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[[File:Kalojan desislava.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Donor portrait of the [[Bulgaria]]n ''sebastokrator'' [[Kaloyan (sebastocrator)|Kaloyan]] and his wife Desislava, fresco from the [[Boyana Church]] (1259).]]
[[File:Constantine Palaiologos sebastokrator and Eirene.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The ''sebastokratōr'' [[Constantine Palaiologos (half-brother of Michael VIII)|Constantine Palaiologos]] and his wife Eirene. [[Donor portrait]] from an early 14th-century monastery ''[[typikon]]''. Note the distinctive ''stephanos'', as well as the red ''chlamys'' embroidered with golden [[double-headed eagle]]s, worn over the ''kabbadion'' kaftan.]]
'''''Sebastokratōr''''' ({{lang-el|σεβαστοκράτωρ}}, [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] and [[Serbian language|Serbian]] Севастократор; both pronounced "''sevastokrator''") was a senior court title in the late Eastern Roman Empire ([[Byzantine Empire]]). It was also used by other rulers whose states bordered the Empire or were within its sphere of influence. The word is a [[compound (linguistics)|compound]] of "''[[sebastos]]''" ("venerable'", the Greek equivalent of the Latin "''[[Augustus (honorific)|Augustus]]"'' and "krator''kratōr''" ("ruler", the same element as is found in "''[[autokrator|autokratōr]]''", "emperor"). The wife of a ''sebastokratorsebastokratōr'' was named '''''sebastokratorissa''''' ( Greek σεβαστοκρατόρισσα) orin Greek or '''''sebastokratitsa''''' (севастократица) in Serbian and Bulgarian севастократица).
The title was created by Emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos]](Comnenos) (r. 1081–1118) to honour his elder brother [[Isaac Komnenos (brother of Alexios I)|Isaac]].<ref name="ODB">{{cite book | editor-last=Kazhdan | editor-first=Alexander | editor-link=Alexander Kazhdan |year=1991 | title=[[Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]] | publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-504652-6 | page=1862}}</ref> According to [[Anna Komnene]], Alexios did this to raise Isaac above the rank of ''[[Caesar (title)|Caesar]]'', which he had already promised to his brother-in-law, [[Nikephoros Melissenos]]. Anna Komnene calls the rank of ''sebastokratōr'' that of "a second Emperor", and also records that along with the ''Caesar'' a Sebastocrator''sebastokratōr'' was granted the right to wear a crown (but not the imperial diadem).<ref>[[Anna Komnene]], ''[[Alexiad]]'', [[s:The Alexiad/Book III#Chapter IV|III.4]]</ref> During the [[Komnenian dynasty]], the title continued to be the highest below that of Emperor (Autocrator), until 1163, when Emperor [[Manuel I Komnenos|Manuel I]] created the title of ''[[Despot (court title)|despotēs]]''. It was at that period given exclusively to members of the imperial family, chiefly younger sons of the emperor.<ref name="ODB"/>
After the occupation of the Empire by the leaders of the [[Fourth Crusade]] in 1204, the title was adopted in the [[Latin Empire]], the [[Empire of Nicaea]], and the [[Second Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]]. In Nicaea and the post-1261 restored Empire (from 1261) the title remained one of the highest, and was almost always restricted to members of the imperial family. The last known holder of the title was [[Demetrios I Kantakouzenos|Demetrios Kantakouzenos]], a ruler in the Peloponnese in the late 14th century.<ref name="ODB"/>
According to the sources, the distinctive colour associated with the title was blue: the sebastocrator' 'sebastokratōr''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Byzantine dress|ceremonial costume]] included blue stockings and blue boots. In ca. 1260 according to [[George Akropolites]] the ''sebastokratores'' who were members of the imperial family were distinguished from those who were not by having embroidered golden eagles on their shoes.<ref>{{citation | last=Macrides | first=Ruth | title=George Akropolites: The History - Introduction, translation and commentary | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-19-921067-1 | page= 350, 366–367}}</ref> By the time of [[pseudo-Kodinos]] in the mid-14th century, the embroidered eagles on a red field were standard. According to Kodinos, the ceremonial costume also included a red tunic (''[[chlamys]]'') , and crown (''stephanos'', not the diadem) of red and gold.<ref>{{cite book | title=Reconstructing the reality of images: Byzantine material culture and religious. iconography (11th to 15th centuries) | last=Parani | first=Maria G. |year=2003 | publisher=BRILL | isbn=978-9004124622 | pages=63, 67–69, 72}}</ref> The sebastocrator ''sebastokratōr'' also had the prerogative of signing documents with a special blue ink.<ref name="ODB"/> ▼The last known holder of the title was [[Demetrios I Kantakouzenos|Demetrios Kantakouzenos]], a ruler in the Peloponnese in the late 14th century.<ref name="ODB"/>
▲According to the sources, the distinctive colour associated with the title was blue: the sebastocrator's [[Byzantine dress|ceremonial costume]] included blue stockings and blue boots. In ca. 1260 according to [[George Akropolites]] the ''sebastokratores'' who were members of the imperial family were distinguished from those who were not by having embroidered golden eagles on their shoes.<ref>{{citation | last=Macrides | first=Ruth | title=George Akropolites: The History - Introduction, translation and commentary | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-19-921067-1 | page= 350, 366–367}}</ref> By the time of [[pseudo-Kodinos]] in the mid-14th century, the embroidered eagles on a red field were standard. According to Kodinos, the ceremonial costume also included a red tunic (''[[chlamys]]''), and crown (''stephanos'', not the diadem) of red and gold.<ref>{{cite book | title=Reconstructing the reality of images: Byzantine material culture and religious. iconography (11th to 15th centuries) | last=Parani | first=Maria G. |year=2003 | publisher=BRILL | isbn=978-9004124622 | pages=63, 67–69, 72}}</ref> The sebastocrator also had the prerogative of signing documents with a special blue ink.<ref name="ODB"/>
This title was used in [[Serbia]] during the [[Raška (state)|Kingdom of Raška]] and during the [[Serbian Empire]].
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