Blachernitissa
Iconographic type of Virgin Mary, whose name is based on a supposedly miraculous prototype located in the monastery of Blachernai. Theotokos is depicted in bust, while in front of her chest a medallion of Christ.

caesar
In the Roman Empire the title of Caesar was given to the Emperor. From the reign of Diocletian (284-305) on this title was conferred on the young co-emperor. This was also the highest title on the hierarchy of the Byzantine court. In the 8th c. the title of Caesar was usually given to the successor of the throne. In the late 11th c. this office was downgraded and from the 14th c. on it was mainly conferred on foreign princes.

Hodegetria
Iconographic type of the Virgin Mary. The Virgin is depicted standing, slightly turning to the right of the viewer, holding in her arms the infant Jesus. The type was named so after an allegedly thaumaturgic icon of the Virgin Mary kept in the monastery of Hodegoi in Constantinople.

hyperpyron
The Byzantine gold coin, 4.3 gr. and 20 ½ carats, introduced by Alexios I Komnenos in 1092. It was preserved until the end of the Byzantine Empire with big changes in his cold content.

Pax Mongolica
A conventional term employed to describe the period of relative stability that prevailed in the greater part of the Euro-Asiatic area after the Mongol conquests (13th-14th c.), causing the efflorescence of trade between the Far East and the Black Sea, via Central Asia.

thelematarios
The resident of the area outside the walls of Constantinople. The term is employed from the 13th century onwards.