The full designation “komisŭ sŭ kon’mi” (“komes with the horses”) is known only from the Virgino Charter. The Rila and Vitosha charters of Tsar Ivan Shishman instead use the plural form “komisnitsi.” Both names most probably refer to the same office, with the documents employing different spellings or an abbreviated form. The longer designation may have been the official one, but the evidence is too limited to prove this. Nor can the surviving attestations establish precisely when the office was created or disappeared.
The komes was a provincial official. He appears in the protective formulas of charters—that is, clauses listing officials who were forbidden to infringe rights granted by the ruler. His inclusion indicates that the performance of his duties could bring him into contact with donated estates and their inhabitants. His position, approximately thirteenth or fourteenth in lists of officeholders, places him among middle-ranking administrators rather than the highest court dignitaries.
The qualification “of the horses” points to responsibilities for raising, collecting, or supplying horses and providing their fodder. Wallachia and Moldavia offer a particularly close parallel. Alongside a grand, second, and third komes, these principalities employed lower officials known as comișei or komes. They cared for horses and fodder in both the capital and the provinces, supervised the cutting, transport, and storage of hay, and helped deliver horses owed to the Ottoman court. They were organized in groups under a vătaf, while officers styled yuzbashi and captain of the comișei are also recorded outside the court. These similarities suggest that the Bulgarian and north-Danubian institutions were identical or at least very close in organization and duties.
A Bulgarian vatah is also named in the Virgino Charter, making a connection between his office and that of the komes plausible. The two officials are not listed together, however, so the document provides no secure basis for reconstructing a hierarchy between them. The komes probably managed horses within a particular district, supplied animals to the ruler’s court, and arranged the provision of fodder. He may also have commanded the cavalry of his district. Such a military function would be compatible with his logistical responsibilities, but it is not directly described in the surviving Bulgarian charters.
A similar title occurs in a charter issued by the Serbian king Stefan Uroš II Milutin in 1300, although it does not appear to have been a normal feature of Serbian administration. The document concerns a recently conquered part of Macedonia, and its terminology may therefore preserve Bulgarian or Byzantine administrative influence. The available evidence is insufficient to reconstruct the precise Byzantine model behind the Bulgarian office.
The full form “komisŭ sŭ kon’mi” (“komes with the horses”) is known only from the Virgino Charter. In the Rila and Vitosha charters of Tsar Ivan Shishman, the plural form “komisnitsi” is used instead. These two names most likely refer to the same office, with the documents using different spellings or a shortened form. The longer version may have been the official one, but the evidence is too thin to prove that. The surviving references also do not let us say exactly when the office began or when it disappeared.
The komes was a provincial official. He appears in the protective formulas of charters, meaning the clauses that list officials who were forbidden to interfere with rights granted by the ruler. His presence in these lists shows that his work could bring him into contact with donated estates and the people living on them. In the order of officeholders, he usually comes around thirteenth or fourteenth, which places him among middle-ranking administrators rather than the top court elite.
The words “of the horses” point to duties connected with raising, gathering, or supplying horses, as well as providing feed for them. Wallachia and Moldavia offer a close comparison. In those principalities, alongside a grand, second, and third komes, there were lower officials called comișei or komes. They looked after horses and fodder in both the capital and the provinces, supervised cutting hay, transporting it, and storing it, and helped deliver horses owed to the Ottoman court. They worked in groups under a vătaf, and there are also records of officers called yuzbashi and captain of the comișei outside the court. These similarities suggest that the Bulgarian and north-Danubian offices were the same or at least very close in how they were organized and what they did.
A Bulgarian vatah, another officeholder, is also mentioned in the Virgino Charter, so it is possible to connect that office with the komes. But the two are not listed side by side, so the document does not give a firm basis for deciding how they ranked against each other. The komes probably oversaw horses in a particular district, supplied animals to the ruler’s court, and arranged fodder. He may also have led the cavalry of his district. That military role would fit his practical duties, but the surviving Bulgarian charters do not say this directly.
A similar title appears in a charter issued by the Serbian king Stefan Uroš II Milutin in 1300, though it does not seem to have been a regular part of Serbian administration. Since the document concerns a recently conquered part of Macedonia, its wording may preserve Bulgarian or Byzantine administrative influence. The evidence we have is not enough to reconstruct the exact Byzantine model behind the Bulgarian office.
In a few late Bulgarian charters, a local horse official is named. He appears in clauses that warn officials not to interfere with land gifts from the ruler. This shows he had real power in the countryside, but he was not one of the top court men.
His job was probably to manage horses and hay. He may have helped supply the ruler’s court and maybe also led horsemen in his district. We do not know exactly when this office began or ended.
Similar horse officials are known in Wallachia and Moldavia, where they looked after horses, fodder, and deliveries to the ruler. That makes the Bulgarian office seem very close to theirs.
A similar title also appears once in a Serbian charter from 1300, but it seems unusual there. It may show influence from Bulgaria or Byzantium.