In the lateByzantine Empire, the termkephale (Greek:κεφαλή,romanized: kephalē,lit.'head') was used to denote local and provincial governors.
It entered use in the second half of the 13th century, and was derived from the colloquial language. Consequently, it never became an established title or rank of theByzantine imperial hierarchy, but remained a descriptive term.[1] In essence, thekephalē replaced theKomnenian-eradoux as the civil and military governor of a territorial administrative unit, known as akatepanikion (κατεπανίκιον,katepaníkion),[2] but also termed akephalatikion (κεφαλατίκιον,kephalatíkion). In size, these provinces were small compared to the earlierthemata, and could range from a fewvillages surrounding thekephale's seat (akastron, "fortress"), to an entire island.[1] This arrangement was also adopted by theSecond Bulgarian Empire (asBulgarian:кефалия,kefaliya) andSerbian Empire (asSerbian:кефалиja,kefalija).
In the 14th century, superiorkephalai were appointed (katholikai kephalai, "universal heads") overseeing a group of provinces under their respective[merikai] kephalai ("[partial] heads"). The former were usually kin of the emperor or members of the senior aristocratic clans. By the late 14th century, with the increasing decentralization of the Empire and the creation ofappanages in the form of semi-independentdespotates, these senior posts vanished.[1]
