Ownership or Granted Possession? Rethinking Aristocratic Landholding and Imperial Authority in Late Byzantium (13th–14th c.)

The power of the Byzantine aristocracy depended largely on the wealth they controlled. Understanding the composition and legal nature of this wealth can illuminate the social and economic interests of the aristocrats, and in turn provide vital insight into their political behavior. This paper examines aristocratic properties in Late Byzantium, roughly between 1204 and 1350, focusing on the meaning and legal status of landed resources. It explores the extent to which aristocratic possessions represented full ownership, as opposed to conditional and revocable grants, often tied to political service and dependent on imperial concession and recognition. Central questions include how far imperial sovereignty limited aristocratic ownership; which legal and administrative instruments (such as pronoiai, fiscal exemptions, or confirmations) linked landholding to imperial favor; and under what circumstances property could be confiscated or redefined by the state. Particular attention is given to the blurred boundary between “private” and “granted” land, the mechanisms through which the emperor retained a superior claim over all territory, and the strategies aristocrats employed to secure legitimacy for hereditary claims and appropriate grants. By reassessing these categories, the paper seeks to contribute to the debate on who ultimately “owned” aristocratic estates in Byzantium, and how authority over property was negotiated between imperial power and private possession.