Thevestararius was the manager of the medievalRoman Curia office of thevestiarium (cf. the Byzantine imperial wardrobe and treasury, thevestiarion), responsible for the management of papal finances as well as the papal wardrobe.[1] Thevestiarium is mentioned as the papal treasury as early as the seventh century, during the period of Byzantinecultural hegemony in the West called the "Byzantine Papacy", but thevestararius itself is attested to only from the eighth century.[1]
Along with the highest financial officersarcarius[2] and thesacellarius,[3] thevestararius was one of the three most important staff officials of theLateran Palace (thepalatini).[4] By the ninth century, thevestararius was a member of thepapal household second only to the seven judges, while the other two offices figured among the "seven judges of the palace" who constituted the core of the papal court.[4] While the other offices were responsible for the collection and dispensation of papal assets, respectively, thevestararius was responsible for guarding the wealth, possibly depositing in the wardrobe along with the papal vestiments.[4] Thevestararius was also responsible for the written financial archives and accounts, and may have received and distributed some sums independently of the other offices.[5]
By 813, thevestararius was seated beside the pope in the Palace in giving judgement and in 875 was sent as anembassy to theHoly Roman Emperor.[4]Theophylact I, Count of Tusculum, who for all intents and purposes ran the temporal affairs of the papacy during thesaeculum obscurum of the first half of the tenth century, was a holder of the office ofvestararius.[4] His wife,Theodora, held the extraordinary position ofvestararissa.[6]
The financial administration of the papacy as a whole began to be referred to as acamera in 1017, but the name change may not have been of any real significance.[7] The last known reference to the office ofvestararius appears in 1033.[7] There is no concrete evidence of continuity between thevestararius and thecamerarius, which is referred to for the first time in 1099, although their functions are nearly the same.[8] Either office (or both) may have existed during this period, or the responsibilities may have fallen to some third office, often hypothesized to have been filled byHildebrand.[8]