Primicerius

Other primicerii headed some of the scrinia (departments) of the palace, chiefly the notarii or primicerius notariorum (notarioi or taboularioi in Byzantine sources).

[2] In the late 11th century, the dignity of megas prim[m]ikērios ("Grand Primicerius") was established, which ranked very high in court hierarchy well into the Palaiologan period, where he functioned as a chief of ceremonies.

[2] In ecclesiastical use the term was given to heads of the colleges of Notarii and Defensores, which occupied an important place in the administration of the Roman Church in Late Antiquity and in the Early Middle Ages.

In the regulation of the common life of the clergy in collegiate and cathedral churches, according to the Rule of Chrodegang and the statutes of Amalarius of Metz, the primicerius appears as the first capitular after the archdeacon and archpresbyter, controlling the lower clerics and directing the liturgical functions and chant.

[2] In modern usage of the Russian Orthodox Church, the word primicerius (primikirii) is reserved for a junior cleric (sometimes a reader or subdeacon) holding a torch or a candle before an officiating bishop during the divine service; usually he goes ahead in different pontifical processions, which may be an explanation for the choice of this word (the second part of which in this case corresponds not to "wax (of a tablet)" but to "candle wax").