The only evidence for the mitat as an official occurs in the Rila Charter of Tsar Ivan Shishman. In the document’s protective formula, the plural form “mitati” appears among the names of state officers who were forbidden to disturb the monastery’s people and possessions. The charter subsequently lists, in a separate passage, the dues and compulsory services from which the monastery was exempt. This structure indicates that the first passage refers to officials rather than to the obligation itself. No individual holder of the office is known by name.
The title derives from the mitaton, Greek μητάτον, an obligation requiring the population to provide lodging and food for troops on the march. The mitat as a compulsory service appears in the Vatopedi, Virgin, and Mraka charters, as well as in documents issued by Serbian rulers. In those instances there is no reason to interpret the word as an official title. The Rila Charter is exceptional because the name of the obligation appears to have been transferred to the officers responsible for organizing its performance.
The mitaton has often been identified with the priselitsa and the padalishte, but the documentary evidence does not require the three terms to be treated as exact synonyms. A charter of King Milutin from 1300 lists the mitat and the priselitsa separately. There the priselitsa is associated with the nametak, a levy probably intended for the support of a tax officer. This supports a distinction between the mitaton as an obligation to billet and provision troops and the priselitsa as a duty to receive and feed travelling officials. A broader interpretation holds that both soldiers and officials benefited from the mitaton, but their separate treatment in the document of 1300 favours the narrower meaning.
The mitaton officers were therefore probably responsible for enforcing this angareia, or compulsory unpaid service owed to the state. Their work stood at the boundary between fiscal and military administration: they organized a public obligation, while the army was its immediate beneficiary. They may have travelled with or ahead of the troops, although it is equally possible that each officer was assigned to a particular district. The single surviving attestation does not allow a choice between these possibilities, nor does it reveal their chain of command, insignia, or the precise period during which the office existed. The fact that the mitati occupy only the sixteenth place in the Rila Charter’s list suggests that their rank was relatively low.
The only evidence for the mitat as an office comes from the Rila Charter of Tsar Ivan Shishman. In the charter’s protection formula, the plural form “mitati” appears in a list of state officers who were not allowed to disturb the monastery’s people or property. Later in the same document, in a separate section, the charter lists the dues and compulsory services from which the monastery was freed. That layout shows that the first passage is talking about officials, not about the duty itself. No person who held the office is known by name.
The word comes from the mitaton, Greek μητάτον, which meant the duty of providing lodging and food for troops on the move. As a compulsory service, the mitat appears in the Vatopedi, Virgin, and Mraka charters, as well as in documents issued by Serbian rulers. In those cases, there is no good reason to treat the word as an official title. The Rila Charter is unusual because it seems to have shifted the name of the obligation onto the officers who were in charge of making it happen.
The mitaton has often been linked with the priselitsa and the padalishte, but the surviving documents do not force us to treat these three words as exact equivalents. A charter of King Milutin from 1300 lists the mitat and the priselitsa separately. In that document, the priselitsa is connected with the nametak, a levy probably meant to support a tax officer. This points to a difference between the mitaton, meaning a duty to house and supply troops, and the priselitsa, meaning a duty to receive and feed travelling officials. A broader view says that both soldiers and officials benefited from the mitaton, but the separate treatment in the 1300 document makes the narrower meaning more likely.
The mitaton officers were therefore probably the people who enforced this angareia, that is, compulsory unpaid service owed to the state. Their job sat between tax collection and military administration: they organized a public duty, while the army was the direct beneficiary. They may have moved with the troops or gone ahead of them, but it is also possible that each officer was assigned to a particular district. The one surviving reference does not let us decide between these options, and it also tells us nothing about their chain of command, their insignia, or exactly when the office existed. The fact that the mitati appear only in sixteenth place in the Rila Charter’s list suggests that they held a fairly low rank.
The only clear proof for this office comes from the Rila Charter of Tsar Ivan Shishman. There, the officers are named with other state workers who were told not to bother the monastery. This shows that the word refers to officers, not just to the duty itself. No one who held the office is known by name.
The word comes from a duty to give soldiers food and a place to stay when they traveled. In other charters, this is only a duty, not an office. A charter from 1300 also treats it as different from a similar duty for receiving officials, so the two were probably not the same.
These officers were likely low-ranking state agents who helped make people carry out unpaid service for the state. They seem to have worked close to the army, but we do not know much more about them.