CHARTOPHYLAX. – Dignitary of the Byzantine Church, also called, under Andronikos the Younger, “Magnus c.”, who was originally the custodian of the patriarchate’s archives.
Later, in certain circumstances, he also replaced the patriarchate’s vicar general. He was accorded great honors,
and his oath attested to the authenticity of the documents he delivered at councils. Particularly in episcopal elections, the appointment of high dignitaries, and the granting of benefices, he had to examine the candidates, inquire into their lives and conduct, and present them to the patriarch.
However, toward the end of the twelfth century, some of his responsibilities concerning clerics and monks passed to the “primus defensor” (πρωτέκδος).
BIBL.: A. Fortescue, s. V. in DACL, III, cols. 1014–19. Alberto Galleti