supreme Roman god, corresponding to Zeus, was called Jupiter, and his single-headed eagle was the symbol of the Roman state and legions.
In addition to Constantine's scepter, the one-headed eagle was initially used in Byzantium, as a symbol of the old Roman state power. However, in Christian theology, the eagle is the sign of St. John the Theologian and represents the spiritual heights to which this writer of the Gospel and the Apocalypse soared. Thus, in Byzantium around the 10th century, the old double-headed eagle appeared again, now as a symbol that, according to the words of Christ: "Give to the king what is king's, and to God what is God's," reminds us of the balance between man's spiritual and material needs. This type of Byzantine double-headed eagle with half-spread wings and drooping feathers, preparing for flight, is defined in heraldry as a "double-headed eagle in flight".
1.3. DESPOTS, SEVASTOCRATORS AND EMPERORS
For a century of ruling Byzantium (1081-1185), the Komnenians formed a system of the three highest court titles, which, with minor adjustments, survived until the end of the Empire in 1453. Until Komnen, from the victory of Emperor Heraclius over the Persians in 629, the highest title after the imperial title Vasilevs (βασιλεύς), was Caesar (from caesar, the title of Roman emperors). During the struggle for the throne, Alexios I Comnenus (emperor 1081-1118) promised his son-in-law Nicephorus Melisinus the title of Caesar. After ascending to the throne, Emperor Alexius wanted to give his older brother Isaac a high title. Since the brother is a closer relative than the son-in-law, who became Caesar, a new, higher title had to be introduced for Isaac. Thus, Alexius of Sevastus, the Greek translation of the Latin word August (augustus), too high, magnificent, 12 titles of Roman emperors introduced by Octavian (emperor from 31 BC to 14 AD) and the Byzantine imperial title autokrator (autocrat) in 1081. created a new title of Sevastokrator, determined it to be above the title of Caesar, and awarded it to his brother Isaac.13 The title of Sevastokrator was the highest court dignity until Emperor Manoilo I Comnenus (emperor 1143-1180) introduced the title of despot. Since, upon coming to the throne, he granted the titles of Sevastokrator to his brothers Andronikos and Isak, and he had no male children, in 1163 Emperor Manojlo took his son-in-law, the Hungarian prince Bela Alexius, as heir to the throne, and specially introduced the title of despot (lord) for him, which in rank it was between imperial and sevastokrator. When Emperor Manojlo had a son in 1169, he stripped Bela of the title of despot and gave him the title of Caesar.14 According to Pseudo-Codin's writing on court services from the mid-14th century, despots, sevastocrators and Caesars did not have any specific duties, unless the emperor sent them on some special mission.15 Their titles were for life, but not hereditary. The emperor had the exclusive right to dispose of the titles of despot, sevastokrator and kesar; only he could assign and take them away.
From 1163-1204. the title of despot was held by the emperor's son-in-law, if the emperor did not have a direct heir to the throne, and the emperor's brothers and sons-in-law had the title of sevastokrator. In the restored Byzantine Empire (1261-1453), the eldest son of the emperor held the imperial title of Vasilevs and the other sons the title of despot. During the Paleolog dynasty (1261-1453), the title of despot was extended to the sons-in-law of the imperial family, the emperor's brothers, brothers-in-law and other members of the immediate family,16 and the title of sevastokrator was given to the emperor's distant relatives and prominent dignitaries.17 Despots and sevastokrators were ranked and depending on the kinship towards the emperor. Thus, according to Pseudo-Codin, the emperor's sons, if they have the title of despot, rank ahead of despots and sevastokrators who are the emperor's brothers or sons-in-law.18 The title of Caesar was mostly given to old, proven military leaders.19
1.4. CROWNS, WREATHS, SACOSI AND COLASTES OF ASDIA
The Byzantine cosmorama was based on the unity of the universe with a universal empire that maintains world order. The Byzantine emperor is the chosen one of God, the leader of the whole world, the guardian and protector of the Christian faith, the only legitimate emperor on Earth. Just as the emperor's authority came from God, so every other authority on earth came from the emperor's authority.
The power of Byzantine ideas was so strong that even the rulers of independent states recognized the ideal supremacy of the Byzantine emperor. The emperor confirmed foreign rulers and their rights, awarded them titles and insignia, and thereby included them in the Byzantine world hierarchy, in which there was a place for everyone.20
From Constantine the Great, Byzantine emperors wore open crowns consisting of a golden ring, decorated with precious stones, with a cross above the forehead, and prependuli (πρεπενούλια),21 strings of pearls hanging down the temples. Constantine Porphyrogenitus, speaking of Emperor Michael III the Amorian (842-867), calls that type of crown a kesarikion (καισαρικιον).22 The name kesarikion comes from Caesar, the title of the Roman emperors, who wore similar crowns but without a cross.
The Byzantine emperor gave Caesars and foreign rulers simpler open crowns without prependuli, which were called "stephanos" (wreath). The Stephanos had a gold plate with precious stones above their foreheads - kamara (6":VD", vault).
