International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Triantafyllitsa Maniati-Kokkini
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece; 
[e-mail]
Economic Effects of Internal Wars for Individuals and the State in Byzantium, 
1282 to the Middle of the 14
th
Century
Privileges and grants are, by definition, an arbitrary choice of the person bestowing the grant. 
Nevertheless, the Byzantine Emperor, despite the absolute character of his central authority, appears 
to grant financial privileges for specific reasons, often combining the receiver’s gratification and 
state gain. Indeed, in many instances the particularly extended or expandable privileges are laid 
out in the prologues (
prooimia
) of the 
chrysobulls
, although this happened partly due to imperial 
propaganda through the projection of imperial philanthropy and social justice which the emperor 
should not disregard.
In addition, the withdrawal of financial privileges and grants are equally within the Emperor’s 
rights, since they are both considered a priori retractable and by no means hereditary in Byzantium. 
Nevertheless, the documents usually contain an explanation, which is mainly linked to the behaviour 
as well as several transgressions on behalf of the beneficiary of the imperial privilege-grant.
There are, however, circumstances in which the frequency and comparative percentage of 
granting privileges, as well as their retraction, supersede the usual explanations and betray diverse 
criteria and choices by the emperors, at the same time raising questions concerning a large degree 
of arbitrariness and personal interest by central authority. The empire experiences a long, yet not 

---

485
continuous, period of such circumstances under the Palaiologoi, particularly towards the end of the 
13
th
and the first half of the 14
th
centuries, when internal strife, caused by the claimants to the throne 
or those contesting imperial rule, is added to external hostile attacks.
The events pertaining to the internal developments and reversals during the aforementioned 
internal wars are well-known. Nevertheless, it is of particular interest to investigate further the 
imperial decisions deriving from those events relevant to granting or retracting financial privileges, 
as well as the resulting reaction of the beneficiaries during the reigns of Andronikos II and 
Andronikos III and the dispute between Ioannis V and the Kantakouzenoi about the throne.