Sakellarios
Encyclopedia
Sakellarios is an official entrusted with administrative and financial duties (cf. sakellē or sakellion, "purse, treasury"). The title was used in the Byzantine Empire
with varying functions, and remains in use in the Eastern Orthodox Church
.
In the Byzantine
times the sakellion of the emperor
also kept records of imperial monasteries and their property. Therefore the sakellarios was also an administrative title, which was given from the 7th century to the general comptroller of the state finances, i.e. the finance minister of the Byzantine Empire. Etymologically the word derives from the Latin sacellus, a purse for coins. Note that the Modern Greek word sakoula, bag, has the same origin. The Byzantine Empire was the legal heir of the Roman Empire and its founder, Constantine the Great, was a Roman. Thus, the official in charge of the emperor’s pouch, i.e., the treasury, was the sacellarius.
As monasteries also have treasuries, the title is also found in the Greek Orthodox Church
hierarchy. In later years the title was replaced by that of the Grand Treasurer (Megas Thysaurophylax); however it remained unaltered in the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
’s structure. In the Synod of Ferrara-Florence (1438-9), that was supposed to unify the Greek Orthodox and the Catholic churches, the Ecumenical Patriarch had included in his entourage the Megas Sakellarios (among other officials and bishops).
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
with varying functions, and remains in use in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
.
In the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
times the sakellion of the emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
also kept records of imperial monasteries and their property. Therefore the sakellarios was also an administrative title, which was given from the 7th century to the general comptroller of the state finances, i.e. the finance minister of the Byzantine Empire. Etymologically the word derives from the Latin sacellus, a purse for coins. Note that the Modern Greek word sakoula, bag, has the same origin. The Byzantine Empire was the legal heir of the Roman Empire and its founder, Constantine the Great, was a Roman. Thus, the official in charge of the emperor’s pouch, i.e., the treasury, was the sacellarius.
As monasteries also have treasuries, the title is also found in the Greek Orthodox Church
Greek Orthodox Church
The Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity sharing a common cultural tradition whose liturgy is also traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament...
hierarchy. In later years the title was replaced by that of the Grand Treasurer (Megas Thysaurophylax); however it remained unaltered in the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople , part of the wider Orthodox Church, is one of the fourteen autocephalous churches within the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
’s structure. In the Synod of Ferrara-Florence (1438-9), that was supposed to unify the Greek Orthodox and the Catholic churches, the Ecumenical Patriarch had included in his entourage the Megas Sakellarios (among other officials and bishops).