One of the few preserved Byzantine stephanos can be found at the base of the Hungarian crown of Saint Stephen. It is the wreath that the Hungarian King Geza I (king 1074-1077) received from the Byzantine Emperor Michael VII Duke (emperor 1071-1078).23 Although the wreath was later upgraded, it contains portraits (enamel miniatures) of Emperor Michael with with a caesarikion on the head (fig. 7) and King Geza with the original stephanos, this is how we know his original appearance (fig. 8).24
Three centuries later, the imperial crowns received a hemispherical shape (fig. 9) and the new name diadimat, diadem (διαδήµατος, διαδ0µα), while the stephanos remained unchanged. Anna Comnina (1083-1148) talks about the differences between diadimat and stephanos in her writings about her father, Emperor Alexius Komninus (1081-1118): on all sides with pearls and precious stones, some that were embedded in the diadem and some that hung. On both sides of the head hung a row of blind eyes of low pearls and precious stones, tapping on the cheeks, and it is jewelry that belongs to the emperor as an emperor. On the other hand, the Stefanos of Caesar and Sevastokrator are decorated with pearls and precious stones here and there, and they do not cover their heads from above.»25
In the restored Byzantium, the imperial crown received a more domed shape, which exceeded half of the sphere, and the new name stema (crown).29 The stema had a golden ring and an arch that went from the forehead, over the crown of the head to the nape of the neck (fig. 10). They are richly decorated with pearls and precious stones, and serve as a structure for the velvet dome, which is also decorated with pearls and precious stones. At the top of the arch was a large precious stone orphanos (ορπφοανος, "lonely" stone), which was later replaced by a cross.
The imperial power in Byzantium was initially, according to the Roman tradition, elective. Political and military parties elected and appointed emperors. Over time, the Byzantine emperors won the right to choose the heir to the throne themselves from among their sons, brothers, cousins, sons-in-law or adopted children. The election and enthronement of the heir to the throne was carried out according to all laws as for the election of a new emperor: first the army and the senate gave their consent, and then the patriarch crowned him in the Church of Saint Sophia. After these ceremonies, the heir to the throne became the emperor's overlord. The old emperor was the supreme ruler in Byzantium, he held all the power, while the young emperor was only the overlord, without sovereign authority. 32 The Byzantine emperor had the title of Vasilevs (βασιλεύς, emperor). Along with the coat of arms, the emperor wore a rich purple robe (fig. 10 and 12) which was called sakos (σάχχος).33 The heir to the throne as the emperor's overlord also had the title of Vasilevs and wore a coat of arms and sakos. Other imperial sons have the title of despot and despotic insignia. On ceremonial occasions, after 1261, the Byzantine emperors stood on a red cushion with golden double-headed eagles in flight, the coat of arms of the Trebizond Empire, to symbolically show the continuity of the Empire, to build on the Komnenos (fig. 10). The Trebizond emperors, from the Comnenus dynasty, of course did not stand on their coat of arms, but on an ordinary red cushion.
Despots, Sevastokrators and Caesars still wore wreaths without strings of pearls, but under the new, more precise name stematogyrion (, crown wreath, from , crown and (circle).34 Depending on the rank of the wearer, stematogyrions had four or one gold plate with a precious with stones - chamber (vault). Before 1204, stematogyrions with four chambers - front, back and sides - were worn by despots, and sevastokrators with one chamber and that from the front (fig. 11). In the restored Byzantium, despots' sons wore stematogyrions with four chambers, other despots with only one chamber.35 In addition to crowns, despots, sevastocrators and Caesars also wore richly decorated suits with golden double-headed eagles in flight as a sign of dignity. eagles in circles decorated despotic, sevastocratorial and Caesarian robes, which in our folk songs are called kolaste azdije. They got their name from the Old Serbian words: kolo - circle and hazdei, hazdeja - ceremonial dress,36 which tala from a Greek word with the same meaning. The despot's colossal azdia were made of red, the Sevastocrator's of blue, and the Caesar's of green brocade. Over time, the court costume and ceremonial changed, and in the 14th century, double-headed eagles were placed on other ceremonial uniforms, tents, saddles, etc. but the colors of the ranks remained unchanged.38 Figure 11 shows the sebastocrator Constantine Comnenus with the sebastocrator's insignia; he is draped in a blue round azdia and wears a single-chambered stematogyrion on his head.
12. Emperor Manojlo II Paleologus, Empress Jelena Dragaš and three sons; Tsarević Jovan, Despot Theodore and Despot Andronikos (from left to right) The hierarchical order in the Byzantine imperial family is best illustrated in the charter of Emperor Manojlo II Palaeologus from 1425 (fig. 12).39 Tsarević Jovan and Emperor Manojlo have the same crest and coat of arms . The despots Theodore and Andronicus wear stematogyrions and red columnar azdia. At the end stands Empress Jelena Dragaš, daughter of Konstantin Dragaš, granddaughter of despot Dejan Dragaš and Teodora, sister of Emperor Dušan.
(Downloaded from: Svetigora no. 153.; Metropolis of Montenegrin and Littoral; Cetinje; Christmas 2004; pp. 32-35)
