Dikaiophylax
Sign in to saveThe dikaiophylax (, "guardian of the laws") was a Byzantine judicial office of the 11th–15th centuries.
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The dikaiophylax (, "guardian of the laws") was a Byzantine judicial office of the 11th–15th centuries.
The title is first attested in the middle of the 11th century, both in Constantinople and the provinces. Its holders dealt with ecclesiastical cases and had to combine knowledge of civil law and canon law. Initially, the office was given to both lay and ecclesiastical officials, but from the reign of Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1259–1282) it was only given to churchmen.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Dikaiophylax” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.