The higher aristocracy

he higher aristocracy consisted of the few but very wealthy families uppermost in the social hierarchy, the provincial aristocracy, and citizens possessing a considerable fortune. The aristocratic families of this very wealthy and very active group were not only proud of their origins, but also took care to marry within their group or to ally themselves with members of the imperial family.

Although the institution of endogamy, which aimed at keeping the land in the hands of the aristocratic families and at the reinforcement of their political power, had existed for a long time, it became even stronger during the last two centuries of this period, as is evidenced by the plethora of names an aristocrat might have, such as, for instance, Ioannes Tornikios Doukas Angelos Palaiologos Raoul Laskaris Philanthropenos Asen, who was a Byzantine noble of the 15th century.

As time went by, this higher group in the aristocracy became a closed caste into which, at the end of the 14th and in the 15th century, very few could gain admittance. An indispensable condition was that aspirants should not be paroikoi and should have given proof of exceptional abilities in the army or the public administration. They, too, however, took care to marry into the aristocracy, in order to increase their power and to rise in social status.