Stavilac (Serbian Cyrillic: ставилац, literally meaning "placer") was a court title in Medieval Bosnia and Medieval Serbia in the Middle Ages.[1][2] It was similar to the Byzantine court offices of domestikos and cup-bearer (pinkernes, known in Serbian as peharnik).[2] It had a role in the ceremony at the royal table, though the holder could be entrusted with jobs that had nothing to do with court rituals.[3] According to studies of Rade Mihaljčić, the holder was in charge of acquiring, preparing and serving food at the royal table.[4] It was a confidant duty, given to the highest and most notable nobility, which the ruler relied on in all occasions.[4]
Its oldest mention is from the Serbian court of King Stefan Milutin (r. 1282–1321), when Đuraš Vrančić had the title.[4] The title of stavilac ranked as the last in the hierarchy of the Serbian court, behind čelnik, kaznac, tepčija and vojvoda, the supreme title.[5] It was, nevertheless, quite prestigious as it enabled its holder to be very close to the ruler.[3] In the Dečani chrysobulls, King Stefan Dečanski (r. 1321–1331) mentioned that the court dignitaries present at the Dečani assembly were the kaznac, tepčija, vojvoda, sluga and stavilac.[6] There is not much information on the title-holders at the court of King Stefan Dečanski; there is however much information on those at the court of King and Emperor Stefan Dušan (r. 1331–1355).[7]
In Bosnia, this court title appears for the first time with a coronation of the first Bosnian king, Tvrtko I Kotromanić. As soon as he ascended to a Bosnian throne as a king in 1377, Tvrtko reorganized his court reflecting some of the Serbian court-office titles, ceremonials and traditions.[1]
Reorganizirao je dvor preuzevši neka zvanja, službe i ceremonijal srpskoga (dijaka je zamijenio logotet, kaznaca protovestijar, naslovu stavilac odgovarala bi bizantska dvorska titula domestika i domestika stolnika).
